When picking the best laptop for you, you'll likely find yourself picking between a huge range of brands, but when it comes to value, you'll have to pick between two: HP or Lenovo.
Two great quality brands with tonnes of great-value laptops on their belts, you can get yourself a powerhouse laptop for a great bargain with both HP and Lenovo, but what are the real differences between them?
At What's The Best, we aim to give you the very best buying guidance, clueing you in on the good, the bad, and the downright awful – this brief guide is here to compare these two mighty brands, deciding once and for all, which laptop brand is best.
HP laptops
HP (or Hewlett-Packard) is a multinational technology manufacturer known for its high-quality laptops, desktop PCs, and printers. However, they're well-known amongst tech enthusiasts as a go-to laptop brand, and their quality truly speaks for itself.
HP laptops are known for their terrific value and durability – often cased in a metal chassis with shallow chiclet keys, HP's quality is apparent from the moment they're out of the box. HP makes some of the best laptops for working from home of the year, and a lot of that is down to build quality.
As for their component value – HP has some fantastic laptops that offer solid performance – there are many laptops made by HP that offer 8GB of RAM for less than £500, which is a steal in the modern tech market.
Another advantage of HP is its breathtaking array of laptops in practically all price ranges; there are budget laptops that sell for as little as £200, all the way up to £1,000 and beyond – there's a truly phenomenal amount of options for people looking for a great HP laptop.
Some users have experienced some lack-lustre battery life when it comes to lower-end HPs, which is certainly there – but for most, keeping your laptop plugged in is essential anyway.
HP is almost certainly the way to go for slick laptops with great build quality that is also lightweight and durable.
Lenovo laptops
Lenovo is a Chinese manufacturer that has taken the global market by storm in recent years with its range of high-quality laptops, as well as smartphones, TVs and more.
On the other hand, Lenovo's laptops are slightly bulkier and often made of plastic. Don't get us wrong, the quality is great – many Lenovo laptops are built to last, but the build quality and general feel of Lenovo's laptops don't chalk up to HP.
When general performance is concerned, Lenovo crushes its competition - yes, they don't sell many laptops under £500. Still, pretty much all of them have around 16GB of RAM – a true sweet spot for working and even gaming.
Lenovo laptops are often equipped with innovative features, such as a touchscreen or pointing sticks, to assist with quick navigation, which is often the case even at lower price points.
Lenovo vs HP: the verdict
Regarding balancing performance and value - we think Lenovo offers better laptops in general, with a solid, impressive performance even in its cheaper low-end laptops.
Lenovo makes some of our favourite laptops under £600, and there's no mystery why. With strong, well-made and reliable specs, these laptops are made to perform well with a limited budget, which they certainly do.
On the other hand, HP's laptops are made with longevity in mind - the metal chassis and strong chiclet keys found even on cheap laptops are downright impressive, despite overall technical specifications being a little lack-lustre compared to Lenovo's.
If immediate performance is your concern, pick a great Lenovo laptop; if future-proofing is more of what you had in mind - HP is probably the way to go.
Ryan Houghton is a commercial content writer for What’s The Best, known best for his expertise in gaming, with a particular soft spot for PC gaming, audio tech, televisions and smartphones.
Diligently writing for What’s The Best for almost two years, there are very few tech products Ryan hasn’t had his hands on to review; televisions, headphones, folding phones and even LEGO, if it’s nerdy, he’ll be there.
His well-versed history as one of the resident techies at What’s The Best has kept him keen to uncover the very best deals, savings and offers for those in need of a cracking deal to upgrade their setup.
In his downtime, Ryan most likely has his nose buried in a fantasy book, or his eyes glued to a screen whilst playing a tough-as-nails Soulslike or leisurely RPG, indulging in most forms of escapism where possible.
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