Expert pick: Elevated Entertainment Experiences
13th Gen Intel Core i7, RTX 4060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD & 240 Hz QHD Display Takes Games to a New Level
Lenovo 16" Legion Pro 5i 16IRX8 Gaming Laptop (Onyx Gray)
- 2.1 GHz Intel Core i7 16-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 RAM | 1TB NVMe SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6)
Live Stream Your Best Moves
NVIDIA RTX 4070 + 1080p Webcam + Wi-Fi 6E
Compete with Speed & Precision
RTX 4080 Graphics + 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz Display + Core i9 24-Core CPU
Maxed Out Performance
Core i9 24-Core CPU + RTX 4090 Graphics + 32GB DDR5 RAM & 1TB SSD
High Performance for Gaming & Content Creation
Intel Core i9 14-Core + NVIDIA RTX 4060 + Plentiful RAM & Storage
Acer 16" Predator Helios 16 Gaming Laptop (Abyssal Black)
- 2.1 GHz Intel Core i7 16-Core (13th Gen)
- 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz IPS Display
- GeForce RTX 4070 GPU (8GB GDDR6)
Other Buying Options
Lenovo 15.6" LOQ 15IRH8 Gaming Laptop (Onyx Gray)
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7 14-Core (13th Gen)
- 16GB DDR5 RAM | 512GB M.2 SSD
- 15.6" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 (6GB GDDR6)
Other Buying Options
Acer 16" Predator Helios 16 Gaming Laptop (Abyssal Black)
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz IPS Display
- GeForce RTX 4080 GPU (12GB GDDR6)
MSI 17" Raider GE78HX Gaming Laptop (Dark Gray)
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 17" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (12GB GDDR6)
Acer 15.6" Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop (Black)
- 12th Gen Intel Core i5 Processor
- 16GB of DDR5 RAM | 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
- 15.6" 1920 x 1080 IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics
ASUS 16" Republic of Gamers Strix SCAR 16 Gaming Laptop (Off Black)
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz Mini-LED Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (12GB GDDR6)
ASUS ROG Strix G16 Gaming Laptop (2023, Eclipse Gray)
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 RAM + 1TB SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (8GB GDDR6)
Gigabyte 15.6" G5 Notebook (Black)
- 12th Gen Intel Core i5 Processor
- 16GB of DDR4 RAM | 512GB M.2 SSD
- 15.6" 1920 x 1080 at 144 Hz
- Dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050
ASUS 17.3" Republic of Gamers Strix SCAR 17 Gaming Laptop
- 2.5 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX 16-Core
- 32GB DDR5 | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 17.3" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (12GB GDDR6)
Acer 15.6" Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop
- Intel Core i7 10-Core (12th Gen)
- 16GB DDR5 | 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 15.6" FHD 1920 x 1080 165 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6)
MSI 15.6" Thin GF63 Gaming Laptop
- 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7 10-Core (12th Gen)
- 16GB DDR4 | 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 15.6" FHD 1920 x 1080 144 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6)
ASUS 13.4" ROG Flow Z13 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop
- 2.6 GHz Intel Core i9 14-Core (13th Gen)
- 16GB LPDDR5 | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 13.4" 2560 x 1600 IPS-Level Touchscreen
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU (6GB GDDR6)
Acer 16" Nitro 16 Gaming Laptop (Obsidian Black)
- 3.2 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 8-Core
- 16GB DDR5 | 512GB SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 165 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU (8GB GDDR6)
MSI 16" Raider GE68HX Gaming Laptop
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 | 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (8GB GDDR6)
Dell 17" XPS 17 Notebook (Platinum)
- 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900H
- 64GB DDR5 RAM | 2TB M.2 SSD
- 17" 3840 x 2400 Touchscreen
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
Razer 16" Razer Blade 16 Gaming Laptop (Matte Black)
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 32GB DDR5 RAM | 2 x 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
- 16" 3840 x 2400 120 Hz Mini-LED Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (16GB GDDR6)
Other Buying Options
ASUS 17.3" TUF Gaming F17 Laptop (Mecha Gray)
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 12-Core (12th Gen)
- 16GB DDR4 | 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 17.3" FHD 1920 x 1080 144 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6)
MSI 15.6" Stealth 15 Laptop
- 2.1 GHz Intel Core i5 8-Core (13th Gen)
- 16GB DDR5 | 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 15.6" FHD 1920 x 1080 144 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6)
ASUS 16" Republic of Gamers Zephyrus Duo 16 Gaming Laptop
- 2.5 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX 16-Core
- 32GB DDR5 | 2 x 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, RAID 0
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz Mini-LED Display
- 14.1" 3840 x 1100 ScreenPad Plus
ASUS 15.6" TUF Gaming F15 Laptop (Graphite Black)
- 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 6-Core (11th Gen)
- 8GB DDR4 | 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD
- 15.6" 1920 x 1080 144 Hz IPS Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6)
Acer 16" Swift X 16 Laptop
- 4.0 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS 8-Core
- 16GB LPDDR5 | 1TB SSD
- 16" 3200 x 2000 OLED Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU (6GB GDDR6)
MSI 16" Raider GE68HX Gaming Laptop
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 24-Core (13th Gen)
- 16GB DDR5 | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
- 16" 2560 x 1600 240 Hz Display
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6)
Gigabyte 15.6" AORUS 15 Gaming Notebook (Black)
- 13th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor
- 16GB of DDR5 RAM | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
- 15.6" 2560 x 1440 at 165 Hz
- Dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
Gaming Laptops
Unlike their PC brethren, gaming laptops are designed for gamers on the go. They're portable, powerful, and, with the right specs, offer a gaming experience similar to what you would find on a gaming PC. The key to selecting a great gaming laptop is knowing what specs to look for, how those specs align with your own needs, and which specs to prioritize in case you have to choose one over the other. With those points in mind, let's talk gaming laptops.
GPU
For gaming laptops, the graphics processing unit (GPU) is probably your most critical piece of hardware. In general, the GPU determines which games and game settings your laptop can adequately handle. For example, less powerful GPUs can support select titles played on lower game settings. Mid-tier GPUs can handle those same titles and more on higher game settings. The most powerful GPUs can handle almost any title on the highest game settings and fully support the most demanding applications, such as VR. One of the best and easiest ways to determine which GPU you need is to look at the system requirements of the titles you’re interested in playing. Most, if not all, will tell you the base GPU requirements.
Display
The display quality can be critical to your gaming experience, especially if you don’t plan on connecting your laptop to a monitor. Unlike the GPU, a lot of what determines a good gaming display is subjective. For example, the size of the display. Not everyone wants or needs an 18″ panel; some users prefer something smaller. Necessary screen resolution, too, can be subjective, though you should never get anything less than 1080p. On the flip side of that, if you’re looking at a gaming laptop with a high screen resolution, make sure it’s got a high enough refresh rate to avoid motion blur and ghosting. And if there’s one piece of advice that’s pretty universal when it comes to gaming laptops, it’s that you should probably avoid touchscreens. There aren’t a ton of gaming laptops with touchscreens out there, but the ones that exist tend to have a glossier display that can negatively affect visuals.
Battery Life
The irony of gaming laptops is that despite their portability, in general, you still need to plug them in. Obviously, they all come with built-in batteries, but the truth is, if you’re playing AAA games on high settings, odds are you’ll burn through your battery power pretty fast. And if a gaming laptop does come with any kind of battery-saver mode, it’s usually enabled by weakening other features, like dimming your display. The point is that battery life probably isn’t going to be a useful indicator for determining which gaming laptops are good, so don’t get too hung up on it.