Head-to-head · Best Budget Laptops Under $700

Acer Aspire 5 vs Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

The short answer

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.6 vs 4.7). The gap is mostly about everyday productivity, students, knowledge workers, and home users — read the strengths below before deciding.

Ranked #2 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700

Acer Aspire 5

4.6

$358as of May 21

The Aspire 5 is the value pick. 15.6" 1080p IPS + i5 + 16GB at $499 is what every budget laptop should hit. Trade-offs are predictable: plastic chassis, shorter battery. Best for home use, students, and second laptops.

Strengths

— 15.6" 1080p IPS display at $499 — best display-per-dollar in this lineup
— Intel Core i5 / Ryzen 5 options with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD
— Long Acer warranty + parts network

Watch-outs

— Plastic chassis flexes more than the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
— Battery life trails the HP Pavilion 15 by 1-2 hours
— Backlit keyboard not on every SKU

$358 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5

4.7

$649

The IdeaPad Slim 5 is the best-overall budget laptop pick. Ryzen 7 + 16GB DDR5 + 1TB SSD at $649 is genuinely punch-above-class. Best for general productivity, light photo/video editing, and home/student use.

Strengths

— AMD Ryzen 7 7730U — top-tier mobile CPU at this price
— 16GB DDR5 RAM + 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD — generous storage for the price tier
— 14" / 16" options with 1080p IPS panels

Watch-outs

— Integrated Radeon graphics — no discrete GPU like the Acer Nitro V 16 AI
— Trackpad palm rejection is decent, not best-in-class
— Speakers are functional, not impressive

$649 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

How they stack up

Acer Aspire 5

Cheapest pick. Larger display than Lenovo Slim 5 (14"). Less premium build. Less RAM than Slim 5's DDR5.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5

Best CPU + RAM combo in this lineup. More storage than Acer Aspire 5 or HP Pavilion 15. Integrated graphics vs the Acer Nitro V 16 AI's discrete GPU.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Acer Aspire 5	Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
CPU	Intel Core i5 12th gen	AMD Ryzen 7 7730U
RAM	16GB	16GB DDR5
Storage	512GB SSD	1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
Display	15.6" 1080p IPS	14" / 16" 1080p IPS
Battery	8 hours	—
GPU	—	Integrated Radeon

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