5 Best Budget Laptops for Video Editing – Expert Pick

Looking for the best budget laptops for video editing? Then this article is for you. When it comes to buying a laptop, it’s way more difficult than buying a car. Why? Because while buying a car you can test drive it, but in the case of a laptop, you simply can’t.

Laptops have become a necessity for everyone out there in this world, whether they are a professional or a student. People look for laptops coming at a reasonable price for optimum performance. The need for a bit extra is always present inside of everyone, whether they want a more powerful processor or RAM or graphics memory.

Nowadays, when there are laptops in different designs, sizes, usage capacity, and functionality, we get a wide range to choose from. However, one must note that you will get a user-experience according to the price you pay. We have covered some of the categories of laptops, and today our focus will be on budget laptops for video editing.

Well, when it comes to budget laptop for video editing, you may not get the most powerful RAM, or a high-end graphics card, massive storage capacity, an astonishing display, and most important high-end processor with blazing fast speed.

We have put together a list of the 5 best budget laptops for video editing -picked by experts, which provides the best editing experience without hurting your pocket. After reading this, you don’t need to sacrifice your will for a Video editing laptop, because there are many budget laptops available providing a wonderful editing experience in a tight budget of $300 – $350. So follow the list below to know more about some cheap laptop for video editing.

The way to shop smart is to always remember that; the feature of the laptop you are buying must justify the amount you are paying for it. First, let’s have a quick look at a guide which will teach you what things are necessary and must be kept in mind while buying a budget laptop.

Key Factors To Consider When Buying The Best Budget Laptops for Video Editing

• RAM

Random Access Memory (RAM) is the short term memory of the computer and all your data lives on it while you work. Video-editing is a RAM hungry activity and puts a massive load on the computer.

Customers have a perception that the bigger the RAM capacity, the more flawless the video editing experience will be. While it remains true to some extent, it is mostly a myth. First of all, RAM alone cannot optimise the performance of your laptop, it’s the synergy between all the components that matter.

Second, even if you increase your RAM more than 16GB, your rendering time will increase by a minuscule margin. 64GB of RAM will be just overkill. More RAM is likely to improve the multitasking ability primarily.

Last but not the least, we cannot move on numbers when talking about budget devices. We need to make the best out of the least. Also, RAM is super cheap nowadays and you can always upgrade it in the future. So we should not be stringent on this. However, we must make sure that our laptop has the ability to extend RAM.

However, you are only going to get 2GB to 4GB of RAM at this price point. In a rare scenario, you can get up to 8GB of RAM.

• Processor

Here comes the ‘brain’, the processor is the brain of your computer. It’s called the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Everything is handled by this little chip on the motherboard of your PC.

It’s really important to choose the best and right processor under your budget to get the best out of your device. Now, in budget laptops, you will not find processors like Ryzen 5 or 7 or i5 or i7. But in this budget, there are few impressive processors from Intel and AMD.

As your CPU does the heavy lifting, it’s wise to learn about every aspect of it in order to buy a laptop with a good processor. It’s especially practical when it comes to video editing because such tasks put a huge amount of load on the system.

It is a one-time investment in the case of laptops because their processors can’t be changed. The processors are soldered into motherboards directly. So choose wisely while buying your machine. Also, you must not be strict upon the generation of the processor, for example, a Core i3 9th generation might not be as good as Core i5 8th generation.

• Graphics

Rendering is not the only things that put the load on your system. The processes in between, such as cutting, color adjustments, putting filters, adding text etc, are equally responsible for putting a huge load on your system. While the algorithms of the video-editing software occupy most of the processing power of the CPU, a GPU helps share the load and also render the required graphics. All in all, they make it work together in sync.

Graphic intensive effects like 3D texts, color correction, small animations, minor graphic enhancements, will require GPU to work smoothly. Not using an adequate GPU according to the user requirement will lead to a flash message “No video memory”.

Just adding a bigger graphic card, will not give you an unmatched experience. Even if you have a graphic card in the device, 60%-70% of work is handled by the CPU itself. 

• Storage

When it comes to storing data, everyone needs a massive amount of storage so that they never run out of space. Moreover, high-quality videos eat up all the space quite fast.  In general, you should go for SSD (solid-state drive) rather than HDD (Hard disk Drive) because SSD uses flash memory technology which has no moving parts so they are the faster. On the other hand, HDD has the advantage of storing more data yet because of moving parts they are slower.

But in the case of a budget laptop, you won’t be getting SSD as they are expensive. In some cases, you will get eMMC technology to store data. The downside of this technology is the small amount of storage. eMMC or Embedded Multimedia Card is typically used in tablets or smartphones. They are low-cost flash memory, but available only in the limited size of 32GB and 64GB

Overall, this should not be a big concern as you can always buy an external hard drive and get more storage. The best combination would be an SSD as internal drive and HDD for external usage.

• Display

In the case of video editing, display plays a vital role because colours play an important part in editing, you have to keep the colour accuracy close to nature so that your editing piece doesn’t look different when you play it on another device.

In the price range of $350, all you can get at maximum is an FHD display. The categories of the display can be divided into 2 i.e. IPS and TN. They both are mostly accurate and give a nice viewing experience. But comparing at every phase the best you can get among these two is IPS which may be a bit heavy on the pocket but as compared to TN the colors and viewing angles are better, as the TN tends to seem a bit washed–out.

First, you have to take care of viewing angles. That is important so that you can look at the screen from any direction with maximum clarity.

Second is the color representation. In-display panels, you need to have a vibrant color in so that it doesn’t seem washed out and it’s necessary to have a color-accurate and clear display for video editing.

We are not taking battery life and OS in the list of important things because in most cases you will find that the battery life of your laptop depends on the usage.  And coming to the OS, short for Operating system, you will be getting either Microsoft windows latest 10 or Android ChromeOS which is based on Linux.

Remember, when you are talking about a budget laptop, it will be quite difficult to run heavy software like Adobe Premiere Pro. But you can go for software like Flimora, Movavi, and Pinnacle. For ChromeOS, you can go to Kinemaster and many more.

Now, as we have talked about many aspects of choosing a perfect laptop under the budget, let’s look at the 5 best budget laptop for video editing.  We haven’t ranked from top to bottom as you can select any one of these on your preferences. One thing sure that they are best in the market under the range of $350.

5 Best Budget Laptops for Video Editing

 

Talking about the screen, you will be getting a good size of 15.6 inches at this price point. Which can be good enough to watch movies, play games, and edit videos. The downside is that the resolution of this device is not the best, as you can feel a lackluster overall. Coming to the storage, this device will give you 1TB HDD under this price point which is a lot, but much slower than an SSD.

Even though you will be getting, 4GB of RAM, a big but slow Hard drive, and an average processor, if you run light editing software you can get a nice experience of working on this device. 

The Bottom Line: As this machine is coming from the industry which is popular for its best class Notebooks, you can expect this to work amazing in this budget. For light usage, this laptop is a go-to one. You can get a large screen, big storage and overall an all-rounder package.

Here’s a competitor crushing laptop by HP, with the base price of $348(Amazon). While a plastic chassis model may not seem much eye-catchy, but with the glossy logo of HP, it won’t seem different from any premium machine at this price point. However, the interior gives a semblance of style. One of the lightest among the competition, weighing around 3.1 pounds, makes it easy to carry.

Talking about the display, there will be a lack of brightness and color, yet it has a glossy screen and ample amount of contrast which can make the viewing experience good. The keyboard in this could’ve been a little softer, as the keys are a bit stiff when pressed.

Coming on to performance and graphics, its SSD took around 1.3 minutes to copy a file of 5 GB which may seem slower, but is a massive blow at this price range. The GPU performs well as it complements the CPU i.e. Intel Pentium Silver N5000.

The battery life of this device is satisfactory, on a scale of 1 -10, it will be around 6.9. The battery can last for 6 hours. But depends upon how you use it.

The Bottom Line: HP 14 (DF0023CL) is a great device under this budget. Offering solid performance and a screen of 1080p. The only downside is low battery life and a bit dull screen.

Here is the workhorse, the Lenovo 2020 Ideapad worth $268 (Amazon) is the powerful budget machine. Coming in platinum grey color and a sleek design, it gives you the feel of nothing less than a premium machine. With a screen of 14 inches, it gives you an immersive viewing experience.

The CPU AMD A6 – 9220e is geared with GPU AMD Radeon R4 giving it a blow in performance and making it eligible for light editing and even playing games. There is an ample amount of ports available. Although it has small storage of 64GB eMMC, it boots up quicker and can give it a step ahead on basis of speed and performance. 

2020 Lenovo Ideapad works on a 4GB RAM similar to other competitors in the market and many of the functionalities are the same as the Lenovo Ideapad S145 aforementioned.

The Bottom Line:  If you want a device that is quick, and reliable, but you can compromise with storage, this is the perfect match. You can use an external hard drive and make it more efficient. 

We have a shapeshifter too on our list. This Acer Chromebook Spin 311 is one of the best 2 In 1 laptop available in the market. Coming with a subtle, cutting edge design, it will surely catch people’s attention. With a 360-degree dual – torque hinge, it has a rotatable and brightest screen among all the laptops in the list. The cherry on the top of the cake – a touch screen panel. Built with 88 degrees of wide-angle view makes your viewing experience way better and can edit videos with ease. 

Talking about the battery life, the on-paper battery life is 10 hours, but it depends on how you use it. The processor of Intel and flash storage makes the device blazing fast. Quick boot and less software loading time are some of the benefits. The only downsides are first, the storage which is only 32GB which will lead you to use external storage devices. Secondly, for a few people, the screen size will be a matter of concern as it’s roughly 12 inches.

The bottom line: If you want to have a device that can is fast, comes with a sleek and attractive design, a good screen and color accuracy, and you can gulp the storage capacity being low. This device is for you.

The Samsung Chromebook 4 is priced at $349 (approx. on Amazon). Talking about the looks, it is exactly like how you will except a budget laptop to be, with a curved silver body. Looks a bit like an old Macbook. Having an aluminium body makes it feel nicer when carrying around and looks sleek. There is a matter of chunky bezel on the screen that makes it look heavy and the keyboard is quite small. 

Talking about the display it has a satisfactory experience. As a budget laptop will be, it doesn’t have a touch screen panel. But coming on good sides, it has a long-lasting battery life, longer than most of its competitors.

A table-turning spec about this laptop is it has 6GB of RAM geared up with Intel Graphics. The benefit of a flash drive is aforementioned. 

The bottom line: If you want to leap editing base, performance, battery life, and screen size you can choose this device, just remember you will be keeping the display quality.

Buying Guide For The Best Budget Laptops for Video Editing

Are you a video editor on a budget? If so, you’re in luck! This buying guide will help you find the best budget laptops for video editing without breaking the bank. We’ve included some of our top picks for budget-friendly laptops that are perfect for editing videos.

Whether you’re looking for a powerful machine with a lot of storage or one that’s lightweight and easy to carry around, we’ve got you covered. So, what are you waiting for? Read on to find the perfect laptop for your needs!

Things to consider before buying the best budget laptops for video editing

For choosing the best budget video editing laptop, you should take following important points into consideration:

Video Editing Requires High-Quality Audio And Video Processing

Before you start any video editing process, you need to think about the audio and video quality. In fact, the quality of the audio and video is one of the most important aspects of any video editing software.

For instance, even if you’re working with the highest-quality camera, without high-quality audio, you won’t be able to hear what the camera is picking up, making the entire editing process more difficult.

The same goes for the other way around. If you’re using a low-quality audio track, the video editing software will struggle to process and mix all of the audio into the video.

In addition, good audio and video quality will make it easier for you to sync the audio and video together, which will make the entire editing process easier.

Consider The Audio Speakers And Headphones

If you want to work on the go, consider getting some portable headphones. These are often much smaller than standard headphones and offer a more discreet audio experience.

The downside to portable headphones is that you can’t always hear what’s going on around you, which means you may miss some important cues. For this reason, it’s best to keep headphones on during editing, at least for the first few times you use a particular piece of equipment.

Consider The Screen Size, Screen Resolution, And Color Depth

Most laptops have screens with a 16:9 aspect ratio, which means that they have a wider width than they do a height. While this may seem like a problem, the opposite is actually true. In fact, because of this aspect ratio, you can fit more content onto the screen.

When you’re editing a video, the amount of information you can fit on the screen depends on the resolution of the video. This is the number of pixels per inch (PPI) that are used. The higher the PPI, the more information you can display on the screen.

However, the more information you can fit on the screen, the less likely it is that you’ll have to scroll. For this reason, the ideal PPI for video editing is around 200.

If you don’t have access to a laptop with a high PPI, you can get away with a lower one, but it will require you to scale the video down. This is done by dividing the video by 2, 4, or 8, and then multiplying the result by the PPI.

For example, if you want to edit a 4K video at 60 frames per second, you would divide the video by 8 and multiply it by 200. This would give you a video that’s 720 x 1280, which is a PPI of 320.

Consider How Many Cables You Need

Laptops are often sold with a variety of ports for various accessories. Most laptops have one or two USB 3.0 ports, and most of them also have an HDMI port.

While most laptops do have HDMI, most don’t have an Ethernet port, which means you’ll need to use a wireless adapter to connect to the internet.

Depending on what kind of project you’re working on, you may need to use a USB-C to HDMI cable, which is an extremely expensive option.

Another option is to get a dongle. This is a small device that plugs into the USB-C port on your laptop and allows you to connect to the internet. While this is an expensive option, it’s a good one, as you won’t have to worry about running out of cables.

Consider The Battery Life

Even if you’re only doing simple edits, it’s still important to consider how long the battery will last. This is especially important if you’re working on a laptop, as they tend to have shorter battery life than desktop computers.

For example, if you’re editing a 4K video, it’s best to stick with a laptop with a high PPI. This will allow you to fit more information on the screen, which will allow you to see the video more clearly.

Summing up

If you are looking for a laptop that can handle video editing on a budget, any of the laptops on this list will work well. Keep in mind that the more expensive laptops will have better performance and features, but if you are just starting out or don’t need all of those bells and whistles, one of the cheaper options may be perfect for you.

Hope you found our article on “Best Budget Laptops for Video Editing” informative and useful. Have you tried using video editing software before? What tips do you have for someone who is just starting out? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading till the end.