Reddit recommends these gaming laptops — here are my thoughts as a reviewer of 5+ years

Up front, I want to say that I’m not a Reddit user, or Redditor. To be quite frank, I find the site confusing to navigate. But that’s a “me” problem, as Reddit reportedly has more than 1 billion monthly active users.

Given those numbers and the fact that Google loves linking to Reddit posts whenever I search for something, I figured I’d take a look at what the Reddit community thinks about a subject that’s near and dear to me: gaming laptops.

It wasn’t very complicated. I simply typed “Reddit best gaming laptop” and clicked on the first few links that Google suggested. The thing I immediately noticed is that Reddit seems to prioritize value above all. That makes sense given how the best gaming laptops are generally expensive. It’s a good snapshot of what actual customers think, which is something even I can lose sight of when reviewing expensive machines.

To that end, here are some of the gaming laptops that Reddit recommends at specific price ranges, and what I think of said recommendations as a professional gaming laptop reviewer.

Gaming laptops under $500

First impressions are everything, and this Reddit post by user afficone instantly won me over when they vehemently advised other users not to buy a gaming laptop for under $500. I always tell folks to avoid sub-$500 gaming laptops, so I endorse this advice.

“There’s seriously NOTHING good,” said afficone, “they’re all cheap garbage and finding one with a discrete GPU is like finding a needle in a haystack. If you have a budget of $500, either get a PS5 or a used laptop off Facebook Marketplace or eBay.”

The user recommended the Lenovo Legion LOQ 15 for those who are on a super tight budget, since you can get it for as low as $799. This is a gaming laptop we reviewed, and we said it’s a budget-friendly gaming option with an impressive price-to-performance ratio. That said, the creaky plastic construction and heavy weight are hard to ignore.

So far so good! Let’s see the other recommendations.

Gaming laptops under $1,000

Okay, now we’re getting to the good stuff! Admittedly, finding a good gaming laptop for under $1,000 isn’t easy, but it’s at least possible. Here are the gaming laptops Reddit recommends at this price range.

Also, note that some of these selections (and the ones in the rest of this post) might differ from the ones in the Reddit post, though I did my best to get the closest possible configurations.

• Asus TUF Gaming A16 (R7-7735HS, RX 7700S, 16gb, 165hz, 512gb): $969 @ Walmart
• MSI Thin 15 (i5-13420H, 4050, 16gb, 144hz, 512gb): was $829 now $589 @ Best Buy
• Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 (Ultra 7 155H, 4060, 16gb, 120hz, 1tb): $1,008 @ Walmart

We haven’t reviewed these at Tom’s Guide, but given those specs, I say these recommendations are pretty solid. And as the Redditor says, you’ll want at least an RTX 4060 for these laptops. Of the ones listed, I’d get the Asus TUF Gaming A16 since it has comparable specs to the others listed, only this machine has a display with a 165Hz refresh rate.

Gaming laptops under $1,500

Reddit says this is the sweet spot value, and I agree. Sure, more expensive laptops will get you better performance (and we’ll cover those soon), but laptops in the $1,500 range can offer great performance without destroying your wallet. Here are the laptops Reddit recommends:

• ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2025) (i7-14650HX, 5050, 16GB, 165hz): $1,349 @ B&H Photo
• MSI Katana 15 (i7-13620H, 4070, 16GB, 165Hz): $1,430 @ Amazon
• Acer Nitro 16 (R7-7735HS, 4070, 16GB): was $1,549 now $1,349 @ Acer
• ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) (R9 8945HS, 4060, 16GB, 120HZ, 1TB): was $1,599 now $1,439 @ Best Buy
• Dell G16 7630 (i9-13900HX, 4070, 16GB, 240hz): $1,699 @ Amazon

This is yet another set of excellent recommendations. I like that even though the components aren’t the latest and greatest, they’re not too old.

We’ve recommended laptops with similar specs in the past, such as the Dell G16 listed above, so this looks good to me. Of these recommendations, I’d get the MSI Katana 15 since it is an overall solid value.

Gaming laptops under $2,000

Now we’re getting into the price range of the gaming laptops I usually review. Here’s what Reddit recommends:

• ASUS ROG Zephyrus 2024 16 (R9 8945HS, 4060, 16GB, 120Hz OLED, 1tb): was $1,599 now $1,439 @ Best Buy
• MSI Vector 16 HX AI (Ultra 7 255HX, 5070 Ti, 16GB, 144hz, 512GB): was $1,799 now $1,649 @ Best Buy
• Asus ROG Strix G16 (2024) (Core i9-13980HX, 4070, 16GB, 240Hz, 1TB): was $1,698 now $1,594 @ Walmart
• ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2025) (AMD Ryzen 9 HX, 5070 Ti, 16GB, 1 TB): $1,999 @ Best Buy
• Omen Max 16 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, 5080, 32GB, 240Hz, 1 TB): was $2,229 now $1,829 @ HP

Yet another fantastic set of laptop recommendations. Of these, I like the Omen Max 16, which was the first RTX 50-series gaming laptop I reviewed. The Asus ROG Strix G16 is another great choice. If you haven’t already noticed, I really like Asus laptops as much as Reddit does.

Gaming laptops above $2,000

Lastly, we have the most powerful gaming laptops Reddit recommends. If money is no object, then here are some laptops that are arguably the best of the best in terms of performance, display quality, and overall build.

• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Ultra 9 275HX, 5070 Ti, 32GB, 240hz OLED, 2TB): $2,349 @ Amazon
• ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2025) (Ultra 9 275HX, 5080, 32GB, 240hz, 1tb): $2,899 @ Amazon
• Alienware M18 R2 (i9-14900HX, 4080, 32GB, 165hz, 1TB): $2799 @ Amazon
• Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2025) (Ultra 9 275HX, 5090, 32GB, 240Hz, 2TB): $4399 @ Amazon

Here, I’ll pick the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, which we also reviewed. If you want to go big, the Alienware M18 R2 from last year is another nice choice, as is the Razer Blade 16.

Honestly, you won’t go wrong with any of these recommendations. These are expensive machines, but well worth their respective prices.

Bottom line

Checking out what Reddit thinks are the best gaming laptops was a fun exercise. I want to commend user afficone for their choices, which generally provide great value for other users. You might do well as a computing writer, as it’s clear you know your stuff! Kudos to you!

So, will I now start using Reddit? When it comes to checking the pulse of what folks think of the tech I review, I think I will. Seeing people’s thoughts has been enlightening, and it should help me make better recommendations.

Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

More from Tom’s Guide

• How to get a Dell student discount
• 5 ways to get your Windows 11 laptop ready to go back to school
• Here’s the 5 best accessories I recommend for back to school

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.