The best gaming laptop is no longer the sort of chunky desktop replacement machine that comes with a fan profile to set your teeth on edge the heat generation of a small star.
Gaming laptops are now sleek, quiet, and just as importantly, still pack a real punch when it comes to handling the latest games. While those hulking workstations still have their place for some people, we're definitely advocates for ultraportable machines able to keep pace with the best gaming PCs in desktop trim.
The best gaming laptops will still cost more than their desktop counterparts—smaller definitely doesn't mean cheaper in PC gaming—but the delta is narrowing. The fact that AMD, Intel, and Nvidia focus so much of their efforts on power efficiency and thermals means that the best gaming laptops are on the cutting edge of what's possible.
The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model remains the king of premium gaming laptops with both its design and unrivaled performance. For anyone who doesn't over $3000 to spend on a gaming laptop should look at the Dell G3 15, which is proof that you don't have to pay the price of a used car to get some decent gaming.
Performance is incredible as well, with AMD's 4000-series CPUs bringing the fight to Intel and its 10th Gen processors. Meanwhile, if you want to handle real-time ray tracing on the go, then there's nothing to stop you. Nvidia RTX 2060, 2070, and 2080 models are all present and correct, and the Super variants have now joined the party, too.
1. Razer Blade 15 (2020)
The best gaming laptop.
CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core | GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q | RAM: Up to 16GB | Screen: Full HD 144Hz, 300Hz, or OLED 4K 60Hz | Storage: Up to 1TB SSD | Battery: 80Whr | Dimensions: 9.25 x 13.98 x 0.78 inches | Weight: 4.63 lbs
We've been waiting all year to see the new 2020 edition of the mighty Razer Blade 15, and it was worth it. The new model takes everything that made the Blade 15 our pick as the best gaming laptop over the years and only improves it. There's the same gorgeous CNC-milled aluminum chassis as its predecessor, only this time it holds the latest graphics chips from Nvidia—namely the RTX Super cards—and the new Intel 10th Gen CPUs.
We've recently checked out the new Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition, with its 300Hz screen, octa-core processor, and RTX 2080 Super Max-Q Design graphics silicon. And we fell in love all over again. But one of the best things about the Blade 15 is the number of configurations Razer offers for it.
From the GTX 1660 Ti Base Edition, all the way up to the RTX 2080 Super Advanced, with OLED 4K panel, there's something for almost everyone. It's one of the most beautiful gaming laptops around, and still one of the most effective. It's light, robust, stylishly subtle, but also eminently powerful—the Blade 15 is certainly anything but style over substance. It's style and substance.
Whatever config you pick, we think the Razer Blade 15 is the overall best gaming laptop on the market right now.
2. Dell G3 15
The best budget gaming laptop with great battery life.
CPU: Intel Core i7 9750H | GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD IPS 144Hz | Storage: 512GB SSD | Battery: 51 Whr | Dimensions: 0.85 x 14.4 x 10 inches | Weight: 5.40 lb
Let’s face it, trying to find a decent gaming laptop on a budget can be a chore. You have to make compromises in areas like performance, design, and even battery life. Thankfully, the Dell G3 15 offers decent 1080p gaming with configurations under $1,000, and the battery is actually good.
The most significant improvement from its previous model is a slimmer, sleeker design. Along with thinner bezels around a 144Hz display, the sleeker design gives it a more high-end vibe. It’s a welcome toned-down look, in case you’re hoping for a gaming laptop that doesn’t shout ‘gamer’ as soon as you pull it out of your bag. The display itself seems the only downside, not having as rich a color range as the other gaming laptops on this list.
3. Asus TUF A15
The best mid-range gaming laptop.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H | GPU: Nvidia RTX 2060 | RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666 | Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD IPS 144Hz | Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe | Battery: 90Wh | Dimensions: 14.1 x 10.1 x 1 inches | Weight: 5.07 lbs
The new Asus TUF A15 is one of the best gaming laptops of the year so far, thanks mainly to the AMD 8-core Ryzen 7 4800H APU that can be found beating at its heart. Throw in the speedy 1TB NVMe SSD and RTX 2060 graphics, and you've got yourself a hell of a workhorse for a non-workstation gaming laptop.
In our review, we called the TUF A15 an "incredibly versatile, affordable gaming laptop, with a battery life that is almost unprecedented at this price point or performance level."
The only slight downside is the price, especially when there are plenty of $999 RTX 2060 machines out there. The TUF A15's game performance, CPU power, and impressive battery life make it an excellent laptop for both work and play. Even at its current price, it still outperforms pricier mid-range gaming laptops, which is kind of wild.
4. MSI GS65 Stealth Thin
The most stylish gaming laptop.
CPU: Intel Core i7 8750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 - RTX 2080 Max-Q | RAM: 16GB-32GB DDR4-2666 | Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD 144Hz | Storage: 512GB- 1TB M.2 SSD | Battery: 82 Whr | Dimensions: 9.75 x 14.08 x 0.69 inches | Weight: 4.14 lbs
The GS65 Stealth Thin remains, year after year, one of the best gaming laptops you can find. It's a fantastic all-rounder that still packs a punch in terms of specs and design. It has the versatility of a notebook and, because it's light and sturdy, it's incredibly easy to just pop into your bag and carry around all day for whatever you need to use it for. It has a sleek matte black aluminum body with gold accents that feels sturdy and luxurious—and thankfully it's lacking in obnoxious gamer aesthetics.
Best of all, in addition to a slim, 18mm thickness, the screen's 5mm thin bezels allow for an overall chassis size that's about an inch smaller than most 15-inch laptops, while still packing the same screen real-estate.
There are other nice details on the GS65, which still makes it a great laptop: a keyboard from SteelSeries that's solid and responsive (and RGB-lit, if you care about that sort of thing), a responsive touchpad, and a webcam that's placed at the top of the screen, thankfully avoiding the abysmally unflattering "nose-cam" found on most thin-bezeled laptops like the Dell XPS 13.
The only gaming feature missing here is G-Sync, but this allows for both a lower price tag and battery life that legitimately lasts through a whole day of email, web browsing, and streaming video.
5. Acer Predator Helios 300 - 15.6-inch
The best budget gaming laptop for around $1,000.
CPU: Intel Core i5 9300H, i7 9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti - RTX 2060 | RAM: 8GB-16GB DDR4-2666 | Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD IPS 144Hz | Storage: 256GB-512GB PCIe NVMe SSD | Battery: 3720 mAh | Dimensions: 10.01 x 14.23 x 0.9 inches | Weight: 5.07 lbs
We loved Acer's Predator Helios 300 during the GTX 10-series era: at just over a grand, sometimes less if you could find it on sale, it offered a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card that could lock down 60 fps at near-max settings in most contemporary games. Now the newer model Helios is back with a GTX 1660 Ti GPU and a sleeker form factor for basically the same price.
The new and improved Helios 300 has a 144Hz IPS screen as well as smaller bezels, putting it more in line with sleek thin-and-lights than its more bulky brethren of the previous generation. RAM speed has been bumped up to 2,666Mhz as well, which is a nice improvement. The only real drawback is the diminutive SSD, although there are larger storage options (thankfully all in SSD form) if you want more space.
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