Gamers are constantly looking for the best gaming laptops under their budget. The good news is that various laptop vendors are releasing new models every year, which come with a wide range of features.
The perfect gaming laptop could have different meanings to different people.
This is why we will first look at the features to consider when buying a gaming laptop.
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Factors to consider when searching for a gaming laptop
Not all laptops can be used for gaming. It’s possible you could have a very expensive laptop, but it may perform poorly when it comes to gaming.
Therefore, there are features that you have to look for when it comes to choosing an ideal laptop for gaming.
These include:
Processor
This is the most important feature to look at when buying a laptop for gaming. The processing power is what determines if the laptop is good enough to run heavy gaming software.
The ideal gaming laptop should have at least a core i5 processor.
RAM
The performance of a gaming laptop is highly dependent on the size of the RAM.
Laptops with bigger memory will perform faster and better.
You will need a laptop with at least 8GB RAM for average gaming.
Graphics
The graphics card of a gaming laptop is a very important element.
A powerful graphics card will ensure a fast refresh rate, which translates to a smooth games display.
You will need at least 2GB VRAM for entry-level gaming, and 4GB VRAM for mid-level gaming.
Display
The game you are playing will be shown on the screen, and everyone would appreciate a high resolution and a big screen.
Therefore, for a streamlined gaming experience, the display screen has to be big, sharp, and vivid. It should feature the appropriate color contrast and brightness.
Laptop size
Generally, when it comes to laptop size, the bigger the better. An 11 inches screen is way too small for gaming.
If you will be carrying your laptop around, then you have to consider a size that is generally portable.
Hard disk
This depends on the types of games you want to play on your laptop.
The least amount of RAM you can get for your gaming laptop is 12GB internal storage. However, there is also an option for upgrading later or using an external hard disk.
Battery life
Most gaming laptops do not have impressive batteries.
However, with great technological advancements, laptops are coming with long-lasting and sturdy batteries that can go up to six hours without charging.
Generally, 4 hours is good enough for a gaming laptop.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 300
Dell Latitude E6440
The laptop does not have a stylish appearance as it has a silver lid with a black interior. The casing is made from a combination of plastic, aluminum, and magnesium, which produces a strong casing that makes the laptop sturdy.
This device has a 15.6 inches screen with a resolution of 1366 * 768. It has an anti-reflective display, which makes the colors dim. Dell Latitude E6440 has an Intel HD 4400 graphics card, which is acceptable for a low budget.
This laptop has impressive processing power. It comes with an Intel Core i5-4300M processor and a processor speed of 2.6 GHz. The dedicated graphics card ensures a quality image display. Its 8GB RAM ensures fast read from the hybrid hard drive.
The machine weighs 4.65 pounds which may be too heavy to carry around. The battery life is quite good as it can go up to five hours with normal usage and 7.5 hours with light usage.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 500
ASUS VivoBook F510UA
It has a slim and stylish outlook, which makes people underrate its capabilities. ASUS VivoBook is a perfect option for gamers with a low budget.
The bezel outlook and metallic finish give it a modern look. The screen size is 15.5 inches with a high resolution of 1920 * 1080 pixels, which makes it very desirable by gamers.
The device has a 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7200U processor which ensures high performance.
The image display is taken care of by the Intel Integrated UHD 620 graphics card. Though the graphics card is not very good, it has an impressive performance, bearing in mind how reasonable the price is.
ASUS VivoBook is shipped with a 1TB hard disk which is sufficient to store your gaming files. To ensure performance is not affected by the huge memory capacity, the laptop has 8GB RAM which facilitates fast read from the hard disk.
When it comes to portability, ASUS VivoBook is very portable as it weighs 3.7 pounds. The battery can go for up to 7 hours without being plugged in, which makes it an ideal device for travelers.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 700
Dell G3 15
This is an ideal choice for people looking for remarkable gaming features at an affordable price. Despite the relatively low price, this machine has powerful features that support high-quality gaming.
The outward appearance is attractive with a black chassis and a Dell logo engraved on the top lid. The look of this laptop is decent, which makes it ideal for other uses such as study purposes or as an office laptop.
Dell G3 15 has a 15.6 inches screen with full HD anti-glare. It has a bright and colorful panel, which streamlines your gaming experience.
In addition to the high-quality display, this device has a phenomenal performance which is powered by an 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8300H processor.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 is not good enough for a mid-level gaming laptop. However, it is good enough to play entry-level games without any hitches.
When it comes to internal storage, Dell G3 comes with a 1TB hard disk for storing your gaming files.
To ensure performance is not affected by the large internal storage, the device has 8GB RAM which ensures fast read from the hard disk.
Travelers and gamers who like playing non-stop, Dell G3 has a good battery that can go up to 6 hours. On the downside, this device weighs 8.14 pounds, which hinders the possibility of moving around with it.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 800
HP Pavilion 15-CX0020NR
At such an affordable price, HP Pavilion 15 boasts of remarkable performance and great features. It has an attractive black color with a shiny HP logo that adds to its elegance.
The laptop has a 15.6 inches screen with an anti-glare display. Though the display is dim, HP Pavilion 15 has a balanced color panel, which is what you need for gaming.
Despite the low price, HP Pavilion 15 has an excellent performance. With its 8th generation Intel Core i5-8300H processor, you can play high-quality games and multitask with ease.
The machine’s graphic card, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, provides high-quality images for all games. With the 1TB hard disk storage, you have more than enough space to store all your games.
The 8GB RAM ensures fast processing and read-write to the disk.
This device is relatively portable as it weighs 5.18 pounds. The battery can last up to 6 hours without plugging in, which is a desirable feature for travelers.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 1000
ASUS TUF FX504
It is a lightweight and slim laptop with superior features. It is ideal for someone who wants a good gaming laptop at an affordable cost.
Its appealing outward appearance has an aluminum chassis and a scarlet logo on the top lid.
ASUS FX504 has a 15.6 inches full HD display that improves the appearance of your games on the screen.
Its plausible display quality can be attributed to its bright and colorful panel.
The device is equipped with an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H processor that ensures you can play your games without the machine overheating.
The 8GB RAM ensures fast read from the hard disk. On the downside, this gaming laptop has low disk storage, which is a turn down for most people. Its graphics are supported by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti card which provides uninterrupted image loading.
The graphics are silky smooth, and you can play high-quality games on the highest settings.
ASUS FX504 is a portable machine as it weighs 5 pounds only.
The battery can last up to 7 hours without plugging in, making it an ideal laptop for gamers who want an uninterrupted gaming experience.
Best Gaming Laptop Under 1500
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5″ Touch-Screen – Intel Core i5 – 8GB Memory – 128GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model)
- Clean, elegant design — Thin and light, starting at just 2.79 pounds, Surface Laptop 3 is easy to carry
- Choose from rich tone-on-tone color combinations: New Sandstone, plus Matte Black, Cobalt Blue, and Platinum
- Improved speed and performance to do what you want, with the latest processors – Surface Laptop 3 is up to two times faster than surface Laptop 2
- More ways to connect, with USB-C and USB-A ports for connecting to displays, docking stations and more, as well as accessory charging
- All-day power on the go, with up to 11.5 hours of battery life, plus standby time when you’re away. Go from empty to a full battery with fast charging – up to 80% in about 1 hour
Best Gaming Laptop Under 2000
OMEN HP 15-DC1040NR
This is a high-quality gaming laptop with superior features that support high-end gaming.
From the processor to the stylish look, OMEN HP 15-DC1040NR is a worthy gaming device. The outward appearance will impress you.
From the scarlet logo and the sharp engraved lines on the outer case to the screen raised with two hinges, everything about this laptop is impressive.
However, some people might find this machine average due to the mix of brushed aluminum and chunky plastic.
The OMEN HP 15 has an 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor. It has six cores that give it super fast loading times even for bulky games.
The device has a screen size of 15.6 inches with a full HD display. The screen offers a very colorful panel, which is a desirable feature.
With the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card, OMEN HP 15 provides a streamlined gaming experience. The graphics load very fast, giving you the best gaming experience.
This device comes with a 1TB HDD and 128 GB SDD which provides more than enough space to store your gaming files. Its 16GB RAM boosts the overall speed and performance of the device.
The laptop is generally heavy since it weighs 5.29 pounds, and it has a low battery life which limits its portability. The battery can last up to four hours for normal usage and up to six hours for light usage.
Acer Predator Helios 500
For starters, this laptop has the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H processor. Predator series from Acer comes with the best gaming features for a 2000 dollars budget.
The GTX-1070 graphics is armored with an 8GB VRAM, which gives the laptop a lot of memory space for image data storage. This gives you a streamlined gaming experience and the capability of running the latest games on your laptop.
With Acer Predator Helios 500, you will never have to deal with a frozen screen. It has the NVIDIA 10- series GPU which equips your machine with incredible frame rates which make the gameplay animations smoother.
Storage is the last thing you should worry about with this laptop. Not only is it equipped with an SSD but also has space for a hard disk.
This means you can have as many games as you want, and still have storage space for other things. The 4.1 GHz processor has a clock speed of 3.4GHz which is very impressive for a gaming machine.
This gaming laptop has a large screen display which makes it ideal for playing high-end VR massive games. The machine will give you a clean, smooth, and hitch-free gaming experience that VR gamers crave for.
However, with such a powerful machine, you should expect some cons. The high-end specs, big screen, and powerful processor drains the battery power faster.
This means you will not be able to play for long without charging your battery. Bearing in mind that the laptop weighs 9 pounds, it will be very heavy to carry around for a long distance.
The laptop is thick, and may not be ideal for slim laptop lovers.
New Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip – (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage)
- Apple-designed M1 chip for a giant leap in CPU, GPU, and machine learning performance
- Get more done with up to 20 hours of battery life, the longest ever in a Mac
- 8-core CPU delivers up to 2.8x faster performance to fly through workflows quicker than ever
- 8-core GPU with up to 5x faster graphics for graphics-intensive apps and games
- 16-core Neural Engine for advanced machine learning
- 8GB of unified memory so everything you do is fast and fluid
- Superfast SSD storage launches apps and opens files in an instant
Conclusion
This review gives an overview of the best gaming laptops grouped according to different budgets.
All the laptops reviewed are capable of playing entry-level to mid-level games, and a few can play high-level games.
The review will help you choose a powerful gaming laptop that fits your budget.
