The budget laptop market has been flourishing of late, so there's no shortage of options in the market. Students are one of the major target audience for such budget options, so this is a list of the best budget laptops for students, college, university or otherwise. We have options from all popular brands such as ASUS, Lenovo, HP, MSI, Acer, and even Indian brands like Infinix in this list of the top budget laptops in India for students. We've also included a wider range of budgets, from extremely pocket friendly, to good value for money options.
- 1.
The Acer Aspire 5 is our go-to budget laptop recommendation for students. For under Rs 60000, you get a laptop that’s capable of handling most productivity tasks and even light gaming thanks to the dedicated GPU on board. The latest iteration of the Acer Aspire 5 features a 15.6-inch Full HD display. It is powered by a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-1335U processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 GPU with 4GB GDDR6 VRAM. The laptop has 8GB DDR4 RAM which can be expanded (and should be) and a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. It supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 or above. The laptop also includes a backlit keyboard.
- 2.
- Powerful Performance: AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and Radeon RX 6550M.
- High Refresh Rate: 15.6-inch Full HD display with 144Hz.
- Fast Storage: 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD.
- Modern Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3.
- Backlit Keyboard: Enhanced visibility in low light.
- Base RAM: 8GB DDR5 should be upgraded.
- Heat Issues: Tends to run hot during intensive use.
The MSI Bravo 15 is a budget gaming laptop that costs less than Rs 50000. The hardware on-board is pretty good for the price, including an AMD + AMD CPU and GPU combo that performs well in this price segment. The MSI Bravo 15 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor and features an AMD Radeon RX 6550M graphics card with 4GB GDDR6 memory. You will be able to play modern games at low settings with the hardware on this laptop. That also means it is capable of handling somewhat intensive tasks. The laptop has a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920×1080) display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. It comes with 8GB DDR5 RAM, which can be upgraded when you have the budget for it. You also have a 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD. The laptop supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3. It includes a backlit keyboard and a webcam with a resolution of 720p. The laptop has multiple ports including HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, and USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C.
- 3.
The ASUS Vivobook 15 OLED is a 15.6-inch laptop powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7730U Processor. It features an FHD (1920 x 1080) OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. For students in the creative field, a colour-accurate OLED display can be very important. This also makes it a nice option for consuming media content. The laptop has up to 16GB DDR4 memory and a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD. You get plenty of additional features, including a backlit keyboard, and support for Wi-Fi 6E. Also keep in mind that ASUS offers several variants of the ASUS Vivobook, including 14-inch variants as well as non-OLED display variants which are even cheaper than this option.
- 4.
The Infinix ZEROBOOK 13 is a 15.6-inch laptop powered by the 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700H Processor. It features an Intel Iris Xe Graphics card, 16 GB LPDDR5 Memory, and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. As you can see based on the specs and the price, this laptop offers incredible value for money. The laptop operates on Windows 11 Home. It has a FHD display with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The laptop is also lightweight, weighing just under 1.8kg. It includes a backlit keyboard, and supports Wi-Fi 6E. You get good performance, 16GB of RAM right off the bat for multitasking, and a good display for content consumption and creation. Note that the lack of a GPU means you won’t be able to play intensive games or perform GPU-intensive tasks on this laptop. The ZEROBOOK is Infinix’s most premium laptop offering, but, if you’re looking to save even more, you can look for Infinix Slim, Max, and Plus laptop models which are significantly cheaper.
- 5.
- Powerful Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H.
- Dedicated Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 with 4GB GDDR6.
- Upgradeable RAM: 8GB DDR4, expandable.
- Fast Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD.
- Modern Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1.
- Display Quality: Average at this price point.
- Base RAM Insufficient: 8GB may be low for gaming; requires upgrade.
The Acer Aspire 7 is equipped with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H processor which offers solid overall performance. It also has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 graphics card with 4GB GDDR6 dedicated memory. The presence of a dedicated GPU means that you can get some gaming in and perform GPU intensive creative workloads. The laptop features a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD with ComfyView (Matte) and In-plane Switching (IPS) Technology. It comes with 8GB DDR4 SDRAM, which is upgradeable. The storage capacity is 512GB, provided by a PCIe NVMe SSD. The laptop supports Wi-Fi 6E AX211 and Bluetooth 5.1. It includes a backlit keyboard. The laptop has multiple ports including HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C. This is a great all-rounder laptop that’s capable of handling a variety of tasks while also being fairly portable. We wouldn’t recommed this laptop for creative workloads however, due to the display being its weakest aspect.
- 6.
The HP Pavilion x360 2-in-1 Laptop is a 14-inch laptop powered by the 12th Gen Intel Core i3 processor. It offers the versatility of a 2-in-1 laptop, allowing students to switch between tablet and laptop modes as when needs. It features an FHD (1920×1080) touchscreen display with Intel UMA Graphics. The laptop has 8 GB DDR4 memory and a 512 GB SSD. It operates on Windows 11 Home. The laptop includes a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader, a True Vision 5MP camera, and B&O Speakers. This is a budget, 2-in-1, touchscreen laptop, which used to be rare in this price segment as little as two years ago. Additionally, there are cheaper variants of the Pavilion x360, including non 2-in-1 variants, with weaker specs that can be opted for if you’re on a tighter budget.
- 7.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 12th Gen is a 15.6-inch laptop powered by 12th Gen Intel Core i3 processor. It features an FHD display and supports up to 16GB of RAM. The laptop has a 512GB PCIe SSD and operates on Windows 11 Home. It includes a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader, and supports Wi-Fi 6E. The IdeaPad Slim series has been a mainstay in this list of budget laptops for some time now and continues to be a great option for users looking to buy a thin and light laptop for everyday use. The IdeaPad Slim 3i features great build quality as well, something that we’ve come to expect from Lenovo products. There are several variants of the IdeaPad Slim 3i, including much older variants that are much cheaper. However, even the current-gen variant is very competitively priced and will get the job done if all you need a basic and portable laptop option.
- 8.
Last but not least, we have the Dell Vostro 3520, which is a 15.6-inch laptop powered by up to the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1255U Processor. U and P variant processors, like the kind in this laptop, consume less power and are therefore more power efficient and offer better battery life than the more powerful H, K, and HX variant processors from Intel. It features an FHD display with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. The laptop has up to 16GB DDR4 memory and a 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. It operates on Windows 11 Home. The laptop includes a backlit keyboard and supports Wi-Fi 6E. The laptop has a high screen-to-body ratio of approximately 79.5 percent, a fast charging feature, and upgradable RAM, which is always nice.
Best Budget Laptops for Students Faq's
Which laptop is best for students and affordable?The Infinix Inbook X2 Plus, with a starting price of Rs 36,990, is a great laptop for students. Powered by an Intel 11th Gen Core i5 quad-core processor, the Inbook X2 Plus does not cut any corners and delivers optimal performance for most demanding tasks ranging from making presentations, to editing spreadsheets to even video editing. But if you want more power, then I’d suggest paying around Rs 2,000 extra to get the 16GB RAM variant of the same laptop. Both variants also get an SSD so all your applications will load very quickly. And the laptop also looks very compact and cool as well.
Which is the best budget-friendly laptop for students in India?Priced at Rs 33,990, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is probably the most budget-friendly laptop for students in India. The laptop features all the essentials including an Intel 11th Gen Core i3 processor, 8GB DDR4 memory, 256GB SSD storage, a 1080 14-inch display and all of that in a device that’s 19.9mm thick and weighs just 1.5kg.
What laptop should students use?Students should use a laptop with at least an Intel 11th Gen core processor or an AMD Ryzen 4000 series processor or newer, 8GB DDR4 memory and around 256GB SSD storage. For example, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 and the Infinix Inbook X2 Plus are great devices that are available on a budget and don’t cut any corners in terms of performance either. The basic idea is that you want a laptop that works well not just the day you buy it but also three or four years after it as well. Therefore, build quality is also something students should look for in a laptop before buying it.
