It's not easy to find a laptop at a reasonable price that is both functional and high quality. Gateway's latest effort to regain its status as Walmart's house brand is the 14.1 inch Ultra Slim (549, as tested). While it doesn't pass all tests, it's still very serviceable given its low price. Although the Ultra Slim is a decent chassis, it's heavy for its size.
The touchpad is also mediocre and the display dull. Its 12th Generation Intel processor is a solid performer, it has excellent connectivity, and the battery can last a while, making this a great bargain. While there are other options available for people who want to pay more but get a better deal (the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14), or even spend less while getting the same speed (the MSI Modern 14), this Gateway is a great budget choice.
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The Cow Spots and Budget Basics
The Ultra Slim is a budget-friendly laptop that can be used for general purposes. It's not surprising, however. Although the all-black chassis feels solid, it is made entirely of plastic. The keyboard deck has some flexibility, but this is acceptable as long you don't press too hard.
Some of the flex is due to a design quirk we've seen in Asus and other laptops—as you open the lid, its rear edge props the laptop at a slight incline to improve airflow below and provide a more comfortable typing angle. Most of the notebooks we've seen with this tilt are more expensive, so it's a plus in this economy model.
Its weight is another reason the Gateway feels solid. The Ultra Slim, a 14-inch laptop that weighs in at 3.65 pounds, is much heavier than one would expect. It measures 0.8 by 12.8 and 9.8 inches (HWD), which is thicker than many small-footprint laptops. Ultraportable laptops of 14 inches are often lighter than 3 pounds.
The added heft won't stop you from stashing the system in your bag or briefcase, but it does feel dense. Lighter 14-inch notebooks such as the 3.09-pound HP Pavilion Plus 14 are usually more expensive (sleek engineering isn't cheap), so you can forgive the Gateway for the most part. That said, some affordable laptops are lighter; the MSI Modern 14 is $99 cheaper and only 2.8 pounds. The IdeaPad 3 14 and Asus VivoBook S14 are both just over three pounds.
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Subpar Inputs, But Good Connectivity
Rest of the construction is very poor. The touchpad is a disappointment, with uncomfortable clicks—pressing the middle of the pad doesn't work consistently at all, feeling like a dead zone, while pressing the edges or bottom is more reliable. Although you can click rather than tap, it was irritating for me as I am prone to clicking a lot. It also feels thin and textured, which is not what we prefer.
Nor does the keyboard impress us much. The keys feel both densely packed and too small at the same time, needing a good bit of adjustment or practice to avoid frequent typos. The keys are on the bouncy side but not too mushy, so the typing experience is decent once you get used to it.
The screen can be said the same. The 14.1-inch touch panel has full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution, so at least it's not a 1,366-by-768 non-touch display, but there isn't much to say beyond that. It has a dull picture and the brightness level is too low, even when it is at its maximum. Although the Gateway displays are nice for checking the touch and 1080p boxes, they simply don't look good.
All these gripes are still within the bounds of acceptability for a budget system. The keyboard, touchpad, and screen are anything but great, but if you're seeking a functional 14-inch machine at low cost, there's nothing here that's a deal-breaker.
The Ultra Slim has two USB Type-A ports and one USB-C connector. It also features an HDMI output and a microSD slot. Other features include a webcam that can record at 720p, as well as a fingerprint reader and Bluetooth 5.1.
The webcam's picture quality is predictably mediocre, again meeting the functional-but-unimpressive baseline. Videos are not very sharp, and the camera doesn't handle dim lighting well. The camera does have a sliding privacy shutter, however.
A Closer Look at the Configuration: 12th Gen Intel and Roomy Storage
The core components of a budget laptop's build are just as crucial as its design. Manufacturers must find a balance between performance and cost. This package includes an Intel Core i5-1235U processor, 8GB memory and 512GB solid state drive.
This processor offers Intel's most recent architecture for a very affordable price. 8GB RAM makes it the best choice in this price range. Although it is not as fast or battery-friendly than the P and H series processors, the U denotes that the model number has a 15-watt processor. This combination will get you through your daily tasks. The 512GB storage should be sufficient if you are primarily saving photos and documents, rather than long videos or games.
If you want a litttle more juice, a $699 version bumps the processor up to a Core i7-1255U; both models are available in black, navy, silver, and rose gold. If you're shopping online, make sure you're looking at the 12th Gen version—the superstore still sells older models that otherwise look the same.
Test the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 Inch: Get The Speed You Want
We ran the Ultra Slim through the same benchmark tests as other models to see if it performed well. The table below shows the basic specifications.
Our comparison systems all feature affordable 14 inch laptops. However, some of them have more powerful CPUs than others. While the MSI Modern 14 may be a popular budget choice, its Core i3 processor of older generation is more likely to fall behind. The IdeaPad 3 14 by Lenovo is priced at $519. While the VAIO FE 14.1 and Asus VivoBook S14 are slightly more costly at $799 and $699, respectively, the IdeaPad 3 14 by Lenovo costs just $519.
Productivity tests
PCMark 10, the main benchmark, simulates a range of content-creation and productivity workflows in real life to assess overall performance on office-centric tasks like word processing, spreadsheet work and web browsing. PCMark 10's Full System Drive is also used to test the boot drive's load and performance.
The CPU is also rated using the available threads and cores to evaluate a computer's ability for processing high-performance tasks. Maxon's Cinebench R23 renders complex scenes using Cinema 4D, and Primate Labs Geekbench Pro simulates popular applications such as PDF rendering and speech recognition. We use HandBrake, an open-source video converter to transform a 12 minute video clip from 4K resolution to 1080p (lower speeds are better).
We often run an Adobe Photoshop performance testing as well. However, it crashed repeatedly on the Gateway so this chart isn't available.
Although the Gateway was not a standout, it performed well for daily tasks and was comparable to the more costly models. The Gateway easily beat the MSI Modern 14 by a wide margin, clearing the PCMark 10 4,000 point hurdle. This indicates that the computer is capable of producing high-quality documents like Microsoft Word or Excel. It's not a workstation with high performance. It's not intended to be a high-performance workstation, but it does perform well for word processing and browsing the web.
Testing Graphics and Gaming
Two DirectX 12 simulations are used to test Windows's graphics. Night Raid is a more simple one, and it's suitable for integrated GPUs. Time Spy, on the other hand, requires more effort, and can be used for discrete GPU-equipped gaming rigs. We usually run additional tests using GFXBench 5.0. However, they failed to work on Ultra Slim despite repeated attempts.
3DMark, like our CPU testing, shows that all of these laptops, again excepting the MSI, are in the same range. This is not surprising considering the small integrated graphics. These laptops are not designed for the most advanced graphics or CGI rendering, but they can be used casually or stream media. If you want such software, it is important to find a new aisle.
Testing of the Battery and Display
To test the battery life of laptops, we play a locally saved 720p video file (the Blender movie Tears of Steel). The display brightness is set at 50% and the audio volume at 100%. This will continue until the computer quits. Before testing, we make sure that the battery has been fully charged.
We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
Unplugged, the Gateway has a strong runtime which is a great advantage. Although all five laptops achieved respectable runs, some had better battery lives than others, and each hour is important when the computer is not connected to a power source. As for the screen, I said it didn't look very bright, and the SpyderX Elite proved my point—even at max brightness the panel managed only 214 nits, well below the 300 we consider a practical minimum, let alone the 400 we hope to see from a mid- or high-priced laptop. Like its competitors, it had poor color coverage. Budget notebooks often have screens as a major cost-saving area.
Our verdict: Fairly Affordable Options
Budget laptops are all about getting the lowest price, particularly when your budget is less than $1,000. Walmart's Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 inch laptop is affordable and offers good specs. It also has a good battery life. However, it's difficult to say if it's better than the rest. The build quality is poor, particularly the touchpad. Its performance is average but not exceptional.
Although the Gateway is more expensive than some of its competitors, it offers plenty storage and good connectivity. It's a basic system, but it isn't as impressive as the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14, our Editors' Choice Winner.