How to Choose the Right Gaming Laptop (2025): What You Have to Know

ROG Strix is Asus’s performance-focused subbrand. This is the place the corporate’s thicker, extra standard gaming laptops are discovered. Pricing can vary extensively, because it contains inexpensive choices just like the ROG Strix G16 with the RTX 5050, which begins at simply $1,300.

TUF Gaming is the corporate’s entry-level gaming laptop computer subbrand. These TUF gaming laptops was once a few of the most inexpensive gaming laptops you would purchase, however they’ve gone up in worth over the previous few years. There aren’t any Asus gaming laptops underneath $1,000 that characteristic the most recent RTX 50-series GPUs, although you could find loads of older fashions for much less on Amazon or Best Buy.

Dell’s gaming laptop computer lineup is pretty sparse today. All of Dell’s gaming laptops fall underneath the Alienware model, which the corporate acquired again in 2006. Alienware has been by many cycles of reinvention with its gaming laptops, however in 2025, there’s actually solely 4 laptops within the stack proper now: the Alienware 16 Aurora, Alienware 16X Aurora, Alienware 18 Area-51, and Alienware 16 Area-51. I just like the simplicity of the brand new lineup, which focuses on what Alienware has at all times been recognized for: its brash, gamer model and higher-end efficiency.

The Alienware 16 Aurora is the corporate’s try to achieve a less expensive demographic, beginning the laptop computer at simply $1,100 proper now for an RTX 5050 configuration.

HP’s Omen gaming model has been round for over a decade, however it actually looks like the corporate has began to construct some momentum round it over the previous few years. Interestingly, HP breaks down its choices into three classes of thickness and efficiency. Omen Max is the chunkiest at virtually an inch thick, and helps as much as an RTX 5080. Omen 16 is the center floor, capping out at an RTX 5070. Omen Transcend, which affords a 14-inch mannequin, nonetheless helps as much as an RTX 5070, however brings the thickness right down to 0.7 inches. There are 16-inch dimension choices obtainable throughout all three subbrands; nonetheless, not one of the laptops are as skinny as a few of the competitors. There’s additionally an Omen 16 Slim, which blurs the traces a bit.

Apart from Omen, HP additionally launched its “Victus” subbrand in 2021, which represents its budget-oriented choices. HP solely has a number of configurations of the HP Victus 15 and Victus 16 obtainable proper now.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

• Razer is solely dedicated to PC gaming, in contrast to most of the laptop computer manufacturers on this record. Its Blade gaming laptops have turn into iconic within the trade for his or her minimalist aesthetic. Like many corporations, Razer has a Blade 14, Blade 16, and Blade 18, which all have an similar design, however scale up by way of dimension and efficiency.
• MSI has made fairly a reputation for itself within the gaming area, particularly with its high-end, performance-focused, monster gaming laptops just like the MSI Titan HX. Beyond Titan, MSI has a mind-boggling quantity of different choices, although, together with the Raider, Stealth, Vector, Katana, Sword, and its budget-oriented Cyborg sequence. There’s loads to dig into.
• Acer’s Predator line has its personal fanfare about it. Predator Helios is its high-end, performance-driven line with tons of choices throughout 14-inch, 16-inch, and 18-inch sizes. Triton is its thin-and-light sub-brand, however it hasn’t been up to date in 2025 to this point. The firm additionally has its Nitro price range model, which is available in 14-, 15-, and 16-inch choices and with assist as much as an RTX 5070.

Beyond these mainstay manufacturers, you even have PC gaming corporations which have dipped into gaming laptops, reminiscent of Gigabyte, Origin, and Maingear. Just avoid the no-name manufacturers which have in style listings on Amazon regardless of missing discrete graphics playing cards—like this.

Gaming on Non-Gaming Laptops

While there’s a complete ecosystem of laptops marketed towards avid gamers, that does not imply you may’t play video games on different gadgets. Laptops with devoted graphics playing cards can typically play video games simply in addition to gaming laptops, however they’re typically focused extra at creatives who want higher graphics to run inventive purposes. These embody laptops just like the Dell 14 Premium, Acer Swift X 14, and the Asus ProArt P16.

If you are shopping for a laptop computer primarily to play video games, although, I would not advocate one among these. They normally do not assist the higher-tier GPUs just like the RTX 5080 or 5090, and you will not get super-fast refresh charges past 120 Hz. If you are extra of an informal gamer and simply desire a high-end laptop computer that may do all of it, these are good choices. They’re particularly good in case you despise the “gamer” aesthetic and need one thing a bit extra delicate.