I love a good budget laptop, but here are 3 older premium laptops that are cheaper and better

Asus Vivobook 16 (2025) open at an angle, highlighting the profile of its lid and deck.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Rami Tabari)

As laptop prices get higher, even budget laptops are approaching what used to be premium pricing. This is a disheartening trend if you're shopping for one of the best laptops in 2025. However, I have one critical recommendation if you're looking at the best laptop deals and trying to stay on a budget.

I recently reviewed the Asus Vivobook 16 (2025) and found it good but not great. At $799, it's in what we would now deem budget laptop territory, but it's not the best value. I’ve seen the Dell G16 (7630), one of the best cheap gaming laptops with a mechanical keyboard, on sale for $949. However, that’s before tariffs.

In this economy, you may need to ditch the idea of “newer is better” and look to some slightly older premium laptops to find the best laptop values.

Let's dive into some key examples.

1. Asus Zenbook OLED 14

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) partially open on a wooden desk showing back of lid

(Image credit: Future)

To bring it back to Asus, the Asus Zenbook OLED 14 is one of my favorite budget laptops because it's not only affordable but it offers the quality I'd expect in a premium laptop.

The OLED display alone kills it with its infinite contrast, flying far above the Vivobook 16 with its cheap screen. Both laptops offer long battery life, but the Zenbook OLED 14 scores an hour longer on the Laptop Mag test and it's even paired with higher performance.

One of my biggest pet peeves with the Vivobook 16 is its squishy keyboard. The Zenbook sports a smooth and comfortable keyboard. It’s tough to beat, and you can get the Zenbook 14 OLED as low as $569 on Amazon with its Intel Ultra 5-125H version.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: was $799 now $569 at Amazon

Features: 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 500-nit touch screen, Intel Evo Core Ultra 7 155H 16-core CPU, 16GB RAM, Intel Arc graphics, 1TB SSD, webcam with privacy shutter, Windows 11 Home

Laptop Mag: ★★★★½

2. Apple MacBook Air 13 M2

MacBook Air M2 laptops open on stands at an Apple event.

(Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Yes, you can buy the Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 right now at Best Buy for $50 less than the Vivobook 16. In our MacBook Air 15 review, we complimented the laptop for its elegant design, colorful screen, and excellent battery life.

The Vivobook 16 falls short of its battery life and can’t keep up with its display or thin design (0.45 inches vs. 0.7 inches). You can also tap away on the MacBook Air’s keyboard, feeling satisfied thanks to its springy feedback.

The MacBook Air 13 M2 is nearly three years old, but for its current price, it crushes the Vivobook 16 no contest. The two biggest caveats are whether you need Windows, in which case see our previous or next recommendation, or if you need more than just the two USB-C ports available on the Air M2.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M2
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M2 : was $999 now $749 at Best Buy

Features: 13.6-inch (2560 x 1664) Liquid Retina 500-nit display, M2 8-core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p FaceTime camera, macOS

Laptop Mag: ★★★★½

3. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i

The 2024 Lenovo Slim 7i 14-inch (Gen 9) open on a desk showing its colorful desktop.

(Image credit: Stevie Bonifield)

The Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 is a standout laptop from spring 2024 that holds up well against the current competition, and thanks to the inexorable march of time, you can now get this premium laptop for under $800 directly from Lenovo.

It easily beats the performance of the Vivobook 16 in our testing, and the vibrant, gorgeous OLED display of the Slim 7i would make the Vivobook's display look like it's in black and white.

Battery life is the biggest trade-off that you are making, with a little over 10 hours compared to 14 hours for the Vivobook 16, but the other quality of life improvements should make this a worthwhile sacrifice.

Lenovo  Slim 7i
Lenovo Slim 7i : was $1,129 now $799 at Lenovo USA

Features: 14-inch (1920 x 1200) OLED touchscreen display, Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, Intel Arc GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home

Laptop Mag: ★★★★

Rami Tabari
Reviews Editor

Rami Tabari is the Reviews Editor for Laptop Mag. He reviews every shape and form of a laptop as well as all sorts of cool tech. You can find him sitting at his desk surrounded by a hoarder's dream of laptops, and when he navigates his way out to civilization, you can catch him watching really bad anime or playing some kind of painfully difficult game. He’s the best at every game and he just doesn’t lose. That’s why you’ll occasionally catch his byline attached to the latest Souls-like challenge.

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