Best Gaming Laptop in 2022
The best gaming laptop at every size and price:
The best gaming laptops are changing every year. The early days of mobile gaming were largely desktop replacements — clunky chassis, multiple power bricks, and RGB lighting galore. But the top contenders now are different. Manufacturers are finally putting powerful specs in sleeker, more portable, and more professional builds. They have excellent, fast refreshing screens that are necessary for a great gaming experience. These laptops aren’t just great for gaming, but for everyday work as well.
The best gaming laptop of 2022 is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15. It can handle the most demanding games on the market today and also makes a great daily driver. We’ll be updating this page regularly as the best gaming laptops hit shelves throughout this year. Some exciting updates are on the way. AMD and Nvidia have announced their next-gen series of mobile processors and mobile graphics cards — the Ryzen 5000 series and the GeForce RTX 3000 series, respectively — and we’re already seeing them in premium gaming laptops across manufacturers.
The QHD screen is another feature to watch for in the best gaming laptops. A growing number of manufacturers are releasing configurations with 1440p displays, even in gaming laptops under $2,000. These options can hit a sweet spot for many gamers: a better experience than 1080p without the price premium or raw horsepower required for a 4K display. You can expect decently high refresh rates from these panels as well, depending on the model. One more thing to keep in mind with the best gaming laptops is the power you can expect. Not all chips with the same name are created equal — the RTX 3070 in one laptop may not deliver the same frame rates as the RTX 3070 in another laptop due to its wattage (as well as other factors like the processor and cooling). Nvidia now requires companies to disclose clock speeds and graphics power on each model’s product page, but plenty of manufacturers haven’t done that yet. Your best bet, if you can’t find those numbers on a company’s website, is to read some reviews and make sure the model you’re considering will deliver the frame rates you’re looking for. We will note the wattage used in any laptops we review with the new RTX graphics cards. If you’re looking for a more multipurpose device, check out our best laptop page. If you’re an Android gamer, we’ve also got a list of the best Chromebooks you can buy.
Best Gaming Laptop
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is the best gaming laptop of 2022.
The best gaming laptop
The ROG Zephyrus G15 is the best 15-inch gaming laptop you can buy. At just over four pounds, the Zephyrus G15 is one of the lightest 15-inch gaming laptops you can buy. But you’re not making any compromises on performance for that portability: it’s powered by the top mobile chips that AMD and Nvidia have to offer, and includes a fast 165Hz QHD (1440p) display. Together, those components can handle even the toughest AAA titles at QHD resolution. The panel has excellent color reproduction as well, so your games will look great. But it’s not just the gaming; almost everything else about the G15 is great, too. The audio (pumped from a six-speaker array) has strong percussion and bass, the keyboard and touchpad have a satisfying click, the port selection leaves little to be desired, and the battery can last for a whopping eight and a half hours. The G15 won’t be the laptop for everyone. There’s no webcam, which is a significant oversight, and some may prefer something more affordable, or with a flashier aesthetic. But as a package, the G15 is the one to beat. Not only is it the best gaming laptop you can buy, but it’s also one of the best laptops you can buy, period. Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is one of the best gaming laptops that you can currently purchase. Despite not having a webcam, it’s tough to beat the performance for the cost.
$1,959 at Amazon
An ultra-portable gaming laptop.
If you're looking for something thinner and lighter than the G15, the G14 is essentially a smaller version of the G15. There are a couple configurations, and you should make sure that you're buying the $1,649.99 SKU with the 6700S GPU. We feel that this model, specifically, is the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy. This is a great device for travel and commute gaming, at just 3.79 pounds and 0.77 inches thick. It comes with a great keyboard, touchpad, port selection, and screen. The frame rates it produced in our testing were solid, and we didn’t see a huge difference in performance between the 6700S and 6800S models. We also got all-day battery life, which you don't see in too many gaming laptops these days. Oh, and there's even a webcam. If you are interested in having an animated grid of colored lights on your computer, you can also pay more for a model that has Asus’s AniMe Matrix. We don’t think these models offer particularly good value for their price, but they do have some cute benefits – you can customize them to display words or images of your choice, and there’s a virtual pet on it that you can play with. Regardless, if you're looking for a 14-inch laptop with powerful gaming chops that can double as a daily driver, this device should top your list. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The ROG Zephyrus G14 is an astonishingly powerful gaming laptop. Its AMD Ryzen 9 processor and GeForce RTX 3060 can push powerful, smooth graphics performance in games with its QHD display, while also being surprisingly efficient for other tasks.
$1,650 at Best Buy
The best big-screen gaming laptop
The Blade 17 delivers some of the best gaming performance you can find in a laptop — but that’s not even its superpower. What makes Razer’s 17-inch flagship so impressive is it packs that unbelievable power into a thin and attractive chassis. It’s less than 0.8 inches thick and only requires one charging brick — so you can carry it around in a backpack or briefcase without compromising on power. This year’s model comes with a QHD 240Hz scree. It also has a customizable per-key RGB keyboard, which adds a touch of color without being too intense for the office. The Blade 17 certainly isn’t cheap, but it’s the laptop to buy if you want the best of the best. Razer Blade 17
The Razer Blade 17 is a powerful gaming laptop with a compact and attractive design.
$4,300 at Best Buy
4. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro A gaming laptop with a 16:10 screen
The Legion 5 Pro is the best gaming laptop Lenovo has ever made. For well under $2,000, you get exceptional performance from AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors in an attractive 16-inch chassis. It delivered respectable results on every game we tried, even at its native 2560 x 1600 resolution. And with the 165Hz display, you’ll be able to fully take advantage of the Legion 5 Pro’s power. Performance aside, the highlight of the Legion 5 Pro is its 16:10 screen. A screen this tall is hard to find on the gaming laptop market these days, and it allows you more room for multitasking if you want to use the Legion 5 Pro as a daily driver. The keyboard is also a delight to use, with 1.5mm of travel and four-zone programmable backlighting. The Legion’s main downside is its battery life. We only got about four and a half hours of continuous use in our testing. While that’s not the worst we’ve ever gotten from a gaming laptop, it’s nowhere near what you’ll see from the G15. However, it does charge very, very fast with the included 300W power brick. Overall, though the G15 will be a better option for folks who often work on the go, the Legion is still a solid choice—and we have to give Lenovo props for the 16:10 screen. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
Lenovo’s 2021 Legion 5 Pro features a 16-inch QHD display, the RTX 3070 graphics chip, AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H, and it supports expandable storage and RAM.
$1,480 at Antonline
5. MSI GE76 Raider The best laptop with flashy RGB
The GE76 Raider costs an arm and a leg, but it packs some serious power. You can configure it all the way up to Nvidia’s top mobile GPU and Intel’s top processor., and it has the cooling to keep them in line (It’s currently available with 11th-Gen chips, but the 12th-Gen models should be available in a few weeks.) You can get it with a QHD screen (which we’d recommend for most people, as these hefty specs can take full advantage of it) as well as a 1080p 360Hz display. Keep in mind that this laptop is really just for gaming. Its battery life is mediocre, and its chassis is quite thick and heavy, so you’ll want to look elsewhere if you’re looking for a device that could double as a portable work driver. (The brick is also huge.) But if you’re looking for what’s essentially a desktop you could travel with, the GE76 Raider will deliver a premium experience. MSI GE76 Raider
The MSI GE76 Raider is a flashy, colorful notebook for gamers who want the best of the best. It’s thick and heavy, and its battery life isn’t great, but it houses the most powerful gaming specs you can get.
$2,599 at B&H
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