Best gaming laptops
There are plenty of things to consider when looking for a respectable gaming laptop. You’ll need a capable CPU, a graphics chip that is powerful enough to deliver games as their developers intended them, and enough system RAM to keep applications stored in memory. A gaming system should also have a high-capacity and fast storage drive to hold games and other files, a sizeable and decent-resolution screen to view the action on, and a good chassis to bear all these components.
Processor
From Intel, the seventh-generation Core series processors (codename: Kaby Lake) are well-suited to the CPU task, but the latest eighth-generation chips (codename: Coffee Lake) are even more power efficient while also providing a boost in performance.
Many of the laptops here have 8th-generation chips, but going for an older model from 2018 could prove a bargain. You don’t need a Coffee Lake processor, but you will be future-proofing yourself.
You may have heard about Intel’s i9 processors and these are starting to appear in laptops such as the MacBook Pro. Watch out for this option in a gaming laptop but read the review first in case there are issues. As ever, our benchmarks provided within our reviews will tell you how fast a laptop is at various tasks.
Graphics card
The graphics card is arguably the most important component of a gaming laptop, as it does most of the work when you’re playing a game. Unlike with a desktop PC you can’t usually upgrade this in a laptop, so it pays to get the best you can afford to begin with.
Systems with Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti, 1080, 1070, 1060 and 1050 graphics chips are currently the ones to look for. You’ll see the ‘Max Q design’ versions of these cards largely as they are created to fit inside the chassis of a laptop. We also have some with newer RTX cards for improved performance along with features such as ray tracing. The GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti are found in slightly cheaper gaming laptops. We were expecting to see much lower prices (around £600 to £700), but as of yet such laptops are still closer to the £1,000 mark.
Display
Laptop screens have improved in recent years, with resolutions now settling at Full-HD (1,920x1,080), and using better technology than the basic TN type found on cheap portables. Look out for IPS panels, which offer wide and consistent viewing from all angles, better contrast ratio and wider colour gamuts.
Don’t be misled by claims about screen brightness – contrast ratio, especially at lower brightness settings, is far more important than dazzling your eyes with 300cd/m2 figures. It’s also easier to find screens now with more practical anti-glare finishes, reversing the trend of high-gloss reflective panels that were once unavoidable from most brands.
You can usually ignore the trend for greaterthan-HD resolution, since many graphics processors struggle with UHD (4K) screens. For most gamers, FHD (1,920x1,080) or QHD (2,560x1,440) is a happy compromise between glorious on-screen detail and playable frame rates. If you want a smoother experience at 1080p or 1440p, opt for a display with a higher refresh rate (120- or 144Hz) such as the Razer Blade 15.
Storage
For storage, a solid-state drive will greatly improve the user experience when it comes to booting a PC, launching programs and opening and saving files. It won’t make your games run faster, although it may reduce any loading times between levels, and they should start up faster.
Nevertheless, an SSD is always recommended, with the option of a second capacious hard disk to store your games. Remember that modern games take up a lot of space so get as much storage as you can.
Audio quality
Some gamers like to use headphones or headsets (see page 92), especially in multiplayer games, but if you don’t anticipate spending your time donning ear defenders you should still find that modern gaming laptops run quieter today. Which means you may get to appreciate the built-in stereo speakers.
Some have brand badges to suggest bespoke audio systems – we’ve seen B&O, Dynaudio, Harman, Klipsch and Onkyo put their names to tinny laptop speakers – although in our experience, these are more window dressing, with some of the best-sounding laptops bearing no fancy badges.
Battery life and other considerations
As we discovered with some of the following models, you can have a
