Best budget laptops for video editing in 2023

Today, the modern hardware and components from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia have made laptops more powerful and reliable than ever before. This means they can provide unmatched and uncompromised performance when it comes to handling heavy tasks such as video editing.

The best options for affordable video editing laptops are gaming laptops as these devices have high-end specifications and can handle heavy tasks.

But choosing the right laptop for video editing can be a challenging task, especially when you have to consider various aspects like the display quality, processor, graphics card, memory and thermal performance.

To help you pick the ideal laptop for video editing, we've compiled a list of the top laptops, including our top picks from brands such as Acer, HP, Dell, and Asus.

How we do our research

Our ranking criteria

Over the year, we reviewed the number of laptops covering every aspect and use case. We consider laptops with only with 4+ rating other than this we consider processor, design, audio, display quality, and overall performance.

Things to consider when buying

With a number of screen sizes, processor options and other elements buying a laptop for video editing gets harder. Here are some important factors to keep in mind when buying a gaming laptop.

CPU and GPU

CPU and GPU are the most important components of laptops, the better the CPU and GPU, the better the overall performance. Currently, laptops with 10th or 11th Gen processors will do the video editing job.
For the GPU, you can go for Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX. The RTX 30-series can be your latest option. On the other hand, you can also look for laptops with AMD Radeon RX 5000M series as they are capable of doing a decent job.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

RAM is vital since it is where your CPU gets the power. With the higher RAM, you can process data more quickly and seamlessly. Further, we recommend a minimum of 8 GB RAM and a maximum of 16GB of RAM, which can be SDRAM, DDR, DDR4 or DRAM.

Ports

The number and types of ports for external devices on video editing laptops are important as you may have to connect external hard drives and audio devices. So, it's critical to consider a laptop with a maximum number of ports.

Storage

When editing videos, you'll need twice as much hard-disc space as your source file as video files can take up a lot of space - 500GB to 1TB. Therefore, it's ideal to consider a laptop with a higher storage capacity.

The Resolution

When buying a laptop for video editing avoid displays that are lower than 1920 × 1080 resolution. 3840 × 2160 resolution or 4K screens is something to consider as they will give you a decent visual experience.

Keyboard

You’ll spend endless hours pounding the keys while video editing. Consider laptops with a lighted keyboard, which will be helpful during long editing sessions. Also, a multi-coloured backlight keyboard is worth considering as it will enhance your overall editing experience.

Features comparison