The days of massive gaming PCs reigning supreme are feeling like a thing of the past. More and more gaming laptops are showing up with components that can rival their desktop counterparts while fitting into a compact design. Some gaming laptops even go as far as including the actual desktop variant of components, like the CPU, with extra cooling solutions to keep up.
There are also many gaming laptops with some of the most impressive displays you'll see around. From dazzling 4K resolutions to the brilliant contrast ratios of OLED panels, and from 1ms response times to the 300Hz refresh rates recently introduced, you'll find gaming laptops with displays that are nearly unmatched in the desktop space. After ample testing and research, we've narrowed down our picks so you can be sure the gaming laptops you're looking at are the best of the best – and click here to find them in the UK. And, if you want to score a discount, check out these certified refurbished laptops on eBay.
TL;DR – These are the Best Gaming Laptops
- Asus TUF Dash 15
- HP Omen 15
- MSI GF65 Thin
- Alienware Area-51m R2
- Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
- Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model
- Aorus 17G
- Alienware x15
- Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo SE
- Asus ROG Flow X13
1. Asus TUF Dash 15
Best Gaming Laptop
Whether you want a ton of power or a ton of style from your gaming laptop, you’re going to get it from the Asus TUF Dash 15, and you’re going to get it for under $2,000. Inside, it's packing an Intel Core i7-11370H quad-core processor that can clock up to 4.8GHz when you need the speed, and it pairs that with an Nvidia RTX 3070. That's a potent pairing that'll do an excellent job delivering high frame rates to feed the 1080p/240Hz display for a competitive edge in games.
This laptop comes with a pretty comprehensive set of ports, so you can easily set it up to serve as a desktop replacement at home and then just bring a mouse and headset for gaming on the go. And this is definitely a laptop you can take on the go, as it weighs under 4.5 pounds and is only 0.78 inches thick.
2. HP Omen 15
Best Budget Gaming Laptop
The HP Omen 15 will get you gaming competently for $1200. That’s not as cheap as a gaming laptop can come, but the HP Omen 15 strikes a great balance of CPU and GPU performance so you won’t be paying too much for one part of the system that is going to get consistently bottlenecked by another part.
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H inside has all the cores and speeds you’ll need for some solid 1080p gaming, and that’s where the 1080p/144Hz display will come in. Then there’s the Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics processor inside that will ensure you can enjoy that 1080p gaming at high speeds without having to dial back graphics settings. The mid-range components inside will also help the HP Omen 15 go the extra distance on its 70.9Wh battery. With a Wi-Fi 6 connection and 26-key rollover on the keyboard, all you need is a mouse and maybe a headset to get up and running in your favorite games.
3. MSI GF65 Thin
Best Ultra Cheap Gaming Laptop
It’s almost unbelievable what you can get for under $1,000 when looking at the MSI GF65 Thin. Given how hard it’s been to get a new graphics card for MSRP in 2021, it’s a delight to see a system running on an RTX 3060 at such a modest price point. The MSI GF65 Thin pairs that with an Intel Core i5-10200H processor for enough gaming performance to take advantage of the 144Hz display.
The 8GB of RAM may be on the light side, but you should have an easy time upgrading that if your needs require it. The system also comes running on a NVMe SSD instead of a hard drive or SATA SSD like you might expect at this budget price. It’s all the more impressive that MSI has built this potent budget system to weigh just a hair over four pounds and measure only 0.85 inches thick.
4. Alienware Area-51m R2
The Most Upgradeable Gaming Laptop
Alienware's Area-51m R2 is a gaming monstrosity, and you can actually make it just about as monstrous as you like. The laptop is bordering on a compact desktop in size, and that leaves room for some serious customization options. The model we've selected includes a 17.3-inch, 4K display that can hit 500 nits as well as a 10-core Intel Core i9-10900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of NVMe SSD storage in a RAID 0 configuration.That's already one of the highest-end configurations, but there's even more room for RAM and storage to boost the potential of this laptop. And, the Alienware Area-51m R2 supports the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, so you can run it with a future, desktop graphics card to drive even more gaming performance.
5. Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
Best Gaming Laptop for Everyday Life
A gaming laptop doesn't have to be some over-the-top machine that you can't take around in your normal life or get decent battery life from. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 proves that well enough. This laptop goes straight stealth mode with its muted magnesium-aluminum exterior until you get around to the back and see the colorful dot-matrix design that's stylish yet still subtle.You can expect to get a considerable battery life out of the ROG Zephyris G15 thanks to its 90WHr battery and the Zen 3 architecture its CPU is built on. Now let's talk about that CPU. This laptop comes packing an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS for some desktop-level horsepower, and that's well paired with an RTX 3070 graphics processor. That's all there to push the 1440p display to its full potential since it supports up to a 165Hz refresh rate. And, somehow, Asus managed to make this thing weigh just 4.21 pounds and measure only 0.78 inches thick.
6. Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model
Best 15-inch Gaming Laptop
Razer is packing some seriously shocking stuff into its Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model, and that makes it the best 15-inch gaming laptop you’ll find. The 15.6-inch display alone is a wonder, with a 1440p panel that can run at a zany 240Hz refresh rate. Razer even has that display supporting G-Sync, and it comes factory calibrated with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space for exceptional visuals. That’ll let you get into some video and photo work, which is only made easier by the UHS-III SD card reader built into the laptop.
This gaming laptop comes powered by an Intel Core i7-11800H and Nvidia RTX 3070, giving you plenty of performance to take advantage of the display, though you can just as easily connect the laptop to external displays with its multiple Thunderbolt 4 ports and its full-size HDMI 2.1 output. With five extra USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (two Type-C and three Type-A) you can also hook up plenty of peripherals for all your gaming needs.
7. Aorus 17G
Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop
17-inch laptops are quite the beasts ... or are they? With shrinking bezels around the edges of displays and other tech advances, a lot of laptops are packing more into tighter confines, and that's true of the 17-inch models as well. The Aorus 17G is a great 17-inch laptop, and yet it's smaller in every dimension and multiple pounds lighter than the previous gaming laptop that held this slot. You won't find it lacking muscle though.The Aorus 17G features an Intel Core i7-10870H processor fed by 32GB of RAM and backed up by an RTX 3070 in the graphics department. All that power is on deck to run the laptop's 1080p display as fast as possible. If a game will run at 300fps, then this monitor is ready to display it thanks to its 300Hz refresh rate. When you're not on the move, this laptop is also ready to fill in as a desktop replacement with plenty of USB and Thunderbolt 3 ports, an Ethernet jack, and both an HDMI 2.1 port and Mini Displayport 1.4 output.
8. Alienware x15
Sleek and Powerful
Just how much do you think can get packed into a laptop frame measuring just 0.64 inches thick? Well, in the case of the Alienware x15, it’s quite a lot. Dell has managed to pack in an Intel Core i9-11900H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, giving you about as much power as you could reasonably want from a system right now. It’s even juiced up with an 87Wh battery.
Dell even packs in 32GB of RAM so you won’t run short if you’re gaming, streaming, and happen to leave Chrome open in the background. Storage isn’t lacking either thanks to a pair of 2TB NVMe SSDs running in RAID0. Heck, there are even four cooling fans packed in here to keep the system running cool. Let’s not forget the 360Hz G-Sync display.
9. Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo SE
Best Dual-Screen Gaming Laptop
There aren't a lot of options for dual-screen gaming laptops (or really any type of laptops), but the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo (read our review) pulls it off quite well. We liked it when we first saw it, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo SE brings even more to the table.
This special model offers an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and 32GB of RAM. That's plenty of power for work and play. And, there's also an RTX 3070 under the hood to make sure your playtime is up to snuff. Better yet, you can decide your priorities with this one. If competition is what you're about, you'll enjoy the 300Hz Full HD display available. But, if you like it extra sharp, you can also pick up a model with a 4K/120Hz panel. Of course, either version includes that extra 14-inch touchscreen display for that extra little something.
10. Asus ROG Flow X13
Best Gaming Laptop With an eGPU
In most cases, powerful laptops are going to be stuck hovering near a desk and a power outlet because of the juice it takes to run them. So, even when they're lightweight, their portable use can be hampered. The Asus ROG Flow X13 (read our review) cracks that by using an eGPU, so you can have a high-performance gaming experience while you're docked to the eGPU or you can enjoy its portability without an ultra-powerful graphics processor gulping down the battery. In fact, it got over nine hours in our battery test – no small feat for a gaming laptop.The Asus ROG Flow X13 on its own is a more-than-capable machine. It's not only packing an octa-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor but also an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, so you can still do some lighter gaming while you're on the go. The eGPU this laptop pairs with is none other than the RTX 3080, so when it's plugged in, it blows past last year's top gaming laptops with 2080 Super chips inside. The Asus ROG Flow X13 even has a display that's well suited to both work and play. The 13.4-inch display is also Pantone validated for accurate colors, and it features a crisp 4K touch panel refresh rate with adaptive sync. It even has a 360-degree hinge, so you can flip it over to free up space for a gaming keyboard.
Where to Get the Best Gaming Laptops in the UK
We've managed to find the vast majority of very best gaming laptops available in the UK, with all our favourites including the MSI ME66 Raider ready and available to buy from retailers such as Amazon, while other brands can be found elsewhere such as Dell, Currys PC World, or Scan.
What to look for in a Gaming Laptop
The best gaming laptops have come a long way in relatively little time. Power, portability, and price have all seen dramatic improvements in just the last 5 years, and somehow gaming laptops are getting thinner and adding even more features.
The newest gaming laptops are cramming RTX 2080 graphics cards inside of them. These ray-tracing capable cards from Nvidia are among our picks for the best graphics cards, at least the desktop versions. Fitting them inside of a gaming laptop, like the Asus ROG Zephyrus S, is no easy feat. Nvidia's Max-Q tech makes it possible to run a powerhouse GPU inside a thin laptop frame without the whole thing becoming boiling hot.
Choosing the latest processor isn't quite as necessary, but it's a nice to have. When shopping for a gaming laptop be sure the Intel processor has a model number of Intel Core ix-9xxxH (i.e. Intel Core i7-9750H or Intel Core i9-9900k), this denotes that it's one of Team Blue's latest Coffee Lake H-series processors. If the gaming laptop you're eying has an AMD processor, ensure it's model number has a three at the start of it—such as AMD Ryzen 7 3750H—as it lets you know its one of AMD's latest 3rd Generation processors.
The portability is a huge advantage, as is a ready-to-go display, often equipped with variable refresh rate technology or better-than-HD resolutions. The disadvantage is most gaming laptops are only as portable as the nearest electrical outlet. All that power comes at a price, after all, and while there are a few exceptions, the general rule of gaming laptops is battery life stinks.
Another big disadvantage a gaming laptop has compared to a gaming desktop is price. It costs quite a lot more to stuff all those components (i.e. the built-in trackpad, keyboard, speakers, and display) into an easy-to-carry shell. When considering a gaming laptop over a gaming desktop, ask yourself, is the premium in price worth it over and would it be cheaper to buy these all separately?
From our experience, it's always better to stick with the least amount of memory and storage on checkout, and then upgrading it yourself with higher capacity components that are much cheaper to buy on their own. A 1TB SSD might sound tempting as it'll help get your system booted in an instant and store all your games, but a high-end upgrade like that can often cost half or a quarter as much as the whole machine.
However, upgrading leads directly to another consideration, how easy it to swap out components. Whereas it's usually a snap to add or replace a component in your desktop rig, upgrading anything in your gaming laptop, other than RAM, will often mean having to buy a whole new computer.
One thing a powerful gaming laptop has over a comparably equipped desktop is a certain "wow" factor. Since it's portable, it's a whole lot easier to show it off. Manufacturers realize how important looking cool is, so gaming laptops are some of the coolest and most aggressively styled computers around. They borrow lines from modern supercars and high-tech jet fighters, and many have flashy LED lights to let everyone around you know how serious you are.
Some gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Mothership and Acer Predator 900 shake up the traditional clamshell laptop formula by introducing innovative 2-in-1 laptop designs. But these gimmick models are rarely worth the extra premium they demand.
For more helpful guides, be sure to check out our guide to the best gaming chairs, gaming desks, and the best gaming headsets.
Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
