Choosing a laptop for Photoshop for editing and graphic designing can be quite tricky. You need a fairly advanced unit that has the necessary power but complies with your budget as well. Most users are fairly oblivious to the new GPU and CPUs hitting the market and other new technologies. As a result, they are often not in the best position to make a choice.
In this article, we will be presenting to you some of the Best Laptops for Photoshop and other editing purposes. Read on to find out.
List of Best Laptops for Photoshop with Reviews
ASUS Vivobook S15
The Asus Vivobook 15.6 is designed keeping in mind the needs of graphic designers. It does not have the most intensive specs but is capable of doing a good job. It uses the i3-1005G1 with a Base Clock Speed of 1.2 GHz along with 12Gb of DDR4 memory.
It is quite light in weight and measures only 3.7Lbs and offers 5 hours of battery life. The 256 GB SSD allows for quick booting and loading of applications. The display is quite sharp with 15.6 inches of Anti-glare display. The product does not have an in-built graphics card and comes with Intel UHD graphics.
Key Features
- Makes use of an Intel i3-1005G1 processor.
- Uses 256 SSD storage
- 12 GB Ram Capacity
- Sharp display
- Lightweight design
- Quick Booting
- Good processing capability.
2 Microsoft Surface Book 3
The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is one of the best budget-friendly options for Photoshop. It uses a 10th Generation i7 processor and is much faster than its predecessor. The Surface Book 2. It has a decent capacity of 256 Gb and also packs in an Nvidia GTX graphics card. This makes it suitable for both Editing and also gaming purposes.
The screen has a dimension of 13.5 inches, and the display is LCD. The expected battery life is 15.5 hours which does sound a bit too good to be true. It has slots for USB-A and USB-C and also SD card slots. Also, you get a free upgrade to Windows 11 as well.
Key Features
- DisplayPort
- Nvidia GTX graphics
- SD Card reader
- Impressive Build Quality
- Battery life
- Budget-friendly option
- Fast processing Speed
3 Lenovo ThinkPad X1
This is a laptop meant for those who are serious about photography and editing. It has some impressive specs like 16 GB of ram and 512 GB of SSD capacity. The processor used is an i7-8650U which is a quad-core processor with a base clock speed of 1.9 GHz. The build quality is quite impressive, and the design is rugged, which makes it quite durable.
The Display screen uses IPS technology which makes the viewing smooth from all angles. The laptop is quite light in weight and measures around 1.4kg. The graphic used is UHD 620 with LPDDR3 memory. There are 4 USB ports with 2 of them being USB 3 ports. Other features include Bluetooth and Fingerprint reader. This budget laptop is highly recommended for photoshop.
Key Features
- Has 16 GB ram and 512 GB of SSD capacity.
- Fingerprint reader
- Has the i7-8650U processor
- Rugged and durable design
- Fast charge function
- Multiple USB ports
- IPS technology
4 Lenovo Yoga 720
The best aspect of the Yoga 720 is undoubtedly the 15 inches 4K screen, required in a laptop for photoshop. 4K screens have better color contrast and accuracy when compared to normal screens. The Laptop uses the Core i7-7700HQ Quad-Core Processor with a base clock of 2.8 GHz and a boost clock of 3.8 GHz. Moreover, unlike some of the other Laptops, this one has a dedicated GPU unit-Nvidia GTX 1050.
It has 16 GB of DDR4 Ram operating at 2133 MHz along with 512 GB of SSD storage. The flip and fold design allow you to remove the keyboard and work with the screen alone. The screen uses IPS technology and has a resolution of 3840*2160. Also, there is a fingerprint reader along with 1 USB 3.1 port along with 2 USB 3 ports. Although it is not short of features, this does make the Laptop to be on the heavier side.
Key Features
- Has a 15.6-inch 4K UHD display.
- Uses the Nvidia GTX 1050 for graphics display.
- Has a 16 GB DDR4 ram along with 512 GB of SSD.
- 4K UHD display.
- Good battery life
- USB 3.1 and fingerprint reader
- Strong design
5 Acer Aspire E 15
The streamlined design adds to the aesthetics and also makes it easy to carry the Laptop around with ease. The processor used is the Intel Core i7-8550U with a base clock of 1.8 GHz. Also, you can make use of the Turbo Boost technology to bump up the clock speed to 4 GHz, which is beneficial while multitasking and running heavy programs like Photoshop.. The LED display makes use of IPS technology and has a dimension of 15.6 inches.
There is 8GB of dual-channel memory and also 256GB of SSD storage. The graphics adapter is the Geforce MX150 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. The battery life is fairly long, and you can expect around 15 hours. The quick-access compartment also makes it easy if you want to upgrade the RAM or SSD capacity. Other key features include an SD card reader, HD Webcam, and also two stereo speakers.
Key Features
- 8 GB of ram and 256 GB of SSD capacity.
- Nvidia Geforce MX150 graphics.
- Makes use of an Intel Core i7-8550U processor.
- Impressive build quality
- Good battery life
- Includes SD card reader
- Good video memory
6 Dell Inspiron i5577
The Dell Inspiron i5577 is considered a medium-range Gaming Laptop, but it can also do a good job in editing and designing as well. It is equipped with a 7th Generation Intel i7-7700HQ and has a base frequency of 2.8 GHz, which can be boosted up to 3.8 GHz when the need for higher processing power arises. It has a 512 GB Solid State drive and does not include any optical drive. The inbuilt memory is 16GB DDR4, and you can expand it to 32 GB if necessary.
The graphics adapter used is the Nvidia GTX 1050 with 4GB of dedicated video memory, which could be quite useful for designing and editing purposes. The budget laptop is quite thin, fairly light, and is finger-print resistant. There are 3 USB 3.0 ports, and the 15-inch screen uses an Anti-Glare LED display as well.
Key Features
- Has 4GB of dedicated video memory
- Has 16 GB of ram and SSD drive with a capacity of 512 GB
- I7 processor with a boost clock of 3.8 GHz.
- Good construction
- Impressive Processor performance
- Graphical power
- Anti-Glare display
7 Acer Aspire 5
The Acer Aspire 5 comes with a very impressive CPU-the Intel i3-10110u which has a max clock speed of 4.1 GHz. In terms of performance, there are very few laptops that are better. There is a 4 GB of dedicated DDR4 and 128 GB of SSD storage. In terms of storage, there are better choices. The graphics adapter used is the integrated UHD graphics 620. The keyboard is backlit, and the product offers around 9.5 Hours of Battery Life.
The screen size is 15.6 inches, and it makes use of IPS technology which takes away the importance of viewing angles. The color sharpness and crispness really help while working with different projects. The Wi-Fi 6 feature really helps with the connectivity. There are 3 USB 3.1 ports of which one is a Type-C.
Key Features
- A very powerful processor in Intel i3-10110u that offers great performance.
- 4GB of Ram and 128GB of SSD storage.
- Intel UHD Graphics 620.
- Good Battery life
- Brilliant Display
- Impressive Processing Power
- Intel Wi-Fi 6
8 Lenovo ThinkPad P53
This is a mobile workstation that offers great performance at a decent price. It makes use of a 15.6″ Full HD (1920×1080) LED Display that has a 16:9 Aspect Ratio. The processor used is the Intel Core i7-9750H which has a clock speed of 2.60GHz. It also comes with NVIDIA Quadro T1000 Graphics. In terms of raw processing power, this offers sufficient juice for running Photoshop and offers a whopping 32GB DDR4Ram, which would suffice most needs.
The design is meant for flexibility, but it is a tad bit on the heavier side Not a deal-breaker though! The battery life is good, and there are multiple USB ports for use. Moreover, it has built-in Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. There is a total of 1 TB of storage space in the form of an SSD. Ultimately, the ThinkPad P53 is meant for designers who are constantly on the move and need that raw processing power now and then.
Key Features
- Makes use of the Intel Core i7-9750H processor
- Features a 1TB SSD and 32 GB ram.
- NVIDIA Quadro T1000 Graphics
- The best option for power-hungry users.
- Full HD display with 16:9 Aspect Ratio.
- Easy to use.
Buying Guide for the Budget Laptops for Photoshop
All the models listed above are some of the more affordable options. However, besides the price, there are some other factors to be considered when choosing a Laptop. Read on to find out more.
Storage
There are two kinds of storage options available-HDDs and SSD. The difference between them is that HDDs offer more storage space while SSDs are much faster. For designing and editing, we would recommend you to go for an SSD. They help to launch the software much faster, and even the installation is quite quick in SSDs. If possible, choose a Laptop with 128GB of SSD or more. However, do keep in mind that SSDs are quite expensive.
Display
While working with graphics, it is essential to have a good display so as to analyze your work. Having a better resolution means that you can view the details much more clearly. The minimum resolution that you should aim for is 1080p. There are some Laptops that offer 4K resolution as well. Also, other technologies like IPS are fantastic as you get pretty much the same viewing experience from all the viewing angles. Some displays are touchscreen which could be optional as well. Touch screens are a subject that divides opinion to this date.
Processor
The processor is the most important component that you should be looking for while choosing a Laptop for photoshop. Photoshop mainly uses the processing power of the CPU, and it is recommended that you should have a CPU with a clock speed of 2.1 GHz or more. Ideally, the recommended clock speed would be 2.5 GHz or more. Also, there are some processors with multiple cores and hyperthreading. More cores would be better for people who are used to multitasking. 3D Modelling is also quite demanding on the processor.
Ram
The RAM is the short-term memory where files are loaded while being worked upon. Photoshop requires a decent amount of Ram. Most of the laptops come with around 4GB of Ram. However, we would recommend at least 8 GB of Ram to ensure smooth functioning while editing. On the contrary, having too much Ram might not be ideal as well. A 16GB ram would be more than enough for any sort of casual editing work.
Battery
Working with Photoshop can be quite a demanding process, and therefore would recommend choosing a Laptop with around 8 hours or more of battery life to maximize your productivity.
Wrap Up
We hope you have enjoyed this article on the best Budget Laptops for working on Photoshop. While all the choices mentioned are fairly on the less costly side, they have some very different features. If we have to recommend one, it would be the Dell Inspiron i5577. For any queries regarding the content, do write to us.
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