Best gaming laptop under 300

Getting the best gaming laptop under 300 can help you keep gaming on the go, without spending too much to do so.

As is the case with the best gaming PCs under 500, you're unlikely to play the newest games on the highest settings, but you can still enjoy a lot of great experiences. You can even get something with a decent resolution too, if you look hard enough.

With this in mind, we’ve selected these laptops based on our research into their specs, features, general reviews, and other points that we think make them worth considering. We’ve also answered some of your most frequently asked questions so you can pick the best ones for you.

Let’s get into it – here are some top picks for the best gaming laptop under 300 available today.

Best gaming laptops under 300

1. Acer Chromebook 314 - best from Acer
2. Lenovo IdeaPad 1 - a great Lenovo option
3. ASUS VivoBook E510MA - top ASUS alternative
4. Lenovo Chromebook Duet - best 2-in-1 device
5. HP Chromebook 14A G5 - a superb HP Chromebook for gaming
6. Dell Inspiron 15 3502 - top pick from Dell

Credit: Acer

1. Acer Chromebook 314

Best Acer gaming laptop under 300

The Acer Chromebook 314 looks like a great all-around choice for casual gaming, as well as for day-to-day working, too.

Its 14-inch panel is large enough for casual gaming, and its 1366x768 resolution should be good enough for most day-to-day tasks. There are also some slim bezels which help it to look rather modern indeed.

Inside, the Acer Chromebook 314 features an Intel Celeron N4000 processor which should be rather speedy for basic tasks, as well as 4GB of RAM to offer you some good headroom if you're pushing this Chromebook to its limits by opening more tabs or trying out any more intense workloads.

Its quoted battery life of 12 hours or so also means you'll be able to game for a while without having to worry about this machine conking out.

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Credit: Lenovo

2. Lenovo IdeaPad 1

Best Lenovo gaming laptop under 300

The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 looks to be a handy choice for those wanting the versatility of a Windows gaming experience on a budget.

Inside, it features an Intel combo of a Celeron N4020 processor and integrated UHD Graphics 600, which should be able to offer you a capable experience for casual gaming, as well as for more general productivity work.

In addition, the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 features a 64GB SSD, which should provide some pretty quick boot speeds, as well as enough storage to install a few games and applications to get you up and running.

Moreover, you'll also find a 14-inch FHD panel, which should provide both a good amount of screen real estate and clarity for a day's work and casual gaming.

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Credit: ASUS

3. ASUS VivoBook E510MA

Best ASUS gaming laptop under 300

The Asus VivoBook E510MA looks like a decent choice if you're looking for a larger display laptop.

It features a 15.6-inch display, giving you loads of screen real estate to work with, as well as some rather thin bezels to maximise the screen-to-body ratio and offer up some sleek modern looks. It's also a Full HD panel, which should give you some detailed images.

Inside, you'll find the Asus VivoBook E510MA features an Intel Pentium N4020 processor which, with its dual-core setup, should be good for casual gaming, and 4GB of RAM gives you a nice amount of headroom to work with. This comes alongside 128GB of eMMC storage, which provides you with plenty to store your favourite games and apps on.

You'll also find the versatility of Windows 10S and 8 hours of battery life, which gives you some good mileage before you'll need to charge the laptop back up again.

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Credit: Lenovo

4. Lenovo Chromebook Duet

Best 2-in-1 gaming laptop under 300

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet looks to be an excellent choice for casual gamers looking for the versatility of a 2-in-1 device.

This means it's not only a dinky little ChromeOS-based laptop but also, with a detachable keyboard cover, can double up as a useful tablet, too. This can give you access to a wider variety of games, with more mobile-oriented titles working especially well.

It's worth checking out which games can run on ChromeOS because the operating system isn't always compatible.

Its 10-inch touchscreen looks to provide some great colours, as well as being rather bright and vibrant, too. In addition, the MediaTek Helio P60T octa-core processor inside should provide you with some pretty nippy performance for both casual gaming and general working, too.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet also looks to have a decent battery life of around 13 hours, so you'll be able to game for a good while before needing to charge things back up.

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Credit: HP

5. HP Chromebook 14A G5

Best HP gaming laptop under 300

The HP Chromebook 14 looks like a handy choice for those wanting the simplicity of a Chromebook and some great battery life.

You'll find it'll last for around ten hours, so you'll have plenty of go-juice for all your favourite casual games and for day-to-day working and productivity tasks, which is useful.

Inside, the HP Chromebook 14 features an AMD A4-9120C processor and Radeon R4 integrated graphics that should be beefy enough for casual gaming, and 4GB of RAM should also mean you've got adequate headroom for those more intensive tasks.

It's also got a 14-inch 1366x768 display that should be decently bright with a quoted 220 nits, and 32GB of eMMC storage is also rather handy for downloading a handful of your favourite apps and games to your laptop.

eMMC storage stands for embedded MultiMediaCard storage and works similarly to USBs and SSDs.

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Credit: Dell

6. Dell Inspiron 15 3502

Best Dell gaming laptop under 300

The Dell Inspiron 15 3502 is a marvellous choice if you're all about having a large storage capacity with decent load times.

You'll find it's got a 128GB SSD inside which not only gets you some speedy load times as it's solid-state storage but also gives you loads of capacity to work with, too, for storing any apps or games.

Inside, the Dell Inspiron 15 3502 utilises a combo of Intel's Celeron N4020 processor and integrated UHD Graphics 600 which should do the basics well, whether you're playing some casual games or powering through a night's work

There's also a large 15.6-inch display on offer with narrow bezels for a sleek look that also gives you a large amount of screen real estate to play with, which is handy for gaming and day-to-day working.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We've answered some of the most commonly asked questions below to help you search for the perfect budget gaming laptop.

Should I buy a gaming laptop for under 300?

To be totally honest, you won't find any strictly gaming laptops at this price point. Instead, you'll be looking at a selection of Chromebooks and Windows S laptops that can be used for casual gaming as much as they can for general productivity tasks.

For these laptops in a general sense, we’d say they’re worth it given how useful and versatile they are for more basic computing but can be used for casual gaming if you so wish.

What should I look for in a gaming laptop for under 300?

In essence, you’ll be looking for a laptop that features a decent multi-core processor alongside some integrated graphics, as well as around 4GB of RAM.

For storage, we’d say to try and find 64 or 128GB if you can for maximum headroom, although it may end up being eMMC storage, as opposed to an SSD.

Display size is likely to be between 13 and 16 inches, giving you a good middle ground for productivity and gaming. Full HD panels can be had at this price, although it may be more realistic to expect 1366x768, which is still fine for day-to-day work.

Is 4GB RAM good for gaming?

This all depends on the kind of gaming you’re going to be involved in. For the types of games that the laptops above will be able to run, 4GB should be absolutely fine. After all, it’s likely to be more casual titles that can be downloaded from Google Play or Microsoft Stores, or less intense titles.

If you want to play the latest AAA titles though that will be more intense, then heading for more power in a general sense is advisable, for which you’ll be spending a fair bit more than £300/$300.

Can a laptop under 300 run games?

In short, yes it can, although you will of course have to adjust your expectations as to what games you'll be able to play.

For a laptop under 300, you'll more than likely be playing more casual titles such as those found on the Microsoft or Google Play stores.

You may also be able to meet the minimum specs for cloud gaming services such as Nvidia GeForce Now, which would allow you to play AAA titles on your laptop over the cloud.

Is it okay to play games on a laptop while charging?

In short, yes. Nothing is stopping you from playing games on a laptop whilst it charges. However, it's worth making sure you're not keeping the laptop plugged in whilst it's fully charged because this can harm the battery's max. capacity.

To be honest, it makes more sense to play games on a laptop whilst it charges so you don't have to worry about battery drain while you're gaming for the sake of peace of mind.