Best gaming laptops in 2024: I've had my pick of portable powerhouses and these are the best
Don't compromise on power or portability with the best gaming laptops.
We've been testing the best gaming laptops, digging deep into the latest flavors of AMD processor and Nvidia graphics silicon, and we know which notebooks sing and which are just tone deaf. We're not just talking about sleek, expensive new machines, either, we've picked a range of gaming laptops at different price points to highlight which give you the best bang for buck and which are just outright awesome.
The current generation of mobile GPU and CPU are now established, offering the best Nvidia, AMD, and Intel has to offer, and Intel's Meteor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh machines are starting to filter out, too. I've already tested a host of potential alternatives, but the best gaming laptop remains the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i. It makes the best RTX 4090 gaming laptops, including the Razer Blade 16 and Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, and even the frankly ridiculous MSI Titan GT77 HX, look like overkill.
If you can't face spending the big bucks to bag a fine mobile machine, our pick for the best budget gaming laptop is the Gigabyte G6X. You may need to add in some extra RAM to make it really sing, but that's easy enough and cheap enough to do.
Dave has had his head in PCs and gaming laptops for a couple of decades now, and knows what makes them tick, and what makes the best gaming laptop for every budget. Whether it's about looking for the highest performance, the best value, best screen, or just the best build quality, Dave has spent time prodding and tweaking pretty much all the laptops on this list.
The quick list
Best overall
The best overall
The Lenovo Legion Pro is the best gaming laptop from all the new machines we've tested of this generation. It's also the best 16-inch notebook, too, which is our new favorite form factor, offering the best screens we've seen in modern laptops.
Best budget
The best budget
Gigabyte has created the most affordable, most powerful budget gaming laptop around. It's a great mix of value and gaming silicon for its 13th Gen CPU and RTX 4060.
Best 15-inch
The best 15-inch
The Blade 15 is that holy grail of gaming laptops. MacBook aesthetic and desktop gaming prowess. They're lovely things of brushed black aluminium and with some seriously powerful gaming hardware baked inside.
Best 14-inch
The best 14-inch
If a 15-inch machine is too big for your lap, then the G14 is the notebook for you. It's a lovely little device with a gorgeous screen, solid specs, and tons of connectivity. The new design for 2024 is absolutely gorgeous, too.
Best 17-inch
The best 17-inch
The big-boi Asus Scar 17 brings us the latest AMD mobile processor with 3D V-cache, which it turns out is also the best laptop CPU that you can buy today. Paired with the RTX 4090 and a 17-inch screen it's a beast.
Best screen
The best laptop screen
Not only is this laptop fitted with a 240Hz QHD+ panel, it's also utilised Mini LED technology to make it pop. Seriously, it's absolutely gorgeous, and the Acer's price tag isn't too egregious for the inclusion.
Recent updates
Updated June 20 to remove an unnecessary navigation element, and check through our current recommendations. All of our top picks remain the same.
The best gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Our favorite config:
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8)| Intel Core i9 13900HX | Nvidia RTX 4080 (150W) | 32GB DDR5 | 1TB NVMe SSD
The RTX 4080 model is our absolute favorite version of the Legion Pro 7i. That's the same one we've tested ourselves. This awesome chassis delivers enough headroom for the RTX 4080 to shine in games, and it often matches laptops with more restrained RTX 4090 GPUs inside. Tough to argue with that.
We tested: Intel Core i9 13900HX | Nvidia RTX 4080 (150W) | 32GB DDR5 | 1TB NVMe SSD
✅ You want serious gaming power: The RTX 4080 mobile GPU is a fantastic gaming chip, offering stellar performance on the native 1600p screen. And that Intel CPU is an absolute monster of processor, too.
✅ You value good value: Most of the next-gen laptops we've tested so far have had an almost punitive price premium attached to them, which makes them hard to justify. The Legion Pro 7i, however, can offer performance as high as a Razer Blade 16 with an RTX 4090 inside it, while coming in $2,000 cheaper.
✅ You want a grown-up laptop: The Lenovo chassis is smart, stylish, and doesn't come with any over-the-top 'gamer' aesthetic bull.
❌ You need looong battery life: The biggest downside with the Legion Pro 7i is its gaming battery life is one of the weakest we've seen. Given the high-powered GPU that's maybe not a surprise, and realistically you are going to gaming plugged in for the most part.
❌ You're after something super portable: The 16-inch chassis isn't that much bigger than a standard 15-inch machine thanks to the thin bezels around the screen, but they don't offer the same level of portability as the excellent 14-inch options around today.
🪛 The Legion Pro 7i is a stunning gaming laptop that really cements Lenovo's place in the top tier of gaming machines. The performance and value of the high-end components inside this laptop means it can rival far more expensive systems without sounding like a jet turbine to do so. It's both the best gaming laptop, and the best 16-inch laptop right now.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is the best 16-inch gaming laptop, and since 16-inch is the best form factor for a gaming laptop, it is therefore the best gaming laptop overall as well. Win and win.
It's a machine that comes in at a price point that makes the rest of the high-end RTX 40-series look even more ridiculous on their lofty $4,000+ perches. And its the RTX 4080 model that has us impressed in testing, offering the sort of gaming performance that has me questioning why anyone would want an RTX 4090 machine.
The Legion Pro 7i runs its RTX 4080 at a 150W TGP, which is the effective maximum of the GPU. Though manufacturers are given an extra 25W leeway to bulk up their own specs if they feel they can push a little extra juice through their own systems. Lenovo hasn't gone down that route, the Legion Pro knows what it likes, and it likes the 150W TGP and no more.
This Gen8 machine uses a 13th Gen Intel chip—the Core i9 13900HX. If, like me, you were to assume that would essentially be a slightly higher clocked version of the Core i9 13900H Asus has used in its excellent Zephyrus M16 gaming laptop, then you'd be wrong.
There are obviously similarities, they are both using the same essential Raptor Lake architecture after all. But the HX isn't just quicker, it has eight Performance cores, vs the 13900H's six, and twice the number of Efficient cores taking its total up to 24 cores of processing grunt. The clock speeds remain the same, with 5.4GHz boost clocks, though inevitably the bigger chip has a higher base TDP of 45W. Which will go some way to explaining the terrible battery life you get when gaming.
Because, it has to be said, Lenovo machines are universally terrible at gaming away from a plug socket. I've tested a host of Legion laptops over the past year, and to a machine they all suffer from very poor gaming battery life, though are admittedly still performance heroes when they're powered from the wall. Realistically, you're going to do most of your PC gaming when you're plugged in, largely because all gaming laptops have pretty terrible gaming battery life metrics, so how much of a dealbreaker that is for you depends on how mobile you want to be when playing Helldivers 2.
The only other place I'm feeling a little comparatively conflicted with the Lenovo is in the screen. I've been spoiled by gorgeous mini-LED panels in recent times, most recently by that in the Lenovo Legion 9i, which makes the standard backlighting in this 1600p 240Hz screen feel a little lacklustre.
It's still a good screen, and it does have the 16:10 aspect ratio I never knew I needed in a gaming laptop until I started using them on the regular. The 2560 x 1600 native resolution is a great match for the 16-inch screen size the Legion Pro comes rocking.
The Legion Pro 7i manages to outperform both the Razer Blade 16 and the Asus Zephyrus M16 regularly, at both 1080p and 1440p resolutions. Only the chonky boi MSI Titan GT77 is able to utilise its RTX 4090-ish GPU to its fullest potential. And then at the expense of acoustics and potentially your sanity.
Because that's the thing I keep coming back to when I'm looking at this Lenovo machine. It's not the prettiest, but it sure can smash out them high gaming frame rates. And does it for around $2,000 less than the Blade 16.
The other thing that makes me love the Legion Pro 7i so well is that it's been on sale for the last eight months or so, making the RTX 4080 version around the $2,000 mark and sometimes even below that. It's a grown-up looking laptop, with serious gaming performance behind it. And it's serious good value to boot.
Read our full Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8) review.
The best budget gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Our favorite config:
Gigabyte G6X (2024) | Intel Core i7 13650HX | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 32GB DDR5-4800 | 1TB SSD
With the specs we'd expect for this sorta money stuffed inside a well-to-do chassis, there's no arguing with the Gigabyte G6X as a great budget gaming laptop. You could save a bit of cash on the 16GB model, however. You'd get by just fine in games without more RAM, and you could always upgrade at a later date.
We tested: Intel Core i7 13650HX | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 32GB DDR5-4800 | 1TB NVMe SSD
✅ You want solid 1080p gaming performance: With a decent RTX 40-series GPU at its core and a speedy 1080p screen, the G6X offers a simple, straightforward gaming experience.
✅ You want plenty of storage: The spare NVMe SSD slot within the G6X is easily accessed. Just a couple of screws to expand your storage even further.
❌ You want silence: The fan noise on the G6X is noticeable. Like, really noticeable. That's most gaming laptops, though this is definitely not on the quieter end of the spectrum.
❌ You like a detailed screen: The 16:10 aspect ratio helps a bunch here, but it's still only just over a traditional 1080p resolution. That means a lot less room compared to 1440p or 4K.
🪛 The Gigabyte G6X (2024) might not make a major splash with its standard specification, but it's a healthy balance of performance, power and price. That's what counts for the best budget gaming laptop.
The best budget gaming laptop is the Gigabyte G6X (2024). It takes the place of the Gigabyte G5 we had in this spot previously, mostly because it offers more affordable gaming performance but with newer, improved parts inside.
The model we reviewed contains a Core i7 13650HX, which is not actually Intel's most recent mobile gaming processor generation. That's the 14th Gen. However, that's an omission we're happy to make. They're mostly the same and the six P-cores and eight E-cores on this Core i7 are plenty for our needs.
That chip is combined with a 105 watt RTX 4060—that's actually a large power budget for this GPU, and that shows in the performance it delivers, as evidenced in the benchmark charts below. What's more, it's a small dose faster than the outgoing Gigabyte G5 KF we've replaced in this spot—those hardware changes do count for something in games.
Let's talk about the screen. It's a full 16 inches in size, with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 1920 x 1200 pixels, and a refresh rate of 165 Hz. It's pretty darn good, in other words.
Importantly, that screen is a good fit for the hardware beneath it. Though it does suffer from a bit of the case of the blands—that is to say, it's a bit dull and overly dark. These budget laptops often tend to suffer this fate and the G6X is no different to its predecessors on this point. Ultimately, we'd call it "perfectly average."
The noise from the fans when they're running at full bore is also quite average, which means this laptop is rather loud. That's just part of the parcel with a gaming laptop, but more so these affordable models.
The design of this laptop is pretty standard stuff, too. Though it's decisively less 'gamery' than some. A single zone of RGB LEDs illuminates the keyboard and there's room for a reasonable big trackpad. Within the chassis, you can easily access the spare NVMe slot should you wish to bolster your storage above 1TB, which you probably will, and this machine comes with two DIMM slots. In our review model, these were accommodating 32GB of DDR5-4800, though you could save some cash on the 16GB model and get by in games just fine. It wouldn't be difficult to swap out for a higher capacity kit down the line.
Overall, the Gigabyte G6X offers exactly what we ask for in a budget gaming laptop. You could happily game on one right out of the box, though it's an easily upgradeable platform if required.
Read our full Gigabyte G6X (2024) review.
The best 15-inch gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Our favorite config:
Razer Blade 15 | Intel Core i7 12800H | Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti
You can, of course, go for the old 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 gorgeous 240Hz OLED screen. You also get a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD and 16GB of dual-channel DDR5 RAM at a blistering 4,800MHz.
We tested: Intel Core i7 13800H | Nvidia RTX 4070 | 16GB DDR5-5200 | 1TB NVMe SSD
✅ You want a premium build: Razer's Blade 15 is as close as you're going to get to a gaming MacBook aesthetic. Well, apart from that big green logo on the lid...
✅ You want options: There are a huge number of Blade 15 configurations out there, going from the Base to the Advanced systems, with a variety of price points.
✅ You want battery life: If we're honest, game time away from a plug is always limited in a modern gaming laptop. But the Blade 15, even with the RTX 3080 in it, is the best performing on that front of all the machines in this list.
❌ You need peak plugged-in performance: That slimline chassis is an essential part of the Blade 15's charm but is also why Razer limits the TGP of the graphics cards in them.
❌ You're on a budget: Razer's gaming laptops are not cheap, and always come with a price premium on top of the likes of Asus or Acer's more affordable machines.
🪛 The Razer Blade 15 has long been our favorite 15-inch gaming laptop. It mixes style with performance and a wealth of screen real estate, and comes in a wide variety of configurations. Now, those configs may not necessarily suit every budget because of the Razer price premium, but if you're willing to pay for the absolute best the Blade 15 deserves to be at the top of your list.
The latest spin of the Razer Blade 15 once again improves on one of the greatest gaming laptops ever made, and the best 15-inch gaming laptop today. It has the same gorgeous CNC-milled aluminum chassis as its predecessor, only this time it can house one of Nvidia's latest RTX 40-series GPUs and an Intel 13th Gen Core i9 CPU.
Though it's days may well be numbered. Right now, it doesn't look like Razer is going to release a new Blade 15 with the 14th Gen Intel chips inside it, which could indicate that this is the last run for the venerable machine.
In a way, that's understandable given the Blade 16 isn't much bigger yet can house a larger screen. But, importantly, it is thicker. Yes, the Blade 16 is a fair bit chonkier than the older Razer chassis, and I very much prefer the more svelte, older design.
Missing out on the 14th generation of Intel's mobile Core CPUs isn't an issue in real terms, however, as the Raptor Lake Refresh is just that, a mild refresh of the 13th Gen chips. So, with the current Razer Blade still sporting up to the RTX 4070 as its GPU component it still represents the best 15-inch gaming laptop you can buy.
As hinted at before, that scale does limit the screen. In the Blade 15 you have a QHD 240Hz panel, so that's a 2560 x 1440 native resolution. I mean, that's still great and all, but I've been spoiled by the 16:10, 1600p mini-LED displays modern laptops can offer. It does also mean the Blade 15 has a fairly sizeable 'chin' by which I mean a large bezel along the bottom side of the panel.
I'd maybe want the screen to be brighter, but it's certainly responsive and that 240Hz refresh makes it feel super slick. It's sharp, too, with that 1440p res squished down to only 15-inches of real estate.
The gaming performance certainly isn't impacted by the lack of the latest CPU, with the 115W RTX 4070 proving a very capable gaming GPU, even in the confines of the slight Blade 15 chassis. The RTX 4070 inside our latest review machine easily outpaces the mobile RTX 3080 in the last version we tested of Razer's 15-incher, and that's without the added benefits of DLSS 3 and Frame Generation.
The issue, as ever with Razer gaming laptops, is the price premium. Our pick for the best gaming laptop, the 16-inch Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is consistently much cheaper than the top RTX 4070 SKU of the Blade 16 and that comes with a much faster RTX 4080. It isn't quite as nice a device, given the unibody aluminium chassis of the Razer machine, but if you're on a tight budget it's hard to recommend the Blade.
But it is a lovely device, even if it has barely changed in the past few years. It's also pretty well connected, with a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports and three USB 3.2 Type-A connections, too. There's also the requisite combined 3.5mm audio jack and a full HDMI 2.1 output.
For me, it's still the best 15-inch gaming laptop on the scene and as ever really does nail that gaming MacBook aesthetic, which has always made the Blades such a hit.
The best 14-inch gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Our favorite config:
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA403UI) | AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
The model we looked at review is the best configuration for most PC gamers. The RTX 4070 is a powerful GPU that won't age too quickly and all current models of the 2024 Zephyrus G14 come with the Ryzen 9 chip and 32GB of LPDDR5X. That includes the cheaper models, too, like this RTX 4060-powered G14.
We tested: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 | 32GB LPDDR5X | 1TB NVMe SSD
✅ You want a laptop for work and play: The G14 is good looking enough to carry around to your very important meetings yet still has plenty of performance in-game.
✅ You want an OLED screen: It's all the rage nowadays, but the G14's OLED panel makes everything pop on-screen. It makes taking pictures of the screen easier, too. Games naturally look amazing.
❌ You would like the option to upgrade: The G14 sacrifices an upgrade path for its plucky new shell. That means soldered memory and just a single SSD NVMe slot. Darn.
🪛 Asus' Zephyrus G14 is deservedly one of the best gaming laptops around today. The newer 2024 model comes with many improvements over the previous one, including a lovely all-metal chassis and OLED panel. It's quite an upgrade on an already impressive machine.
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) is the best 14-inch gaming laptop, taking the spot from the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023). That might make it seem like the newer model was a shoe-in for the top position in this guide, but actually there have been some serious design changes and improvements made to the newer model. Those which make it entirely deserving of a top spot all on its own.
The G14 2024 comes with a new all-metal chassis that is quite simply lovely. It's the chassis that has finally convinced a few of us in-office to look beyond the Razer Blade, which is famed for its all-metal construction. The metal build on the Zephyrus feels great, looks great, and importantly trims down the footprint of the Zephyrus G14 to an even more travel-friendly size. It's just 1.63 cm at its thickest point.
Now before we get to the other good bits, it's worth saying that the shrunken form factor has led Asus to sacrifice the single removable SO-DIMM slot found on previous years' G14 models. There's no longer an upgrade path for the memory. That said, 32GB of LPDD5X is included as standard on all the available models at time of writing. That should see most people through for years to come, but I understand some users won't like the lack of options here. Also while you can replace the SSD, there's only one NVMe slot available, which can make transfers a pain, as you'd need to make a complete switch, SSD for SSD.
If you're still with me, let's talk one of the G14's best features: the OLED screen. If it looks good in the gallery images above, it looks even better in-person. Excellent breadth of colour and contrast make for a stunning display for gaming. The increased resolution of 2880 x 1800 and slightly larger aspect ratio at 16:10 help to prevent that compact screen from feeling too closed-in.
A surprisingly plus point on the G14 are its speakers, which have seen significant improvement year-on-year. There are now four tweeters and two woofers built into the G14, split on either side of the keyboard, and they sound genuinely good. Our Andy was also impressed with the Zephyrus G16's speakers, which have similarly been zhushed up with the latest laptop.
For a compact 14-inch gaming laptop, which remains one of the more desirable form factors around, there's no beating the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2024.
Read our full Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) review.