If you are looking for the best gaming laptops you can get your hands on this year, we are here for you. The laptops on this list will offer you a gaming experience that is as close to PC gaming as it can get.
The gaming laptops on this list are computational powerhouses, featuring AMD Ryzer 9 5000 processors or Intel Core i7 or i9 desktop-class processors. They also come with the best mobile graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA, bringing at least 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
You will find options like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 and the DELL G15 that are more on the affordable side here. But you will also find the best of the best. Gaming laptops that can compete with desktop gaming. Their price tag and weight confirms it too.
Make no mistake though, none of these laptops are cheap. So, there is a great option for everyone that wants to experience high-quality gaming on a laptop. If you are looking for something more affordable check our picks for the best budget gaming laptops.
Finally, these laptops are amazing picks for productivity as they can handle any CPU or GPU-heavy tasks you throw at them.
Best gaming laptop in 2021: Our picks
1. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15
Laptop Specifications
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
GPU: NVIDIA® RTX 3070, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, 80-100W TGP
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD) 165Hz
Weight: 4.45 pounds / 2.02 kg
I believe that the ASUS ROG Zephyrus is the best gaming laptop overall, as it makes all the right compromises. Maybe the omission of a webcam isn't for everyone, and some might even complain about the tenkeyless keyboard. But there is really nothing else to complain about.
The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS makes this laptop an excellent pick for a productivity laptop too. So essentially, this is one of the best laptops in the market, even beyond gaming.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (80W TGP) can handle pretty much anything at 1440p and 165Hz. Thanks to its dynamic range that can go up to 100W you won't miss much of the performance you would get from RTX 3080 (100W TGP). That is while saving some money along the way.
The laptop also boasts six speakers that deliver powerful audio, the touchpad, and keyboard both click well, the port selection is fine, and the battery lasts for an impressive eight and a half hours.
The Zephyrus G15 is a thin and low-profile laptop, despite its amazing power. This machine does not “scream” “powerful gaming laptop” while being one.
For some this is might be a disadvantage. In my opinion, this laptop hits all the right spots though and I believe that gaming laptops are the best productivity laptops.
2. Razer Blade Pro 17
Laptop Specifications
CPU: Intel i7-11800H
GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070, 8GB DDR6 VRAM, 80W TGP
Display: 17.3-inch QHD 240Hz, 100% DCI-P3
Weight: 6.06 pounds / 2.75 kg
In terms of gaming performance, the Blade Pro 17 is arguably the best gaming laptop you can find, as it combines i7 or i9 11th Generation Intel CPUs with NVIDIA's RTX 30 Series. What I love about the Razer Blade Pro 17 though are its available configurations.
Esports gamers can opt for a model with a Full HD 300Hz high refresh rate screen – the highest refresh rate you can get on a laptop. For the rest of us who want to combine gaming and productivity tasks, there is the QHD 1440p@240Hz option. And finally, for those less interested in gaming, there is the 4K touchscreen at 120Hz.
The Pro 17 manages to pack all this power in a chassis that is 0.8 inches thick and requires only one charging cable and maintains a reasonable weight for a 17″ gaming laptop.
The laptop also comes with a customizable per-key Razer Chroma RGB keyboard, 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD storage on all models, and 4 stereo speakers.
3. Razer Blade 15 Advanced
Laptop Specifications
CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU: NVIDIA® RTX 3070 (80W TGP), 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD), IPS, 165Hz
Weight: 4.45 pounds / 2.02 kg
The 2021 Blade 15 Advanced Edition carries Nvidia's GeForce RTX “Ampere” 30 Series GPUs, and a fast 240Hz refresh rate of its desktop-caliber 15.6″ 1440p display. The RTX 3070 variant comes with (80W TPG), so I consider it a better option than the RTX 3080 at 95W TGP.
The Blade 15 Advanced may not be as powerful as the Blade Pro 17, but it may be a more practical and realistic purchase for many. The Blade 15 is great for those looking for a balanced combination of performance and portability. After all, 17″ inch displays are not for everyone.
In addition to its reliable gaming performance, the Blade 15 is an excellent productivity laptop thanks to its size.
At just 4.7 pounds and 0.7 inches thick, it's comparable in size to a number of 15-inch productivity machines, including the Dell XPS 15 while boasting a near 9-hour battery life.
The Razer Blade's keyboard has RGB lighting per key while carrying a very comfortable touchpad.
A great fit for fans of low-profile gaming laptops that favor portability.
4. ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G14
Laptop Specifications
CPU: AMD® Ryzen 9 5900HS
GPU: NVIDIA® RTX 3070 (80W TGP)
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD), IPS, 165Hz
Weight: 4.45 pounds / 2.02 kg
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 features Ryzen 5000 and RTX 30-series graphics. Zephyrus G14 offers more than 11 hours of battery life, excellent gaming and VR performance, thermal management that never gets hot to the touch, and a design that looks good in both gaming and professional settings.
With the Zephyrus, you'll get one of the most powerful mobile processors on the market in a compact 14-inch chassis. The laptop provides frame rates we've never seen before in a laptop of this size, thanks to its capable cooling system. Despite the number of games we threw at it, it handled them all without a problem.
Despite its excellent gaming performance, the G14 is a great daily driver as well. Everything from the keyboard to the touchpad to the display is excellent.
There are a few downsides to the G14, but they are fairly minor and user-dependent, like the ones in the G15. There is no webcam, so if you plan to make video calls, you will need to use an external one.
Additionally, there is some backlight bleeding, there is no Thunderbolt connection, and fans are louder than most under heavy loads.
5. ASUS ROG STRIX G15 ADVANTAGE EDITION
Laptop Specifications
CPU: AMD® Ryzenâ„¢ 9 5900HX
GPU: AMD® Radeonâ„¢ RX 6800M, 12GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD), IPS, 165Hz
Weight: 5.51 pounds / 2.50 kg
The Asus ROG Strix G15 is one of the best mid-range gaming laptops you can buy with an impressive performance alongside a great 300Hz display, solid keyboard, and a cool, quiet chassis.
A few years ago, it seemed like every AMD laptop came with a poor screen, a cheap plastic chassis, and little else. Nonetheless, the Strix G15 offers strong gaming and productivity performance, loudspeakers, and a slick design. However, AMD's laptops still have some flaws, and at the moment there is no option for 4K gaming, but this one is among the top offerings of its price range.
The laptop also brings an array of flashy LEDs, including a per-key RGB keyboard and a colorful light strip around the front edge of the deck.
In spite of that, it comes with incredible battery life, among the best you will find on a gaming laptop.
6. DELL G5 15 SE
Laptop Specifications
CPU: AMD® Ryzen 7 4800H
GPU: AMD® Radeon RX 5600M, 6GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 15.6-inch 1,920×1,080 IPS display 60Hz
Weight: 5.5 lb / 2.5kg
Gaming graphics power and long battery life are the hallmarks of a good gaming laptop, and this budget gaming Dell G5 15 delivers both. You can choose between an Intel-based model and an AMD Ryzen-based model.
At a much lower price point than many of its competitors, the Dell G5 15 SE offers an excellent gaming experience. In terms of price, it will cost around $1,000, and there are not too many compromises.
Though the screen runs at 60Hz, the hardware inside is powerful enough to handle direct 1080p gaming, which means that you can play any game you want no matter how demanding.
This laptop includes a Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, and Ethernet port – all ports you don't see too often on laptops at this price point.
If you're looking for great value for your money and don't mind the low refresh rate, the G5 is among your best options.
7. ALIENWARE AREA-51M R2
Laptop Specifications
CPU: Intel Core i9-10900K
GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 17.3-inch Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 IPS, 144Hz
Weight: 8.4 pounds / 4.76 kg
Alienware's Area-51m is a performance beast, despite getting a bit older than the rest of the gaming laptops on this list. On top of the 32GB of RAM and the Gen3 NVMe SSD, it has a desktop-class Core i9-10900K processor and RTX 2080 SUPER graphics.
As you can see, it is effectively a laptop version of a desktop. In a chassis that's still somewhat portable, it features a desktop-class processor, a full-power mobile GPU, and a 17-inch display running at a high refresh rate of 144Hz.
You can also update components such as the processor, RAM, and storage yourself, which will be appreciated by PC enthusiasts.
Staying true to the “laptop version of a desktop gaming PC” characterization, this is the heaviest laptop on our list.
8. ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR 15 (G533QS)
Laptop Specifications
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
GPU: NVIDIA® Geforce RTX 3080 (130W TGP), 16GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 165Hz
Weight: 5.1 pounds / 2.3 kg
It's rare to find gaming notebooks with so many RGB LEDs. Scar 15's base is surrounded by a band of light, and another is crammed into its bottom. The keyboard features RGB LED backlighting for each key, and the lid logo is also illuminated. The numerous RGB LEDs, make it one of the most visually stunning laptops on the market, with a touch of old-school.
A top-tier gaming laptop, the ROG Strix Scar 15 offers plenty of power, a gorgeous screen, a top-notch opto-mechanical keyboard that is very snappy and satisfying, and impressive thermal performance.
Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080 and AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HX deliver plenty of power for gaming and work. The screen is bright, punchy, and vivid, and its resolution and refresh rate deliver excellent detail and speed. Meanwhile, the laptop remains cool and relatively quiet thanks to the great engineering behind it.
If there is one indictment against this laptop, it's the weight, as it is the heaviest on this list. You may want to look elsewhere if you need a lighter laptop or if you prefer a more subdued design.
9. MSI GS66 Stealth
Laptop Specifications
CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H
GPU: NVIDIA® Geforce RTX 3080 Max-Q (90W TGP)
Display: 15.6-inch 2560 x 1440 240 Hz
Weight: 4.6 pounds / 2.1 kg
MSI's GS66 is sleek, slick, and powerful. Nvidia Ampere's power is not without compromise, however. MSI has had to be a little frugal when it comes to its power requirements to fit something as powerful as an RTX 3080 into an 18mm thin chassis.
GS66 also comes with a 1440p 240Hz panel, which pairs perfectly with the powerful GPU when playing games. This is definitely a great attempt at 1440p.
In terms of performance, the top GPU configuration is the 95W version, which is just a bit faster than a fully enabled RTX 3070. While this is still a powerful configuration it does not come close to Alienware's m17 R4, for instance.
The fans are a minor disappointment noise wise but nothing you can't get over with by using Nvidia's Max-Q 3.0 features. This includes Whisper Mode 2.0, which allows gaming to be barely audible so you can be stealthy.
The MSI GS66 Stealth gaming laptop is as slim as a gaming desktop, though it does have some tradeoffs compared with a workstation with an RTX 3080.
10. ALIENWARE m17 R4
Laptop Specifications
CPU: Intel Core i7-10850H
GPU: NVIDIA® Geforce RTX 3080 (165W TGP)
Display: 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 360Hz
Weight: 6.6 pounds / 3 kg
An Alienware m17 R4 can be viewed as a desktop replacement for its 17-inch screen. At its top-end configuration, like how we reviewed it, it can be very expensive, but you also get the top-end Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU with 165W TGP.
The m17 eschews Max-Q technology, which prioritizes power and efficiency in favor of a full-blow RTX 3080 GPU. You will also get cream-of-the-crop performance while Alienware's Cryo Tech engineering will guarantee system stability and longevity.
The m17's display comes in 2 variants; 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 360Hz, which is perfect for esports gamers, or 4K UHD 500-nits 60Hz, for gamers who want to have an immersive experience.
There is also a nice, fast RGB keyboard designed in collaboration with Cherry and using Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile Switches. The keyboard's 0.87-inch design is considerably stealthy considering how well it functions as a mechanical keyboard.
Note that this is another quite heavy machine, so you will not get the pinnacle of portability.