The best gaming laptops for 2024

Gaming laptops are the true Transformers of the PC world: They’re powerful enough to play your favorite titles, ensuring you get the best gaming experience, but you can also harness their speed for media creation or extreme multitasking, like streaming high-resolution gameplay to Twitch. Today, you can even find a few that weight less than the smallest MacBook Pro, making them solid options for daily drivers as well. For the demanding Apex Legends player, or the power user just looking for a capable GPU to handle video encoding, it’ll be easier than ever to find the best gaming laptop to suit your needs — but sorting through the seemingly endless number of options can be taxing. We've tested and reviewed plenty of gaming laptops and we continue to do so as new models become available. Here, we outline our top picks for the best gaming laptops, along with everything you need to know before purchasing one.

• ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14

  Best gaming laptop overall

  $2,000 at Best Buy

• Dell G15 5535 Gaming Laptop

  Best budget gaming laptop

  $950 at Amazon
• More options

  Razer Blade 15 Gaming Laptop

  Best premium gaming laptop

  $2,200 at Amazon$1,500 at Best BuySee more options

• Alienware m18

  Best 18-inch gaming laptop

  $2,335 at Amazon

• ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 (2022)

  Best gaming laptop with a dual screen

  $2,550 at Amazon

What to look for in a gaming laptop

Price

Your laptop buying journey starts and ends with the amount of money you're willing to spend. No surprise there. The good news: There are plenty of options for gamers of every budget. In particular, we're seeing some great entry-level PC gaming choices under $1,000, like Dell's G15 lineup. A cheap gaming laptop in this price range will definitely feel a bit flimsier than pricier models, and they'll likely skimp on RAM, storage and overall power. But most cheaper laptops should be able to handle the majority of video games running at 1080p at 60 frames per second, which is the bare minimum you'd want from any system.

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