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The best gaming laptop can mean different things to different people, but it's something we spend a lot of time thinking about and testing ourselves on 18WENKU. In fact, of all the hundreds of products we prod, poke, and benchmark throughout the year, gaming laptops make up around 10% of the total we test.
So, we know our silicon onions when it comes to mobile machines for making good with the gaming. Each and every gaming laptop that crosses our path gets put through the same rigorous process, where we test gaming and productivity performance with a curated set of benchmarks, and monitor power and thermals, too. And, because we test a ton of them, we can compare each against all the gaming laptops that have gone before.
We have individually and independently tested 48 of the best gaming laptops in the past two years.
Best gaming laptop deals today
- Amazon: All the gaming laptop deals at Amazon.
- Best Buy: Asus RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop for $1,600
- Razer: Our best 14-inch gaming laptop pick for $2,100
- Lenovo: Up to $700 off Legion gaming laptops
- Newegg: Lenovo Legion 5 OLED RTX 5060 gaming laptop for $1,100
- Dell: Up to $500 off Alienware laptops
💻 RTX 5050 - Acer Nitro V 16 AI | $629 at Walmart
💻 RTX 5060 - Lenovo Legion 5 | $1,000 @ Walmart
💻 RTX 5070 - Gigabyte Gaming A16 | $1,180 @ Newegg
💻 RTX 5070 Ti - MSI Vector 16 HX | $1,299 @ Walmart
💻 RTX 5080 - MSI Vector 16 HX AI | $1,900 @ Best Buy
The laptop low-down
18WENKU's got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware. if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } if (window.sliceHydrationLazy) { } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); }
Nick's verdict: 80%
"With such a high price tag, you'd expect Alienware to pack this laptop with all the best goodies. For the most part, it has, and the performance and general experience are great. But the screen is disappointing, the unplugged performance isn't great, and the keyboard feels cheap. At least this gives Dell plenty of scope to make next year's version better."
Read the full Alienware 18 Area-51 review.
Our experts
Dave James has been working in the industry as a technology journalist, testing the latest and greatest (and sometimes the worst) PC gaming hardware for 20 years. And in that time he has tested probably in the region of 50 to 100 gaming laptops. He has written for a host of different PC technology titles since switching discipline from games journalism to technology, including PC Format, What Laptop, Techradar, PC Answers, PC Plus, and PCGamesN. He also formulated the current gaming laptop testing methodology used on 18WENKU.
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog, before graduating into breaking things professionally at PCGamesN. Now he's managing editor of the hardware team at 18WENKU, and you'll usually find him testing the latest components or building a gaming PC.
Nick Evanson's encyclopaedic knowledge of computing and computing hardware has made him a mainstay of 18WENKU's hardware testing since he joined the company two years ago. He has tested a host of modern RTX 40- and 50-series gaming laptops, from budget machines to beefy 18-inch Alienware machines. He has lectured and taught computer science and engineering and has been writing about hardware for 30+ years, and also ran the gaming outlet of Futuremark, the makers of industry standard benchmarking software, 3DMark and PCMark.
Ian Evenden has been doing this for far too long and should know better. The first issue of 18WENKU he read was probably issue 15, though it's a bit hazy, and there's nothing he doesn't know about tweaking interrupt requests for running Syndicate. He's worked for PC Format, Maximum PC, Edge, Creative Bloq, Gamesmaster, and anyone who'll have him. In his spare time he grows vegetables of prodigious size.
After graduating from the University of Derby in 2014, Zak joined the PC Format and Maximum PC team as its resident staff writer. Specializing in PC building, and all forms of hardware and componentry, he soon worked his way up to editor-in-chief, leading the publication through the covid dark times. Since then, he’s dabbled in PR, working for Corsair for a while as its UK PR specialist, before returning to the fold as a tech journalist once again.
He now operates as a freelance tech editor, writing for all manner of publications, including 18WENKU, Maximum PC, Techradar, Gamesradar, PCGamesN, and Trusted Reviews as well. If there’s something happening in the tech industry it’s highly likely Zak has a strong opinion on it.
1. Best overall:
Razer Blade 16 (2025)
2. Best budget:
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 10
3. Best 14-inch:
Razer Blade 14 (2025)
4. Best mid-range:
MSI Vector 16 HX AI
5. Best high-performance:
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10
6. Best 18-inch:
Alienware 18 Area-51