Best gaming laptops of 2022: Top gaming laptops ranked | Laptop Mag

Gaming laptops: When its time to relieve or create the world (or just blast some baddies), have no substitutes. Cheers to their powerful graphics, gorgeous displays and great audio, gaming laptops provide an immersive entertainment feel in a portable parcel. Many also offer stylish designs, desktop-quality keyboards and the power to use high-stop VR headsets. Heck, a good gaming laptop can even pull double-duty as a serious workstation.

But most of all, gaming laptops are great for dedicated gamers with mobile lifestyles or looking to save more space than a desktop could. The gamut ranges from college students hoping to play anywhere on campus to businesspeople who want to play during a commute. Whatever you have planned for your machine, in that location are a lot of intricacies to mobile PC gaming, so information technology helps to do your research. But with so many laptops to choose from, things can get pretty complicated.

• Check our summit picks for best cheap gaming laptops
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To aid you pick your perfect gaming laptop, nosotros’ve compiled a list of the top gaming laptops, including our pinnacle picks from popular brands including Alienware, Acer, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, Dell and more. Over the form of a year, nosotros review over 150 laptops covering every price signal and use instance. Whether yous’re looking for a a badass gaming organization with all the bells and whistles, a good mid-tier laptop that tin play games at solid frame rates or an cheap gaming system that tin play most titles, nosotros tin can help you find your ideal gaming laptop.

But in order to make our best gaming laptops listing, the system needs to score at least 4 out of 5 stars on our reviews and deliver on the things shoppers care about most. Over the course of our evaluations, we focus on overall and gaming performance. We’re also checking for design, keyboard, sound and display quality and especially value.

What are the all-time gaming laptops correct now?

The Alienware m17 R4 is currently our top gaming laptop. A formidable mixed of power, endurance and design, the m17 is a force to exist reckoned with. The laptop has recently been refreshed with an overclockable Core i9 10th Gen octa-cadre Intel processor and Nvidia’south new GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, making it an undeniable powerhouse on both the multitasking and gaming fronts

Budget-witting gamers will desire to accept a closer expect at the new Dell G5 15 SE. The newly refreshed gaming laptop is and all AMD-production, sporting an AMD Ryzen R7 4800H CPU and an AMD Radeon RX 5600M GPU backed the total power of the Alienware Command Eye. It’south also got a great battery life and a slew of ports.  It’s a adept gaming laptop overall.

If you’re looking for a true on-the-go gaming laptop, you have to take a gander at the Asus ROG Catamenia X13. One of the few convertible gaming laptops out there, the notebook weighs a scant 2.9 pounds, has one of AMD’southward new Ryzen ix processors and comes with its own incredibly portable eGPU. And if you’re looking for a full AMD system, take a gander at the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition that delivers stellar functioning and longevity at a seriously competitive toll.

CES 2022 is under way and we’re expecting refreshes on some of our favorite flagships forth with new systems. Stay tuned for the hottest news on everything on the show floor.

The all-time gaming laptops y’all can purchase today

If power and super loftier refresh rates are paramount, the Alienware m17 R4 is the best gaming laptop for you. The laptop gives you all the bells and whistles: the ray tracing, superior multitasking operation, a light evidence that would make the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind experience inadequate. Plus, the latest iteration of Alienware’s badass desktop replacement retains that lovely Legend design and brings some new players to its high-powered party.

And if that isn’t enough, you have Nvidia’s RTX 3080 GPU, the new king of mobile graphics. And with it comes a whole host of new improvements, including Ray Tracing 2.0 and Advanced Optimus. Alienware’s also improved its Cryo-Tech cooling solution and is i of the first gaming laptops to feature a display with a 360Hz refresh rate. Throw in some updated ports and that overclockable Intel Cadre i9 and you’ve got a formidable animal of a laptop.

See our full

Alienware m17 r4 review
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Dell’s cheapest gaming laptop is back and better than ever. The G3 15 offers stiff performance with its 9th Gen Core i5 CPU and GTX 1650 GPU backed by the full ability of the Alienware Control Center –– all for under $1,000. Combine that with great battery life, with plenty of ports and a relatively comfortable and you have a badass gaming machine. Nevertheless, the G3’southward affordable toll does come at the cost of a relatively dull fifteen.vi-inch brandish. Nonetheless, the G3 15 is ane of the top gaming laptops you tin get at its toll point.

See our total

Dell G3 15 review
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Asus has been killing it with its gaming laptops lately, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is no exception. The Zephyrus M16 provides a powerful Intel Core i9-11900H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU as well every bit a bright, 16-inch display, a clicky keyboard and decent battery life. Oh, and this i has a webcam. It’s easily ane of the best gaming laptops you lot tin buy.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is a dazzler. From its functioning and 16-inch display to its battery life and clicky keyboard, this baby is worth considering if you’re on the market for a gaming laptop. On the Laptop Mag battery examination, the Zephyrus M16 lasted 6 hours and 34 minutes, putting it on a par with competing systems. Overall, the Zephyrus M16 is a truly badass gaming laptop worth your time and money.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 review
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The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro proves what’due south possible when two opposing forces come together for the greater good. Those forces are AMD and Nvidia, and the greater skilful is the gaming community. Armed with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, the Legion 5 Pro gives gamers the ability they need to run the latest AAA titles at Ultra graphics settings.

The Legion 5 Pro flaunts one of the best keyboards I’ve ever used. Paired with a comfortable typing experience is a brilliant and vivid 16-inch display, a generous pick of ports and decent battery life. Best of all, the Legion 5 Pro is priced aggressively. And what it lacks in flashy aesthetics, it makes up for with a gorgeous 16-inch QHD display. And despite harnessing so much ability, the Legion 5 Pro delivers respectable bombardment life.

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Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review
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Asus has been showing us just how far AMD has come up in the laptop space, serving up solid power and incredibly long battery life — and that’s just with the processor. Imagine what an all-AMD system tin can do. With the Asus ROG Strix G15 Reward Edition, the company is doing more wondering “what if,” instead outfitting its latest version the G15 with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, plus a Radeon RX 6800M GPU.

The result? A kick-ass system that serves upwardly heaping amounts of performance, serious longevity and a host of Asus and AMD-branded utilities that actually enhance the gaming experience for less than $2,000. You also get a lot of nifty tech focusing on balancing operation and power efficiency, with butter-smooth graphics and over 10 hours of battery life. And the system’s standing toe-to-toe with some of the biggest names in the manufacture.

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Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition review
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Alienware continues to enhance the bar of what a gaming laptop tin and should be. The latest addition to the family is the X17, a beautiful bruiser of a desktop replacement that’due south merely 0.8-inches thick. The ultra-premium organization comes with all the fixings including an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and dual SSDs. Need more? How’s a 17.iii-inch, 4K display, powerful speakers and a Ruby-red MX keyboard sound?

The graceful powerhouse also boasts a revamped cooling system to keep things running at optimum performance and powerful speakers. It too lasted over four hours on our bombardment test, which is pretty skillful for a gaming laptop of this caliber.

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Alienware X1 review
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Asus has done it over again. They’ve inverse the definition of what a best gaming laptop is. By itself, the Asus ROG Menstruum X13 is a compelling laptop. Information technology’s very rare to meet a 13-inch gaming system and fifty-fifty rarer for it to be a 2-in-1. But Asus didn’t end in that location, they threw a high-powered AMD Ryzen 9 processor into the mix and even outfitted the notebook with its own detached Nvidia GPU.

Information technology’s when the XG Mobile comes into play where things get interesting. For the life of me, I’m baffled about how they fit an RTX 3080 into such a pocket-size enclosure. Even though I wish Asus could accept found a more elegant solution than that huge proprietary plug, I can’t debate with results. The XG Mobile is the proverbial trap card, transforming it into the night magician of gaming laptops. Information technology doesn’t take whatsoever right to be as powerful equally it is, but here nosotros are, again impressed by Asus’ ingenuity.

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Asus ROG Catamenia X13 review
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It looks like the third time’due south the charm for Asus. The company is dorsum with the ROG Strix Scar III, and the new version is but as badass as its predecessor. For $1,799, you go a powerful gaming laptop with a RTX 2060 GPU wrapped in a chassis packing a smoothen 15.half dozen-inch, 240-Hz panel. In addition, you take a comfortable keyboard and a cool ROG Keystone – a magnetic encrypted primal that unlocks custom lighting effects for the laptop also a piece of storage that’s locked on your hard drive. .

The Strix Scar Three is quite the impressive gaming laptop, offering strong functioning, a 240Hz panel, long battery life, a clicky keyboard and decent speakers. The laptop easily barreled through our bombardment of tests and even managed to concluding over 5 hours on our battery exam. Overall, the Asus ROG Strix Scar III is i of the top gaming laptops you can purchase correct now.

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Asus ROG Strix Scar III review
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Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is a gaming laptop that’s easy to bear and a serious looker to kick. It brings to the table an increasingly common 16-inch frame with a 16:x aspect ratio display housed in a relatively compact package. Better yet, the keyboard is comfortable to use during long gaming sessions despite the laptop’s thin frame. Nether the hood, this gaming rig brings the latest Nvidia RTX graphics and Intel Core 11th Gen processors, a combo that helps it dial well above its weight.

The Predator Triton 500 SE gets plenty of the basics right to arrive a compelling laptop for those who want a gaming system with a big display in a relatively portable chassis. And if y’all’re a stickler for aesthetics, this Triton brings some dazzler to the brawn.

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Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2021) review
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Razer withal believes in going big or going habitation. The latest Razer Bract Pro 17 seeks to wrap the functionality of a gaming laptop and a workstation in a nice slim CNC aluminum bow. It’s the latest to comprise Intel’southward 10th Gen octa-core H-series processor into the mix along with Nvidia’s new RTX Super GPUs. And if that isn’t enough, Razer has upgraded its always lovely displays to a 300Hz refresh rate, which should be music to the ears of gamers in pursuit of buttery smooth graphics for serious accuracy.

Those powerful specs allow the laptop to go toe-to-toe with its main competitors on both the gaming and multitasking fronts. The Blade Pro 17 also manages to deliver keen endurance on our battery examination lasting nearly 5 hours. And it also has a great webcam, which is somewhat of an anomaly in laptops in full general.

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Razer Blade Pro 17 review
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The MSI GS66 Stealth is a bubbling font of crawly. From its stellar graphics and overall performance, lightning-fast transfer speeds and surprising endurance, there’s just a whole lot of win underneath that 0.7-inch chassis. And I didn’t even mention the lovely display and cushy, customizable keyboard. Hands down, it a cracking gaming laptop that looks good and plays hard.

What makes the Stealth stand out is its battery life. The notebook has a 99.9-watt hour bombardment, which is the largest battery the TSA will allow aboard a plane. The laptop lasted over 6 hours on our battery test. The laptop as well dominated on our gaming and overall performance cheers to the system’s 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce 2080 Super Max-Q GPU.

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MSI GS66 Stealth review
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Starting at $1,599, the Bract is ane of the lightest gaming laptops around, delivering strong performance and over 6 hours of battery life. This is likewise the first organization in the Bract line to offer dual storage. And if that’s not enough for y’all, Razer’south also offering the notebook in a stunning Mercury White aluminum chassis that’s sure to have all eyes on yous when yous brand the winning play.

Only where Razer really apes other xv-inch gaming systems is in its size. The 4.vii-pound, 14 x 9.3 ten 0.7-inch Blade 15 is one the smallest 15-inch gaming systems y’all can become on the market. But don’t sleep on its performance, with an Nvidia RTX graphics card, the Blade xv is here it comes begetting gifts of ray tracing and artificial intelligence. This summit gaming laptop is ready to game, video edit, crunch numbers and more than at the driblet of a hat.

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Razer Bract xv review
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The Gigabyte Aero fifteen slid into the game with guns ablazin’. Information technology’s updated with Nvidia’s new thirty-series chipset, a gorgeous 4K OLED display and a lightly tweaked design that says, “I’m a gaming laptop, merely I don’t need to scream it to the mountaintops.”

Gigabyte got a lot of things right with the Aero 15, including its sturdy, all-aluminum, jet-black chassis, gorgeous OLED console and satisfying, clicky keyboard. Its gaming and performance benchmarks are decent, too. Withal, Gigabyte gets it all wrong with that awful nosecam. The Aero 15 is an excellent pick for content creators. Photograph and video editors volition do good from the Aero 15’s color-authentic 4K panel, merely they’ll also enjoy the pleasures of diving into one of their favorite triple-A titles after a long solar day of piece of work.

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Gigabyte Aero xv (2021) review
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The HP Omen 15 is a well-congenital gaming laptop that reminds u.s.a. why we like gaming so much. The fifteen-inch, 4K panel is absolutely gorgeous; it’s brilliant, colorful, has nice black levels and the splendid contrast actually pulled us in. On the within its Omen heart is powered by a powerful Intel Core i7-10750H CPU and capable Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super with Max-Q 8GB VRAM.

The Omen either matched or surpassed its competition in our benchmarks with its Intel Core i7-10750H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max Q GPU. With its uncomplicated yet sexy styling, the Omen 15 is an attractive option you should take a serious look at.

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HP Omen 15 (2021) review
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How we test gaming laptops

When nosotros bring a laptop into our laboratory, our goal is to meet how it would piece of work if y’all brought it into your home or office. While we utilize a number of manufacture standard benchmarks such as Geekbench and 3DMark, we focus heavily on real-globe tests that we accept developed in-business firm.

To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the spider web at 150 nits of effulgence until the organisation runs out of juice. To judge pure processing ability, we utilize a giant spreadsheet macro that matches 65,000 names with their addresses, a video transcoder that converts a 4K video to 1080p and the Geekbench four synthetic test. Nosotros measure graphics prowess with both 3DMark Water ice Storm / Fire Strike and a serial of actual game titles.

Nosotros apply a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut while other instruments help us decide a laptop’due south key travel and ambient heat. See this folio on How We Test Laptops for more than details on our benchmarking procedures.

How to find the right gaming laptop

When shopping for a gaming laptop, there’southward a lot to consider. To help you choose a system, here are five key points to keep in mind when choosing a system.

Budget: What y’all become for the money.

You lot can detect proficient inexpensive gaming laptops for under $i,000. However, more powerful mainstream gaming laptops are often priced between $i,500-$two,000. Premium systems typically cost more than $2,000 and come up stacked with a host of high-powered goodies such as high-powered specs and tricked-out software.

Screen Size: fifteen inches is the go-to

Information technology’s very rare that you’ll find a 13 or fourteen-inch gaming laptops nowadays every bit smaller bezels and lighter frames have paved the way for seriously thin-and-lite gaming laptops. That means the days of mesomorphic fifteen.6-inch laptops putting a strain on your dorsum are over (nigh).

From at that place, you have the 17.iii-inch desktop replacements that like their smaller counterparts are becoming super svelte. But in that location are still the big behemoths that don’t skimp on the specs. Yet, weighing upwardly of 8 pounds, those big boys are made for your home gaming station.

Screen Resolution: 1080p for high refresh rates, 4K for detail

When it comes to gaming laptops displays, you desire to strike a remainder between frame rates and aesthetics. And in case you lot’re planning to get a truly mobile arrangement bombardment life is besides deserves consideration. We recommend checking out a organisation with a 1080p resolution. Panel makers are now serving up screens with high refresh charge per unit, topping out at 360Hz with a 3 millisecond response charge per unit. Simply don’t count out 4K screens yet equally we’re starting to run across laptops with 4K displays with 120Hz. Continue in mind that laptops with lower resolutions tend to have longer battery life overall.

Refresh rate: 120Hz is the sweet spot

Depending what kind of games you’re playing, specially first person shooters and MOBA, yous’ll accept anything that will enhance accuracy. Surprisingly, the college a brandish’s refresh charge per unit is, the more than accurate your shot get. Information technology’southward a phenomenon that we’ve experienced starting time hand during many demos. And while 60Hz is passable, correct now we recommend investing in a panel with at least a 120Hz refresh rate.

Intel or AMD?

A couple of years agone, the answer to this question would accept been undoubtedly Intel. But AMD has fabricated a furious comeback with its new Ryzen CPUs, which are delivering great overall performance. Thanks to the architecture in the new Ryzen fries, they’re super power efficient without sacrificing productivity. The Ryzen 5000 serial CPUs have consistently impressed with its performance versus battery life.

Not to be outdone, Intel’due south 11th Gen chips are nothing to sneeze at. Laptop manufacturers have started rolling out systems with the Intel’s 11th Gen H-series Tiger Lake chips. The x-nanometer fries are extremely powerful, but yet at the depression-end of the spectrum with the overclockable HK-series CPU, due to launch before long. Why do you desire to invest in an overclockable processor, because with the touch of a push, y’all can clasp even more power out of the organization. It comes in handy when you lot’re multitasking or playing a really demanding game.

Battery Life: At least 4.5 hours

Unless it’south plugged in, gaming laptop battery life tends to be very brusque, peculiarly when gaming. However, gaming laptop battery life has gotten increasing longer over the years. So much so, that annihilation nether iv.5 hours is considered below average. But nosotros’ve merely reviewed our first gaming laptop that’southward lasted into the double digits. With results like that, we look gaming laptops will friction match their non-gaming counterparts sooner than after. Our near power efficient gaming laptop ran over 11 hours and sits on our
longest-lasting laptops
page.

Specs: 1080p / Cadre i5 / 16GB Are All-time Bets

You tin spend a lot of time delving into specs, but hither are the fundamental components to think about. If yous just want really good mainstream performance, go for a Cadre i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1080p screen.

Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing laptops for over two decades. Nosotros exam over 150 different models per year, subjecting each organization to a serial of rigorous benchmarks that provides a complete motion-picture show of performance, battery life and usability.

Our adept reviewers also utilise each product to see how information technology looks and feels in everyday situations. Because we see and so many different notebooks, we can compare each to its directly competitors and give you an thought of how it stacks up to the boilerplate laptop in its price band.