Buying a laptop should never be a quick decision, especially for the more expensive gaming-focused clamshells. We’re in the heyday of mobile gaming, where even your phone has enough juice for 3D titles. For a machine that can tackle today’s AAA gaming space, you need something more specific. Thankfully, a quality gaming laptop with a strong CPU and a hefty GPU under the hood will likely last you many years, so long as you take good care of it. That’s important, since it’s growing increasingly difficult to find something affordable.
Like all gadgets, laptops are more expensive than they’ve ever been. You can blame Trump tariffs for much of the price gouging, but companies are not going to be dropping prices any time soon. The cheaper you go, the more tradeoffs you’ll need to overcome. If you want the best display with the highest resolution, a good keyboard, and enough power for days, expect to spend a hefty chunk of change.
Today’s gaming laptops are an eclectic bunch. My suggestion is first decide what size you’re looking for. A 14-inch gaming laptop with a good CPU and GPU combo will still offer great performance on demanding games. If you plan to push ray tracing settings for juicy, more-realistic lighting, you’ll want a 16- or 18-inch laptop. These beastly mobile gaming rigs can be taken on the go with you, though all but the slimmest models will be better off sitting at your desk or dining room table. Don’t throw out your back lugging a laptop around just to get 60 fps in Alan Wake 2 with path tracing enabled.
You can expect today’s most hardcore games to be easier to play than ever. Nvidia’s DLSS 4 shouldn’t be overlooked if you plan on spending less. AI upscaling, which takes frames at a lower resolution and bumps them up to a higher quality while keeping the enhanced performance, is a necessity if you plan on pushing your laptops as far as they will go.
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Best Overall Gaming Laptop: Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
When you’re looking for a laptop with everything, you sometimes forget to look for something with small, though significant, innovations. Luckily, you can get both with the 2025 version of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18. It’s the kind of “desktop replacement” laptop that will make desktop purists screw their faces up in contempt, but for all the right reasons.
The Strix Scar 18 sports the underside and keyboard RGB lighting you expect for a capital “G” gamer device. This being an Republic of Gamers laptop, there are even more lights that you won’t see during regular use. The laptop lid “AniMe” light matrix will flash the company’s logos, but they can be programmed with a personal GIF if you’re looking to customize your device. Even if you’re not a big fan of the over-the-top design, the keyboard, mouse, and mini-LED display make up for it. Beyond looks and feel, you can expect great performance out of this large laptop. I was able to top out with frame rates in most intensive games even without the highest possible specs. What’s even better is that the bottom panel of the Strix Scar 18 has a unique toolless design that lets you easily open it up for regular cleaning or to swap out the SSD or RAM.
The Strix Scar 18 asks for around $3,400 for specs that include an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU. You could instead look for a version with the RTX 5090, but in my experience the uptick for in-game performance is nowhere near worth the price. Read More—Kyle Barr
Best Mid-Range Gaming Laptop: Alienware 16 Area-51
This is a highly contested slot for laptops. Some may find the display more important than any small edge in performance. For me, the laptop’s feel is paramount, even more than sporting a mini-LED display. The Alienware Area-51 16 isn’t light, isn’t particularly cheap, and its screen won’t blow anybody away. However, it’s the mechanical keyboard with its CherryMX keys and trackpad that kept me coming back to it even after I finished reviewing it. It was a joy to type on and use, and it has the performance to back it up.
The 16-inch Alienware Area-51 starts at $2,850 but you’ll end up spending well over $3,000. For that, you only get IPS LCD compared to other laptops with mini-LED or OLED for better contrast. However, with an Intel Core Ultra HX CPU and at minimum an RTX 5070 Ti for graphics processing along with Alienware’s own software-based overclocking, you can expect to run your games at just below their peak, so long as you employ AI upscaling for any thought of pushing ray tracing settings close to high in titles like Cyberpunk 2077.
If you want something larger with the same keyboard and screen, the Alienware 18 Area-51 that starts at over $3,450 offers slightly better thermals, but I find the 16-incher is a slightly better value. Read More—Kyle Barr
Best 14-Inch Gaming Laptop: Razer Blade 14
It’s a tight contest between the Razer Blade 14 and last year’s favorite, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, for best smaller-scale gaming laptop. Both feature slim bodies, great thermal management, beautiful OLED screens, and solid performance. What kicks the Blade 14 ahead is that, in our experience, the laptop has a slightly better battery life and a slightly slimmer chassis.
The Blade 14 is a stealthy powerhouse. You’ll barely hear it running unless you push its performance into high gear and try to play the more intensive games available today. The higher-end models are packed with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU, which is already strong enough on its own for lower-end games through its built-in Radeon 880M graphics. With an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 on board, you can expect strong performance in most scenarios before enabling ray tracing. If you plan to push games to their limit, you may need to rely on DLSS. In either case, the 120Hz OLED display is so damn pretty to look at you won’t feel any big need to plug in an external monitor.
The Razer Blade 14 is an expensive beast for its size. It starts at $2,300 for the version with an RTX 5060 and costs $2,700 if you opt for the higher-end RTX 5070. Both versions are consistently on sale for less, so keep checking past pricing to make sure you can get one for as close to $2,000 as possible. —Kyle Barr
Best Deluxe Gaming Laptop: MSI Titan 18 HX
Do you truly not care about price? Are you a bodybuilder of such girth that you don’t mind lugging a more-than-8-pound laptop around? Is game performance the one thought crowding your brain? The MSI Titan 18 HX is as towering as its name. The price shoots as high as $5,279 for a version with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, or even more if you want the most RAM and memory you can stick into the laptop’s meaty chassis.
The MSI Titan 18 HX is as close as you can get to desktop-level performance without actually owning a tower. For that, you get an 18-inch, 4K Mini-LED to display your content to its fullest. In addition, it sports a smooth haptic touchpad and mechanical keyboard that will keep your fingers dancing on the dashboard.
At its highest specs, the MSI Titan 18 HX costs two times as much as some companies’ flagship laptops. Hell, you can spend even more if you can procure one of the coveted Norse Editions with embossed dragon artwork on the laptop lid. If I had to have one laptop sit on my desk and rarely leave, it would probably be the Titan 18 HX. Read More—Kyle Barr
Best Budget Gaming Laptop: Acer Nitro V15
The hard part about judging a “budget gaming laptop” is that so many machines out there could be slapped with the “budget” sticker even though they’re still outside the realms of what many people can afford. Anything below $1,500 could be considered cheap for a gaming PC in laptop form. Still, it becomes a question of how far back you can scale the CPU and GPU before it doesn’t perform well enough on today’s moderately demanding games.
Acer does have a strong selection of cheaper gaming laptops. Its Nitro lineup of laptops, including the likes of the Nitro V15, are pretty damn solid, considering they start at below $1,000. It packs an excellent 144Hz display that can push a 165Hz refresh rate if you spend extra cash. For its base configuration, it uses an Intel Core i7-13620H CPU and an RTX 4050 GPU. You can upgrade to an RTX 4060 if you’re willing to spend more than its entry-level $870 price. No, there’s currently no refreshed version with an RTX 50-series GPU. Instead, you could look for the Acer Nitro V 16S with an RTX 5060, but you’ll end up spending more than $1,000.
You’ll get decent performance out of the machine overall, but what it does in terms of raw power is lacking in terms of usability. It has an average keyboard and a trackpad that feels more like rough leather than smooth glass. Its display quality is merely okay and it has a poor battery life. That said, if all you want is frame rates, it’s hard to knock the V15 for what it can do for its price point. Read More—Kyle Barr
Alternatively: MSI Cyborg 14
If you want something smaller that still costs a little more, you should consider the MSI Cyborg 14. The device feels unique even without any overt RGB lid thanks to its translucent plastic bottom panel and highlighted WASD keys. The IPS LCD display supports 144Hz refresh rate with Nvidia GSync, so any games that you manage to push as high as they’ll go will still look fairly good on-screen, though the matte display makes some images appear dim. The best aspect of the Cyborg is its impressive audio for its size.
There are variations with 32GB of RAM for $1,130 available on Amazon. It’ll be hard to find a more recent config with an RTX 50-series GPU, but the RTX 4060 is still powerful enough for lower-resolution gaming. Read More—Sherri L. Smith
Best Low-Key Gaming Laptop: Asus TUF Gaming A14
Asus’s TUF line of laptops doesn’t seem as flashy as those from the Republic of Gamers brand, but don’t let that fool you. This pint-sized gaming machine doesn’t blast you with RGB or slash lighting, but it’s channeling some of the best specs you can get at this size and price, and contains it all in a solidly built shell with a surprisingly clacky keyboard.
The version using the AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 chip and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 is a potent combination that offers strong performance across various demanding titles. If you’re okay with not getting the best display or showing off your gamer lifestyle wherever you go, the TUF A14 manages to tackle all your problems with plenty of dexterity for such a rugged machine. Currently, you may only be able to find the version with an RTX 4050 for $1,200. Read More—Kyle Barr
Best Laptop for Cloud Streaming: Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE
“Gaming Edition” Chromebooks promise a lot just by their title, but despite the name, they’re a system built first and foremost for cloud gaming. Their promise is beyond your average handheld system or even your phone. Services like GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass let you access your whole library of games without needing to empty your bank account.
The $400 Acer Chromebook 516 GE makes you feel like a gamer without breaking the bank past its $650 starting price point. Unlike other high-end Chromebooks, it has a 120Hz display (enough for either Xbox Game Pass or GeForce Now) and an RGB light-up keyboard that epitomizes the gaming laptop experience.
In the meantime, you should explore several other options for cloud gaming. The expansive selection of Steam Deck-like handheld consoles offers an excellent choice for cloud gaming if you prefer a controller setup. Then again, your phone might also work just as well. Hell, most laptops with strong Wi-Fi connectivity will suffice. Consider all that before jumping for the ChromeOS-based devices that might not give you everything you want compared to a Windows setup. Read More—Florence Ion
Best Mac to Get if You’re Desperate to Run Some Games: 16-Inch MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro)
Apple has been trying to push for gaming in recent updates with macOS 26. Still, Macs don’t have nearly the same gaming capabilities as Windows machines. But there is hope! Apple has helped to port games like Cyberpunk 2077 to the Mac. The company has further implied it’s working to bring even more past and future AAA titles to macOS.
With the base $2,400 16-inch MacBook Pro 16 with M4 Pro chip, you get a powerful MacBook with very, very decent GPU specs. The M4 Max chip is also supposed to have strong gaming capabilities. In our tests, the cheaper M4 Pro chip can run demanding games like Resident Evil 4 or Baldur’s Gate III on high settings and still get 60 fps with only a few compromises.
It’s Apple, so everything you expect will work with the 16-inch MacBook Pro. However, you’ll still find yourself pining for games to play natively or at least more titles that can push the hardware to its limit. In that case, check out places like r/macgaming, which has spent years collecting the resources to transport some titles to the Mac ecosystem. Read More—Kyle Barr
