Laptops for home and office use have been in massive demand for the past few months. This has helped manufacturers bring in many portable computing devices into the market for a specific use case.
Many users want to invest in some of the best laptops that are available in the market no matter what the cost. We’ve also got laptops for students which feature the latest hardware for productivity apps or even for creators. As gaming has also grown exponentially in India, multiple companies have decided to add affordable products to their portfolio.
1. Mi NoteBook Ultra
2. Realme Book Prime
3. Asus VivoBook K15 OLED
4. Lenovo Ideapad Slim 5
5. Asus Vivobook 17
6. Acer Aspire 7
7. HP 15s
8. HP Victus 16
Choosing a laptop for work need not necessarily be bound within the price range of Rs. 60,000. While you may not be able to get the latest models, there are still some great choices for laptops priced under Rs. 40,000 in India. And if work involves art and designing, we’ve also curated a list of 2-in-1 laptops that you can check out.
The laptops under Rs. 60,000 that are included in this buying guide are more productivity-oriented. They primarily feature Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processors along with an integrated graphics card. Low graphic games like Among Us and RPG and simulation titles can run on these laptops.
Our list of laptops comprises the best portable computing systems from HP. Acer, Asus, Realme, Xiaomi and Lenovo. Any device we list here that is priced a bit higher than Rs. 60,000 are great as well if you’re able to find offers and discounts.
Xiaomi’s 2021 lineup of Mi laptops comes with huge improvements over the Mi NoteBook 14 series from 2020. The Mi NoteBook Ultra is the company’s flagship product. For Rs 59,999, you get the Mi NoteBook Ultra with Core i5, 11th gen and 8GB RAM along with 512GB NVMe SSD. There is also a 16GB variant and a Core i7 variant which costs over Rs 60,000.
In terms of design, the Mi NoteBook Ultra is made up of a series 6 aerospace-grade aluminium alloy with a precision metal cut which gives the laptop a minimalistic yet modern look 一 the build quality of the laptop is excellent and looks very premium. Further, the display has a 15.6-inch IPS 3.2K display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 90Hz screen refresh rate. It is a great display for work as well as watching movies or shows.
Under the hood, the Mi NoteBook Ultra comes with 11th gen Intel Core H35 series processor 一 Core i5 (11300H). You get 8GB of RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD. You also get a 3-level backlit keyboard, customizable macro key, Thunderbolt 4 and an HDMI port in the mix. The battery is great with 10 hours of screen time between charge cycles.
However, the speakers didn’t impress us and the webcam on the laptop could have been a bit better. Apart from that, the Mi NoteBook Ultra is an excellent package for under Rs 60,000 currently.
The company is soon launching the follow-up to the Xiaomi Notebook Pro at the end of August. There are major updates to the laptop, but until its official availability, the Notebook Ultra is still a great buy.
Read our Xiaomi Mi Notebook Ultra review
Realme Notebook Prime is the more premium version in the company's laptop portfolio. The company has been expanding its product segments this past year through its TechLife sub-brand by introducing a desktop monitor as well.
The Notebook Prime doesn't come at the same Rs. 60,000 price tag, but a few discounts, special offers or cashback should lower the price. Apart from the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Ultra, Realme will be aiming to create more affordable products to compete against bigger brands.
When it comes to the specifications of the laptop, it comes with the 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with 16GB RAM. This is ample power for those working from home or even the office. And at the end of the day, you can even enjoy movies on the Quad HD display.
The Asus Vivobook K15 OLED serves a dual purpose. Since the laptop runs on an AMD Ryzen 5 5000-series processor, it gives it an upper hand in multitasking between resource-heavy apps. You also get the benefit of dual storage in the form of an SSD and HDD. Installing apps on the former will make it load faster and you get larger storage for your files on the latter. Now, that makes it a great system for work.
The laptop is also a great device for watching movies and online streaming content due to its OLED display. The Asus Vivobook K15 OLED comes with a large 15-inch monitor that is rated 100% accurate for the DCI-P3 colour gamut.
Even though the laptop comes in a slim form factor, you get many of the essential ports like the HDMI port, USB Type-C, USB Type-A and a microSD card slot.
Lenovo’s IdeaPad is one of the most popular series spread across different price bands, the IdeaPad Slim 5 is the one we recommend in this segment. It is powered by AMD Ryzen 5 5500U which offers excellent performance. It also gives you a large screen estate with a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare display. It weighs 1.66Kgs and is made up of aluminium material which offers a premium look.
Further, the machine also packs in 8GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 OS (upgradeable to Windows 11), and a fingerprint scanner. In terms of battery life, the laptop can last up to 7 hours with heavy usage and can go up to 8 hours in balanced mode. Other features include AMD Radeon graphics, a backlit keyboard, and a front-facing speaker. As for the port options, you get 3x USB-A 3.1 gen 1, 1x USB-C, HDMI 1.4b, SD card reader, headphone jack and Kensington Lock.
The Asus VivoBook 17 M712 laptop is great for large-screen productivity boasting impressive internals and an ample selection of ports. It also offers decent battery life paired with fast charging. For users who prefer working from home on a big laptop, the Asus VivoBook 17 M712 won't disappoint you. But be wary of the weight and lack of a fingerprint scanner.
The Asus VivoBook 17 M712 features a large 17.3-inch display with 1,920 by 1,080 pixels Full HD resolution. It is an LED panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 coverage of 42%. The display is quite large which helps for better management of multiple tabs and keeping up with multiple applications open at once on split-screen if you prefer that. The display isn’t the brightest out there nor is the colour accuracy the best. It is a matte finish display that helps in reducing reflections.
The VivoBook 17 comes with a full-sized keyboard and a regular-sized trackpad as well. Additionally, taking advantage of the large form factor, the laptop also comes with a dedicated number pad on the right 一 which is a handy tool for many.
While we did review the AMD Ryzen 5 model, it is also available in an Intel Core i5 model (the former being sold out on Flipkart). The Intel chipset is equally capable as the AMD chipset providing a higher clock speed and performance.
The design of the laptop is quite hard and rigid, it is strong and feels premium while using. But, this laptop might not be everyone’s cup of tea as it is quite bulky and not that easy to travel with. It also misses out on certain aspects such as a full-size SD card slot, a fingerprint scanner, and also privacy shutter. But, if these are not your concerns, the Asus VivoBook 17 M712 might be the one for you. It is also worth mentioning that the machine costs a little more than Rs. 60,00 - but, if you want a large screen experience this is the one to consider.
Read our Asus Vivobook 17 M712 review
The Acer Aspire 7 features an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U chipset and we have included this as an option for those who want to play a few games. Thanks to the 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU on the machine, the Acer Aspire 7 can be a decent laptop for gaming as well. The laptop can handle games like Call of Duty, Forza Horizon 4, Total War, etc smoothly.
You get a 15.6-inch Full HD TFT LCD with 45% NTSC coverage which isn’t the best. There is an 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD option available. In terms of connectivity and port options, you get the usual USB ports, Type-C port, HDMI port, and also Wi-Fi 6. Lastly, the laptop can last up to 7 hours on a single charge.
The HP 15s is a barebones laptop that is efficient for most professional tasks. And if you want to use it for personal reasons, it can help surf the internet, watch movies and listen to music as well. The 12th Gen Intel Core i5 handles everything smoothly and the processor is fast as well.
However, the premium price is only for the chipset upgrades in comparison to the older models. You do get Microsoft Office 2021 bundled with the laptop and it also runs the latest Windows 11.
The HP 15s will not be much of a gaming machine though and we would recommend buying the Acer Aspire 7 or the HP VIctus in that case.
HP Victus 16 is a gaming laptop that you could consider when it comes to work and play while on the move. The laptop comes with a large display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. This provides a more immersive experience for story and campaign-based games. FPS games will gain more of a quality boost and won't provide high frame rates since the display refreshes only at 60Hz.
The laptop features an AMD Ryzen 5 processor clubbed with the AMD Radeon RX5500M graphic card. You can enjoy most games in medium or high settings on this laptop. And when not playing, its runs smoothly through productivity apps.
