The best gaming laptops in 2025 usher in a new generation of GPUs, led by Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50 series. While we haven’t tested every model yet, some early standouts with these powerful GPUs are starting to join our top picks — alongside excellent RTX 40 series laptops that still deliver incredible performance.

Every laptop on this list runs the latest AAA games like a dream. Your budget will determine just how good those games look, but I’ll help you find a machine that plays your favorites smoothly and reliably.

I’ve reviewed laptops for Laptop Mag for over seven years, including more than 90 gaming laptops. I can spot the pros and cons of a gaming rig within hours, and after a week of hands-on time, I can confidently tell you if I'd buy it myself.

Of course, my expertise is just one part of the process. To find the best laptops, we put each one through a gauntlet of performance, graphics, display, and battery life benchmarks. Some games are poorly optimized (looking at you, Monster Hunter Wilds), while others are just brutal (Cyberpunk 2077), but the best laptops survive both.

After testing, the laptops spend real time with our reviewers—gaming, working, and everything in between. Lab scores matter, but how a laptop feels in daily use is just as important. We evaluate everything from the thermals and keyboard to the software and webcam.

If you're shopping for the best gaming laptops in any category — budget, premium, or somewhere in between — this is the list to trust. If you're looking for the cheapest RTX 50-series gaming laptops, you won't have to wait long, since the RTX 5060 and RTX 5050 might be launching soon.

Update Log

6/4/25: Added another entry: Alienware 16 Area-51 as the best looking gaming laptop.

The Quick List

The best gaming laptops of 2025

Each gaming laptop on this list has been painstakingly tested and received the hands-on time necessary to review it. You can rest assured that any choice you make will equip you to run the games you love the most.

Best overall

Looking for the best? The MSI Raider 18 HX AI with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 with 16GB VRAM is the answer. It not only supports epic performance but also a bright MiniLED display, a pleasant keyboard experience, and some bangin' audio.

Madeline Ricchiuto writes, "For a premium desktop replacement laptop like the Raider, the miniLED panel is more than just a utility feature; it’s a key selling point," in our review of the MSI Raider 18 HX AI.

Ready to watch an RTX 5080 do some work? Bouncing across rooftops in Assassin's Creed: Mirage (Ultra, 1080p), the Raider scored 153 fps, defeating the Razer Blade 16 (120 fps) and the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 (145 fps). The Raider 18 spread chaos across Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, 1080p) at 64 fps, defeating the Aorus (62 fps) and falling shortly behind the Razer (66 fps).

Jumping in with an 18-inch, 4K, 120Hz, MiniLED display, the MSI Raider 18 HX AI covered 83.1% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and averaged 668 nits of brightness. That's some decent color and a hell of a lot of brightness. You'll have the best chance of survival when suffering poor lighting conditions in video games.

The full-size keyboard is bouncy. And thanks to the Raider's well-spaced keys on a large deck, typing is an overall pleasant experience. "Your fingers won’t bottom out while frantically typing directions in your raid chat."

It's no secret that gaming laptops get hot as the nine layers of hell (yes, this is a D&D reference). Despite its very loud fans, the Raider still outputs spicy levels of heat (so maybe avoid putting this in your lap).

Then there's the short battery life, coming in at a measly 2 hours and 33 minutes. Not to mention that the Raider costs more than most people's rent.

However, the MSI Raider 18 HX AI is a beast of a gaming laptop that shines in the era of Nvidia's new RTX 50-series GPUs.

See our full MSI Raider 18 HX AI review.

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Best budget

I haven't been able to champion a budget gaming laptop in quite some time. At the risk of sounding like an old man, they just don't make them the way they used to... until now. Let me introduce you to the Dell G16 (7630), a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop with $2K+ gaming features.

Rami Tabari writes, "If I wanted to jump into battle with my friends on a budget, this is the gaming laptop I’d take with me," in our review of the Dell G16 (7630).

The Dell G16 (7630)'s Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GPU puts in the strong effort you'd expect. Navigating Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, 1080p) was a breeze, with the G16 averaging 33 fps. That surpassed the Asus TUF Gaming A14 (30 fps) and Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (32 fps) while just coming short of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (37 fps), which is natural due to its RTX 4070 GPU. The G16 then took a leap of faith in Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Ultra, 1080p) at 88 fps, matching the Helios Neo 16 (88 fps) and sliding past the TUF Gaming A14 (87 fps), but lagged behind the Legion Pro 5 (103 fps).

One of the premium features I'd mentioned is its 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display. First, its specs are high-quality but so are its benchmarks. It covered a stunning 114% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. While it is dim, at 310 nits of brightness, that's a problem solved by turning off the lights (I apologize to your eyes in advance).

Then there's the keyboard. There are $2K+ premium gaming laptops that don't even support a keyboard this good, our best overall gaming laptop included. The Dell G16 (7630) features a Cherry MX tactile mechanical keyboard. You won't find these punchy, clicky keys in any other budget gaming laptop.

The battery life is even decent. The Dell G16 (7630) clocked in 5 hours and 4 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. It's no TUF Gaming A14 (10:04), but its battery life outlasts the average budget gaming laptop by a whole hour.

This budget gaming laptop does come with caveats. There's the hollow, harsh speakers, which basically force you to buy a discrete gaming headset. Then there's the tiny touchpad. I mean, any gamer was going to use a gaming mouse anyway, but it makes general use frustrating.

Despite that, I wouldn't buy any other gaming laptop under $1,000.

See our full Dell G16 (7630) review.

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Best 40-series

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) ushered in the previous age of gaming laptops with its powerful Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU with 12GB of VRAM. That performance isn't the only head-turning feature. Its vivid display, loud audio, and satisfying keyboard wrap this beauty in a bow.

Madeline Ricchiuto writes, "The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is a gamer’s gaming laptop," in our review of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9).

Let's start with performance. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i averaged 105 frames per second on the Far Cry 6 (Ultra, 1080p) benchmark, keeping pace with the MSI Vector 16 HX (98 fps) while dominating the Alienware X16 R2 (88 fps) and its last-gen model (97 fps). The Legion and its competitors landed in similar positions on the Red Dead Redemption 2 (Medium, 1080p) benchmark, with the Pro 7i at 96 fps, the Vector 16 at 104 fps, the X16 R2 at 90 fps, and the Gen 8 at 69 fps.

Then there's the display. A gorgeous 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz panel clocking in 108.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 456 nits of brightness. Translation: it's vivid and vibrant enough to immerse you in your favorite games.

With widely spaced keys and an actuation force that feels crisp and springy, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i's keyboard puts off the notion that you need a mechanical keyboard to get serious gaming done.

Same goes for sporting a gaming headset (outside of playing games online, of course), as the Legion Pro 7i supports the Harman Super Linear Speaker System. That equates to two woofers and two tweeters, which are supported by a smart amp. If you want big, immersive sound, this is it.

Unfortunately, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is on the heavier side for a gaming laptop. And the battery life falls short, at 4 hours and 29 minutes. Even for a gaming laptop, we expect more.

But overall, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is the champ of the RTX 40-series era.

See our full Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) review.

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Best lightweight

Razer is the Apple of gaming laptops, offering premium thin-and-light machines through its Razer Blade series, and the Razer Blade 16 now leads the charge with Nvidia's latest RTX 50-series GPUs. Spending over $4,000, even for a top-tier gaming laptop, is a tall order, but for that proverbial arm and a leg, you get an absolute powerhouse that shrugs off almost everything you can throw at it.

Madeline Ricchiuto writes, "The Blade 16 is a fantastic laptop, offering a gorgeous OLED display, impactful audio, over 7 hours of web surfing battery life, a bouncy keyboard, and plenty of ports while weighing just 4.6 pounds," in our review of the Razer Blade 16 (2025).

The Blade's Nvidia RTX 5090 with 24GB of VRAM cut through frame rates like a hot knife through butter, smoothly and immensely satisfying. It crushed most of its competitors in the battle for frame rates. On the Red Dead Redemption II benchmark, the Blade nailed 87 fps. With the RTX 4090 GPU, the previous Razer (61 fps) was no match. Meanwhile, the Alienware x16 R2's RTX 4080 GPU got only 44 fps.

The notebook breezed through our overall performance tests with its AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU and 32GB of RAM. Its 2TB SSD configuration posted a blistering 1,730 megabytes per second in our file transfer test. However, it gets so hot it may singe a finger.

It even supports strong battery life, surviving 7 hours and 22 minutes on our battery test. That's unprecedented for a gaming laptop with a max-tier GPU. It even survived 2 hours and 28 minutes on the PCMark 10 gaming test. Again, this may not be the longest battery life, but it's hella impressive and adds to its portability quality.

Are you ready to hear about this monster's gorgeous 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 OLED display clocked in at 240Hz? This baby has a decent 372 nits of brightness and covers an intense 144.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. You will experience a level of immersion to rival a mini-LED display (and I don't say that lightly).

There's not much we can do about the price or heat, but if you stay tuned to our best gaming laptop deals, you might see the Razer Blade for a discounted price (eventually).

See our full Razer Blade 16 (2025) review.

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Best looking

Alienware rocked some slick designs in the past, but the Alienware 16 Area-51 is on another level. It's also among the new wave of Alienware gaming laptops to feature the latest RTX 50-series GPU. And it's also much cheaper than the $4K+ competition we've seen pop up. You can get the Alienware 16 Area-51 for around $3K depending on the deal.

Rami Tabari writes, "This thing looks like it’s about to blast the thrusters and head to outer space."

The best part about its spaceship aesthetic is the light bar on the hinge. It straight up looks like an aurora borealis. The curves and vents give off the thrusters vibe. And there's RGB lighting practically everywhere, including the touchpad and fans. There's also a glass window on the underside where you can get a look at the internals. Will you be seeing it much? No. Is it cool? Yes. The only issue with the design is one that comes with its power, and that's a 7.13-pound chassis.

The Area-51 pops off with the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GPU, sending even RTX 5090 gaming laptops quaking in their proverbial boots. It jumped to 149 fps in Assassin's Creed Mirage, flying past the HP Omen Max (137 fps, RTX 5090), Razer Blade 16 (120 fps, RTX 5090), and Aorus Master 16 (145 fps, RTX 5080). Then in scored 121 fps in Far Cry 6, surpassing the Omen (109 fps), Blade (97 fps), and Aorus (120 fps).

With an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and 32GB of RAM, the Alienware 16 Area-51 also dominated its competition in overall performance. It's the only gaming laptop that broke the 20K bracket in Geekbench 6. Not by much, as the Omen Max (19,822) was nipping at its heels. Its 1TB SSD did make it over a 1-GBps transfer speed, but it wasn't nearly as fast as the Blade (1,730 MBps).

Now, the Area-51's 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz, LED display is super bright, at 516 nits, but it's no where near as colorful as an OLED display. For comparison, it covered 81.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, whereas the Razer Blade's OLED display covered 144.6%. That's nearly double.

Also, since this is such a monster, you're not getting the best battery life, as it scored only 4 hours and 10 minutes. Around 5 hours is about average for modern day gaming laptops, so we hoped for something a little better. But when gaming you can nearly squeeze in 2 hours of play time (1:50). Although, I don't see why you'd ever have this immovable object unplugged.

The Area-51 is a great price already, but you can stay tuned to our best gaming laptop deals to see if it gets a deeper sale.

See our full Alienware 16 Area-51 review.

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Best battery life

I haven't seen a gaming laptop with double-digit battery life in years. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is rocking an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and it still hit 10 hours and 4 minutes on our battery test. The average time for gaming laptops is still around 5 hours, much to my own disappointment. However, with the TUF Gaming A14, you can go about your day normally until you get a break to plug in and game.

Claire Tabari writes, "The TUF Gaming A14 is a sturdy, lightweight miracle designed to withstand accidental drops and extreme conditions," in our review of the Asus TUF Gaming A14.

Loaded up with AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 tore through our benchmarks. It clocked in most titles at or over 60 fps, like Assassin's Creed Mirage (87 fps), Far Cry 6 (77 fps), and Red Dead Redemption 2 (61 fps). And despite how chunky Cyberpunk 2077 can be, it managed 30 fps, achieving the minimum for playability.

Again, shockingly, its display didn't hinder its battery life. Its 14-inch, 2560 x 1600, IPS, 165Hz panel performed quite well for the price, covering 82% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and averaging 411 nits of brightness. (I don't want to hear excuses again, manufacturers). With an RTX 4060 GPU, you can still experience immersive play thanks to this stunning display.

All that battery and performance is packed into a light and thin chassis. I'd argue the numbers were wrong if we didn't review it ourselves. The TUF A14 measures 3.2 pounds and 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.67~0.78 inches. Between its size and battery life, it makes for the optimal gaming laptop to be used on the go.

Despite that, we recommend using a gaming mouse most of the time, as the touchpad experience was less than ideal. It's The sluggish, offering too much resistance when in use.

Regardless, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 the champion of battery life in gaming laptops. We even included it in our laptops with best battery life ranking. And if you're wondering what the best gaming laptop for coding/programing would be, this is likely it due to its long battery life. It would also be the best gaming laptop for work for the same reason.

See our full Asus TUF Gaming A14 review.

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Benchmark comparisons

Recently reviewed

We deliberately make our best gaming laptops list short so you don't suffer from indecision. However, if you like having all of your options open to you, we have quite a few gaming laptops that we've also tested. Get ready to go swimming.

These can range from excellent to subpar, but each has its own pros and cons. Here's our list.

How to find the right gaming laptop

When shopping for a gaming laptop, there's a lot to consider. We wrote a detailed piece about the nine most important factors for buying a gaming laptop. But to simplify the process of choosing a system, here are seven key points to keep in mind.

Budget: How we split cost categories

Money is getting tight. There was a time when you could find a good gaming laptop for under $1,000, but those are few and far between. If you're looking for a quality gaming laptop and are trying to budget yourself, try aiming for at least $1,300. If you have a larger budget, you can push for a more powerful mainstream gaming laptop, which is often priced between $1,500 and $2,000.

Premium systems typically cost more than $2,000 and come stacked with many high-powered goodies such as high-powered specs and tricked-out software. Remember that the bigger the GPU, the bigger the gaps in price points. So, list the games you play and start checking the PC requirements. Almost any gaming laptop with a 40-series GPU can play an indie game, but if you're dabbling in AAA titles, you have to decide which settings you're comfortable playing on.

Screen Size: 14 and 16 inches are the go-to

You'll rarely find a 13-inch gaming laptop nowadays, and 15.6-inch laptops have taken a backseat to the hyped-up 14-inch and 16-inch laptops. Those 17-inch gaming laptops also feel like a thing of the past. Well, now we have 18-inch gaming laptops. Yeah, they're beasts, but what all these sizes have in common is that they're getting more compact.

If you're looking for a gaming laptop to take on the go and even use as a school or work laptop, 14-inch gaming laptops are the perfect fit. Smaller gaming laptops also tend to have longer battery life as well. 16-inch gaming laptops are more manageable in size than 17 or 18-inch machines without sacrificing any power. But if you're looking for true desktop replacements, you'll probably want to go all out with a larger size. They tend to be the most powerful but require you to always be near an outlet.

Screen Resolution: 1080p (high refresh rates), 4K (detail), 1440p (sweet spot)

Regarding gaming laptop displays, you want to balance frame rates and aesthetics. And if you're planning to get a truly mobile system, battery life also deserves consideration. A 1080p resolution is the bare minimum you'll find, which isn't great unless you're trading resolution for a high refresh rate. Panel makers now serve up screens with a 360Hz refresh rate and a three-millisecond response time. But I don't count out 4K screens yet, as many laptops with 4K displays are clocked at 120Hz. Remember that laptops with lower resolutions tend to have longer battery life overall.

Are you looking for a sweet spot between the two? More and more gaming laptops are shipping with 1440p displays, which provide high refresh rates and a sharp panel. This strikes an outstanding balance between the two without charging a premium price.

Refresh rate: 120Hz is a minimum

Depending on the kind of games you're playing, particularly first-person shooters and MOBAs, you'll take anything that enhances accuracy. Surprisingly, the higher a display's refresh rate is, the more accurate your shot becomes. We've experienced this firsthand during many demos. At this point, 60Hz is unacceptable for a gaming laptop, so we recommend investing in a panel with at least a 120Hz refresh rate.

You also have to balance graphics performance with resolution and refresh rate. Sometimes, a laptop is paired with a low-performing GPU and a high resolution and refresh rate. The math doesn't add up. If your gaming laptop cannot take advantage of the sharp screen or high refresh rate, then what's the point? Make sure you check the benchmarks.

Intel or AMD?

A couple of years ago, the answer to this question would have been undoubtedly Intel. However, AMD has made a furious comeback with its new Ryzen CPUs, which deliver outstanding overall performance and battery life. Thanks to the new Ryzen chips architecture, they're super power efficient without sacrificing productivity. The Ryzen 8000 series CPUs have consistently impressed with its performance versus battery life.

Not to be outdone, Intel's latest Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake chips are nothing to sneeze at. These powerful chips are catching up with AMD in their battery life game.

Gaming laptops have been balancing performance with battery life, changing the use case for these rigs for the better.

Battery Life: At least 5.5 hours

Unless it's plugged in, a gaming laptop's battery life tends to be very short, especially when gaming. However, the battery life of gaming laptops has increased over the years. So much so that anything under 5.5 hours is considered below average. We've reviewed several gaming laptops that last a whole workday and jump into the double digits. With results like that, we expect gaming laptops will match their non-gaming counterparts sooner rather than later. Our most recent power-efficient gaming laptop is right on this page (Asus TUF Gaming A14), lasting over 10 hours.

Specs: 1080p / Core i5 / 16GB are a minimum

You can spend a lot of time delving into specs, but here are the key components. If you want decent mainstream performance, go for a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 1080p screen.

FAQs

Do I really need an RTX 4070 / RTX 4080 / RTX 4090?

That entirely depends on what you're looking to get out of a gaming laptop. If you just want to game, period, then you can get away with an RTX 4060 gaming laptop. It's a powerful GPU, and thanks to its 8GB of VRAM, there's no AAA game you cannot play on the lowest settings. But as you may have seen with our testing, an RTX 4060 can get you 60+ fps in select AAA games on Ultra, 1080p settings.

Now, the good and bad of gaming laptops nowadays is that they don't often feature 1080p displays anymore, so you're never really making full use of those panels. Meanwhile, an RTX 4070 could carry you to reliable frame rates at higher resolutions. It can also make use of high refresh rates and low resolutions.

Then there's the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 GPUs, which elevate both aspects to their extremes. If you want to game in 4K at Ultra settings at high fps, these are the GPUs you need.

Should I get an RTX 50-series gaming laptop instead?

Great question! Yes and no. If you want the latest and greatest in tech, and want to experience all those slick new DLSS 4 features, then RTX 50-series gaming laptops are right for you.

Yes, RTX 50-series gaming laptops are stronger and better than some of the laptops currently on this list thanks to DLSS 4. However, the laptops on this list will eventually drop in price because of their siblings jumping into existence. These gaming laptops are amazing, so if you want to save money and get an excellent rig, be on the lookout for those best gaming laptop deals.

Gaming laptop vs. desktop

I wrote a whole article about the gaming laptop vs. gaming PC debate, which will give you a more in-depth explanation. However, in brief, it entirely depends on your circumstances.

Gaming desktops are cheaper and more powerful, while gaming laptops are more portable and offer everything you need in one clean package.

I prefer a gaming desktop experience, but that's because I have a dedicated desk and I am not traveling anywhere. However, it is nice to cuddle up in my bed with a gaming laptop at two in the morning.

Can I use a gaming laptop for school or work?

A gaming laptop can definitely work for school, the option we recommend in our best student laptops guide is the Asus TUF Gaming A14, which is the best battery life pick on this page. It lasted over 10 hours in our testing, an important feature for most students and the Achilles' heel for most gaming laptops. It's also not too heavy at 3.2 pounds, so you won't regret hauling it around campus if you're in college.

Whether a gaming laptop is right for your work is going to depend on a lot of factors. In all likelihood, it will be able to handle whatever your workload might be, but whether it is the right look for your work could differ. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is again a potential candidate for the reasons above that make it a good student pick. Additionally, once you remove the stickers and turn off the RGB lighting on the keyboard, it's a fairly minimalist design that doesn't scream gaming laptop as you set it down at a meeting room table. However, depending on whether you regularly meet with clients or are in a very professional work setting, one of the best business laptops may be the better choice.

How we test gaming laptops

When we bring a laptop into our lab, we aim to see how it would work if you brought it into your home or office. While we use industry-standard benchmarks such as Geekbench and 3DMark, we focus heavily on real-world tests that we have developed in-house.

To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until the system runs out of juice. We use a giant spreadsheet macro that matches 65,000 names with their addresses to judge pure processing power, a video transcoder that converts a 4K video to 1080p, and the Geekbench 5/6 synthetic test.

We ramp up our 3DMark testing to also include Fire Strike Ultra and Time Spy Extreme, which determine how well the laptop copes with DX11 and DX12 4K graphics workloads. If the laptop is equipped with a graphics card that supports DirectX ray-tracing, we also use the 2560 x 1440 Port Royal test. (We don’t bother with Night Raid here—who cares about integrated graphics on a gaming laptop?) For the best-equipped laptops on the market, we may also run Speed Way, which plies the deepest and most demanding features of DX12 Ultimate.

We run all of the gaming benchmarks in full-screen mode with vertical sync disabled, always at least at 1920 x 1080 (1080p) resolution, as well as the laptop's native resolution. Games include: Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6, and more.

When we're testing gaming laptops with the same GPU, sometimes there are only a handful of frames that decide a victory. Now, we're not saying you should pick your gaming laptop based on a couple of fps. However, there are some gaming laptops with the same GPU that perform much worse than others, so be sure to see our testing.

We use a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut, while other instruments help us determine a laptop's key travel and ambient heat.

Following these tests, the laptop is given to our expert reviewers for extensive hands-on testing. Our reviewers will spend days using the laptop as part of their typical workflow to get a sense of the real-world performance and live with the laptop to come away with a thorough understanding of the hardware and software experience. This blended lab testing and hands-on approach allows us to offer you a clear and comprehensive view of every laptop that comes through Laptop Mag.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing laptops for over two decades. We test over 150 different models per year, subjecting each system to a series of rigorous benchmarks that provides a complete picture of performance, battery life and usability.

Our expert reviewers also use each product to see how it looks and feels in everyday situations. Because we see so many different notebooks, we can compare each to its direct competitors and give you an idea of how it stacks up to the average laptop in its price band.

The best 4K laptops are designed with graphic designers, video editors, animators, and sticklers for color accuracy in mind. Laptop Mag spends hundreds of hours testing and reviewing 4K laptops that can produce the accurate and rich color palettes you crave.

These laptops have four times the number of pixels as a laptop with a 1080p (FHD) display, so they're much better at capturing the finer details of an image, making it appear clearer and more dramatic. The best 4K displays also have great color accuracy.

We measure the display's color reproduction along the DCI-P3 color gamut, the color space used in professional digital cinema. It's 25% wider than the more common sRGB color space, capturing more color variations. As a general guideline, almost anything on a 4K laptop display will appear colorful and vibrant if it covers at least 85% of the DCI-P3 gamut.

Many displays with 4K resolution also feature OLED technology, which delivers rich contrast and vivid colors. After reviewing my first 4K OLED laptop, I immediately added "4K OLED display" to my list of must-haves. My Lenovo Yoga 9i is still going strong with a beautiful 4K display.

Not sure if you need a 4K display? Check out Laptop Mag's guides for the best video editing laptops, best laptops for graphic design, or best gaming laptops.

This page is constantly updated based on our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag's current picks for the best 4K laptops in 2025.

Update log

6/3/2025: Swapped the MSI Titan 18 HX for the MSI Raider 18 HX AI and updated benchmark comparisons accordingly; updated FAQ section

The Quick List

Best overall

This is the best laptop with a 4K display: period. It's performance hasn't lost its luster, even compared to Intel's new Lunar Lake chips. It still has one of the most color-rich and sharpest 4K OLED displays we've ever tested. Its battery life still fares well against its rivals. It's still one of the lightest 16-inch laptops we've tested in the last year — and I've seen it go for a couple hundred dollars less than when it originally released.

And it's still a MacBook (M2 and M3) challenger "PC laptop enthusiasts have longed for," as Mark Anthony Ramirez wrote is his review for Laptop Mag.

Performance-wise, this laptop still earns high marks for its multicore performance. In our Geekbench 6 test, the Prestige 16 AI Evo scored 13,310, higher than the mainstream laptop average of 10,435. Even with a last-gen chip, its Intel Core Ultra 7 155H has much faster multicore performance than Intel's current-gen laptop chips, Lunar Lake. The Core Ultra 7 258V in the Acer Swift 14 AI (11,009) I recently reviewed is 18% slower by comparison. (Ouch!)

The Prestige 16 AI Evo's 4K OLED display produces sharp, vibrant images and deep, inky black contrasts. It's no wonder the display is one of the best you'll find in a laptop. Is covers 137.9% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, well beyond the average mainstream laptop (81.5%).

It gets great battery life, too: 13 hours and 4 minutes, about 2 hours longer than the average mainstream laptop. It's not the longest we've tested, but its battery lasts longer than other thin and light 16-inch laptops.

See our full MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo review.

Best gaming

A laptop that fits the requirements needed for smooth AAA gaming performance and has a gorgeous 4K display, unfortunately, isn’t going to be cheap. But once you experience this laptop’s sharp resolution and buttery smooth performance, you’ll realize that the MSI Raider 18 HX AI is basically a god-like, portable desktop tower.

With a mini-LED panel, this laptop’s display was able to reach an impressive average of 668 nits brightness, much higher than the average gaming laptop. This exceptional brightness, mixed with decent DCI-P3 color gamut coverage and crisp 4K resolution, delivered a display that didn’t disappoint. Laptop Mag’s Madeline Ricchiuto describes the corals in Avowed as “simply stunning in how bright and crisply detailed they appeared” on this laptop’s display.

Backing up those gorgeous visuals with smooth performance is what really makes the Raider 18 HX AI a favorite of ours. Equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor, an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, and a whopping 64GB of RAM, this laptop had no problems delivering impressive performance results on all the benchmarks we threw at it.

On the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, the Raider 18 HX AI earned a score of 21,851, wildly outpacing its competitors. In our Handbrake video transcoding test, this laptop took a mere 2 minutes and 7 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p.

With visuals that make your heart sing and performance results that leave your jaw on the floor, MSI’s Raider 18 HX AI understandably has lackluster battery life and gets pretty hot during use. This laptop lasted only 2 hours and 33 minutes on our web surfing battery life test and reached 104.3 degrees Fahrenheit at its hottest point. When gaming, the hottest point jumps even higher to 115.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That said if you plan to have this laptop plugged in and on a desk at all times, you may not even notice its two biggest faults.

See our full MSI Raider 18 HX AI review.

Best for creators

For the editor, graphic designer, or photographer who is loyal to Windows, the "Asus ProArt P16 is a stellar example of what a creator laptop should be," as our reviewer, Stevie Bonifield said. It's a powerful and reliable laptop with a beautiful design that's just as easy on your eyes as it is your wallet — and you don't have to pay MacBook Pro prices to get it.

While I'd normally recommend a laptop with a wider color gamut for creatives, the ProArt P16 covers enough of the DCI-P3 gamut (85.5%) to be serviceable for most people. Even the most die-hard film enthusiasts. The display also reaches a maximum brightness of 356 nits, which isn't awful, but it does mean your environment can't have too much light. Otherwise, the OLED display could reflect too much glare and you won't get to see all the rich, sharp detail it produces.

The ProArt's AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, 32GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 4070 powers it to a Geekbench 6 multicore score of 15,286, way beyond the average premium laptop. That stellar performance also played out in Laptop Mag's Handbreak benchmark, transcoding a 4K video to 1080p in 3 minutes and 15 seconds, much faster than the average premium laptop (7:58).

Those specs run games pretty well, too. No Man's Sky ran a smooth and consistent 30 fps without sacrificing much visual fidelity, and the laptop's top-firing speakers made all its sound effects and music sound full and rich.

The ProArt P16's biggest let down is its 9 hours and 32 minutes of battery life. While charging your laptop every night before bed is not a big deal, other laptops in its class are much more competitive in that area.

See our full Asus ProArt P16 review.

Best workstation

For anyone looking for a powerful rig that can quickly and flawlessly mock up blueprints in AutoCAD or create 3D models, the HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 is more than capable. It’s decked out with a great display, speedy processor, discrete GPU, and multiple RAM and storage combinations to fit your unique needs.

This laptop’s 16.2-inch display is bright, offers a high refresh rate, and most importantly, delivers stellar color accuracy. Whether you’re editing videos or working on a work presentation, the display renders a sharp, accurate picture that’s hard to beat. In our testing, it covers 113% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, reaches up to 398 nits of brightness, and scores a great Delta-E color accuracy score of 0.26.

In addition to its vibrant 4K display, the ZBook Studio 16 G11 comes with specs ready to tackle the toughest workload. Laptop Mag’s Madeline Ricchiuto said in her review, “There was practically nothing I could throw at the Studio that it couldn’t handle, between editing my latest travel photos and blazing through video editing.”

The only performance-related concern to be aware of is how hot it can get, reaching temps up to 107.9 degrees Fahrenheit, but if you plan to set up this workstation on a desk, it shouldn’t be that big of an issue. Other than that, expect stellar performance, with a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 13,754 and its ability to convert a 4K video file to 1080p in just 3 minutes and 50 seconds.

It’s also worth noting that, while this laptop is quite the workhorse, it’s not a travel-friendly companion. It lasted a mere 4 hours and 43 minutes on our battery life test, so don’t expect to stray far from an outlet while you’re working.

See our full HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 review.

Best 14-inch

For the budget-minded artist in need of both a 4K laptop and drawing tablet, there's the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1. It's the most portable option on this list that features a display with a kaleidoscopic range of colors, too, making it a great choice for students and frequent travelers alike.

Our reviewer, Claire Tabari, was "speechless" when she watched the Gladiator II trailer, from the first moment a "flickering torch paints Paul Mescal’s face in a warm glow" to the "contrast from the darkest corners" of the dungeon. It's no wonder everything looked fantastic; the OLED display covers 136% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is much higher than the average premium 4K laptop.

The Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is potent enough to handle more than drawing and sketching. Its Intel Ultra 7 155H processor with integrated Arc graphics and 32GB of RAM provide enough performance for light to moderate video editing or 3D modeling. Its speakers make everything sound loud and clear, too, especially music, balancing the vocals and instruments without washing one or the other out.

This laptop would have been near-perfect if it wasn't for its awful battery life: 7 hours and 24 minutes. (In her review, Claire noted the previous Yoga 9i 2-in-1 model lasted 10 hours longer than this latest one.) Not only is that shorter than the average workday, but also laptop batteries lose their ability to hold a charge over time — depending on how often and how much you charge it.

See our full Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 9 review.

Best almost 4K laptop

Laptop Mag's managing editor, Sean Riley, described this laptop best in his review: "It's almost simultaneously the most powerful premium laptop we've reviewed while also offering the second-longest battery of any laptop we've tested." For anyone (especially creatives) who needs a personal machine that can also handle heavy video and 3D rendering workloads, or analyze massive databases, the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro is a stellar option.

Our benchmark numbers mostly speak for themselves. With 20 hours and 46 minutes of battery life, it lasts 7 hours longer than the average premium laptop. It also outshines its main competitors in the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark with a score of 22,822 — that's over 100% more than the average premium laptop (10,492). Compared to the M3 Max (21,182), that's an 8% speed increase; remember that the 16-inch Max configurations start at $3,499.

While its display gets close to a 4K resolution (3456 x 2234), it isn't technically one — but it's too good of a display in too good of a laptop to leave off this list. Its Mini-LED panel hits an SDR brightness of 565 nits, which is much higher than the average OLED display with an actual 4K resolution. Its peak HDR brightness is 1,116 nits, and even with a DCI-P3 color accuracy of just over 81%, the display still produces vivid colors in exquisite detail.

Everything else about this MacBook Pro is just as good or better than previous generations. It's still expensive, but it's our best "almost 4K laptop" pick for a reason.

See our full Apple Macbook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Benchmark comparisons

Recently reviewed

We test a lot of laptops here at Laptop Mag, and it's simply not possible for every laptop to earn a spot on this list. Here are a few laptops we've reviewed recently that didn't make the cut in this post, either because it lacks a 4K display or it pales in comparison to the six laptops we deemed the best 4K laptops.

How to choose a 4K laptop

Choosing the best 4K laptop for you ultimately goes beyond the display, but it's the best place to start if you know you need a high-resolution screen.

Aspect ratio

The two most common aspect ratios you'll find on a 4K laptop are 16:9 and 16:10. While the latter provides more vertical space for reading documents and other general productivity tasks, 16:9 is the gold standard for television, film, and gaming. If you need a 4K laptop for video editing, creating cutscenes for video games, or similar, then you'll most likely use that ration by default.

Color accuracy

If your flair for color pallets is on par with Wes Anderson, color accuracy is probably a crucial feature you need in a 4K laptop — especially if you need to work with a wide gamut, like DCI-P3, the standard for digital cinema. Most visual artists might be able to get away with a display that covers 85% of that gamut, but that's as low as we generally recommend. Professionals should, ideally, go for a laptop that covers around 100%.

Brightness

Screen brightness can vary wildly from laptop to laptop, as we've seen in our testing. 350 max nits of brightness is generally a good level for working in well-lit or darker environments, but you may need something brighter based on your personal situation.

OLED vs. IPS

The max nits of brightness also depends on the display panel in a laptop. IPS (and Mini-LED) panels can get a lot brighter than OLED panels, sometimes by hundreds of nits — which makes them better at combating lighting glare and can make colors appear more vibrant (especially if they don't have a wide color gamut).

But if your visual style leans toward shadows or moody, dramatic lighting, OLED panels have a better contrast ratio. Black spaces on an IPS panel usually have a grey fuzz over them, while black spaces on an OLED panel look like an endless abyss.

Hardware

If you make 16-bit games, edit videos or photos as a hobby, then you could get away with a laptop without a separate graphics card and 16-32GB of RAM. But if heavy workloads come with your profession, then you'll need something much more powerful with a lot more RAM.

FAQs

Q: Is 4K the same as UHD?

A: 4K is technically a professional digital cinema standard (4096 x 2160 pixels) but it's used interchangeably with consumer products like laptops — confusing, I know!

When we're talking about a laptop display, 4K is synonymous with Ultra High Definition (UHD). Like 4K, UHD has the same 16:9 ratio but it has fewer horizontal pixels, making it a 3840 x 2160 resolution.

Q: What about a 3840 x 2400 resolution?

A: That means it has a display ratio of 16:10 (more vertical pixels), but you can still call it UHD or 4K.

Q: What's the difference between OLED and Mini-LED?

A: The main difference between these display panels is how they emit light. OLED panels can light up and dim individual pixels, which is why they are generally known for their color accuracy (and deep, inky blacks).

A Mini-LED panel uses a backlight with thousands of tiny LED bulbs. Unlike OLED, they light up and dim in zones rather than pixel-by-pixel but this allows Mini-LED panels to get much brighter than OLED.

Q: Who should buy a 4K laptop?

While everyone can appreciate the clarity of a beautiful 4K display, there are a few groups of people who would benefit more than most by having a laptop display with 4K resolution. If you’re a content creator, do a lot of photo- or video-editing in your daily work, use CAD software, or simply enjoy consuming video content in 4K, it’s worth the premium to pay for the extra pixels.

If all you plan to do on your laptop is browse the web, manage emails, and other simple tasks, you won’t benefit as much from splurging on a 4K display, but that doesn’t mean you won’t benefit at all. A lot of 4K displays feature OLED panels, which will help colors come through brighter and blacks come through richer.

Q: What laptop resolutions exist between 1080p and 4K?

There are multiple laptop resolutions between 1080p and 4K, as the specific amount of pixels also depends on the laptop’s screen size and aspect ratio. However, there are a few resolutions that stand out as popular options between 1080p and 4K.

Slightly above 1080p, which is generally 1920 x 1080 pixels, there’s WUXGA resolution, which is 1920 x 1200. The big difference between these two is that 1080p screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, while the aspect ratio for WUXGA screens is 16:10.

Then, there’s QHD resolution, which is 2560 x 1440 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and sometimes referred to as 2K resolution as well. The 16:10 alternative to this resolution is 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Finally, we’ve got QHD+ resolution, which is sometimes also referred to as WQXGA+ resolution or 3K resolution, and features 3200 x 1800 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The 16:10 alternative here is 3200 x 2000 pixels.

Q: Do 4K laptops typically have bad battery life?

A: Generally, a 4K display will drain a laptop’s battery faster than a 1920 x 1080-pixel display simply because it requires more power to operate with more pixels. It’s more common for a 4K display to have an OLED panel as well, which can be an even bigger battery drain.

However, as tech improves, we’re starting to see 4K laptops with decent battery life. The MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo and the Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro, both of which landed a spot on this list, lasted for 13 hours and 4 minutes and 20 hours and 46 minutes, respectively.

How we test 4K laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing—both synthetic and real-world—before we send it to our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the laptop's display's brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut. For performance testing, we run the computer through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 6 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicate a 425GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is Sid Meier's Civilization 6 Gathering Storm benchmark with medium settings at 1080p resolution. For gaming laptops, we test Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6, and others.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over nine hours is considered a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than five hours deserve praise.

After completing the lab tests, each laptop is handed off to our expert reviewers for in-depth, hands-on evaluation. They integrate the device into their daily workflows, using it extensively to assess real-world performance and develop a thorough understanding of both the hardware and software experience. By combining rigorous lab analysis with practical, everyday use, we deliver a clear and comprehensive perspective on every laptop we review at Laptop Mag.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

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Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred laptops yearly, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

One of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

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Fantastic summer savings on our favorite Dell products start now with the Dell Black Friday in July sale. Now's a great time to beat the pinch of inflation with sitewide discounts on everyday laptops, gaming laptops, business notebooks, monitors, and PC accessories.

For a limited time, save up to $400 on the new Dell Plus laptop series starting at $699, up to $600 on Dell XPS laptops from $1,099, and up to $250 off Dell Inspiron laptops from just $499.

Browse: Dell's entire Black Friday in July sale

Or save big on professional-grade productivity and performance with up to $330 off Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max business laptops. Prices start from $719.

If you're a gamer or creator looking for a price break on a gaming-specific laptop, brace yourself for this one. Right now, you can score huge savings of up to $900 on Dell and Alienware gaming laptops.

Complement your new laptop, existing workspace, or gaming setup with Dell and Alienware monitors from $145 and PC accessories from $19.

Whether your daily driver or peripherals are in dire need of a refresh or you want to beat the back-to-school shopping rush, don't miss Dell's Black Friday in July sale.

Dell's limited-time deals typically sell out fast, so if you see something that catches your eye, act now. Keep scrolling to see my recommended Dell Black Friday in July deals starting from $19.

Dell Black Friday in July sale deals — Quick links

• Browse: Dell Black Friday in July deals
• Dell USB Slim DVD +/- RW Drive: was $40 now $19 at Dell
• Alienware Wired Gaming Headset: was $79 now $69 at Dell
• Dell 27 Plus QHD Monitor: was $219 now $179 at Dell
• Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Monitor: was $1,199 now $849 at Dell
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• Dell 15 Laptop: was $549 now $399 at Dell
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Dell Black Friday in July sale deals

Laptops

Gaming laptops

PC accessories

It's a new Nvidia GPU generation, which means new Nvidia GPU tech, and for gamers, this one is worth sitting up and taking notice.

We hear a lot about Nvidia's DLSS updates whenever a new generation is introduced, and while Nvidia's new multi-frame generation has taken up a lot of space in the Blackwell discussion, DLSS 4's biggest update may be its transformer upscaling model, rather than the AI-powered frame generation smoothing.

On June 5, the Nvidia transformer model left beta, so Nvidia RTX laptop and desktop GPU owners can take advantage of the latest tech without needing to opt in.

But what is the transformer model, and why should you use it?

What is Nvidia's new Transformer Model

Nvidia announced the new DLSS 4 transformer model at CES 2025 in January with the official unveiling of the RTX 50-series. The transformer model replaces the current DLSS convolutional neural network model for clearer graphics upscaling.

This not only provides faster framerates, but also improves image quality when using Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling, which should alleviate some issues with visual degradation associated with DLSS upscaling.

Nvidia has been working on the Transformer Model since 2022 and released the model in beta for early adopters in January 2025. The transformer model uses a "vision transformer" to evaluate the relative importance of each pixel across the entire frame, over multiple frames. This employs double the parameters of the old neural network to generate pixels with better stability, reduced ghosting, higher detail, and smoother edges.

Don't care about the technical details? What it boils down to is that upscaled frames and generated frames in DLSS 4 with the transformer model should be clearer and smoother than ever.

How much better is the Transformer Model?

As a former lab nerd and hardware enthusiast, I will take any excuse to do some hands-on testing.

So I broke out the Razer Blade 16 (2025) and kicked up a few of my favorite test games, Cyberpunk 2077, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail to see how the games handled the different DLSS models.

Both Cyberpunk and Monster Hunter are rather notorious for being difficult benchmarks. Cyberpunk 2077 is already DLSS 4 enabled, while Monster Hunter Wilds is only rocking DLSS 3.7 by default. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV is notorious for performing worse with DLSS enabled.

To ensure the new transformer model doesn't slow down framerates during the upscaled image process, we reran the benchmarks to assess its impact on benchmark scores. In most cases, the transformer model performed comparably to the old convolutional neural network model, within 3-5 fps.

The DLSS transformer model isn't just RTX 50-series exclusive

I tested the transformer model on an RTX 5090 laptop in order to see how it handles with the new multi-frame generation software which is 50-series exclusive, however, the transformer model is available on all Nvidia RTX GPUs from the RTX 20-series up to the RTX 50-series.

To enable the transformer model, simply install the latest Nvidia drivers.

And if your game of choice doesn't offer DLSS 4 as an option, you can force the game to use DLSS 4 by using the Nvidia app. Just go to Graphics, select your game, and select the transformer model in "DLSS Override Model Presets."

The transformer model alone isn't going to drastically improve your GPU performance any more than the convolutional neural network in DLSS 3 did, but it will make games look far better, which is nothing to sneeze at. Particularly if you're trying to hold out for another GPU generation before upgrading your desktop or laptop.

If you have an RTX 50-series laptop or are planning to get one from among the best gaming laptops, you can get all the benefits of prettier frames and multiframe generation for even smoother gaming experiences.

Truly, there's no reason NOT to opt for the transformer model if you own an Nvidia RTX GPU.

More from Laptop Mag

• GeForce RTX 5050 brings next-gen gaming to the masses with Blackwell laptops starting at $999
• Steam users are flocking back to this once-hated game in huge numbers — and it's only $4
• AI is making your games better — a new Steam tool convinced me to stop hating GPU upscaling.

The Steam Summer Sale is underway, and there are a lot of great games with big discounts.

This year's sale could arguably be considered the first sale where a gamer could buy a title that can be played on their home computer or laptop, a portable consoles such as a Steam Deck or ROG Ally, and thanks to cloud gaming services like GeForce Now, it can also be played on their phone, tablet, or directly on their TV with no cables or console needed.

Still, when it comes to PC gaming, a laptop is the best choice all-around as you can hook it up to a monitor to feel like you're at a desktop or take it with you on the go without losing graphics fidelity or needing good Wi-Fi.

Picking the right gaming laptop really comes down to what you're looking to play on the laptop. Do you want a machine that will play practically every game out there just fine, or do you want a monster of a computer to run any title at the highest settings without a single frame dropped? For me, I would pick these three laptops, but for different reasons.

For power and portability at a low price, there's the Asus TUF Gaming A14 

The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is the laptop to go with if I wanted to play a lot of games well, that's easy to carry and comes with great battery life.

It has solid gaming performance, a decently colorful display that can reach high nits of brightness, and a satisfying keyboard. With its portable 14-inch size, light weight at around 3 pounds, durable military grade toughness, and the best battery life we’ve seen on a gaming laptop in years.

Some of the games the Asus TUF Gaming A14 is able to play at the highest settings that are currently on sale in the Steam Summer Sale are Baldur's Gate 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, and all those games with deep discounts dropping them below $10.

If I didn't worry much about price but want portability then I would need to buy the Razer Blade 16

Razer continues to offer a lot of power in a small package. The Razer Blade 16 (2025) is an expensive laptop with various options, and the RTX 5090 gaming performance being very smooth. There is an option to go with an RTX 4090 or RTX 5080 to save on money while still being able to play games on the highest settings.

The Razer Blade 16 (2025) features a stunning OLED display, Razer’s superb build quality, over 7 hours of web surfing battery life, and almost 2.5 hours of gaming battery life. It’s incredibly portable at just 4.6 pounds and 0.59 inches thick.

Games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and Forza Horizon 5 at the highest graphics settings could bring most computers to their knees, but the Razer Blade 16 can handle them with ease.

The MSI Raider 18 HX AI is the gaming laptop to buy if price is not a concern

Saying the MSI Raider 18 HX AI is expensive is an understatement. This laptop's price is approximately the same as the two previous laptops combined at $4,000.

Still, the Raider has strong general performance, fluid gaming performance, a bright MiniLED display, a comfortable keyboard, powerful audio, and more ports than needed even with a multi-monitor setup. It has a powerful Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU with 16GB of VRAM, which offers the gaming performance one might expect from such a high-end spec. Its 18-inch MiniLED display is bright and vivid, and its 6-speaker sound system is powerful with high-quality audio. But this machine is staying home, as it weighs as much as the Asus TUF Gaming A14 and Razer Blade 16 combined.

The MSI Raider 18 HX AI is more than enough machine to take on the most graphically intense games, such as Monster Hunter Wilds and Alan Wake 2 at their highest settings.