Best Gaming Laptops under 300 – Top 10 Picks for 2022

Gaming on a budget has always been a challenge for the gaming community. What should one include and what to exclude has always been a hot topic of discussion among the gaming enthusiasts. Of course the gaming enthusiasts want to know the best cheap gaming laptops, and the laptops that can play their favorite games on, both the popular older games as well as some modern games.

The good news is: we are here to help! If your budget is $300 and you’re thinking of buying a laptop for gaming in this price range, then we’ve got you covered. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how you can buy the best gaming laptops at or under $300 price point.

You can either build your custom PC or buy a console. But when the question of portability comes up, the laptop will always be the preferred option. At the end of the day, you can always use a Laptop as a PC and a gaming device too. Laptops are light in weight and can easily be carried around in the backpack or on the go.

Buying a cheap gaming laptop is not an easy task! There are some things that you’ve to consider first and some prior knowledge of what your actual need is. If you’re planning on playing some AAA games, you can get decent FPS on Low to Medium settings. Testing a large number of devices here in our Laptops Studio, we have come up with a detailed guide on what are the basic things that you should consider while buying a cheap gaming laptop including our top selection for the topic. Here’s a summary list of our top picks:

Summary List: Best Gaming Laptops under $300 (2022)

1. Acer Chromebook Spin 311 Convertible – Best gaming laptop
2. HP Stream – Best affordable gaming laptop
3. Lenovo Chromebook C330 – Best performance gaming Laptop
4. BiteCool MosBook – Best Laptop for Work and Gaming
5. ASUS L510  – Best Overall Gaming Laptop
6. HP 14″ – Best Battery Life Gaming Laptop
7. ASUS VivoBook L203MA – Best Thin Lightweight Laptop
8. Lenovo IdeaPad 1 – Best Budget Gaming Laptop
9. Fusion5  S14+  – Best less-known brand for Gaming
10. BMAX X15- Best Newcomer Gaming Laptop

If you have a slightly higher budget, you may also check best gaming laptops under 400.

Our Pick for the Best Gaming Laptops under 300 dollars

Now that we’ve covered what components are essential in this range, and on what components we can slightly compromise, let’s check our top selection in detail for the best gaming laptops under $300.

To make up the list, we- at the Laptops Studio- tested a large number of machines to come up with a list of the best laptops in this price range. All of these laptops meet the standards of playing some newer games with decent FPS.

1. Acer Chromebook Spin 311 Convertible – Best Laptop for Gaming in 2022

he Acer Chromebook Spin 311 is the newest edition in the Acer Chromebook series with a powerful chip-set, high standard connectivity options, and 1366 x 768p Full HD Display. In terms of processing power, you’ll get Intel core Celeron with a base clock of 2GHz.

The chipset alone ensures that you’ll get the maximum performance while gaming with multitasking. The Integrated MediaTek Graphics further pushes the limits of the graphics and provides decent FPS in most modern-day games. It features a 11.6-inch IPS display technology with the vibrant color scheme.

In terms of design, the laptop is slim, well-furnished, and has a silver chiseled on the back. For storage, it comes with 32GB Flash Hard Drive combined with 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM that can be upgraded by using 2 expansion slots. In this price range, The Acer Chromebook is the best value of money under a $300 budget gaming laptop.

You can also check best gaming laptops under 500.

 

2. HP Stream – Best Affordable Laptop

Lenovo IdeaPad codename 130-15AST is a powerful laptop for your everyday gaming usage. The laptop offers AMD 7th generation Dual-core chipset with a clock speed of up to 3.10GHz. The processor paired with AMD Radeon R5 ensures that you’ll get most FPS on demanding games.

Gaming on a budget laptop is like never before, the Radeon R5 GPU chipset provides more integrated processing power than the Intel HD integrated graphics. The built-in passive cooling system ensures that everything stays on point while on maximum usage.

The IdeaPad offers a 15.6 inch 1366×768 60Hz display with AMD IMAP technology for better color saturation. In terms of storage, you’ll get 4GB DDR4 RAM with an expandable capacity of up to 32 GB and 128GB SSD storage.

Also, check the best gaming laptop under 600.

 

3. Lenovo Chromebook C330 – Best Performance Gaming Laptop

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 can handle most of your everyday laptop usage with great performance on the gaming side. The best part of this laptop is that it comes with a great processor, 4GB RAM, and expandable storage, which is the best value for money in this range.

With the MediaTek processor, the Chromebook C330 boots up in seconds, and features easy-to-use Chrome OS, plenty of memory and storage ( 64GB of Flash Hard Drive) .

Easy to use, the Chromebook C330 offers built-in virus protection and keeps going with long battery life. There is no setup needed – just login with a Google account so emails, documents, and photos stay with you via cloud storage.

Providing quality experience and ideal gaming experience, the C330 features an 11.6-inch Anti-Glare Display, 1366 x 768p, that ensures that your eyes won’t get affected by the blue-light emission.

The laptop is also compatible with multiple connectivity options including ethernet cable, HDMI ports, 1xUSB2.0, 1xUSB 3.0 port, and an SD memory card reader. The Chromebook 330 laptop is the best combo of price and performance gaming laptop under $300. The laptop offers all the latest trends that we see in high-end gaming builds.

If you have a somewhat higher budget, then you may also check the The Top 10 Best Gaming Laptops Under 400 in 2022  or if you are in really spending mood then check out the best gaming laptops under 700.

 

4. BiteCool MosBook – Best Laptop for Work and Gaming

BiteCool MosBook, a 2022 model, is a 15.6-inch beastly laptop that offers tons of amazing features without costing you a fortune. Although it’s not considered as a true gaming laptop, it can still run most casual games thanks to the integrated Graphics Support.

The laptop offers a Intel Celeron Dual-Core processor with a burst frequency up to 2.7 GHz.  The processor offers more core and threads, making it ideal for multitasking. The chipset comes with UHD Intel 600 Graphics that can squeeze frame rates on the most decent games by up to 60. The laptop comes with 6GB RAM with 120GB storage which is expandable up to 1TB.

While BiteCool 2022 is quite rich in features, it offers a remarkable Full HD , 15.6 screen. Slim and lightweight, the MosBook is a very slim lightweight ultrabook, only 2.7LB, very portable, and easy to carry.

Also, check the powerful best laptop under 400 computing machines.

 

5. ASUS L510  – Best Overall Gaming Laptop

The Asus L510 is the recent addition in the cheap gaming laptop genre. For a $300 budget this ASUS comes with high-level specs such as 4GB RAM, FHD Display , 128GB HDD, and a dual-core Celeron Processor. All of these specs are great news for casual gaming.

Asus L510 is all-round considered the best gaming laptop under 300 dollars. The laptop processing power is provided by Intel Celeron N4020 2.8 GHz processor that offers enough adequate processing power for casual gaming and multitasking. The laptop mounts a 15.6-INCH FHD display with 1920 x 1080 pixels. It is a widescreen display with enough decent colors to provide you with extended use of multimedia support.

The Graphics card is the Intel UHD Graphics 600 combined with Asus shared memory system for an extra boost while gaming. Given the budget ceiling of 300 bucks, these are excellent specs for a really good performing gaming laptop, and the ASUS L510 can provide decent FPS(frames per second) on most basic games.

In terms of connectivity, the laptop offers VGA, HPMI, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB 3.0 port, Ethernet Connector, and a media card reader. All of these specs are powered by a 3-cell lithium-ion battery that has an approximate runtime of 8-hours on a full charge.

 

6. HP 14″ – Best Battery Life Gaming Laptop

The HP 14″ comes with a high-end hardware for a $300 budget, but the catch is its a RENEWED piece. This pre-owned product has been professionally inspected, tested and cleaned by Amazon-qualified suppliers. Of course , one could get a brand new one if one is willing to dish out an extra 100 bucks above the $300 budget!

The laptop comes with AMD Ryzen 3, 3.5GHz super-fast processor. In terms of storage, it offers 4GB DDR SDRAM, and 128GB SSD storage. Both the RAM and Storage are expandable. For the integrated graphics you get the AMD RADEON Vega 3, and and a 14″ HD display.

All of this combined with a 7-hour battery life makes this laptop a perfect choice for gaming as well as your everyday usage.

The laptop is lightweight and the connectivity options are well suited for the this HP 14″ model. On the left side, you will get a DC Charger port, an HDMI, USB 3.0, and a Type-C port. On the right, you’ll get USB 3.0 port, Kensington lock, and an SD card reader. This leaves nothing to complain about and it is safe to say that the Lenovo 330s is the best gaming laptop under 300 dollars budget.

 

7. ASUS VivoBook L203MA – Best Thin Lightweight Laptop

The VivoBook L203MA is designed to help you with the productivity of all day. The compact and lightweight design of the laptop makes it an ideal choice for work and casual gaming. The laptop dominates 3 factors in any of the aforementioned selections which are small footprint, long battery life, and low cost. Like any other laptop, there are some slight limitations of the build quality. For example, the laptop head is plastic, which is a fingerprint magnet, and heats up if you run any casual game on high settings. On ideal room temperature, it works fine.

In terms of specification, you’ll get Intel Celeron N4000 Processor with a core speed of 2.6GHz combined with integrated UHD 600 Graphics. There’s a 4GB DDR4 Ram with the base unit comes in 64GB of Flash storage. Other features include a 1366×768 display, 4.00 pounds of weight, Windows 10 pre-installed, and hardware configuration option.

Despite its price tag, the whole thing looks premium and doesn’t conflict with the fact that it’s using an entry-level chipset. The screen looks bright, it’s got a great connectivity option, it’s lightweight and pretty much gets the job done.

 

8. Lenovo IdeaPad 1 – Best Budget Gaming Laptop

The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 is one of the most budget gaming laptops you can buy online. The laptop comes in various models, customization options, and price range. In terms of design, it comes in a plastic build material with a matte finish on the front and backside. The laptop 14-inch display has a resolution of 1366×768 LCD screen. In this price range, the 720p factor is the standard in the most budget gaming laptop.

The laptop comes in a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron N4020 processor with a boost clock speed of up to 2.4 GHz. In terms of memory option, you can upgrade the pre-built 4GB DDR4 SDRAM to up to 12GB. On the storage side, you get 64GB SSD.

The keyboard and trackpad on this laptop are excellent as both are very responsive and accurate on key mapping. Things like light gaming are durable on the laptop, Thanks to the Radeon R4 integrated graphic chipset. It can handle basic internet usage, photo, and video editing. Finally, the battery life of IdeaPad 1 is decent and lasts up to 7 hours on high usage and 8 hours on low usage.

 

9. Fusion5  S14+  – Best Laptop for Gaming

If you think that a Chromebook is not capable of gaming than you might have to think again. The Asus Chromebook C202SA is a 2-in-1 Convertible laptop with 180 Degree Hinge design. It has an 11.6-inch Ruggedized and Spill Resistant display that can be used as a laptop or tablet. It is a 1366×768 HD Anti-glare display that is highly optimized for efficient battery usage.

The all-aluminum chassis finish and premium grey and the black color combination provide the look of a high-end premium quality build. In terms of gaming, the laptop is powered by an Intel Celeron N3060 Processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and 32 GB Flash Storage. Although there’s no Optical drive option, the laptop does offer various connectivity ports that you can use easily. You’ll get an HDMI port 2xUSB 3.0 ports, Card Reader, Charging cord, and a Headphone jack.

Chromebook C202SA runs on the latest Chrome OS – an operating system designed by Google to provide the highest productivity and performance on your working routine. It also means that the Chromebook comes pre-installed with all Google essential apps and Microsoft office files. All in all, this laptop is designed for productivity, it can handle some decent gaming title with a stutter-free gaming experience.

 

10. BMAX X15– A Newcomer but with Perfect Gaming Laptop Specs

The perfect gaming laptop doesn’t always rely on compact gaming, it should also perform your day to day task with good efficiency and performance. The final selection for our best gaming laptops under $300 budget list is the BMax X15. Under the hood, you can find a 2021, 4th generation Celeron Processor which runs up to 2.6 GHz. The Windows 10 and other multitasking software run seamlessly on this device.

RAM for the BMAX consists of a dream 8GB DDR4 technology, which is the maximum amount you can get in this category. For all your gaming file storage purpose, this laptop comes with a gigantic 256GB SSD storage that you can extend up to 1TB via SSD slot.

A full-sized keyboard is provided with a narrow bezel for great typing experience. With a 4.7 inch large touchpad, it supports your multi-touch and multi-operation. In addition to this, the laptop is enhanced with the 15.6-inch Full HD ,1920x1080p, IPS technology for sharp and clear images.

The X15 comes with Micro HDMI which allows you to connect your laptop to an external monitor or big-screen TV. For connectivity options, you’ll get a LAN port, HDMI, USB 3.0,Micro-SD Card Reader and SSD slot, and a built-in webcam. The BMAX X15 isn’t your everyday day to day laptop, and contains all the recent hardware (like 8GB of RAM and 15.6-inch screen) and software that combines excellent performance and great value under $300.

 

What things you should consider before buying a $300 gaming laptop

Here are some of the highlighted things that you should consider first when choosing a cheap gaming laptop under 300:

Processor: This is the brain of the whole operation. It is your personal choice to go for AMD or Intel build. The thing to consider here is the generation, base clock speed, boost clock speed, and express technology.

RAM: While most laptops are shipped with 4GB of RAM, it is recommended that you update them on a later date. Look for a laptop that offers more RAM or have an additional RAM slot.

Graphics Card: This is a very important component for the gaming laptops. Though  NVIDIA Graphics cards are the most sought after brand for gaming laptops, for the $300 budget most of the machines have to make do with integrated graphics in laptops. Thus most of the laptops in this price range usually contain an integrated GPU paired with the chipset.

Battery Life: Although it’s not as much as important than the above three points, a good battery laptop with more cells is always preferred. This helps your productivity levels outside of the gaming zone.

Storage: Check the storage capacity of the laptop and the technology used. It can either be an M2 SATA, an HDD, or an SSD.

Resolution: Mostly you’ll see 1366×768 resolution in this range with a screen size of 15-inch or above. Higher screen resolution offers a more refresh rate, hence a better gaming experience.

Other Features: If you want to get the maximum performance on a budget device, you have to make some cutouts. Although these features are as much important as other things that we have mentioned, you can compromise on them. This includes the screen size, resolution, backlit keyboard, cooling system, and SSD or SATA storage, etc.

You can also read how to keep your gaming laptop healthy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a good gaming laptop under 300?

ASUS L510 undoubtedly tops the list whether we talk about it being the best $300 gaming laptop or a good one. Its Intel Celeron processor combined with integrated graphics and a full HD 1080p screen could help you play games like PUBG Mobile at a steady fps rate.

The second best gaming laptop under 300 is BMAX X15 as it also features a super-fast 2021, four-core Intel Celeron N4120 processor along with an anti-glare HD display. Both these gaming laptops would offer you an immersive gameplay experience at an extremely affordable rate. Though the Brand is not well-known as others, the BMax X15 offers tremendous value for $300, with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage, micro-HDMI cable to connect with an external monitor or a big-screen TV,  along with over 15″ display with Full HD resolution. Besides the BMax provides its customers a 12-month worry-free warranty.

2. How long should a 300 dollar laptop last?

It depends upon how you use it. A normal $300 gaming laptop has a lifespan of around 3 to 5 years if you use it with proper care and attention. I remember using my ASUS L510 for straight 5 years and apart from battery, I didn’t need to replace a single accessory in it. So, it all depends upon your usage.

If you don’t utilize it with care and attention, the laptop could barely last only 12 to 24 months. Use it with all the precautions and recommendations given by the manufacturer and you’d carry on with your current $300 laptop for many years to come.

3. Is the Acer Aspire 5 good for gaming?

ASUS L510 is a gaming beast when we talk about affordable gaming machines. The laptop is backed by an efficient Intel Celeron N4020 CPU. More than that it comes with 4GB DDR4 memory and offers full HD graphics at the same time. You can easily play games like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, GTA V, and Need for Speed The Run on this laptop averaging 30 to 50 fps. It’s more than enough considering how cheap the price tag is.

4. Can you use a gaming laptop for everyday use?

Yeah, you can. Latest gaming laptops have got minimalist designs with a lightweight body. Brands like Acer, Asus, and LG are now focusing on making gaming laptops as lighter as possible. That’s one of the reasons you’ll see video editors, engineers, architects, and high school students using gaming laptops in 2022.

Conclusion:

To sum up the topic, here are some guidelines that will help you to choose your perfect cheap gaming laptop. First of all, make a list of all the games that you want to play. If you’re looking to play some casual or low-medium graphics settings games than the products that we’ve mentioned will provide you a decent FPS. If you want to play some AAA titles in Medium-High settings than you have to increase your budget a little bit further.

The next thing you want to consider is the Processor, RAM, and HDD. It is better to go for a High generation chipset, preferred in the 7th and 8th generation category. RAM should be at least 4GB because it is the standard of most games nowadays. Also, the storage capacity should be SSD, because it provides more core speed while loading the game files.

We have carefully reviewed the best gaming laptops under 300 dollars having both high-end and entry-level specs. All of these products are brand new and comes with extended customization options. For our top selection on the list, we’ll pick ASUS L510. It is supported by efficient  Intel Celeron processor N4020, combined with Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 600, 4GB DDR4 RAM and 128GB Storage. There are various models and extended storage options on this laptop. The laptop also features a Full HD 1080p display, which is by far the highest in our list.