These are currently some of the best gaming laptops on the market right now. Given that these are all high powered machines, keep in mind that the prices will not be idea for most gamers out there as they lean into the more expensive side as you would expect for powerful gaming laptops.
As such, here you’ll find a wide range of gaming laptops that vary in price, performance and features. There are incredibly expensive premium systems with state-of-the-art graphics cards capable of advanced graphics features such as real-time ray tracing, brilliant all-rounders that deliver solid gaming credentials as well as productivity and entertainment features, and there are also budget offerings that, despite their low cost, still allow you to play the latest games, albeit not at maximum settings.
However, the most important thing is that there is absolutely no padding here. Gamer laptops must be able to deliver the goods, and that means high frame rates and resolutions. As such, the gaming systems included here include Max-Q variants of the best graphics cards on the market today, as well as the fastest SSDs and displays that match the best gaming monitors you can buy. If a gaming laptop can’t play games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, then it has no place on this list.
If you also invest in a top-notch gaming mouse, a high-quality mechanical gaming keyboard, and an audiophile-grade gaming headset, you can be sure that your gaming setup will deliver immersion and quality for many years to come.
However, we’re not just interested in performance: there’s no point spending your budget on a gaming laptop that won’t go that far. That’s why we’re focusing on manufacturers like Dell, Razer, Asus, Acer, MSI, HP and Alienware: manufacturers with a proven track record in providing gaming machines that deliver solid reliability.
Best laptops for gamers 2021
- ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G14
The best gamer laptop for most people.
SPECS
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM: 32GB
Display: 14”
RESOLUTION: FULL HD
Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
REASONS TO BUY IT
+Thin and light
+Great gaming performance
+Battery
The Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 is a revolutionary laptop that delivers unparalleled levels of performance despite being compact and lightweight. It does this thanks to the use of AMD’s new Ryzen 4000 processors combined with Nvidia’s RTX 2060 GPU, which, when combined with plenty of RAM and a quality 14-inch 120Hz display, delivers excellent and highly portable gaming results.
The design is also really smart, with a drop-hinged display and an AniME Matrix LED display on the CNC-milled dot-matrix lid that exudes a futuristic aesthetic. A four-speaker system that’s Dolby Atmos-enabled also means that, for a laptop, the audio levels it’s capable of are remarkable and the system’s battery life also runs and runs (10.7 hours of video playback) . A copy of Windows 10 Pro completes the package.
However, it’s the fact that the Asus Zephyrus 14 offers such a quality full gaming package in such a compact and portable form factor that really sells it, making it a system that can easily be used for both work and play. It weighs only 1.60 kg (3.53 pounds), so slipping it into a backpack is no problem at all.
The price, while not cheap, is nowhere near the levels of what you might spend on a gaming laptop, which explains why we consider the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 to be the best gaming laptop on the market today for most people.
It simply does it all and does it all for an excellent price. Oh, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 has impressed so many people that it just won the highly coveted award for Best Gaming Laptop at the T3 2020 awards. Want to see how this system stacks up against our best premium option? Then check out T3’s Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 vs Asus Zephyrus S GX701 comparison guide.
- ALIENWARE AREA-51M
The best gamer laptop for customization options
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Core i7 10700
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
RAM: 8-64GB
Storage: 256GB SSD
Display: 17.3″ FHD
REASONS TO BUY IT
+Very, very fast
- Excellent display
- Great configuration options
It’s not cheap, especially when you max out the configuration options, but this Alienware offers great gaming power: the default spec has a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of GDDR 6, and you can spec cards up to the GeForce RTX 2080 with 8GB.
You can also choose your display: the base spec has a 144Hz FHD, but you can opt for a 60Hz UHD display with eye-tracking if you prefer. It’s a similar story with RAM and storage: you can upgrade the base 8GB to 64GB and the SSD from 256GB to 2TB with up to three additional RAID drives; We clicked through all the upgrade options and had to lie down when we saw the resulting price tag. But even at the base specs, this Alienware delivers incredible performance and the solid build quality you’d expect from a premium product.
Overall, though, the Area-51m R2 offers one of the most powerful, customizable, and best-built gaming laptops on the market today, and it’s a system that all gamers should check out as they look for their next upgrade. CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE
- ACER NITRO 5
The best budget gaming laptop
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i5-9300H Processor
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB
RAM: 8GB
Display: 15.6-inch IPS, Full HD LCD
Storage: 1 TB HDD & 128 GB SSD
REASONS TO BUY IT.
+Solid and complete hardware specs
- Large storage space
- Low price point
The Acer Nitro 5 is among the lowest-spec systems on our list of best gaming laptops, but that by no means means means it’s not capable of delivering a good gaming experience, and we highly recommend it thanks to its excellent price point.
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM) on board means that even if you don’t get the amp levels of gaming performance, you’ll still be able to run today’s best PC games on medium to high settings without seeing your frame rate. dive into single figures.
Meanwhile, the 256GB system isn’t the biggest, but it’s an NVMe SSD, which means it’s very fast and loads games quickly. The machine’s 8GB of RAM is a bit light, preferably with 16GB, but for most games and applications it doesn’t cause too many problems.
The Intel Core i7-9750H (hexa-core) processor ensures the system can also handle any light to medium computing tasks with ease, while a battery capable of delivering 8 hours of runtime on a single charge means it has also gained genuine portability.
4. ALIENWARE M15 R3
From the iconic brand comes one of its best gaming laptops yet.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10th Gen Intel i7-10750H
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
RAM: 16GB
Display: 15.6-inch IPS 1920×1080 Full HD
Storage: 512GB SSD
REASONS TO BUY IT
+Lots of power in a sleek design.
- Loads of hardware configurations
There’s something about Alienware that says gaming; you know the real purpose of the machine is to crank up the resolution as high as possible and watch the FPS not drop an inch. An update to Alienware’s previous lineup, the m13, m15 and m17, the new R3 models showcase this philosophy to perfection.
However, our preference has to be the in-between option, as it balances having a large screen without also having a laptop that is essentially a desktop computer.
From the wide variety of ports, from Ethernet to Thunderbolt to HDMI, to the customizable keyboard and controls, this laptop has it covered, and more. The cooling system has also been specially designed to tackle the most demanding tasks, ensuring you get every ounce of performance you need. It really doesn’t get any better than this.
