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

HP Pavilion 15 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 (4.5 vs 4.7). The gap is mostly about everyday productivity, students, knowledge workers, and home users — read the strengths below before deciding.

HP Pavilion 15
Ranked #3 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700
HP Pavilion 15
$649

The Pavilion 15 is the most-RAM pick. 32GB configurations exist under $700 — uncommon at this price. Best for users who run a lot of browser tabs / virtual machines / Photoshop layers without paying for a workstation tier.

Strengths
  • — 32GB RAM + 1TB SSD configurations available under $700
  • — B&O-tuned speakers — best audio in this lineup
  • — HP Wide Vision HD camera + dual mics for video calls
Watch-outs
  • — Integrated Iris Xe graphics — fine for office work, not for gaming
  • — Chassis is plasticky compared to the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5's aluminum
  • — HP's BIOS update cadence trails Lenovo's
$649 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
$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 AmazonFull review →

How they stack up

HP Pavilion 15

Most RAM in the lineup (32GB config). Better speakers than Lenovo Slim 5 or Acer Aspire 5. Plastic chassis vs Slim 5's aluminum.

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

SpecHP Pavilion 15Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
CPUIntel Core i7AMD Ryzen 7 7730U
RAMup to 32GB16GB DDR5
Storageup to 1TB SSD1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
Display15.6" 1080p IPS14" / 16" 1080p IPS
AudioB&O-tuned—
GPU—Integrated Radeon
← See the full ranking of best budget laptops under $700