The best gaming laptop is all about performance, portability, and price. Whether it’s a sleek ultrathin gaming notebook or a full-on desktop replacement, gaming laptops offer a versatility for their owners you simply can not get from a desktop gaming PC.
As the battle between AMD and Intel rages, anyone shopping for a new gaming laptop will have many great options. On the CPU front, AMD’s Ryzen 6000-series processors have been giving Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake chips a run for its money. The same can be said about AMD’s new mobile GPUs slowly closing the gap to Nvidia’s RTX 30-series offerings.
The newest gaming laptops are getting more portable yet still sport all the fancy features of high-end gaming PCs. We’re talking multicore CPUs, high-end GPUs, and speedy NVMe SSDs. You can even find heaps of RAM and super-high refresh screens under the hood. Gaming laptops with mechanical keyboards even exist, in case you can’t live without that sweet clackity clack like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15(opens in new tab).
Thankfully, gaming laptops mostly sidestepped chip shortages and are generally available for purchase. However, it looks does mean manufacturers have focused on providing more high-end configs though they are some exceptions like Dell, who offer some pretty impressive sub-$1000 gaming laptops.
Of the hundreds of gaming laptops we’ve tested over the years, the ones that make this list always offer the best of three things; best balance of performance, portability, and price. Whether you’re a student, professional, or just a gamer, there should be a laptop that’s right for you here, and we’ll continue to update this guide with the latest models as they’re pushed out.
1. Razer Blade 15
The best gaming laptop
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Up to Core i9 12900HGPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 TiRAM: Up to 32GB DDR5Screen: 1080p @ 360Hz, 1440p @ 240Hz, or 4K @ 144HzStorage: Up to 1TB SSDBattery: 80WhDimensions: 9.25 x 13.98 x 0.78 inchesWeight: 4.63lbs
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
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REASONS TO BUY
+Unparalleled build quality
+Wide range of CPU/GPU options
+Looks as good as it performs
+Great battery life
REASONS TO AVOID
-Trackpad can be awkward
-Razer premium price
Our favorite config:
Razer Blade 15 | Intel Core i7 12800H | Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti
Razer Blade 15 | Intel Core i7 12800H | Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti
You can, of course, go for the big boi—the RTX 3080 Ti—but in this slimline chassis, the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti will deliver fantastic frame rates, even at the 1440p resolution of the 240Hz screen. You also get a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD and 16GB of dual-channel DDR5 RAM at a blistering 4,800MHz.
VIEW DEAL
The latest spin of the Razer Blade 15 once again improves on one of the best gaming laptops ever made. It has the same gorgeous CNC-milled aluminum chassis as its predecessor, only this time it can house one of Nvidia’s latest RTX 30-series GPUs and an Intel 12th Gen Core i9 CPU.
We’ve played with the Razer Blade 15 Advanced with a 10th Gen Intel chip and RTX 3080 (95W) GPU inside it. And we fell in love all over again. We’ve also since then tried out the larger Razer Blade 17 with an RTX 3080 Ti(opens in new tab) humming away inside it, alongside one of those tasty 12th Gen chips and still stand bewildered by what will fit inside such a compact and neat chassis.
The Razer Blade 15 is the overall best gaming laptop on the market right now.
That said, you will get some throttling because of that slimline design, and even on the larger Blade 17 the battery life can be a little slim, but you’re still getting outstanding performance from a beautiful machine.
The Blade 15 isn’t the lightest gaming laptop you can buy, but five pounds is still way better than plenty of traditional gaming laptops, while also offering similar performance and specs. That heft helps make it feel solid too. It also means the Blade 15 travels well in your backpack. An excellent choice for the gamer on the go… or if you don’t have the real estate for a full-blown gaming desktop and monitor.
Keyboard snobs will be happy to see a larger shift and half-height arrow keys. The Blade 15 Advanced offers per-key RGB lighting over the Base Model’s zonal lighting. Typing feels great, and I’ve always liked the feel of the Blade’s keycaps. The trackpad can be frustrating at times, but you’re going to want to use a mouse with this gorgeous machine anyway, so it’s not the end of the world.
One of the best things about the Blade 15 is the number of configurations(opens in new tab) Razer offers. From the RTX 3060 Base Edition to the RTX 3080 Ti Advanced with a 144Hz 4K panel, there’s something for almost everyone. It’s one of the most beautiful gaming laptops around and still one of the most powerful.
Whatever config you pick, we think the Razer Blade 15 is the overall best gaming laptop on the market right now, though you will be paying a premium for the now-classic design.
Our favorite config:
The Legion Pro 5 proves that AMD is absolutely a serious competitor in the gaming laptop space. Pairing the mobile Ryzen 7 5800H with the RTX 3070 results in a laptop that not only handles modern games with ease, but that can turn its hand at more serious escapades too.
The QHD 16:10 165Hz screen is a genuine highlight here and one that makes gaming and just using Windows a joy. It’s an IPS panel with a peak brightness of 500nits too, so you’re not going to be left wanting whether you’re gaming or watching movies.
The Legion Pro 5 really is a beast when it comes to gaming too, with that high-powered RTX 3070 (with a peak delivery of 140W it’s faster than some 3080s) being a great match for that vibrant screen. You’re going to be able to run the vast majority of games at the native 2560 x 1600 resolution at the max settings and not miss a beat. The fact that you can draw on DLSS and enjoy some ray tracing extras for the money all helps to make this an incredibly attractive package.
This is a lovely laptop to actually type on too. Folks have always gushed about how good Lenovo keyboards are; I always ignored them because I don’t trust people that are too into keyboards. But, I will admit, I think I get it. The rounded bottom keycaps have a nice feel to them. Add that with the large 4.7 x 3-inch touchpad, and you’ve got yourself a lovely work laptop that plays games well. I wish other laptop makers would take advantage of the added space of 17-inch gaming laptops and use it to make our lives easier.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 made me realize that Legion laptops deserve a spot at the top.
If anything knocks the Legion 5 Pro, it would have to be its rather underwhelming speakers and microphone combo. Anything with a hint of bass tends to suffer, which is a shame. The microphone was another surprising disappointment. My voice, I was told, sounded distant and quiet during work calls, which paired with a mediocre 720p webcam doesn’t make for the best experience. I will commend the Legion for fitting a webcam on a screen with such a small top bezel though—A for effort.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 made me realize that Legion laptops deserve a spot at the top, being one of the more impressive AMD-powered laptops we’ve gotten our hands on recently. From the bright, colorful screen to the great feeling full-sized keyboard, The Legion Pro 5 has everything you want in a gaming laptop for a lot less than the competition manages.