Best gaming Laptops in 2022

Best gaming Laptops in 2022

The best gaming laptop means not having to compromise on portability and performance.

The best gaming laptops this year will shine brightly in what could be a challenging year for PC technology. Great gaming laptops will not be long behind when new Intel, AMD, and Nvidia GPUs and CPUs are released. Maybe even some that aren’t too expensive.

With multicore CPUs, Nvidia RTX 30-series and AMD Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs, and fast NVMe SSDs to top it off, the latest portable powerhouses have all the bells and whistles of high-end gaming PCs. Under the hood, you’ll find plenty of RAM and super-fast refresh displays… mechanical keyboard laptops, such as the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15, are even available.

While purchasing a new graphics card will continue to be expensive,

Over the years, we’ve evaluated hundreds of gaming laptops and will continue to update this list as new models are released. The laptops we tested that offer the best blend of performance, portability, and pricing are listed below. Whatever you’re looking for, there should be a laptop here that fits your needs.
Best gaming laptops

1:Razer Blade 15

The best gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 and Core i9
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
  • RAM: Up to 32GB
  • Screen: 1080p @ 360Hz, 1440p @ 240Hz, or 4K @ 144Hz
  • Storage: Up to 1TB SSD
  • Battery: 80 Wh
  • Dimensions: 9.25 x 13.98 x 0.78 inches
  • Weight: 4.63lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Unparalleled build quality
+Wide range of CPU/GPU options
+Looks as good as it performs
+Great battery life

REASONS TO AVOID

-Not the fastest RTX 3080 SKU
-Trackpad can be awkward

Razer Blade 15Base Edition |Intel Core i7| Nvidia RT}

Of course, you can go for the big daddy—the RTX 3080—but the Nvidia RTX 3070 will produce great frame rates in this tiny chassis, especially at the 144Hz screen’s native 1080p resolution.

A 512GB NVMe SSD and 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM are also included.

The Razer Blade 15’s latest iteration improves on one of the best gaming laptops ever created. It boasts the same beautiful CNC-milled aluminium chassis as its predecessor, but it now has room for one of Nvidia’s new RTX 30-series GPUs and an Intel 12th Gen Core i9 CPU.

These new models, as you can see, have improved graphics processing even more than prior models, with support for up to a 16GB RTX 3080 Ti, which is astounding in such a small chassis.

Because of the slimline design, there will be some throttling, but this attractive machine will still provide excellent performance.

One of the best aspects about the Blade 15 is the variety of options available from Razer. There’s something for practically everyone, from the RTX 3060 Base Edition to the RTX 3080 Ti Advanced with a 144Hz 4K panel. It’s one of the most visually appealing gaming laptops on the market, and it’s also one of the most powerful.

We believe the Razer Blade 15 is the greatest gaming laptop on the market right now, regardless of configuration, albeit you will pay a premium for the now-classic design.

2:Asus ROG Zyphyrus G14

The best laptop for raw processing power

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q
  • RAM: 16 GB DDR4-3200
  • Screen: 14-inch IPS 1080p @ 120Hz
  • Storage: 1TB SSD NVMe PCIe 3.0
  • Battery: 75Wh
  • Dimensions: 12.76 x 8.74 x 0.70 inches
  • Weight: 3.53lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Incredible CPU performance
+Beautifully vibrant screen
+Gorgeous design and materials

REASONS TO AVOID

-Looks a bit plasticky
-Can be loud when pushed

Asus ROG Zyphyrus 14|AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HS|Nvidia

The new Ryzen 9 5900HS processor and RTX 3060 graphics card combine for a fantastic gaming laptop, with lots of raw CPU and game power.

You get 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for game storage, all housed in one of the most intelligent chassis available.

Not everyone requires the lightest and most powerful gaming laptop available. Sometimes just being light and quick is enough.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 strikes a good balance between portability, performance, and pricing. The initial system was an amazing RTX 2060 Max-Q notebook, whose incredible AMD CPU performance impressed our top-secret PC Gamer lab’s devoted team of hardware testers.

The G14 is still a fantastic laptop, especially now that the RTX 3060 is available in that clever chassis. Despite being loud, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a dependable 14-inch PC with high-end graphics that can compete with certain gaming desktops.

3:Razer Blade 14

The most desirable compact gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HXGPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
  • RAM: 16 GB DDR4-3200
  • Screen: 14-inch 1080p @ 144Hz or 1440p @ 165Hz
  • Storage: 1TB Samsung 981a SSD
  • Battery: 61.6Wh
  • Dimensions: 0.66 x 8.66 x 12.59 inches
  • Weight: 3.92lb

REASONS TO BUY

+Looks great
+Outstanding build quality
+Excellent all-round performance
+Ultra-portable ultrabook style

REASONS TO AVOID

-Only way to bag a Razer Ryzen
-Pricey for 1080p gaming
-Higher-spec GPUs will sacrifice performance

Razer Blade 14|AMDRyzen 9 6900|Nvidia RTX3060| 144Hz

I’m tempted to move the Razer Blade 14 up the list solely because the 14-inch screen size has completely won me over. In the No. 2 slot, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 reintroduced the criminally under-utilized laptop design, but Razer has nailed it.

The Blade 14 is notably smaller than the 15-inch Blade and more akin to the ultrabook Stealth 13, with a matte black MacBook Pro-style design and true PC gaming pedigree.

The Razer design is timeless, and it feels fantastic in the hand. And now that the amazing AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX has finally made its way into a Blade notebook, you can get real processing power that you can sling into a messenger bag. Soon, you’ll be able to get your hands on the Blade 14 with the brand new Ryzen 9 6900HX chip, which will be able to preserve battery life while on the go thanks to its RDNA 2 based onboard graphics.

Add in some additional Nvidia RTX 30-series graphics power—now up to an RTX 3080 Ti, but wear ear plugs—and you’ve got a fantastic balance of style and function that makes it the most desired laptop I’ve ever examined.

My main concern is that the RTX 3080 Ti would be restricted by the 14-inch chassis and would be noisy. So I’d recommend the lower-spec GPU options, albeit $1,800 for a notebook seems excessive for 1080p gaming. However, you’re not buying the Blade 14 for its outright performance; rather, it’s about having all the power you need in a form factor that allows for practical mobility.

4:Dell G3 15

The best budget gaming laptop with great battery life

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: Up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti
  • RAM: 16GBScreen: 15.6-inch IPS 1080p @ 144Hz
  • Storage: 512GB SSD
  • Battery: 51Wh
  • Dimensions: 0.85 x 14.4 x 10 inches
  • Weight: 5.40lb

REASONS TO BUY

+Affordable configuration options
+Good battery life
+Powerful laptop

REASONS TO AVOID

-A little chunky compared to pricier thin and light options

Dell G3 15 | Intel Core i5 | Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti

The most significant improvement from its previous model is its slimmer, sleeker design. 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.

For only a bit more than the least $699 setup, you can pick up the superior GTX 1650 Ti GPU. It’s not the most powerful GPU, but it’s affordable, available, and will still deliver decent 1080p frame rates for the cost. The 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM are underwhelming, but the 120Hz display is fantastic, and the price is excellent.

Let’s face it, trying to find a quality gaming laptop on a budget can be a chore. You have to make tradeoffs 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 life is actually good.

5:Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (16″ AMD)

The best high-refresh QHD gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3070
  • RAM: Up to 32GBScreen: 16-inch 165Hz 2560 x 1600
  • Storage: Up to 2 TB M.2 SSD
  • Battery: 86Wh
  • Dimensions: 14.01 x 10.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Weight: 5.4lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Excellent 165Hz QHD screen
+Great keyboard
+Decent value for money

REASONS TO AVOID

-Poor mic and speakers
-720p webcam
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Our favorite config:

Lenovo Legion Pro 5 | AMD Ryzen 7 5800H | Nvidia RTX 3070

Although the RTX 3060 model is less expensive, the RTX 3070 model with a 2TB SSD is a better match for the high-refresh QHD display.

With the addition of the eight-core Ryzen 7 5800H, you’ll be able to perform a wide range of jobs while still enjoying serious high-end gaming.

The Legion Pro 5 demonstrates that AMD is a strong contender in the gaming laptop market. When you combine the mobile Ryzen 7 5800H with the RTX 3070, you have a laptop that can handle not only recent games but also more serious adventures.

The QHD 16:10 165Hz screen is a real standout, and it makes gaming and just using Windows a pleasure. It’s also an IPS panel with a peak brightness of 500nits, so whether you’re gaming or watching movies, you won’t be disappointed.

When it comes to gaming, the Legion Pro 5 is a beast, with the high-powered RTX 3070 (with a peak delivery of 140W, it’s faster than some 3080s) being a perfect complement for that bright screen.

You’ll be able to play the vast majority of games at their native resolution of 2560 x 1600 at maximum settings without missing a beat. The fact that you can use DLSS to create ray tracing extras for the money all helps to make this an incredibiy attrective package

6:MSI GS66 Stealth

The most stylish gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: Up to Core i9 10980HK
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080
  • RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4-3200
  • Screen: 15.6-inch 1080p 240Hz or 300Hz
  • Storage: Up to 2TB M.2 SSD
  • Battery: 99.9Wh
  • Dimensions: 9.65 x 14.17 x 0.71 inches
  • Weight: 4.63lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Sleek and powerful
+Long battery life
+1440p options on the way

REASONS TO AVOID

-Gets loud
-Slim chassis compromises fps

MSI GS66 Stealth | Intel Core i7 | Nvidia RTX 3080

It’s impossible to deny that this is a lot of laptop for a lot of money. The RTX 3080 is a capable gaming GPU, and the 240Hz 1440p display will help you make the most of it.

With 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD to back it up, this thin-and-light gaming laptop feels sleek and swift thanks to the Max-Q 3.0 capabilities.

The MSI GS66 is a beast: it’s sleek, smooth, and incredibly powerful. However, Nvidia Ampere’s power does not come without a cost. To fit something as powerful as an RTX 3080 into an 18mm thin chassis, MSI had to be a little frugal with its power demands.

The top GPU is the 95W model, which only just beats out a fully unlocked RTX 3070 like the one found in the Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC. However, it remains an incredibly capable piece of mobile graphics silicon.

It can get a touch loud, but you have access to all of the Nvidia Max-Q 3.0 features, so it’s not all bad. This incorporates Whisper Mode 2.0, which reduces game sound to barely detectable levels for unobtrusive gameplay.

The GS66 also features a stunning 240Hz 1440p panel that perfectly complements the strong GPU in games. Sure, you’ll have to make some concessions compared to a monstrous workstation with an RTX 3080, but the MSI GS66 Stealth is a true slimline gaming laptop.

7:Acer Predator Helios 300

A quality, affordable 240Hz gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: Up to Intel Core i7 11800
  • HGPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
  • RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4-3200
  • Screen: 15.6-inch IPS 1080p @ 240Hz
  • Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
  • Battery: 58Wh
  • Dimensions: 10.01 x 14.23 x 0.9 inches
  • Weight: 5.51lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Great performance for price
+Decent battery life
+Room for 2 x SSDs, 1 x HDD

REASONS TO AVOID

-Average CPU performance

Acer Predator Helios 300 | Intel Core i7 11800H | Nvidia RTX 3060

The Helios 300 is best suited as a focused budget gaming laptop, and this Intel 11th Gen version of the model succeeds in that regard.

The RTX 3060 provides ample of gaming power and pairs well with the 144Hz 1080p screen. With 16GB of RAM and a fast 512GB SSD, you have a solid foundation for a low-cost gaming computer.

During the GTX 10-series era, we adored Acer’s Predator Helios 300, and the current generation Helios continues to punch above its weight class when compared to rival $1,500 laptops.

It isn’t the best gaming laptop, but it is one of the most cost-effective. The latest Helios model comes with an RTX 3060 GPU.

The Helios 300 sports a 144Hz screen and reduced bezels, making it more in line with the thin-and-lights than its previous generation’s bulkier brethren.

The only significant flaw is the little SSD, but the laptop offers ports for two SSDs and an HDD, making storage upgrades as simple as picking up a screwdriver.

8:Asus ROG Strix Scar 17

The best big-screen gaming laptop

SPECIFICATIONS

  • CPU: UP to AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
  • GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080
  • RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4-3200
  • Screen: 17.3-inch 1080p @ 360Hz or 1440p @ 165Hz
  • Storage: Up to 2x 1TB M.2 SSD
  • Battery: 90Wh
  • Dimensions: 11.1 x 15.55 x 0.92 inches
  • Weight: 5.95lbs

REASONS TO BUY

+Flashy but not obnoxious
+Optomechanical keyboard
+Quiet cooling
+Incredible screen refresh rate
+Fantastic battery

REASONS TO AVOID

-17-inch screen makes it large

Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 | AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | Nvidia RTX 3080

This beast of a laptop is unrivalled in terms of performance. This is portable gaming utopia, with an overclocked Ryzen 9 5900HX and GeForce RTX 3080 forming an insanely powerful core, all connected to a 360Hz 1080p display. Yes, it’s pricey, but this is where high-end gaming ends.

There’s no doubt that you can get a lot more sensible gaming laptop than the ROG Strix Scar 17, but there’s something about the ROG Strix Scar 17’s excesses that makes it immensely alluring.

From the overclocked CPU—which is as monstrous as it gets—to the beautifully fast 360Hz screen, it feels like everything has been turned up to 11. Asus outperformed the competition in our gaming laptop benchmarks by a hair.

And it does it by topping the benchmarks of the finest gaming laptops, due in large part to the GeForce RTX 3080 at its heart.

This is the 115W version of Nvidia’s highest Ampere GPU, meaning it can achieve results that slimmer computers can only dream of.

You can also use Nvidia’s fantastic DLSS, if it’s enabled, to help you attain insane frame rates.

The 17-inch chassis also gives the components more breathing room than the competition, and when combined with the fantastic cooling system, you’ve got yourself a cool and quiet piece of gaming heaven.

Asus was able to fit an optomechanical keyboard onto the Scar 17, which is designed for gaming and more serious pursuits.

Best gaming laptop FAQ

What’s the most important gaming laptop component?

When it comes to gaming, the graphics card is the apparent answer, but things have recently gotten a little more difficult. Because GPU performance is now so reliant on cooling, it’s important to know what watts a graphics card can handle and what chassis it can fit into.

As previously stated, an RTX 3080 crammed into an 18mm chassis will perform significantly worse than one housed in a much larger case with more area for high-performance cooling.

Should I worry about what the CPU in a gaming laptop is?

What you want to do with your laptop will determine this. An AMD Ryzen chip with 8 cores and 16 threads will allow you to do a lot of work on the road, but it won’t help you much in terms of gaming.

That’s one of the reasons Intel released the Tiger Lake H35 processors; they’re quad-core, 8-thread CPUs with a high clock speed to give high-end gaming performance when partnered with the RTX 3070.

What screen size is best for a gaming laptop?

This will, without a doubt, have the biggest impact on the build you choose. The size of your laptop is largely determined by the size of your screen.

A 13-inch display will be a thin-and-light ultra book, but a 17-inch display will very certainly be a workstation. You’re looking at the most common size of gaming laptop screen, which is 15 inches.

Are high refresh rate panels worth it for laptops?

While you can’t ensure your RTX 3060 will achieve 300 frames per second in the latest games, you’ll notice a difference in overall look and feel when using a 300Hz monitor.

Should I get a 4K screen in my laptop?

Nah. 4K gaming laptops are overkill; they’re fine for video editing with 4K footage, but they’re not the best option for gaming. Because of the usual 1080p resolution, even slower mobile GPUs can almost always achieve high frame rates, while 1440p panels are steadily making their way into laptop lineups.

A 1440p screen is the ideal combination of high resolution and good gaming performance. A 4K notebook, on the other hand, will overwork your GPU and strain your eyes as you squint at your 15-inch display.

Where are the laptops with AMD graphics cards?

We’ll take your guess as good as ours. The RX 5000-series cards were available in a few gaming laptop SKUs, although they were scarce. However, AMD has stated that the RX 6000 and Big Navi mobile GPUs will be available in gaming laptops in the first part of this year, but we have yet to see them in the labs.

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