Looking for the best laptops for video editing under $700? well here in this post ill tell you everything you need to know to do video editing at the best possible settings and get great results at the same time!
From the lowest specifications to the best specifications. You need something that’s versatile and that does the job. But let me tell you that its not easy finding laptops under $700, especially ones with strong specifications, why? because there is no “best” option.
There are a lot of laptops that offer good specifications for video editing , but few of them offer the “best” functionality. Because video editing is a demanding skillset- it requires a laptop with good specifications.
You need a laptop that has a good amount of ram to run multiple processes, a good processor, a 9th generation intel processor at least, and two of the most important things.
The graphics card and the storage space. The two of these things count a lot when it comes to video editing, you need an extremely powerful graphics card to render those video frames, especially in demanding processes such as motion tracking, vfx , vision mixing , NLE and various types of video editing.
You need tons of storage space to store those mp4, avi and other video related file formats.
My point is that you need to have a powerful laptop if you want to do video editing on a budget. According to the research I’ve done, you need to have at least these specifications or something close to these if you want the best video editing laptop under $700:
Minimum Specifications You Need
Processor | 7th Generation Intel Core i5 CPU or equivalent |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 500GB HDD |
Display | 15-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Screen |
Graphics Card | Nvidia MX450 Graphics Card |
Battery | 5 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
Now you know exactly what you need for video editing. And with that being said , lets move on to our list of the top 9 best laptops for video editing under $700. They won’t have the exact specifications as above , but they’ll be close and hopefully, you’ll find this guide helpful in buying your laptop.
1.MSI GF63 Laptop

Processor | Intel Core i5-9300h 4core 2.4 – 4.1GHz |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 256GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Screen |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 [Max-Q] 4G GDDR5 |
Battery | 4 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
Priced at $683 only, this laptop is one hell of a machine. Powered by an intel core i5 9300h 4.1Ghz processor, this makes the MSI GF63 ultra fast. With this processor , you can run multiple tasks at the same time and run demanding applications such as Adobe Premier Pro, Final Cut, and Filmora. The i5 9300h comes with 4 CPU cores and 8 threads.
The Benchmarks of this processor are incredible, it scored a whopping 8200 (out of 10,000) on CPU benchmark which is proof of how fast this processor is , and when compared with the AMD ryzen 5 3500U and the i7 8750H laptop processors , the i5 9300H provides the best value for money.
Moving on, the laptop comes with 8GB of DDR4 ram along with a 256GB NVMe SSD. The ram is quite sufficient for video editing, it can handle most video editing processes like its a walk in the park.
But the SSD is not enough, like i said in the first paragraph, your video editing laptop should have at least a 500GB harddrive(HDD) or Solid state drive (SSD) to store high quality videos.
Fortunately for you, the MSI GF63 is fully upgradable , incase its not performing according to your expectations, you can always upgrade the SSD and ram.
Moreover, this laptop has the iconic GTX 1650 4GB graphics card, so it won’t have any trouble running video editing applications. And the best part? this is a gaming graphics card, which means that you can play the latest games on it. EASILY!
I mean how cool can this laptop be? it has all the features you could want for a video editing laptop.
The battery is up to par , its average so you might have a bit of trouble with portability, but fear not! you can always carry the laptop charger with you.
The laptop has a standard issue windows 10 home, which of course, comes with a free upgrade to windows 11.
Overall , i would say that this laptop is best if you’re a seasoned video editor with tons of video editing experience. WHY? because you need something that can handle the most heavy video editing software without breaking.
2.Acer Swift 3 Laptop

Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 8core 4.1 GHz Processor |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 512GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 14″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | AMD Radeon Graphics |
Battery | 4 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
Priced at $690. Just like MSI GF63 thin. It packs a serious punch, an octa-core processor! hard to believe right? the processor is actually the signature feature of this laptop.
The AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 8core processor is a mean machine with incredible video processing capabilities, you could literally be video editing and playing games simultaneously , that’s how amazing the AMD Ryzen 7 processor is.
But that’s not all , the Ryzen 7 processor is made specifically for video editing ( i personally tested it), and it proved to be amazing.
Furthermore, the Acer swift 3 comes with 8gb of ram and a decent storage capacity of 512GB, and the best part ? its an SSD which means your videos will be loading in a quarter of a second,
I admit the 14″ screen isn’t as big as the MSI gf63 (15.6″) but just look at how powerful the processor is! , its quite hard to find a processor as good as this nowadays, and that too in a laptop!
Now here comes the main part, the Acer swift 3 is a good laptop, but it lacks the most important feature, you guessed it , a dedicated graphics card. The single most important feature is missing.
The built-in radeon graphics is actually integrated within the ryzen 4700U processor, so it can only run light video editing applications.
Overall, this laptop is a durable machine with a thin and light architecture, so i would recommend it for beginners who are just starting out with video editing, trust me , as a beginner , you don’t want to spend thousands of bucks on video editing laptops.
Test the waters first , get this laptop, and see if it performs upto your expectations.
3.Lenovo ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop

Processor | 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 512GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 4GB GDDR5 |
Battery | 6.5 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
Priced at $698. This laptop is worthy of being called the best video editing laptop under $700. Why? just look at the table above! it has everything a video editing laptop needs, and when we compare it with our minimum requirements at the top, it excels.
Powered by an Intel i5 9300h 9th generation processor, and just like the MSI GF63, this processor is super fast, apart from the processor , as you can see it has 8GB of ram which is enough to run video editing applications smoothly.
And a good amount of storage space , NVMe technology. And just like the MSI GF63, it has the Nvidia Gefore GTX 1650 4GB Graphics card.
I know , its quite similar to the MSI GF63, but there are two things that set them apart, the battery backup time and the storage space.
Now think about this, by paying just $16 extra than the MSI GF63, you’re getting a massive upgrade, hard to believe right? with the extra battery life of 2.5hours you can easily extend your video editing sessions without having to worry about putting it on charge frequently.
And with a 512GB NVMe SSD you can store all of your videos, but thats not all , apart from the amazing features that this laptop offers, there’s more.
IT IS UPGRADABLE! You read that right, the ram and storage are fully upgradable , the ram can be upgraded upto 128GB! thats a big deal when it comes to laptops and The SSD is upgradable to 2TB! (2 terabytes).
Now this made you think right? I’d say that this is the perfect laptop for beginners and seasoned video editors, check it out.
4.Acer Nitro 5

Processor | 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 256GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 4GB GDDR5 |
Battery | 5 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
You’re probably wondering that most of the laptops under $700 come with an i5 9th generation processor, the nitro 5 is quite similar to the MSI GF63.
Apart from the battery duration , everything is exactly the same. But there are a few differences, when i compare both laptops , i would choose the Nitro 5, why?
Because the Graphics card used in MSI GF63 is a MAX-Q graphics card, and the second reason being the build quality.
The build quality of the nitro 5 is much better than than the GF63, the nitro 5 feels sturdy and versatile. While the GF63 feels like im holding a delicate thing such as a baby.
And when it comes to Graphics performance the nitro 5 is slightly better than the GF63 , because of the MAX-Q version, so there you go , if i had chosen video editing as a career then i would go with this laptop.
Because its future proof , it should be good for about 4 to 5 years and it has some really cool specifications, take a look at this article for a more detailed review on the acer nitro 5.
Overall , i would say that you should get this video editing laptop if you want something future proof.
5.Asus Zenbook 14

Processor | AMD Ryzen™ 5 5500U |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 256GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 14″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce MX450 |
Battery | 12 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
According to the benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5500U laptop processor outperforms the i5 9300h by a massive difference, its almost equivalent to the Intel i7 10750H laptop processor.
The Ryzen 5 has a base clock of 2.1Ghz and a turbo boost upto 4.0Ghz , which means that this laptop is insanely fast and it’ll easily be able to run every video editing application, out of all the ones I’ve reviewed so far, this laptop has the best laptop processor thus far.
Getting to the point, the ram is enough to run most video editing applications but a cause for concern is the storage capacity, a 256GB SSD will hardly be enough to store all of those videos that you render
But worry not , because this laptop is also upgradable, here’s the most interesting thing about this laptop though, it has a 12hour battery life! , thats almost triple the amount that we’ve seen in laptops uptil now
But thats not all , the main thing that we should look for is the graphics card, the zenbook 14 comes with an Nvidia MX450 Graphics Card, which is an entry level GPU for beginners.
And it should be just enough to accomodate your video editing needs, so i would say that the Asus Zenbook 14 is a perfect laptop for people who are just starting out with their video editing career.
6.Acer Aspire 5

Processor | Intel Core i5-8265U Processor (Upto 3.9 Ghz) |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 256GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
Battery | 8 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
This is the cheapest laptop in this list, why? because its a bit old, but it does the job , the processor is an i5 8th generation, its pretty decent, with 4 cores and 8 threads, you’ll be able to run any kind of video editing application on this laptop.
And with a turbo speed of 3.9Ghz , the processor is quite fast and capable. The ram is enough to run most video editing applications, but more demanding video apps such as Adobe premier pro, and sony vegas might require more ram , why?
Because in this laptop, the processor and ram go hand in hand, where the processor lacks , the ram will fill the gap and where the ram lacks, the processor will fill the gap.
The Screen is big, with an almost 16″ display, so you likely won’t have any problems with that, moreover, the battery life is insane!, it gives an 8hour battery backup under heavy load, on average.
But this laptop lacks a dedicated graphics card, be that as it may , its a good and capable machine, but only if you use it for very light video editing, i would recommend this video editing laptop for absolute beginners who are literally just starting to learn video editing
So you might want to upgrade from this laptop after a year or so , in that case , id recommend the Acer Nitro 5 AN515 gaming laptop, its a huge upgrade from this laptop and should be more than enough to cater to your video editing needs.
7. DELL Inspiron 15 5510

Processor | Intel Core i5-11300H Processor (Upto 4.4 Ghz) |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 512GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | Iris Xe Graphics |
Battery | 6 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
This is an average laptop, the processor is great, its the latest 11th generation i5 11300H processor, with a turbo speed of 4.4Ghz , which makes this processor really fast and capable of running all the demanding video editing applications.
The processor has suffecient amount of cores; 4 cores and 8 threads, and is said to be equivalent to the i7 9th generation processor.
Then comes the ram , like all the other laptops in this list, the ram is 8gb which is enough-and the SSD is 512Gb in this one, more than enough to accomodate every kind of video file.
After that, the display is quite amazing , with a 60hz 15.6″ IPS screen you’ll have no problem with viewing your videos
And finally comes the graphics card, the Intel Iris Xe graphics card is a built-in graphics unit inside the intel i5 11th generation processor, just like the AMD firepro graphics card.
What makes this graphics unit good is that it doesnt draw much power from the battery and thus , increases the battery life of your video editing machine, however its not much if you’re a professional video editor.
Because as a pro video editor, you’ll be needing a laptop with a powerful graphics architecture, so this laptop will not be of much use to you, except that there is a workaround for the graphics card, you can simply use an external graphics card such as the Nvidia GTX 1070 external GPU
But ofcourse it comes at a hefty price of $300. So according to the research I’ve done on this laptop, id say that this is best for beginners, you professional video editors should stay away from using this laptop because it might not be enough for your use.
8.HP Pavilion X360

Processor | Intel Core i5-1035G1H Processor (Upto 3.6 Ghz) |
Memory&Storage | 8GB RAM DDR4; 512GB NVMe SSD |
Display | 14″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | Integrated Intel HD Graphics |
Battery | 9.15 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
The Pavilion X360 is only on this list because of two things, the first thing is the battery, it lasts a whopping 9 hours and 15 minutes! , but thats not all, this laptop also has the HP fast charge module which enables it to go from a 0 to 50% charge in only 45 minutes!
This laptop has some unique elements but lacks the important features that you need for video editing, for example, lets take the graphics card, this laptop doesn’t come with a dedicated graphics card, which is most essential.
So you can get the most bang for the buck. An Intel HD integrated Graphics card won’t do you much good when because its not powerful and lacks dedicated video ram.
The ram and storage space are good enough to run most video editing applications but if you can’t render those video frames then whats the use of a high storage device?
So i would only recommend this laptop if you want to watch video tutorials on youtube lol.
9.Dell Inspiron 3000

Processor | AMD Ryzen 3 3250U 2.60GHz Dual-Core( up to 3.50GHz ) |
Memory&Storage | 16GB RAM DDR4; 1TB NVMe SSD |
Display | 15.6″ FHD Widescreen IPS display (1920 x 1080) |
Graphics Card | AMD Radeon Graphics |
Battery | 7 Hours Backup |
Windows Version | Windows 10 Home |
Okay this one is quite good , but again it lacks a dedicated graphics card, but the thing is that you’re looking for laptops under $700, the focus word is $700. We’ve looked at a lot of laptops in this list and most of them have dedicated GPUs.
But if one laptop has a good processor then it lacks a good GPU , whereas if it has a good GPU then it lacks a good processor, you can’t have both at the same time in this price range.
This Laptop has the latest AMD Ryzen 3 Processor , which comes with an integrated AMD radeon graphics unit, just like intel HD graphics, this isn’t powerful enough to run demanding video application.
But the ram and SSD are quite amazing, 16GB ram and 1000GB of SSD Storage, so what you can do is that you can get an external GPU and just call it a day 😉
FAQs
Which Budget Laptop Is Good For Video Editing?
The laptops we’ve looked at thus far are good, but the best one in this list would be the Lenovo Ideapad L340, among all of the laptops that we’ve looked at, this one has the most amount of specifications and huge upgrade potential.
Priced at $698, it has everything an expert video editor would need and is a good long term investment for newbie video editors as well.
Which Brand Laptop Is Best For Video Editing?
All of them. You see, it doesn’t matter which brand you get , what matters is that your video editing laptop should have decent specifications, atleast enough to run video editing processes.
Because the main idea here is to get a video editing laptop that does the job, so the brand doesn’t matter much in this regard, but if you still insist , then i would say that these are the top 4 Brands :
- Acer
- Lenovo
- HP
- Dell
Which Laptops Do Youtubers Use For Video Editing?
Generally, youtubers use an Apple Macbook Pro for the purposes of video editing, but you can use any kind of laptop that meets the minimum specifications for video editing laptops, and you’re good to go.
Think of it this way, these youtubers didn’t start off with a macbook pro, they gradually transitioned from a low specifications laptop to a high spec laptop, so you gotta work hard and try to make do with a cheap video editing laptop.
Is Dell Inspiron Good For Video Editing?
Of course! if the Inspiron series wasn’t good for video editing then why would I mention them in this post? The dell inspiron series has been one of the most successful laptop series from Dell.
Why? Because of the incredible amount of specs that they offer at such a low price point, take for example, the Inspiron 5510 laptop, it has an 11th generation Intel Core i5 Processor and it only costs $710.
Is Intel i3 Good For Video Editing?
It depends upon which i3 Generation you’re talking about, there are different kinds processor generations , the oldest ones perform the worst and the newest ones perform the best.
Lets compare the i3 2nd generation and the i3 11th generation. Out of the 2 of these processors, which one do you think will perform better?
The i3 11th generation Processor ofcourse, why? because as technology keeps advancing, so do the processors at intel, besides, they have to keep up with AMD as well ;).
Is i5 Enough For Video Editing?
Again, it depends upon the Generation of the processor, but in most cases , even the old generations , an i5 Processor is more than enough to handle heavy video editing tasks.
Is HP Good For Video Editing?
It depends on which HP laptop you’re talking about, if you’re talking about a 10 year old outdated HP laptop then ofcourse it won’t be good for video editing.
But if you’re talking about the latest HP laptops which have a good processor and a decent Graphics Unit then HP is good for video editing.
Are Macbooks Good For Video Editing?
Macbooks are great for video editing! infact, most youtubers use macbooks for video editing because of their high resolution and perfect specs.
Conclusion
Bottom line is that all of these laptops have something that another laptop lacks. It all boils down to your requirements.
Are you an expert video editor? Choose the Nitro 5 or the GF63. Are you a beginner video editor? Choose the Inspiron or The HP Pavilion.
So i leave that up to you. Ofcourse you guys want more of this amazing stuff so be sure to check out my technology blog.