Best gaming laptops (2026): Razer, Asus, Dell, and more

Now, there’s another category of gaming laptops that focus more on performance than being slim or portable. the Lenovo legion 7i 10th generation It’s one of my favorites in this category, with a beautiful white body and glossy OLED display. Unlike some OLED displays, the Legion 7i’s display can be cranked up to over 1,000 nits of brightness. The result is truly outstanding HDR performance that brings games to life. HDR is an effective way to enhance the visuals of your games without the performance cost. The Legion 7i Gen 10 is one of the best devices in this regard.

It’s still fairly thin at 0.7 inches thick, too, while there are plenty of ports on the back. It’s the definition of a “clean” gaming laptop. It’s no slouch when it comes to performance either, offering either the RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5080 for graphics.

Cheap gaming laptops are worth it

There are no gaming laptops worth buying that are actually cheap. High refresh rate displays and discrete graphics will almost always make them more expensive than standard laptops. But as you approach $1,000, there’s one laptop I always come back to: the Lenovo Look 15. This Lenovo “Lock” sub-brand is known for cutting through the fluff and focusing on giving gamers the performance they need at an affordable price. No laptop does it better than the LOQ 15. Many laptop manufacturers sell their RTX 5060 configurations for hundreds of dollars extra. In fact, if you’re shopping around $1,000, there’s no reason not to buy the LOQ 15. Just do it.

If you want to save some extra cash, there is another cheaper option than the LOQ 15 with some compromises in key areas. the Acer Nitro V16 It’s that laptop that comes with an RTX 5050 card. It was affordable at $600 sometime last year — before laptop prices skyrocketed due to the ongoing crisis. Memory deficiency— but it’s still the only laptop cheaper than the Lenovo LOQ 15 that’s actually worth it. It’s fairly powerful for an RTX 5050, and although the display is pretty poor, it’s not a bad-looking laptop. The only big caveat is that the 135W power supply it comes with doesn’t provide enough power to keep it charged in performance mode. Read more about this issue in my review, because it is important to know if you plan to buy it.

There are others Cheap gaming laptops There I’ve tested, like MSI Cyborg A15However, the Acer Nitro V 16 or Lenovo LOQ 15 are a better and cheaper option. You’ll also find a lot of gaming laptops under $1,000 that use older graphics cards, like the RTX 4050 or 3050. In general, I recommend staying away from these machines. It’s only been a generation or two, but remember: Nvidia only releases new laptop graphics cards every two years. So, the RTX 4050 laptop may already be more than two years old, and the RTX 3050 is more than five years old. Not only do the graphics perform worse, but these laptops are more likely to need replacing sooner.

Experimental stuff

One of the exciting things about the world of gaming laptops right now is the experience. While gaming laptops with a traditional Nvidia GPU are the most popular method, there are a few different ways to play PC games on the go that push the boundaries. You might consider a Mobile gamesfor example, such as Steam Deck or Xbox Ally X. These portable devices have their own fans, and while you can’t also do your homework on these devices, they’re great on sofas, trains, and planes.