The Best Gaming Laptops to Buy in 2025

Our Top 8 Picks

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  Best for Fans of Apple Devices Razer Blade 16

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  Best for Mid-Range Enthusiasts Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10

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  Best for Premium Performance and Aesthetics Asus ROG Strix G16

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  Best for Budget Gamers Asus TUF Gaming A14

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  Best for Entry Level Gamers Acer Nitro V 16

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  Best for Ultimate Portability Steam Deck OLED

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  Best Desktop Replacement MSI Titan 18 HX

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  Best gaming tablet Asus ROG Flow Z13

My Top Picks

• 

  Best for Fans of Apple Devices Razer Blade 16

• 

  Best for Mid-Range Enthusiasts Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10

• 

  Best for Premium Performance and Aesthetics Asus ROG Strix G16

• 

  Best for Budget Gamers Asus TUF Gaming A14

• 

  Best for Entry Level Gamers Acer Nitro V 16

• 

  Best for Ultimate Portability Steam Deck OLED

• 

  Best Desktop Replacement MSI Titan 18 HX

• 

  Best gaming tablet Asus ROG Flow Z13

There’s a lot to consider when buying a gaming laptop, and not every device is going to be suitable for every person. I’ve done my best to list out the best options across different price points and use cases here, but before I leave you, here are a few things to keep in mind while you shop.

The basics

First, the computer industry loves its jargon. I know terms like “Radeon” and “RTX 5090” like the back of my hand, but there’s no shame in getting a little lost in these specs lists.

CPU

When looking for a gaming laptop, look for a Windows laptop with either an Intel or AMD processor, or CPU. Either will work, but if you see “Qualcomm,” that laptop isn’t gonna cut it. If buying Intel, make sure your chip is either 14th-gen or a Core Ultra, preferably the latter. Everything else means you’re buying a computer that’s a little outdated. Similarly, an AMD chip should be either 8000 series or part of the Ryzen AI or Ryzen 200 line.

Graphics

Unless you’re buying a Steam Deck or other handheld, you’ll also want a dedicated graphics card, or GPU. Pretty much every gaming laptop you’ll find will have a card from Nvidia, and to make sure you’re up to date, you’ll want it to be from the GeForce RTX 5000 series. That said, the last gen 4000 series will still be relevant for a good while if you want a discount.

Display

For your display, I would keep things simple. Lots of laptop makers will try to woo you with high refresh rates, which essentially means your laptop can display higher frame rates. In practice, your laptop isn’t going to run most games above 120 fps, so refresh rates above 144Hz or 165Hz usually aren’t worth paying extra for. You might get some use out of those extra frames in some less demanding titles, especially esports ones, but while your mileage may vary, I can’t tell much difference between a game running at 165 fps and one running at 300 fps.

The one bit of display tech I would recommend splurging on is either an OLED or mini-LED screen. These tend to have much more vivid colors and an even better contrast ratio, and can make even the most low-res games look beautiful. Speaking of resolution, this is up to your heart. 4K (UHD) looks great to me, but I don’t begrudge anyone who’s willing to settle for 1440p (QHD) or 1080p (FHD). Both still hold up. By the way, if you see a “+” on the resolution in a laptop’s specs, that just means you get a few extra vertical pixels, since the screen uses a 16:10 aspect ratio instead of a 16:9 one.