Best gaming laptop 2025

The Alienware M16 R2 is now the gaming laptop to beat, offering a decent spec, a great screen, and upgradable parts, all in a well-built chassis that keeps the machine cool. We tested the RTX 4070 spec with a Core Ultra 7 155H U and found it to be seriously potent for 1080p gaming, averaging 102fps in Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ultra ray tracing preset with some help from DLSS.

While you don’t get an OLED screen with this machine, as you do on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, the supplied 240Hz is still excellent and has a pin-sharp 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. The RTX 4070 model struggles with games at high settings at this resolution so you’ll need a model with an RTX 4080 if you want to push the resolution beyond 1,920 x 1,080.

We particularly like that this machine uses standard SODIMM slots for memory, and has two M.2 SSD connectors (one of which is free), rather than soldering these parts to the motherboard, meaning you can upgrade them. It’s also great to see 32GB of RAM in the standard $1,999 spec. It’s not quite a slam dunk – it’s disappointing that there’s no OLED screen on a laptop at this price, for example, but Alienware has otherwise struck the balance just right.

Even the price is reasonable, particularly if you look out for deals on Best Buy or Dell’s website, where you can regularly save a few hundred bucks on this machine.

Read our Alienware M16 R2 review.

If you won’t settle for anything but the very best, and you have the appropriate funds in your bank , then the new 2025 model of the Razer Blade 16 represents the pinnacle of gaming laptop design right now. Its solid build quality and classy aluminum chassis make you fall in love with it when you take it out of the box, looking and feeling like a truly luxury product, and it’s even thinner (and quieter) than the 2024 model as well.

Meanwhile, the 240Hz OLED screen looks amazing, with vivid colors, deep blacks, and high contrast, plus it’s extremely quick and responsive in games.

Razer has pulled out all the stops when it comes to specs too, with the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 GPUs bringing multi frame gen to the table, which has a transformative effect on gaming performance. All of our benchmarks were fully playable at maximum settings at the screen’s 2,560 x 1,600 resolution.

However, the Razer Blade 16 is also extremely expensive. Even the base spec will set you back $2,999, and the RTX 5090 model we reviewed costs a colossal $4,499. This thin and light machine can also produce a lot of fan noise when you’re gaming, particularly if you use the Performance profile, but it’s much quieter on the Silent profile, which you can enable via Razer’s Synapse software, and it’s still fast with these settings as well.

Basically, if you have the money, this is the most stylish and powerful gaming laptop you can buy right now.

Read our Razer Blade 16 review.

If price isn’t a problem, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any laptop more powerful than the MSI Titan 18 HX. A beast of a machine, the Titan 18 HX can offer an Intel Core i9 14900HX, as well as a mobile version of one of the best graphics cards on the market, the RTX 4090.

It’s obnoxiously large with an 18″ screen, very loud, and has a design that our review states “lacks finesse”. It’s an unashamed behemoth of a laptop, with the power to prove it, and if you can handle a keyboard that is fairly controversial in design.

If you don’t care about loud fans, this hefty piece of hardware is capable of 4k gaming at 60 fps, with a powerful U that delivers an excellent work and gaming machine. Few laptops are on the same level as this, and even fewer are at the same price point.

Read our MSI Titan 18 HX review.

We’re astounded that you can buy a gaming laptop with such an amazing screen for this low price right now. The Lenovo Legion 5 Slim’s 14.5-inch OLED screen offers a crisp, sharp display with amazing color reproduction, and it runs at 120Hz as well. You even get a decent U for your money, with the eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS putting in a solid performance.

Meanwhile, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU supplied with the $1,299 spec copes well with gaming at 1,920 x 1,080, and even averages 75fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ultra ray tracing preset, thanks to some help from DLSS upscaling and frame generation. There isn’t enough GPU power to run the latest games at top settings at the screen’s 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, sadly, but games still look good at 1080p on this little , and that high resolution looks amazing when you’re working in Windows.

Meanwhile, this laptop’s small footprint and weight mean it can easily slide into your bag and be carried around, and its chassis is made from a high-quality mix of aluminum and plastic. Our only major complaint is the use of soldered RAM, which means you’re stuck with the 16GB of memory that comes with the base spec and can’t upgrade it at a later date. This is still enough RAM for gaming, though, and it runs at a fast speed of 6,400MHz.

Otherwise, this is a top-tier machine for a surprisingly low price. If you want a slim and light gaming laptop with a great screen, but can’t afford to go above $1,300, this is the model to buy right now.

Read our Lenovo Legion 5 Slim review.

Buying a gaming laptop can get expensive fairly fast, and as you look for more powerful hardware, the expenses skyrocket. Fortunately, the Acer Nitro V 15 is a brilliant laptop, with strong 1080p gaming performance and a sleek design, making it our top 1080p laptop for playing your favorite titles.

Coming under $1000, the Acer Nitro V 15 delivers a great display with an impressive 165Hz refresh rate, allowing you to play anything from story-driven single-player games to the latest competitive shooters with your friends. The budget price also means it’s a solid laptop for general work or school life, making it the best of both worlds.

Unfortunately, the UK version arrives with a small 500GB SSD over a similarly priced unit in the US, which comes with a 1TB SSD. And the multi-threaded performance could be better. But, as long as you aren’t expecting to play everything at ultra in 4K, this is a solid daily driver that is worth the money.

Read our Acer Nitro V 15 review here.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is as impressive as 14-inch gaming laptops get, deftly balancing performance and portability in a package. It falls just shy of perfection, owing to minor flaws, but they’re quickly forgiven or forgotten once you start playing.

Unique to the Zephyrus G14 is a gorgeous, glossy OLED that s Nvidia G-Sync, making for a sublime viewing experience. While all content on this screen benefits from its fantastic color reproduction and contrast, games in particular shine thanks to the display’s excellent response times, made all the better by the lack of screen tearing.

While its native 1800p resolution is supremely sharp, with 243 pixels per inch, it can be fiddly to manage given the capabilities of its GeForce RTX 4060 and 4070 graphics. While this is easily solved with a few clicks, via downscaling or DLSS upscaling, it does hurt the , design-first feel of the Zephyrus G14, albeit slightly.

Soldered RAM proves the biggest flaw of the Zephyrus G14, making it almost necessary to get the 32GB model for longevity. If you can stretch your budgets further, you’ll find your cash well spent.

Read our .

You don’t need to bend backward to meet the prices of powerful gaming laptops to have a solid gaming experience, and the HP Omen 16 is proof of that. Costing just over $1,000 / £1,000 for its base spec, the value it offers budget-conscious gamers is stark.

To hit this price point, HP has smartly focussed on what matters most about a laptop (its performance) but this does mean that the device isn’t the flashiest around. While its cooling solution is irably sufficient, it can get loud and hot if you push it hard enough.

Iit doesn’t skimp on connectivity or battery life, making it an ideal machine for gaming and lightweight tasks such as office work or study.

Read our HP Omen 16 review.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is a great example of fine craftsmanship and design in a gaming laptop. Its CNC-machined aluminum chassis looks and feels luxurious, and its 16-inch OLED screen offers amazing contrast and HDR reproduction, ing Nvidia G-Sync, which eliminates tearing artifacts in games.

The price is also surprisingly generous for the spec and build quality you get. All versions of this laptop feature the same fantastic OLED screen and Intel Core Ultra 9 185H U, which has six of Intel’s latest Meteor Lake P-Cores, and eight E-Cores, with a peak 5.1GHz boost clock.

We recommend going for the cheaper RTX 4080 or 4070 version of this laptop, as the RTX 4090 in our test sample was restricted to 115W, which meant you didn’t get much of a performance advantage. Both GPUs Nvidia’s latest DLSS 3 suite of technologies, including AI frame generation to boost performance.

The one main downer is that the ROG Zephyrus G16 uses soldered memory, rather than replaceable modules, which means you’re stuck with the configuration you buy. For this reason, opt for a 32GB configuration if you can afford it, to buy you as much future-proofing time as possible. Otherwise, this is a deliciously laptop with loads of gaming performance in the bank, and with great value.

Read our Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 review.

Bigger doesn’t always mean better, but the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 makes a strong case in favor of 18-inch laptops. Serving up top-tier specs, including a Core i9 14900HX processor and up to GeForce RTX 4090 graphics, portable gaming doesn’t get much faster than this. But it does come at a substantial cost.

The Strix Scar 18 features a newly improved display. Replacing the aged IPS screen from last year’s laptop, this new Mini LED is beautiful, responsive, sharp, and makes for an excellent HDR experience. Its chassis, despite its ittedly cool semi-transparent finish, is less easy on the eyes though, adopting a typical ‘gamer’ aesthetic.

The ROG Strix Scar 18 won’t break your back or bank, either (relatively speaking), as it’s one of the more affordable and lighter 18-inch gaming laptops available. The only downer is the sound quality from the speakers, which we found weak and tinny.

In our testing, the Strix Scar 18 turned in strong performance across our testing suite, with frame rates comparable to a desktop GeForce RTX 4070 Super, showcasing the full power of a GeForce RTX 4090 mobile GPU running at 175W. It also turns in great U performance, with the Core i9 14900HX clocking in similarly to a Core i5 14600K. Suffice it to say, this machine will handle pretty much anything you throw at it.

Read our .

If you like the idea of laptops that convert to tablets but you want serious gaming power, the Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) could be ideal for you. Despite being just a 13-inch device weighing 1.2kg, it has a powerful U and GPU that deliver reliable 1080p gaming.

With a quality 13-inch, 1600p touchscreen display that can run at up to 180Hz, this laptop/tablet hybrid delivers both great visuals and smooth frame rates ideal for even esports titles. For general use, this tablet can also provide impressive battery life of over ten hours and although this drops to just one hour 28mins in our gaming benchmark, that’s still longer than most other gaming laptops.

There are a couple reasons we don’t more broadly recommend this gaming machine to most buyers looking for a gaming laptop, though. The first is that the hybrid tablet design is a bit odd. It’s neither a slim and light enough tablet nor does the detachable keyboard design bring any benefits over a normal laptop.

The other big reason is price. At over $2,000, the performance on offer here just isn’t high enough. What Asus has achieved is impressive, and if this device hits a specific niche for your needs, there’s no doubting its generally excellent performance and design. But for most gamers we’d recommend a more conventional gaming laptop like the others listed above.

Read our Asus ROG Flow Z13 review.