Here is our list of some of the best gaming laptops that you should be putting your money on, in 2021. Happy gaming on the go!
Gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment right now, and personally speaking, it’s also the best one. But unlike many other forms of entertainment, gaming requires specific and often expensive hardware to enjoy. It can be hard to find something you like, and when you’re spending upwards of $1,000, you want to make sure you’re getting something that’s just right for you. To help you out, we’ve rounded up some of the best gaming laptops you can buy today so you can rest assured you’re making a good purchase. While everyone has different needs, there are two things that you want to pay attention to — powerful specs and a high refresh rate display. These are the two most important things to look for in a gaming laptop because they ensure your games will run as smoothly as possible, including the most recent titles. With that being said, let’s get into our list. Lenovo’s Legion brand makes some great gaming laptops, and the latest Legion 5 Pro is no exception. This is a powerful gaming laptop that doesn’t quite go all the way in terms of performance, but it’s one of the best bang-for-the-buck gaming laptops out there. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 6 is powered by the latest and greatest AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors, up to a Ryzen 7 5800H. That’s a 45W processor with 8 cores,16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.4GHz, so suffice it to say you have all the performance you could want on that front. Gaming also requires a powerful GPU, so you can go all the way up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 with 8GB of memory and up to a whopping 140W of power. That’s important because many laptop GPUs are limited in how much power they can use, so this will give you superb performance for gaming. Beyond that, you can configure the Legion 5 Pro with up to 32GB of RAM (which you can upgrade yourself), and up to 2TB of SSD storage out of the box. The other important aspect of a gaming laptop is its display, and the Legion 5 Pro doesn’t disappoint here, either. It’s got a 16-inch panel, and it comes in a somewhat unusual 16:10 aspect ratio. We say unusual because for a long time, wide screens were preferred for gaming, but some laptops are starting to buck that trend. Across the board, the Legion 5 Pro comes in Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, and it features a 165Hz refresh rate with NVIDIA G-SYNC support. That makes for a very sharp and smooth experience, and on top of that, it has 500 nits of brightness, DisplayHDR 400 certification, and it covers 100% of sRGB. This is a very good screen. One area that often gets overlooked in gaming laptops is the webcam, and that’s, unfortunately, the case here. You get a 720p camera above the display, and it doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition. In fact, there’s no Windows Hello support at all on this laptop, which is a bit disappointing, but frankly not that uncommon in gaming laptops. Moving on to the design, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro looks like a gaming laptop, but it’s not overly flashy. It comes in either a dark grey or white models and the chassis itself is fairly subdued, though the big fan vents and the lines running across the lid give it away as a gaming laptop. It’s not the most portable laptop around though, starting at 5.4lbs of weight and measuring 26.85mm at its thickest point. There’s not much in the way of RGB lighting, either, aside from the optional 4-zone RGB backlight. Also, if you choose the white chassis, the keyboard backlight is blue, which you may or may not like. Speaking of the keyboard, the Legion 5 Pro has a number pad and lowered directional arrows so you don’t accidentally press other keys, something you may appreciate. As for ports, the Legion 5 Pro comes packed, with most ports being on the back. Here, you’ll find one USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) port with power delivery, three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1), HDMI 2.1, and gigabit Ethernet. On the left side you get an extra USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) port and a headphone jack, while the right side houses one more USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) port. There isn’t much more you can ask for here, this is a very complete setup. The Legion 5 Pro may not feature the most powerful graphics out there, but it gets almost everything right and it’s an absolutely fantastic machine for the price you pay. That’s why it deserves the top spot here. If you have money to spend and you want an experience that feels premium across the board, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced might just be what you’re looking for. This is a very high-end gaming laptop with a few configuration options so you can adjust it to your preference. Starting with performance, the Razer Blade 15 comes packing an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU with 8 cores,16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.6Ghz, one of the most powerful laptop processors out there. Backing that up, you can get the Razer Blade 15 with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card with 8GB of memory and 105W of power, making for a fantastic gaming experience overall. You can pair that with up to 32GB of RAM (which is upgradeable) and a 1TB SSD, plus a free M.2 slot if you want to expand the storage later on. All of this makes the Blade 15 one of the best gaming laptops already. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced gives you a few options for the display so you can choose something that fits your needs better. It’s a 15.6-inch panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, but you can choose a Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel with an ultra-fast 360Hz refresh rate, a Quad HD (2560 x 1440) model with either 240Hz or 165Hz refresh rate, or an Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. Depending on what kind of gamer you are, you can choose your favorite display here, and that’s a great choice to have. Certain displays are only available with specific configurations, though. Adding to a complete premium experience, the Razer Blade 15 also doesn’t sacrifice the webcam like most gaming laptops do. You get a Full HD/1080p camera here, so you can stream your games or make video calls and still look great. Plus, the camera even supports Windows Hello facial recognition. You won’t find that on many more laptops on this list. The design of the Razer Blade 15 is clean and sleek, making this a laptop you can easily use in public without getting too much attention. It’s an all-black chassis inside and out, aside from the green Razer logo on the lid. The keyboard features per-key RGB backlighting, but it only shines through the labels of the keys, so it’s not obnoxious like some other gaming laptops. The Razer Blade 15 is also fairly portable considering its specs, weighing just 4.4lbs. Plus, it’s less than 17mm thin. That’s very impressive and contributes to the overall premium feel. You’re not missing out on ports, either. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced has two USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports (one on each side), three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 2) ports, HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. The only thing you might want to add is an Ethernet port, but this is still a great port setup, and with two Thunderbolt ports, you can add any connectivity you want using a Thunderbolt dock. The Razer Blade 15 is a complete premium experience with high-end performance, a sleek design, great display options for different users, and even a Full HD webcam with Windows Hello. It’s not a cheap laptop, but it’s fantastic all around and you can’t go wrong with it. You can buy it below, but keep in mind the OLED model seems to be out of stock at writing time. If you want a solid gaming laptop without spending absurd amounts of money, HP’s new Victus line might be the best for you. The Victus 16 packs some solid specs in a relatively sleek design so you can use it anywhere and have a good experience with most modern games. The Intel model is the one we’re recommending, and it packs up to an Intel Core i7-11800H processor. As we’ve mentioned, this is an 8-core,16-thread CPU with boost speeds up to 4.6GHz, and it’s one of the most powerful laptop processors out there. In addition to that, it comes with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU, which should give you solid performance in most modern games, and run some less intensive titles at high frame rates, too. You can combine these specs with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD (with optional Intel Optane memory to accelerate access to frequent files). The display on the HP Victus 16t is naturally a 16.
