I test laptops for a living — here’s 7 Prime Day laptop deals that are actually worth it
Amazon Prime Day officially kicks off tomorrow (July 16) but you can find many excellent deals on some of the best laptops right now. And these deals aren’t relegated to just Amazon as several competitors have also slashed prices on some incredible notebooks.
I’ve scoured the internet for the best laptop deals to suit different means. This includes best Chromebooks, best MacBooks and best Windows laptops. Whether you’re looking for a dependable budget laptop for school or a powerful rig that can play the best PC games, I’ve got you covered.
Here are 7 Prime Day laptop deals that are actually worth it and that I recommend.
Acer Aspire 3: was $324 now $299 @ Amazon
The Acer Aspire 3 is an awesome choice for anyone looking for a laptop on a budget. It comes with a 15.6-inch FHD IPS touch display, AMD Ryzen 3 7320U CPU, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 128GB SSD.
Asus VivoBook 15: was $379 now $309 @ Amazon
Ideal for students or basic work, the Asus VivoBook 15 is a budget machine that won't break the bank. It features a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS LCD, Core i3-1115G4 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. It's a little too underpowered for demanding tasks, but can pass when you just need to surf the web or watch some videos.
Acer Nitro 5 w/ RTX 3050: was $839 now $695 @ Amazon
The Acer Nitro 5 is a solid budget gaming laptop, featuring an Intel Core i5-10300H CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8 GB RAM, 256GB storage and a full HD 144-Hz screen. This laptop is a great choice for gamers who want to play big-budget games at moderate settings.
MacBook Air 15 (M3): was $1,299 now $1,099 @ Amazon
The new MacBook Air is powered by Apple's latest M3 silicon. The laptop can support up to two external displays, and Apple claims its 60% faster than the M1-based MacBook Air. It boasts up to 18 hours of battery life. In our MacBook Air 15-inch M3 review, we said the Editor's Choice laptop delivers fantastic performance from its M3 chip along with class-leading battery life (15:03). It packs a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display (2880 x 1864), Apple's M3 CPU w/ 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.
Asus ROG Strix G16 (2024): was $1,399 now $1,289 @ Amazon
The Asus gaming laptop packs in a whole lot of power. Its native 1080p screen (1920 x 1080) is paired with an impressive 165Hz rate. You also get a Core i7-13650HX CPU, RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD. It's an ideal laptop for hardcore first-person shooter fans. We also appreciate the fact it supports Wi-Fi 6E.
MacBook Pro 14 (M3/512GB): was $1,599 now $1,399 @ Amazon
The M3-based MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops you can buy. In our MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 review, we said it delivers blistering performance with a brighter display than its predecessor, robust graphics and super-long battery life (17 hours with 25 minutes). If you upgrade to the M3 Pro or M3 Pro Max chipset, you get to snag this laptop in a stunning new Space Black finish with 18GB or 36GB of RAM, respectively. The base model features a 14.2-inch 3024 x 1964 Retina display, Apple M3 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
Alienware m16 R2: was $1,699 now $1,399 @ Dell
With a sleek design, a comfortable keyboard and strong gaming performance, the 16-inch Alienware m16 is easy to recommend. This is a great price for a gaming laptop that houses an RTX 4060 GPU and an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor.
Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.