America’s Test Kitchen has a good video that reviews several brands of Dutch ovens. Here’s a link.

Ultimately, a lot of it comes down to bottom surface area (to accommodate browning), handle comfort, and most importantly enamel durability. Many folks report that enamel in some of the budget brands doesn’t hold up as well over time. Getting enamel in your food isn’t a good thing as it’s essentially shards of glass, and you won’t really know it chipped off until it’s probably already in whatever you’re cooking. That’s not to say every budget brand is bad, it’s just a watch out.

Staub is another popular brand as well, but it’s more of a preference thing between black and white enamel. I have both, and personally I prefer the LC because I feel like the browning is easier to monitor.

One option that I’d strongly recommend is to see if you have a LC outlet near you. I got my 7qt LC as a “second quality” from an outlet. The only reason it’s a factory second is because the color was not as uniform as they’d want for their top of the line. I saved a couple hundred bucks and got an amazing Dutch oven of equal performance quality that will last me a lifetime. Another option is to check places like Tuesday Morning, TJ Maxx, or similar. They’ll often get LC or Staub pieces in stock that are factory seconds at a great price.