It’s Black Friday, and that means lots of laptops have gone on sale with little indication as to which are actually worth your time. As always, we recommend shopping directly at retailers like Microsoft, Samsung, Dell and others if you want to spec out your next machine. But if you’re willing to get a pre-configured device, there are plenty of great laptop deals to be had for Black Friday. To help you sort through the noise, we’ve highlighted a few deals on laptops we like at prices that are genuinely lower than normal. Here are the best Black Friday laptop deals we’ve been able to find thus far.
Apple MacBook Air M2
Apple’s latest and greatest MacBook Air is back down to $1,049 at multiple retailers, which matches the lowest price we’ve tracked. This is $150 off Apple’s MSRP and about $55 off the notebook’s typical going rate online in recent months.
The M2 MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops. We gave it a review score of 96 earlier this year thanks to its revamped design, powerful M2 chip, vibrant 13.6-inch display and long battery life, among other perks. Note that the entry-level configuration here does have slower storage performance than the higher-priced SKUs, but if you aren’t looking to do more involved work like editing high-resolution media, that shouldn’t be a significant hindrance in day-to-day use.
Buy MacBook Air M2 at Amazon – $1,049Buy MacBook Air M2 at B&H – $1,049
Apple MacBook Air M1
If you want a more affordable way into macOS, the 2020 MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 SoC is on sale for $799 at Amazon and Best Buy. We’ve seen this deal a handful of times in recent months, but it still ties the best price we’ve seen and comes in about $90 below this entry-level config’s usual going rate.
We gave the M1 Air a review score of 94 back in 2020. To be clear, paying up for the M2 model will get you thinner bezels, fuller speakers, a better webcam, faster charging and slightly faster raw performance. But the M1 chip is still far from slow for everyday tasks, and the older design still gets you a comfortable keyboard and trackpad, an accurate display and more than enough battery to last a full work day. At this price, it remains an excellent value.
Buy MacBook Air M1 at Amazon – $799
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook is on sale for $270 at Amazon, which is a new all-time low and roughly $120 below this 13.3-inch notebook’s typical street price in recent months. We recently named the Flex 5i the top pick in our guide to the best Chromebooks. The Core i3-1115G4 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD included in this config offers more than enough performance for Chrome OS, and in general the device’s backlit keyboard, bright 1080p touchscreen, mix of USB-C and USB-A ports and eight-hour battery life impress for the price.
Buy Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook at Amazon – $270
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 2 is back down to $600 for a configuration with a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. That’s $100 off Microsoft’s MSRP, about $50 off the usual street price and tied for the best price we’ve tracked. We gave this 12.4-inch notebook a review score of 86 earlier this year, and we’ve since included it in our guide to the best cheap Windows laptops. You can get a sharper display and more performance for the money, and the lack of keyboard backlighting is a bummer, but the lightweight build has a more premium feel than most options in this price range, and the notebook itself is still fast and long-lasting for casual work on the go.
Buy Surface Laptop Go 2 at Amazon – $600Buy Surface Laptop Go 2 at Microsoft – $600
Razer Blade 14
A configuration of Razer’s Blade 14 with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an RTX 3080 GPU is currently down to $2,000 at Amazon. That’s about $300 off its typical street price and tied for the best price we’ve tracked. We gave the Blade 14 a review score of 84 last year, and we’ve recommended the similar Blade 15 in recent buying guides and gift guides. It can run a bit hot, and you can still get similarly powerful gaming laptops for less, but it still puts enough power to play demanding games at higher settings in a slim and slick-feeling design that weighs less than four pounds.
Buy Razer Blade 14 at Amazon – $2,000
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
The 8GB RAM/512GB SSD version of Microsoft’s 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 5 is now on sale for $1,000, which is $300 off Microsoft’s MSRP and tied for the best price we’ve seen. We gave this one a review score of 83 earlier this year, praising its elegant chassis, bright 3:2 display, Thunderbolt 4 port and competent performance. The 720p webcam is passable at best, and there are definitely more performant laptops for the money, but if you’re partial to the Surface design language, this is a step up from the Surface Laptop Go 2 above. A configuration with 256GB of storage was briefly available for $700 earlier this week, but that’s now priced at $900.
Buy Surface Laptop 5 at Amazon – $1,000Buy Surface Laptop 5 at Microsoft – $1,000
HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch
A version of HP’s 13.5-inch Spectre x360 with a Core i5-1235U processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is currently available for $912 at HP’s online store, which is about $250 off its usual going rate and one of the better prices we’ve tracked. Just note that you’ll have to manually configure the RAM and SSD and use the coupon code STOCKING5 before checkout. This isn’t a formal pick of ours in any guides, but it’s a fine 2-in-1 option with a thin and light design, a comfortable keyboard and trackpad and strong battery life. It does come with a good chunk of bloatware, though, and the 1920×1280 IPS display in this config could stand to be sharper and brighter.
Buy HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch at HP – $912
Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro
A configuration of Samsung’s 13.3-inch Galaxy Book 2 Pro with a Core i5-1240P CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is down to $750, which is another all-time low and $200 off the device’s typical street price. While not a top pick of ours, this is a decent alternative if you’re looking for a vibrant OLED panel and a particularly thin and light design. Its keyboard isn’t the best, though, and the display’s 16:9 aspect ratio isn’t as convenient for work and web browsing as a 3:2 panel. If you want a similar model in a 2-in-1 design, Samsung’s Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 is available for the same price with twice the RAM and storage — though that model has a lower-quality 720p webcam.
Buy Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro at Amazon – $750Buy Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro at B&H – $750
Your Cyber Week Shopping Guide: Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter. Also, shop the top Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on Yahoo Life. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know, and our car experts at Autoblog are covering must-shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday auto deals.