Heading off to uni this year? A reliable laptop that balances performance, portability, and price is your academic lifeline. At Plugg, we’ve scoured expert reviews, UK deals to find you the top student laptops under £600 for 2025.
Whether you’re studying literature or coding all night, these picks get the job done without breaking the bank.
What do you really need?
8 GB Minimum RAM (Random Access Memory!) Ideally you will need 16 GB.
With modern multitasking, 8 GB is the bare minimum, you want your laptop to keep up with you not slow you down!
When in a lecture multitasking, looking at lecture slides, taking notes and maybe a shopping tab open too, you’re going to want a little more RAM to make sure you aren’t lagging behind.SSD Storage, Not HDD
A solid-state drive (256 GB+) dramatically improves responsiveness, boot times, and application loading essential for campus life.Battery ≥ 8 Hours & Lightweight Build
You'll spend long days between lectures and libraries. A heavier laptop with a dying battery won’t keep up. Look for 1.2 kg–1.5 kg and solid runtime.UK-Specific Deals Count
Always check manufacturer websites (like Asus or Lenovo) for student or seasonal discounts that are often not on mainstream comparison sites. Which? notes that Asus offers 15 % student discounts buying direct, and Lenovo, HP, Dell often run unadvertised voucher codes.Refurbished Business Laptops Can Be Great Value
Don’t forget about the environment, those refurbished devices can be of great value as they are basically brand new and a fraction of the price!
Top Picks:
- Acer Aspire 15 (Ryzen 5) (~£499)
A well-balanced machine with the Ryzen 5 processor, sufficient RAM (often expandable), and a 15.6″ display.
Great for note-taking, research, and multimedia. Currys pricing puts this squarely within budget.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 (~£199)
If your coursework is web-centric (think docs, email, browsing), this Chromebook-style laptop handles light productivity with excellent battery life and leaves extra budget for textbooks!
- Refurbished Macbook Air 13-inch, 2020 (Backmarket) (~£479)
Why chase the latest MacBook, when last year’s model still handles 100 tabs and saves a laptop from landfill?
All the benefits of a new Macbook, PLUS you have can be guilt free as you’ve done your bit to help the planet!
Don’t forget!
- Check for student discount offers!
- Use trade in models to get that price down! Double check if you can trade in an old phone for money off a laptop, you can do this at Apple so see if that Macbook is on budget!
- Check finance models, but be careful they don’t catch you out on interest or long term contracts!
- Wait for those sales periods where you know the discounts are coming like Black Friday, Cyber Monday (end of November!) and of course Christmas!
If you want a well-rounded student laptop that performs all day, the Acer Aspire 15 stands out for under £500. For ultra-lightweight, high-battery survival on a serious budget, the Lenovo Chromebook variant is hard to beat.