15 Best Video Editing Laptops Under $1500

As of March 2022 these are the best video editing laptops under 1500 dollars.

As new laptops launch we’ll keep updating this article replacing the outdated specs laptops with new and more powerful ones.

Best Video Editing Laptops Under $1500

M1 MacBook Pro 13

  • Breezes through Editing
  • Exceptional Performance
  • LONG Battery Life
  • Under $1500

We think that the M1 MacBook Pro 13″ is the best video editing laptop under 1500 right now.

Its M1 chip is stupid fast and efficient and flies through all the tasks especially video editing.

If you want to edit 1080p videos or even 4K videos get this laptop.

Although its 13-inch display size may be a turnoff for some people including myself even because I have the M1 MacBook Air and I don’t like its tiny 13-inch display but other than that it’s awesome laptop!

If it’s a problem for you as well I would recommend that you get an external display monitor that you can plug into your laptop and call it a day.

But if you don’t like sitting around on a desk and would rather prefer a bigger built-in laptop display instead I’d recommend that you wait for their 15-inch or even 16-inch MacBook Pros with M1 or M2 or M1X chip that they’re going to launch soon.

These things are ridiculously fast and efficient which is an odd combination if you ask me because with power comes power consumption but it’s totally the opposite in the case of M1.

It gives you more battery than any MacBook could ever give you before with a more powerful and faster processor.

Unimaginable!

This is the exact reason I’ve switched from a Windows laptop to this M1 MBA for the first time in years.

I’ve never used a Mac before!

It is faster than most desktop computer video editors with Intel processors and phenomenally fast.

Despite the fact that it’s the entry-level MacBook that is intended for the average person to use it is a powerful video editing computer that can even do professional editing.

The fact that even Intel software can run on it in emulation mode and be fast is even more impressive.


Wait…

Here are some more video editing laptops that you can check out.

Because these aren’t necessarily under the $1500 budget range I didn’t include them here.

But they’re selling like hotcakes 🍰 right now so do check them out.


Best Video Editing Laptops Under 00

Let’s now take a look at some more video editing laptops under 1500 dollars.

Because the M1 MacBook Pro is the overall best but there are other Windows-based laptops as well that some people may like more because they can play games on them as well along with editing videos.

1.

MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062

“This laptop is probably the best bang for your buck out there.

A full RTX 2070 with an i7? Yes please.
I’ve tested several games on this machine so far and the experience has been fantastic.”

There aren’t all the features you need in a gaming/editing laptop at this price point but what MSI gives you is just about everything you’ll need.

The hardware is why this is a no-brainer to buy. 

While editing a video the battery should last you about 2 hours and gaming should take just as little time but again if you’re going to be using this then you’re probably going to charge it.

2.

GF65 Thin 10UE-091

“Well Balanced – it seems like this machine is almost a perfect balance of cost and performance.

I removed 1 star because the process of upgrading the RAM to a more reasonable 16gb may have warranty implications.”

I love this laptop because it is very lightweight.

It’s strong enough for gaming but also offers excellent performance when using photo and video editing programs. 

The keyboard is smooth and the display is better than many in the same price range by the way that price is also insanely low.

I’ll need to upgrade the RAM to 16 or 32GB but I have the option to go 64GB which is insane.

A customer shared their experience saying:

“These 5 units came to me very fast considering the weather issues in the USA right now.

I feel so lucky to be one of the first people to get my hands on these MSI Laptops with 30 series video cards! The laptop is stunning slim and blows even my desktop performance out of the water! 5 stars!”

3.

Acer Nitro 5

There’s also some backlight bleed but it’s only noticeable in a dark room with a dark screen.

However it is not annoying enough to be a problem.

Excellent Laptop.

Boots up fast almost instantly.

Plays games so well and runs applications so smoothly.

If you plan on doing graphic work and video editing or playing games this Laptop is the perfect laptop for you.

You will definitely need additional internal Hard drives with this Laptop if you plan to store lots of files games videos etc. 

The 840 Pro is able to accommodate up to 3 hard drive bays each measuring 2.5 inches in-depth along with a slot for a MicroSD card.

So all in all you can add up to 3 solid-state drives.

4.

ROG Zephyrus G15

“Extremely impressed with the quality of this laptop.

Very solid but yet lightweight and thin profile.

Performance has been excellent so far with quiet and powerful graphics.”

For years Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) laptops have been big and powerful where portability was sacrificed. 

With the ROG Zephyrus G15 you get a relatively sleek chassis measuring 36cm x 25.2cm x 1.99cm and weighing only 2.1kg; not bad for the power it contains.

When combined with 16 or 32GB of RAM an AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor with 8 cores and 3 GHz can easily handle intensive video rendering. 

Thanks to a powerful graphics card with six gigabytes of VRAM GPU-accelerated rendering will be rapid as well.

The biggest selling point of this tablet is its 1080p touchscreen.

Its 240Hz refresh rate and IPS display ensure smooth video and games play while its 100% sRGB color and contrast coverage offer 178 x 178° viewing angles.

5.

Dell G3 15 3500

“I’ve had the laptop for about a week know and it’s been working great.

The screen is really good my previous laptop had a 60Hz screen and the difference is definitely noticeable if it were a bit brighter it’d be perfect.”

A customer who already owns it revealed it all so we didn’t have to say much:

“After purchasing DELL G3579 I can say that its one of the most surprising and a great piece for video editing and analyzing as well as gaming experience is way too good as it is supported with NVIDIA graphic card .

the 8 MB cache is amazing.

now regarding the display quality and sound its just perfect.

There is no problem regarding heating.

The only drawback you can take out is its weight but that too is manageable.

Regarding looks its adorable and the blue backlit is lit and gives a gaming as well as techie feeling.

One must just go after it!!!!!!”

6.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14

  • Light portable.
  • Metal Frame.
  • Great keyboard layout.
  • Incredible monitor.
  • Handles any game I throw at it at maximum graphics.

  • Great for video editing.

It’s a great laptop for video editing especially at this $1500 price point as there aren’t a lot of good laptops you have to find the ones that are great for video editing as well as gaming.

But this one for sure is best for editing as you’ll hear from two guys below.

A customer raves:

“Premiere Pro on a laptop? Seriously? YES!! Ryzen 9 4900 8 core/16 thread with 2060 MAX-Q video card runs circles around any laptop I have ever had before and allows me to do photo/video work on-site rather than have to wait to get back home.

It’s overkill for surfing the web watching videos etc.

but when you need the extra horsepower this thing has it! Love it!”

Another one said:

“My gosh! This laptop is the best I’ve ever had in regard to video editing! The specs of this laptop are so good! Very fast and no lag on playback when editing on DaVinci resolve!”

7.

ASUS ROG Strix G15

“Absolutely beautiful.

I love how fast it runs.

The LED lights are also a nice touch.

It charges super fast and has long lasting charge.

So far this computer is all that I hoped it would be.”

The laptop is perfect for serious gamers or productivity users such as those who need to edit video or use Adobe After Effects or even stream. 

The fans of this thing scream though and the RAM speeds are also slower than they’re supposed to be out of the box.

Maybe a BIOS update would fix this.

Also the battery life is going to be terrible as it is on almost all gaming and video editing laptops from Windows unlike the M1 MacBook Air or Pro from Apple they’re stupid fast and efficient as well resulting in exceptional battery life.


Best Video Editing Laptop Under 00

A Buyer’s Guide

Here are a few things to consider when picking up a video editing laptop under $1500 budget range.

Some of these things may be a necessity to have on your laptop others maybe just an optional requirement for some and maybe a necessity for others so please read through the whole guide.

CPU

Intel has fallen behind a little in their CPU innovations beaten by AMD and even Apple now in their first try ever to build a Desktop-grade CPU called M1.

This is exactly why we’d recommend that you go with either the M1 chip from Apple in their MacBook Pro M1 as we said it’s the best video editing laptop under 1500 dollars it’s because of this reason.

Or you can go with AMD instead but don’t go with Intel as their processors are way too hot for 2022 😅 Meaning produce more heat and perform less compared to their competitors AMD and Apple.

GPU

If you’re getting a Window-based laptop we’d recommend that you buy a laptop that has the 3000 series Graphics Card inside.

They’re the most recent GPUs available right now in the market making them the most efficient and most powerful yet.

So if you can get those GPUs at this budget that’d be amazing!

In fact we have a laptop here that features a 3000 series GPU and it’s featured at #2 in this list.

RAM

As for RAM it’s always better to get more with RAM because you never know when you may need it and your computer starts crashing because of less of it.

Ideally in 2022 at least 16GB of RAM is what we’d recommend to every video editor out there those who’re beginners.

But experienced editors already know that 32GB is what they need at the very least.

😅

Display

A 15.6-inch display is more than enough for most people but if you need more get an external monitor don’t look for it right in your laptop because you may end up sacrificing performance to get a bigger display if the larger display model has terrible specs for video editing.

Storage

Storage is completely optional here because most people use external SSDs or HDDs anyway so if you’re going with the M1 MacBook Pro for example even the base 256GB model should be fine if you use an external HDD with it to store the data externally.

But if you’re a rich dude then by any means feel free to get the 1TB SSD version I’m a poor guy so all I’d want to upgrade would be the RAM and I’d use an external drive to increase the storage for cheap.

Misc.

Here we’ll mostly talk about ports.

When we talk about ports we’re referring to windows-based laptops not Macs because they’ve never had any port options anyways other than USB C.

So in terms of port we’d recommend that you look for the RJ-45 port if you’re planning on playing games as well on your video editing laptop.

But if you’re not going to game or only occasional gaming then feel free to mark this one as optional.


Some FAQs about Video Editing Laptops

How much RAM do you need for video editing?

Generally the following are the features you need to see in a computer when you are buying one for video editing (even older/used models): RAM: 8-32 GB preferably 16 GB.

How much RAM do I need for 4K video editing?

You will need at least 16 GB of RAM to edit 4K or 6K content but even with that amount the minimum rises to 32 GB or more. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStorage speed is crucial to both the CPU and RAM since they must be able to access data quickly.

Otherwise their performance will suffer regardless of how fast the two other components are.

Is Core i5 good for video editing?

If you’re just editing home videos like 1080p or 2K video an Intel Core i5 is satisfactory.

But if you’re going pro and need 4K video editing and more you need an Intel Core i7 or i9.

What is needed in a laptop for video editing?

A fast powerful and efficient processor such as the M1 from Apple.

A powerful Graphics Card or at least decent GPU as the M1 has as well even the built-in would do if the program is optimized well to work with your hardware as the Apple combo of M1 with Big Sur and Final Cut Pro.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThey make everything themselves which results in an insane amount of optimization!

Can you edit a 4k video on a 1080p laptop?

Yes you can edit 4K videos on a 1080p resolution laptop.

As long as the components of your 1080p laptop are powerful enough to handle editing 4K videos.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs such if your PC can’t handle 4K editing then you’ll most likely just make use of a proxy workflow that never shows a 4k version before export.

Is RAM or CPU more important for video editing?

Getting to a good processor and decent graphics card is of higher priority than getting more RAM. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is not unusual for video editors to need up to 64GB of RAM.

In fact 32GB to 64GB are not even disproportional amounts of RAM for video editing.

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