$500 Windows laptops rival the MacBook Neo

Today Apple announced Its new budget MacBook. At $599, it looks really impressive. While I haven’t tested its performance, battery life, or display yet, it might be hard to beat at this price based on some specs alone.

But this does not mean that competition does not exist. I want to recommend two Windows laptop deals that offer different advantages over the MacBook Neo, illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of the Neo.

First, check out the Asus Vivobook 14, a laptop I’m happy to recommend as a budget PC for last year. In many ways, this is the Windows version of a laptop like the MacBook Neo. It uses a highly efficient ARM chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X, which means it has great battery life and performs great in everyday tasks. It’s not quite as thin or light as the MacBook Neo, but it’s fairly portable for a laptop at this price.

Asus

VivoBook 14 (X1407QA)

Unlike the MacBook Neo, the Vivobook 14 comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That’s double what you get in the entry configuration of the MacBook Neo. Right now, this configuration of the Vivobook 14 is on sale for $539. This is a killer deal for those specs. It even comes with a healthier mix of ports, including HDMI, two USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and a headphone jack. This also means it can support two external displays unlike the MacBook Neo, which can only handle one.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all saying that the Vivobook 14 is a knockout over the MacBook Neo. Based on the specs alone, I know the Vivobook 14 is a serious step down when it comes to the display. It’s less sharp, stretched across a larger screen, and color performance isn’t as good. The Vivobook 14 maxes out at 280 nits, while Apple says the MacBook Neo can reach 500 nits. I have a hunch that the MacBook Neo will offer a much better display in almost every respect.

There’s also a touchpad. It’s a bit fiddly to use, which is typical of budget Windows laptops. This is just a guess, but the touchpad on the MacBook Neo will likely be smoother. It’s a mechanical trackpad (unlike the MacBook Air’s haptic feedback trackpad), but Apple has never made a bad trackpad.

If you’re not convinced by the Asus Vivobook 14, I also recommend the HP OmniBook 5, which is currently on sale for $500 and uses the same Snapdragon It’s not brighter than the Vivobook 14, but it gives you much better color performance and contrast. It’s also just 0.50 inches thick, which matches the MacBook Neo in terms of portability.