You can save $1,000 on a truly high-end gaming laptop that, for many, is way over the top for the average user in both hardware and price. But if you want the most powerful laptop gaming setup, or a portable desktop replacement, then this Lenovo Legion 9i gaming laptop from B&H Photo, priced at $5,799, is something you should check out. It's certainly not your average gaming laptop, as it comes with the top-tier halo components from Intel and Nvidia, and is absolutely massive at 18 inches.

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Gaming laptops have always been more expensive than desktop gaming PCs with comparable components, even with the comparable components not being as powerful as their desktop counterparts due to the size, power, and heat limitations of stuffing hardware components into a smaller laptop chassis.

This model of the Lenovo Legion 9i contains the most powerful laptop graphics card available, Nvidia's RTX 5090 with 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM, and Intel's Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus 24-core processor, plus a massive 64GB of DDR5 RAM (2 x 32) with four RAM slots available, able to support up to 192GB of total RAM. For storage, there is a 2TB SSD, with Windows 11 Home edition pre-installed.

The luxurious 18-inch display features a detailed 3840 x 2400 resolution with a 3ms gray-to-gray response time. The display can reach up to 240Hz at native resolution and up to 440Hz when set to an FHD resolution. The display uses an IPS panel with 520 nits of brightness and a color gamut of 100% DCI-P3

The Lenovo Legion 9i also uses the latest Thunderbolt 5, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5GbE Ethernet. The keyboard is fully RGB backlit with chiclet-style keys. This is a very powerful gaming laptop that you can also use for some serious creative work and go hard on some smaller local LLM models if you want to dabble with some AI workloads.

It is a very expensive laptop, made more costly by the price of RAM and NAND in the current economy. Still, it's also $1,000 cheaper than the usual price, so if this kind of laptop is something you're interested in, then head to B&H Photo and check out the RTX 5090-powered Legion 9i available for $5,799.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

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It's that time of year when you need to start thinking about prepping for starting a new semester or heading off to college. One of the handiest items to get a hold of is a competent laptop computer for doing lots of your coursework on. If that same laptop also happens to be able to play games, well, that's a big bonus. Shaving a massive $900 off the list price, HP's HyperX Omen 16 gaming laptop is now just $1,099.99. That's a superb price for a laptop that packs an RTX 5060 mobile GPU and a crisp 16-inch 2K display.

● Check out this deal at HP

The HyperX Omen 16 packs some seriously good components for the price tag, as finding a capable RTX 5060 gaming laptop for near $1000 is a rarity in today's computer market. Inside the chassis of this model of the Omen 16 is an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU with 8GB of dedicated GDDR7 VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a small 512GB SSD. The display measures 16 inches diagonally and has a crisp 2K (1920 x 1200) resolution with a max refresh rate of 165Hz and a 3ms gray-to-gray response time. The IPS panel has a micro-edge display, anti-glare, low blue light emissions, a brightness of 400 nits, and 100% sRGB for the color gamut.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this particular model of the HyperX Omen 16, so we can't fully use our Omen 16 review as a fair comparison. Our review unit used the much more powerful RTX 5080 GPU and Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. The components that are included in this model, though, are very familiar, so we do have a good idea how they will run, and the chassis, screen, and features of the Omen 16 will overlap.

The RTX 5060 will be able to run games smoothly on the 16-inch 1920 x 1200 display, and will be able to make use of Nvidia's DLSS software to increase framerates for a smoother experience on more taxing titles.

So if you're looking for a competent laptop for heading back to school, you can't go far wrong with this $1,099 deal on the HyperX Omen 16 for both work and play.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

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If you're in the hunt for a back-to-school gaming laptop, then look no further than this excellent Gigabyte Woot deal. Right now at Amazon's outlet, you can save 33% off the list price and get a 16-inch laptop with an Nvidia RTX 5070 for just $1,399, one of the cheapest 5070 laptops around.

• Grab this deal at Woot

For that, you get Nvidia's punchy mobile RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM for gaming and multitasking, 1TB of storage, and a nifty 2560 x 1600 WQXGA display. Given the current prices of RAM and storage, getting a laptop of this spec at this price is pretty much unheard of these days. We actually covered the HX 350 version of this laptop at $1,389 earlier this month. This deal gets you a snappier HX 370 CPU for just $10 more.

We've actually reviewed the aforementioned 350 version of this laptop, where we praised the Aero's excellent productivity performance, good battery life, and scope for upgradeability. However, it was let down by its display and performance given the price. At the $1,399 discount, however, it becomes a much more enticing prospect. As you can see, it sails past rivals in our battery test, scoring nearly an hour longer usage compared to its next-closest rival.

As you can see from our gaming benchmarks, the Aero X16 can easily deliver over 100 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p, or 64 fps at its native 2560 x 1600. It's not the most potent gaming laptop on the market by any means, but it's one of the best-value options given the sub-$1,400 price point on offer here.

Our productivity testing is based on AMD's Ryzen AI 7 350 processor. This 8-core CPU delivered decent Geekbench 6 scores, so expect the 12-core 370 in this model to offer better performance still and also give gaming a much-needed boost, with 24 threads and boost clocks of up to 5.1 GHz.

The other specs of this laptop, notably the 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, are also impressive. 32GB of DDR5 is worth nearly $400 these days, and that'll get you all the multitasking and performance you need for work and play. While this isn't an OLED laptop, the 2560 x 1600 display offers a refresh rate of up to 165Hz.

As the 'Aero' moniker suggests, the X16 is also thin and light. It measures just 0.65 inches in thickness and weighs 4.18 lbs, making it a very portable option. You'll also be pleased to know that the laptop can be upgraded in the future, with two SODIMM memory slots and two M.2 drive slots offering you headroom to add RAM or storage later in life.

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If you're headed back to school or college later this summer, or you're embarking on new study endeavours for the first time, then you might well be in the market for a powerhouse laptop that can tackle work and play with ease. This excellent HP Omen Max laptop is currently $1,100 off at Best Buy, netting you an RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, all housed under a slick OLED display.

● Check out this deal at Best Buy

This laptop is not only fantastic for gaming, but the powerhouse Core Ultra 9 290HX is Intel's flagship laptop processor, with a massive 24 cores, including eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores. That makes it great for all manner of productivity tasks, no matter what you're studying.

The HP Omen Max 16 laptop is a model we've reviewed, and we like its general premium feel thanks to its aluminum enclosure, good audio, and decent webcam. The headline here is that Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX CPU. This flagship Arrow Lake Refresh CPU features boost clocks of up to 5.5 GHz. Below is a selection of laptops we've tested running this CPU, and as you can see, it delivers very impressive Geekbench 6 scores.

That CPU is backed up by the punchy RTX 5070 Ti GPU. While it doesn't have the coveted 16GB of VRAM of the desktop variant, it does have 12GB, getting you more than the 8GB configurations you'll mind on the lower end of Nvidia's scale. This Blackwell GPU has 5,888 CUDA cores and should provide ample power at the laptop's native resolution of 2560 x 1600 at 240 Hz. That display is also really notable because it's an OLED panel, rather than IPS, offering much better contrast and response times for gaming and watching content.

Alongside the potent CPU and GPU combo, you get 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD. The former is crucial for multitasking and gaming, while the latter should be fine to get you started with a few Steam games and your studies.

As always with the Omen Max, you get two USB-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4 with USB-C, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an Ethernet port, and HDMI 2.1.

If you'd like to compromise a little, you could get a 5080 version of this laptop for a little more. Priced at $2,949 ($1,070 off), this model comes with a slightly less potent Core Ultra 9 275HX (still 24 cores), a 2TB SSD, and the aforementioned 5080. That gives you more storage and a better GPU for $150 more.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

You can also join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

With the AI price crunch driving up the price of gaming laptops, good deals are harder and harder to find these days, but HP has just slashed $1,500 off this Omen Max 16-inch gaming laptop, getting you an AMD Ryzen 9 with an RTX 5080 for just $2,199. That's a 40% saving on the $3,699 MSRP.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

As you can imagine, the focus here is on the RTX 5080, a 16GB VRAM beast, which even in its mobile format will chew through any title at the 2,560 x 1,600 resolution the display offers. However, the rest of the specs are also noteworthy, including the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 HX 375, 32GB of DDR5, and the 1TB SSD.

We haven't reviewed this exact spec of laptop, but we have tested the more potent RTX 5090 version of this model. As you can read in our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review, it's a little on the heavy side (5.99 lbs), but that's a trade-off for the premium look and feel of the aluminum enclosure. We also liked the excellent audio and sharp webcam.

Our testing data from other laptops shows the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 chip easily bests Snapgradon's X Elite and Intel's Core 7 Ultra 258V in Geekbench 6 scores. With a 5.1 GHz max boost clock, 24MB L3 cache, and 12 cores, this is a solid processor.

As mentioned, the headline feature is the RTX 5080. With 16GB of VRAM and 7680 CUDA Cores, it will easily run any game at 1080p or the laptop's native resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. That display is a 16-inch WQXGA IPS panel (so no OLED, sadly), with a 3ms response time and 500 nits of brightness.

You also get the coveted 32GB of DDR5 5600 RAM, as well as a 1TB Gen 4 M.2 SSD, plenty of storage for your Steam library. Other features include Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-FI 7, as well as battery fast charge, which gets you around 50% charge in just 30 minutes.

In terms of connectivity, the Omen Max features two USB-A ports, HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and two USB-C ports. There are also a further two M.2 SSD expansion slots, so you can open it up and increase your storage with a bit of DIY tinkering in future.

To put the value of this deal into perspective, HP is also currently selling an Intel Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus version of this laptop. Although the processor is a little better, you only get a 5070 Ti with 12GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, for $1,999. So for the extra $199, you're getting double the storage, double the RAM, and a 5080 instead of the 5070 Ti, which is a sizeable GPU performance jump.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

You can also join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

The Razer Blade 16 has long been leading contender among the best gaming laptops, thanks in part to its careful component selection and strong style. In this case, our review unit comes equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor and a flagship RTX 5090 GPU.

While the chassis remains the same as the Razer Blade 16 that we tested a little over a year ago, the 25W processor in our new review unit enabled some impressive runtimes that eclipse the competition. You’ll have to pay a considerable sum for the luxury, but the Blade 16 makes as strong a case as a compelling premium gaming laptop.

Design of the Razer Blade 16

We were impressed with the design of last year's Blade 16, and luckily, Razer hasn’t altered the formula for this year’s model. You get the same matte-black chassis that measures just 0.69 inches at its thickest point (0.59 inches towards the front). Build quality remains excellent in true Razer fashion.

The overall design is minimalist, with a minimal amount of RGBs and no obvious ventilation slats along the sides for heat management. Instead, the clean design would look at home sitting on your desk while you're gaming with an Xbox controller, or sitting on your desk in a cubicle at work. The only bit of flash that you’ll find is the RGB Razer logo on the lid.

You’ll find thin bezels around the glossy 16-inch OLED display, below which you’ll find the full-size keyboard and a large trackpad. There’s also a small status LED at the front right of the chassis (just below the Intel Core Ultra sticker on the deck). It pulses white when the laptop is in standby mode.

There’s a healthy assortment of ports on the laptop, including three legacy USB 3.3 Gen 2 Type-A ports. There’s also one Thunderbolt 4 port, one Thunderbolt 5, an SD card reader (UHS-II), a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. There’s also a proprietary power port.

The Blade 16 measures 13.98 x 9.86 x 0.69 inches and weighs 4.71 pounds. For comparison, the MSI Raider 16 HX also packs an RTX 5090, but measures 14.29 x 10.62 x 1.14 inches and weighs over a pound more (5.73 pounds). The Alienware 16 Area-51 is heavier still at 7.49 pounds, with dimensions of 14.37 x 11.41 x 1.12 inches.

Razer Blade 16 Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Razer Blade 16

Our Blade 16 review unit is equipped with a Core Ultra 9 386H processor, which has 16 total cores (4 performance, 8 efficient) and a maximum performance turbo frequency of 4.9 GHz for the performance cores. There’s also 32GB of LPDDR5x memory and a GeForce RTX 5090 GPU (1,597 MHz boost clock, 175W max TGP).

This combo generally performed well across our gaming benchmark suite, with a few exceptions. While playing Battlefield 6 at native resolution in Overkill detail mode, with DLSS Quality and Frame Generation enabled, I was comfortably getting between 110 and 120 FPS, even with a lot of action happening on the screen.

For this review, the competitive set consists of last year's Blade 16 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 28W, RTX 5090 at 160W TGP), MSI Raider 16 Max HX (Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at 55W, RTX 5090 at 175W TGP), and the Alienware 16 Area-51 (Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at 55W, RTX 5080 at 175W TGP).

As usual, we start our gaming benchmarks with the Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest setting) benchmark, where the Blade 16 delivered 182 FPS at 1080p. Performance at 1600p scaled down to 133 FPS. The 2025 edition of the Blade 16 was 16 FPS behind at 1080, but at the resolution that most would play at, 1600p, the older model was nearly 30 FPS faster (162 FPS versus 133 FPS).

Cyberpunk 2077 (Ray Tracing Ultra settings), the laptops were pretty evenly matched, with most running between 65 and 70 FPS at 1080p and at around 40 FPS at 1600p. For the Razer Blade 16 specifically, it achieved 65 FPS at 1080p and 42 FPS at 1600p.

Far Cry 6 (Ultra settings) saw the Blade 16 running in third place ahead of its predecessor (106 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1600p). The Alienware 16 Area-51 and Raider 16 Max HX were a few FPS ahead at each resolution, but it was still a relatively close fight among the top three.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Medium settings) proved challenging for the Blade 16, as it lagged behind with 94 FPS at 1080p and just 71 FPS at 1600p. For comparison, last year's model eclipsed those numbers at 121 FPS and 94 FPS, respectively. The 25W CPU simply couldn’t keep up with the 28W Ryzen and 55W Intel HX chips

However, the Blade 16 was back to its fighting form in the Borderlands 3 (Badass settings) benchmark, easily slipping into second place behind the Raider 16 Max HX with 175 FPS at 1080p and 126 FPS at 1600p.

Metro Exodus is still our preferred benchmark for gaming laptop stress testing. Our review unit averaged 133.39 FPS at 1080p across 15 loops using the RTX benchmark preset. The CPU performance cores averaged 3.96 GHz, and the efficiency cores averaged 3.5 GHz. The RTX 5090 GPU also ran at 1.95 GHz.

One item of note is that the two system fans are incredibly loud while gaming, which may force you to use a pair of the best gaming headsets to block out the added noise.

Productivity Performance on the Razer Blade 16

The Razer Blade 16 uses a 16-core Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor, 32GB of memory, and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. With some of the competition sporting upwards of 8 additional cores, the Blade 16 didn’t really break through in the multi-threaded benchmarks.

The synthetic CPU benchmark Geekbench saw the Blade 16 lag slightly behind its predecessor in single-core (2,895 versus 2,922), but pull ahead in multi-core performance (16,971 versus 16,025). However, neither Blade system was a match for the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processors in the Alienware 16 Area-51 and Raider 16 Max HX; the latter of which pulled numbers of 3,231 and 20,656, respectively.

In our 25GB file transfer test, the Blade 16 took second place by the slightest of margins, hitting 1,735.09 MBps. However, this result was still 1,000 MBps behind the first-place Alienware 16 Area-51.

The multi-threaded performance shortfall crept up again in our Handbrake test, where we transcode a 4K video file to 1080p. The Blade 16 pulled up the rear in this group, even falling behind the Blade 16 with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. It took 3 minutes and 17 seconds to complete the task compared to just 1 minute and 51 seconds for the Raider 16 Max HX.

Display on the Razer Blade 16

As Tom's Hardware's resident monitor editor, I’m absolutely smitten with OLED panels. Thankfully, the OLED display on the Blade 16 doesn’t disappoint: it’s a 16-inch panel with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and a native refresh rate of 240 Hz.

We found that color volume was 90 percent for DCI-P3 and 127 percent for sRGB. Brightness levels were also fairly impressive, earning second place behind the Raider 16 Max HX at 408.2 nits.

Although the instrumented tests show some regression compared to last year’s Blade 16 in the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, the display looks amazing in a vacuum. The gritty visuals while playing Battlefield 6 in Overkill mode were a delight to my eyes, with sunlight glinting through windows and concussive bomb blasts kicking up debris all around me.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Razer Blade 16

The keyboard on the Blade 16 uses scissor switches with 1.5 mm of travel. The key presses are slightly clicky, and my fingers had no trouble getting used to typing on the keys.

I used my standard keyhero.com typing test and scored 89 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy, which is about par for the course for me.

The touchpad is absolutely massive, measuring 5.9 inches wide and 3.8 inches tall. It’s one of the largest trackpads you’ll find outside of Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pros. What isn’t Apple-like is the insistence on using a mechanical linkage for trackpad actuation instead of the steadier, more consistent presses made possible by a haptic touchpad. For a laptop with a sticker price of nearly $5,000, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for some haptics here.

However, if you’re using this laptop primarily for gaming, you’ll likely be using one of the best gaming mice for your competitive sessions.

Audio on the Razer Blade 16

The six-speaker audio system on the Blade 16 is THX-optimized, and the audio quality is good, if not quite price-appropriate. While playing Battlefield 6, in-game dialog, explosions, gunfire, and vehicle noise generally sounded good, but the effects were competing with the turbine whine of the dual system fans. Cranking the volume to near-max levels helped drown out the fan noise, but at that point, I was experiencing a bit of aural overload, so I opted to put on a pair of headphones.

When the CPU and GPU weren’t heavily taxed, I was able to better enjoy the speakers, such as by playing Dave Matthews Band’s album Before These Crowded Streets for the 300th time. I cruised through the album with the volume set to a comfortable 50%, savoring the acoustic and bass guitars on “Dreaming Tree,” which always results in a relaxing frisson for me.

Similarly, I watched the Mel Gibson-helmed The Patriot to get into the mood for the Fourth of July, and reveled in the heavy dialogue, flintlock musket blasts, and cannon bursts.

You can make adjustments to the audio using the Razer Synapse software,

Upgradeability of the Razer Blade 16

Accessing the interior of the Blade 16 involves removing 10 Torx screws. Once all screws are removed, the bottom panel lifts off with minimal force. You’ll find the large 90 WHr battery at the bottom front of the chassis, and above are two M.2 slots that accept full-length 2280 SSDs.

The right slot was populated with a 2TB Lexar NM790 PCIe 4.0 SSD, while the left slot was empty, allowing for future upgrades. Also accessible is the PCIe Wi-Fi 7 network adapter (Intel BE213).

Battery Life on the Razer Blade 16

One thing to keep in mind is that the Blade 16 maintained competitive gaming performance among its peers, while its multi-threaded performance took a back seat. However, those compromises were fully redeemed in terms of battery life.

The Blade 16 uses a 90 WHr battery, which delivered shockingly long endurance (for a gaming laptop) in our battery test, consisting of web browsing, video streaming over Wi-Fi, and OpenGL testing with the screen brightness set at 150 nits. The system lasted a staggering 12:46, besting the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370-equipped Blade 16 by over 5 hours and the Alienware 16 Area-51 by over 9 hours. Even the Raider 16 Max HX was no match, falling short by over 4 hours.

That is a fantastic result for such a thin and light 16-inch gaming laptop, and it is a testament to the miserly energy consumption of the Panther Lake processor.

Heat on the Razer Blade 16

While running the Metro Exodus stress test, we measured the temperature of Blade 16's aluminum-alloy chassis in various spots. The keyboard measured 102 degrees Fahrenheit (F) between the G and H keys, while the touchpad was 92 F.

The hottest part of the laptop was near the rear center of the bottom of the chassis, where we measured 130 F. So it’s best to keep the laptop firmly planted on your desk while gaming, lest you roast your legs.

During the Metro Exodus stress test, the CPU measured 75.3 degrees Celsius (C). Meanwhile, the RTX 5090 came in at 87 C.

Webcam on the Razer Blade 16

Razer continues to use a run-of-the-mill 1080p webcam with an IR sensor for Windows Hello support. It’s by no means a class-leading webcam, but it’s perfectly usable for Zoom or Teams meetings.

I found the colors to be mostly adequate, but there was a little lightness in the detail in my facial features.

Software and Warranty on the Razer Blade 16

One of my favorite things about Razer laptops is that they aren’t loaded down with too much added software. On our Blade 16 review unit, Razer Chroma and Synapse were preloaded.

Synapse is an all-in-one utility that lets you adjust performance profiles, keyboard macros, audio presets, and more. Chroma, on the other hand, gives you full control over system RGBs, including the per-key keyboard effects.

Otherwise, you’ll find requisite utilities, like the Nvidia app and the usual Windows app shortcuts (we’re looking at you, LinkedIn) on the Start menu.

The Blade 16 comes backed by a one-year warranty for the system itself and a two-year warranty for the 90 WHr battery.

Razer Blade 16 Configurations

Our Blade 16 review unit came configured with a Core Ultra 9 386H processor, 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, a 2TB SSD, RTX 5090 laptop GPU, and a 16-inch, 240 Hz. 1600p display. The price as-configured is a whopping $4,899.99.

There are cheaper configurations available — if you retain the Core Ultra 9 386H and opt for an RTX 5070 Ti, 1TB SSD, and 32GB of memory, the price drops to $3,499.99. Going with RTX 5080 bumps (all other hardware staying the same) takes the price to $3,999.99.

Bottom Line

Overall, the Razer Blade 16 was a strong performer in our gaming benchmarks, which is the primary reason why most people would be willing to spend nearly $5,000 for this system. More importantly, the Panther Lake-based system delivered nearly 13 hours of non-gaming battery life, outrunning its closest competitor by over 4 hours. Combine those results with the beautiful display, attractive chassis, and under-the-radar design, and you have a winning combination.

However, there are some detractions; the lack of a haptic trackpad at this price point is annoying, and multi-threaded performance significantly lagged the competition. Also, the $4,900 asking price is high, although not completely out of line for a system with these specs. You can save roughly $900 by going with an RTX 5080 instead of the RTX 5090 that was in our system.

But if price isn’t an issue for you, it’s hard to argue with this compelling combination of gaming performance and battery life.

Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 18 (starting at $4,299.99) is an example of abundance in the world of gaming laptops, built around an 18-inch display and the latest flagship silicon: a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 in our test unit. This machine makes a loud first impression, from its stellar (albeit tricky to configure) mini-LED display to the unique scrolling marquee lighting on its lid. But at this price - $4,999.99 as tested – the Scar 18 must prove it can hold the line against Razer’s Blade 18 before it can claim a spot at the top.

Design of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

At 15.71 x 11.73 x 1.38 inches, the Scar 18 has the footprint of a cafeteria tray – this isn’t a laptop you’ll be getting out on a plane. And at 8.16 pounds, this is also one of the heaviest laptops on the market. But performance is the goal here, not portability. Razer’s Blade 18 (15.74 x 10.84 x 1.1 inches) is thinner and significantly lighter, at 7.06 pounds.

The vibrant Aura Sync lightbar around the base of the laptop also demands attention, as does the RGB-lit Republic of Gamers logo on the lid. Both are configurable with customizable lighting and patterns in the Armoury Crate app.

The lid also has a special feature called AniMe vision, a diagonally scrolling marquee of text via LEDs shining through holes in the lid backing. (This is extremely similar to the AniMe Matrix that debuted on the Zephyrus line years ago.) There are several preconfigured versions of the Republic of Gamers logo, and you can add your own text effects. Layered effects are possible and don’t always produce the desired effect — I had a “raining” effect enabled at the same time as my text, and the text was almost impossible to make out.

The bottom line is that the Scar 18 couldn’t do anything more to look like a gaming laptop – it is designed to be seen. Build-wise, it’s a solid machine, showing minimal flex no matter how I handled it. Only the lid is metal, with the rest of the construction thick plastic.

Connectivity is thoroughly modern: two Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) and three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, HDMI 2.1, an audio combo jack, and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet. Internally, it offers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 from an Intel BE200 networking card. The power connector is proprietary for the 450 W power brick.

Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

We tested the ROG Strix Scar 18 in flagship form, featuring a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, RTX 5090 graphics card (175 W maximum graphics power), and 32GB of RAM. This is top-of-the-line gaming technology, though with one misstep: single-channel RAM. This might affect its performance as we’re about to see. The Task Manager confirms that only one SO-DIMM slot was used.

I put the Scar 18 through its paces playing 007: First Light at 3840 x 2400 with all detail settings maxed out. At first, this proved too demanding – I saw 26 to 32 frames per second (FPS) in most scenes. Enabling DLSS more than doubled the frame rate – I saw around 70 FPS or better, and the game was supremely playable.

Our comparison lineup includes Alienware’s 16 Area-51 (RTX 5080), MSI’s Raider 16 Max HX (RTX 5090), and Razer’s Blade 18 (RTX 5090). All laptops use a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and have GPUs rated for 175 W like our Asus. Their native screen resolutions, however, are different: Alienware and MSI are 2560 x 1600 while Razer has a unique dual-model display supporting both 1920 x 1200 and 3840 x 2400.

The Scar 18 was competitive across the board at 1200p, typically a few FPS ahead of the Alienware but a few FPS behind the MSI and particularly the Razer.

Bumping the resolution to 4K, the Scar 18 trailed the Razer in most games – the delta was at or almost 10% in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 6, Cyberpunk 2077, and F1 23. (Red Dead Redemption 2 was the exception.) While those numbers won't make the difference between playability and unplayability, the price of these laptops makes it difficult to overlook.

Differences versus the Razer aside, the Scar 18 still demonstrates ample performance for gaming at 4K in most of the games we tested, though not all – it averaged only 21 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 on ray tracing ultra, indicating that it won't be possible to play every game at maximum detail settings.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the Scar 18 averaged 141 FPS with minimal variance between runs, starting at 141.5 FPS and finishing at 141.1 FPS. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU averaged 4.59 GHz on its P-cores and 2.58 GHz on its E-cores while the RTX 5090 had an average boost clock of 1.98 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

We tested the Scar 18 with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Not including a PCIe 5.0 drive seems like a missed opportunity at this price, though Razer does the same thing.

In Geekbench 6, the single-core numbers between these laptops were almost indistinguishable as we might expect given they all use the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, though the Scar 18’s multi-core score of 17,629 points significantly trailed the others, which all scored over 20,000 points.

The Scar 18 landed middle of the road in our 25GB file transfer test, averaging 2,042.69 MBps, putting it ahead of the MSI (1,357.93 MBps) and Razer (1,670.53 MBps) but behind the Alienware (2,738.9 MBps).

The Scar 18 also proved competitive in our 4K-to-1080p Handbrake transcoding test, completing it in two minutes and 11 seconds to lead the Alienware (2:24) but trail the MSI (1:51) and Razer (2:01).

Display on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

The Scar 18’s “Nebula” HDR display is its crowning feature. With a 3840 x 2400 (4K) resolution, mini-LED backlighting with 2,000 dimming zones, a 240 Hz refresh rate, and Nvidia G-Sync, this is quite advanced.

Tweaking is required to get this display to perform as intended, and it’s not simple. Out of the box, HDR is disabled, the refresh rate is capped at 120 Hz, and G-Sync is unavailable since Nvidia Optimus, which dynamically switches between the CPU’s integrated graphics and the RTX 5090, is enabled. To unlock maximum performance, the GPU must be put in “Ultimate” mode in Armoury Crate, which is effectively a MUX toggle that disables the integrated graphics. A restart is required for this to take effect. G-Sync, the 240 Hz refresh rate, and a special feature called “Extreme Low Motion Blur” (ELMB) then become available. The latter is aimed at esports players– it manipulates the pixels so that they turn off when switching colors, theoretically eliminating blur. (More on this in a moment.)

Those aren’t the only settings you’ll need to know about. You can toggle the mini-LED backlighting control between one zone, multi-zone balanced, or multi-zone strong. These settings produce very different images – one-zone provides the deepest contrast, multi-zone balanced is the dimmest but evens out the contrast to make dark scenes appear brighter, and multi-zone strong is the brightest and most vibrant. I stuck with the latter for nearly everything.

ELMB only works in one-zone mode without HDR. I tested it using the Blur Blusters UFO Test. It clearly made a difference – in the 240 fps scrollbar, the UFO looked crisp moving across the screen. Disabling ELMB caused it to become blurry, making it harder to see details. This feature can really matter for competitive esports.

But wait, there are even more settings! Armoury Crate includes many color modes through a feature called GameVisual — racing, scenery, RTS/RPG, fps, cinema, eyecare, vivid, and e-reading. On top of that, it also provides color temperature and gamut settings.

Then there’s the question of HDR. To get that working, it must first be enabled in the Windows Settings app. Back in Armoury Crate, you’ll find GameVisual, color temperature and gamut settings, Extreme Low Motion Blur, and mini-LED backlighting settings are no longer available. That’s the trade-off.

Complicating all this is that the settings I just mentioned are in different places in Armoury Crate. Some are in the display section, while others require going into the Devices section, selecting the Scar 18, and making changes there. It’s not straightforward, and those that simply use this laptop out of the box without tweaking won’t get the best visual experience.

After much experimentation, I played 007: First Light in GPU Ultimate mode, G-Sync enabled, a 240 Hz refresh rate, and True Color HDR enabled through Windows. The picture left little to the imagination – colors seemed to pop off the screen and the 4K resolution provided exquisite detail right down to the patches on Bond’s uniform. HDR effects from muzzle flashes and explosions were dazzling in dark environments.

When I watched Zootopia 2, I switched off HDR and used SDR multi-zone strong. Colors looked exquisite, and brightness was borderline excessive in a darker room. Bright objects like lamps almost seemed overexposed, but they weren’t – the display was simply that bright, and colors were so saturated that I found it hard to look away.

The Scar 18’s numbers are from its default out-of-the-box display settings. In color coverage, its 77.9% DCI-P3 coverage was last in the group – Alienware's OLED screen achieved 93.7% — but is still high enough to create vibrant-looking colors. Its 428.2-nit peak brightness was mid-pack, brighter than the Alienware's 368.6 nits but well back from Razer's 538 nits.

Also shown in our charts are the multi-zone strong settings, which produced 584.6 nits of brightness, with parts peaking at 625 nits. Enabling HDR, we measured an astounding 1,124 nits at 10%, 1,090 nits at 40%, and 943 nits at 100%. If you're looking for one of the brightest laptop displays around, the Scar 18 ranks high on the list.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

The Scar 18’s keyboard is great for gaming – the keys require enough actuation force that resting your fingers on WASD or the arrow keys won’t produce accidental presses. Key travel is communicative in the sense your fingers know exactly when a key is at the top or bottom of the stroke. The bright RGB backlight is sharp and easy to see.

The keyboard is less ideal for productivity. The tactile feel is rather lifeless, though I still managed 126 words per minute with 99% accuracy in my usual MonkeyType run. Layout-wise, a two-thirds-size number pad on an 18-inch laptop is a miss – there’s plenty of space to make it full-size. Additionally, the arrow key cluster isn’t separated out, resulting in no right Ctrl key, and there are no dedicated Home, End, Page Up, or Page Down keys. Asus does, however, provide five dedicated macro keys, a rarity on any laptop. These are configurable in the Armoury Crate app.

Asus’ mechanical touchpad is excellent, with an expansive surface and a smooth but fingerprint-resistant surface coating. Its clicking action is quiet.

Audio on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

The Scar 18’s quad-speaker array delivers a decent, if not remarkable, audio experience. In 007: First Light, soft details like the footsteps of approaching enemies were easy to pinpoint, thanks to the expansive soundstage – there’s plenty of room to separate the speaker placement on a laptop this large. Bass is muted, though, resulting in explosions and gunfire that don’t stir up as much excitement as they could.

In Phil Collins’ “Don’t Lose My Number,” high hats on drum hits were sharp but missed low-end bump. Switching to the Chainsmokers’ “Summertime Friends,” I also noted the lack of bass, though the vocals were crisp. The overall sound signature is on the hollow side, but that can be sharpened up using the Atmos Detailed equalizer in the Dolby Access app. None of the equalizers made up for the lack of bass, though. Volume levels are also moderate – I found myself pushing at least 80% volume for most situations.

Upgradeability of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

Getting inside the Scar 18 couldn’t be easier – simply slide the latch below the palm rest, slide the entire bottom panel forward, and lift it away. You don't even need tools.

Upgrade possibilities include two M.2 slots, two SODIMM slots, and the battery.

Battery Life on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

Our battery test consists of web browsing, running OpenGL tests, and streaming videos with the screen at 150 nits while connected to Wi-Fi.

One minute shy of the five-hour mark, the Scar 18 demonstrates respectable battery life for an 18-inch gaming laptop. The Razer lasted half an hour longer (5:31) and the MSI Raider (8:34) clearly does a better job conserving power, but the Scar 18 did outperform the Alienware (3:33) by several hours.

Heat on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

We measure the surface temperatures of gaming laptops while running the Metro Exodus stress test. Peak temperatures were 91 degrees Fahrenheit on the keyboard between the G and H keys, 90 F on the touchpad, and 108 F on the underside near the cooling vents. Internally, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus averaged 66 Celsius while the RTX 5090 ran at 64 C.

The laptop’s fans are well-behaved for daily use. Though fan noise increases while gaming, I had no trouble hearing footsteps and distant conversations in 007: First Light using the built-in speakers.

Webcam on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

Asus’ FHD webcam has the minimum resolution expected on a modern laptop. The picture looks soft and washed out. Highlights aren’t handled that well – a window in the background appeared blown out – and I had trouble making out details on my face from just a few feet away. Gamers who value visual quality will want to invest in an external webcam.

Software and Warranty on the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026)

Asus includes a useful software bundle, starting with the familiar Armoury Crate. This app provides component monitoring, a macro editor, game library, an exhaustive amount of display settings, and lighting settings via Aura Sync and AniMe Vision. Accessing some settings is unintuitive since you need to go to the Device section and select the laptop. There you can access Windows key and Touchpad toggles and several display settings, including panel overdrive (240 Hz refresh rate). Most settings can be saved in profiles.

The MyAsus app is more generic. In addition to diagnostics and system updates, it provides a battery care mode, microphone noise cancelation, and networking preferences that allow prioritizing traffic to games or other apps.†

The Scar 18 also works with Asus’ GlideX app to share content across devices, including phones and tablets.

Asus includes a standard one-year warranty.

Configurations

Asus offers two Scar 18 configurations with only the GPU different between them – model G835LWG-DB96 uses an RTX 5080 for $4,299.99 while our review model, G835LXG-DB96, steps up to the RTX 5090 for $4,999.99. All other components are the same: a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and the 18-inch mini-LED display.

Pricing is slightly higher than Razer’s Blade 18 with the RTX 5080 – it was $4,099 at this writing. Razer runs $5,399 with the RTX 5090, but that price also includes a 2TB SSD.

Bottom Line

The Scar 18 is an undeniably impressive machine that goes all-in on visuals. Its mini-LED “Nebula” display looks breathtaking when properly configured, producing exceptional brightness. The AniMe scrolling marquee, dedicated macro keys, and easy serviceability also elevate its appeal.

However, when it comes to performance, the Scar 18’s single-channel RAM and lack of a PCIe 4.0 SSD are significant shortcomings on a $4,999.99 machine. Several of our gaming benchmarks and multi-core CPU performance showed meaningful dips against Razer’s Blade 18. Additionally, while its display is brilliant, the maze of settings required to unlock its potential means it doesn’t provide the best experience out of the box.

Overall, the Scar 18 is a formidable and visually stunning laptop with plenty of power and one of the best displays you’ll find in a laptop. It simply doesn’t perform consistently enough to displace the Blade 18 as our top recommendation among elite 18-inch gaming laptops.

Gaming laptops are harder and harder to find at good prices thanks to the ongoing AI component crisis, but this HP Omen Max discount in honor of July 4 is pretty excellent. Right now at HP, you can save $1,300 on this Omen Max 16-inch beast with an RTX 5080, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

The headline spec on this laptop is the RTX 5080 GPU. Even though it's only the mobile version, it still packs 16GB of VRAM and 7,680 CUDA cores, which should make light work of pretty much every title at the 2560 x 1600 resolution you'll be playing.

While we haven't reviewed this exact spec, the Omen Max 16 with RTX 5090 scored well in our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review. It is a little on the heavy side, but the aluminum enclosure gives it a premium look and feel. As you can see from our Geekbench testing, productivity performance beats out rivals with the same CPU in both single- and multi-core testing. That CPU is Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX, a capable 24-core processor with 8 performance cores and boost clocks of up to 5.4GHz.

The display here is IPS rather than OLED, but you'll still get up to 240Hz refresh rates and 500 nits of brightness.

Other noteworthy features include 32GB of RAM, which is becoming increasingly rare in this economy due to the impact of AI on PC components. The 1TB SSD is Gen 4, so it should be plenty quick enough for gaming and workloads. You also get speedy Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7, as well as two USB-A ports, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

For your troubles, you'll also get a copy of the new LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, a nice addition to any Steam library. As mentioned, this 34% discount is part of HP's July 4th sale, so there's no guarantee as to how long this deal will last. If you're interested, act sooner rather than later.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

With ongoing inflation in PC component prices, investing in a gaming laptop can be a wise choice to avoid the rising cost of building a desktop PC from scratch. Additionally, it is portable, allowing you to game, work, or study anywhere without sacrificing much on performance. A standout laptop deal we've spotted is the Gigabyte Aero X16, now available for its lowest-ever price of $1,099.99 at Best Buy. The laptop is originally priced at $1,399.99, so you save $300.

• Check out this deal on Best Buy

The Gigabyte Aero X16 features an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, an 8-core, 16-thread processor that can boost up to 5 GHz, paired with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD for storage. One can upgrade the RAM up to 64GB, and there is a secondary M.2 slot to add more storage. For graphics, the laptop comes with an Nvidia RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM. The laptop sports a 16-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, offering 100% sRGB color gamut coverage and up to 400 nits of brightness. It also supports refresh rates of up to 165 Hz and a 3 ms response time for a fast, responsive visual experience.

The laptop also comes with a single-zone RGB-backlit keyboard, a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. I/O options include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports, a USB 4.0 Type-C port, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, a 3.5mm headphone and mic combo jack, and an Ethernet port. There’s also built-in Wi-Fi 6E along with Bluetooth 5.2. The battery has a capacity of 76 Wh, and the charging brick is rated at 150W.

Overall, the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that balances performance, modern features, and upgrade potential, making it a compelling choice at its current discounted price of $1,099.99. Do note that the deal is only valid until June 29, so you'd better hurry before stocks run out.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Given the spikes in RAM and storage prices, finding the best deals on systems can be somewhat challenging. Luckily, there are still deals to be found for those looking for a value-priced gaming laptop, and the best ones aren’t always from Amazon. Best Buy is currently running a promotion on the Gigabyte Aero X16, with the price dropping from its MSRP of $1,399.99 to $1,099.99.

So what exactly do you get for your just under $1,100 outlay? Well, the Aero X16 is powered by a Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, which is based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It has four Zen 5 cores and four Zen 5c cores, with a max boost of 5 GHz (3.5 GHz for the Zen 5c cores). Although it’s common to see 16GB of DDR5 memory in budget laptops, the Aero X16 doubles that figure to 32GB. On the storage front, you’ll find a 1TB SSD. I should note that the laptop supports up to 64GB of memory and up to a 4TB SSD – that is, if you’re made of money when it comes to future upgrades.

Gaming is likely front and center on your mind, and the Aero X6 makes use of a GeForce RTX 5060 discrete GPU. This is towards the lower end of Nvidia’s mobile GeForce GPU lineup, but you can expect pretty good frame rates at 1080p or the laptop’s native resolution, which is 2560 x 1600. Speaking of the display, it’s a 16-inch IPS panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time, and 100% sRGB color space coverage. You can also expect 400 nits of brightness in typical situations.

As for physical ports, the laptop features three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB-C port (USB4), an HDMI 2.1 port, a GbE port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. For wireless connectivity, there’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Finally, Aero X16 packs a 76 Whr battery into its 4.19-pound frame, which Gigabyte says can last for up to 12 hours per charge.

This Best Buy promotion is only available for a limited time, so the $1,099 price for the Aero X16 could disappear at any moment.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

There are plenty of great deals out there with discounts on Intel, AMD, and Nvidia's latest mobile hardware. We're constantly combing through the best deals across multiple retailers, backing up our deal selections with in-depth reviews, benchmarks, and comprehensive historical pricing analysis. We're checking deals around the clock to find the best options and keep this page up to date, but please note that they often won't last long, so you'll need to act quickly.

There may also be some older laptops, which you should definitely avoid. For instance, anything older than one generation is better off avoided. If you have the cash, spring for a system with a GPU that has at least 8GB of VRAM, as well as 16GB of RAM and at least 512GB of storage.

We also maintain lists of the best gaming laptops, the best gaming laptops under $1,500, and the best gaming laptops under $1,000, should you want to peruse some of our favorites.

Best Gaming Laptop Deals: Quick Links

• Amazon: All Gaming Laptop Deals, up to $1,000 off
• Amazon: Up to 29% off MSI Gaming Laptops

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SELLIN' FAST: These deals are still in stock, and the discounts are still live, 24 hours later! We're seeing a lot of interest, so jump on these while you can.

With memory prices at all-time highs, it can be challenging to find stellar deals on gaming systems. Luckily for all of us, Walmart has some deals on MSI gaming laptops, starting at $1,089 for the Cyborg 15. It may be the eve of Amazon Prime Day, but who’s to say that Walmart can’t get in on the deals action?

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Cyborg 15 is the definite value play wth its $1,089 asking price (a $510 discount). That price gets you an Intel Core 7-240H processor, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB SSD. The Series 2 “Raptor Lake” processor has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.2 GHz and 10 cores in total: 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. You’ll also find an 8GB GeForce RTX 5070 discrete GPU.

Front and center is a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display with a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz. Also on deck are a four-zone RGB keyboard, Wi-Fi 6E/Bluetooth 5.3, and a 55.2 WHr battery. Regarding ports, the Cyborg 15 has a healthy balance of USB-A and USB-C ports along with a GbE port (which is becoming rarer these days as manufacturers aim for thinness).

If you need a bit more spring in your gaming step, look no further than the MSI Vector 16, priced at $1,899, or a discount of $800. This system delivers a healthy performance boost over the Cyborg 15, which uses a Core Ultra 9 275HX processor. This “Arrow Lake” chip has 24 cores in total (8 performance, 16 efficiency), a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4 GHz, and 40MB of total L2 cache.

You still get 16GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD, but you also get a big performance boost with a 16GB GeForce RTX 5080 GPU. Not only do you get a higher-resolution, larger 16-inch panel (2560 x 1600) with a 240 Hz refresh rate, but you also get a much larger 80 Wh battery to power the system. As for the keyboard, you get another upgrade courtesy of a 24-zone RGB setup.

Both of these MSI laptops are compelling options for gamers, no matter your budget. Especially with the Vector 16, which offers a lot of bang for the buck at $1,799. After all, that value proposition is made even more abundantly clear, as who would have thought we’d live in the age of $1,800 handheld gaming PCs?

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If you want a no-compromise laptop gaming experience, then opting for the world's most powerful mobile graphics processor is a must. Pair the mobile RTX 5090 with a 240Hz OLED screen, and you have today's deal at B&H Photo, where the 16-inch Acer Predator Helios AI is now $2,999 after a $500 discount. You couldn't currently even buy a desktop RTX 5090 for the price of this whole laptop.

● Grab this deal at B&H Photo

This model of the Acer Predator Helios AI features a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24GB of fast GDDR7 VRAM, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSDs. The chassis is a mix of metal and plastic, with an abyssal black finish. There are multiple RGB zones located on the laptop, so you can illuminate the darkness with a rainbow light show should you wish it.

The RTX 5090 from Nvidia is the absolute king of gaming for both desktop and laptop gaming, but don't get them confused, as the laptop version of the RTX 5090 is a completely different beast: same name, but not quite as powerful. That doesn't change how good it is, however, as the mobile RTX 5090 is definitely the most powerful graphics chip you'll find inside any modern gaming laptop.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this model of the Acer Predator Helios AI, so we can't fully compare the laptop to any competition or see its performance benchmarks. These are familiar components, though, so we do have a rough idea of the capabilities.

The RTX 5090 will be able to run all the latest game titles smoothly at maximum settings on the gorgeous 16-inch 2,560 x 1,600 OLED screen, plus you can also make use of Nvidia DLSS 4 support to boost framerates and gain a smoother experience on more taxing titles, should you need it.

Coupled with that 24GB RAM and 2TB SSD and you've got a portable rig with serious performance that'll chew through modern games with ease. Grab this Acer Predator Helios AI laptop for just $2,999 while you can, because this is a deal that will sell out, fast.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

The summer is upon us, the World Cup is in full swing, and with it, the opportunity to leave the house. This well-priced gaming laptop deal lets you take your computer with you. Whether that's to stream the soccer or to play some games, the choice is yours. At just $1,199.99, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 with RTX 5060 sees a $300 saving in today's Walmart deal. The original list price is $1,499.99, which is still pretty good for a 16-inch gaming laptop, but the $300 saving makes it a superb value. So if you're looking at purchasing a gaming laptop on a limited budget, then definitely take a peek at this offer.

• Grab this deal at Walmart

The IPS display on the Gigabyte A16 has a screen resolution of 1080p but uses a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you a little more screen space. The FHD display will still look sharp on a 16-inch panel, plus a speedy 165Hz refresh rate will keep the gaming motion nice and smooth. Powering the laptop is an 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 260 processor, an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD.

The laptop also packs plenty of connectivity options with both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth. For video connections to a monitor or television, there's an HDMI 2.1 port and a USB Type-C port that supports DisplayPort 1.4. The Gigabyte A16 is a well-rounded budget gaming laptop offering from a trusted brand, perfect as a portable gaming PC or for taking away to college for the new year.

At just $1,199.99, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 is worth taking a look at. You can boost your game library with the $300 you save on this gaming laptop.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Even when you game on a portable device, some people want the biggest screen they can find. The Razer Blade 18 looks at some of the best gaming laptops — largely 16-inchers — and calls them tiny.

This system, at $5,399.99 as tested (and starting at $3,999.99) has a huge price tag, but that comes with strong build quality, top-end specs, and a dual-mode display that lets you switch between higher resolution and higher frame rates depending on what you're doing.

The Blade 18 and its aluminum chassis do have some drawbacks. The machine runs quite warm, with loud fans, and at this price, I wish Razer had taken advantage of the PCIe Gen 5 slot with an appropriate drive.

Design of the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Razer's industrial design hasn't seen a change in a while, so the Blade 18 appears identical to the way it did last year. It's a CNC aluminum block with a Spartan, rectangular design. There is a bit of flex right behind the green, three-headed snake logo at the center of the lid, which I wish didn't exist in a design this premium.

Otherwise, though, the Blade feels rock solid. It's also tremendous, at 15.74 x 10.84 x 1.1 inches and 7.06 pounds before the 400W power brick. It just fits in my backpack, which definitely isn't designed for a system this large. The all-black affair is interrupted only by the 18-inch screen and the per-key RGB on the keyboard.

There are a ton of ports on this system. The left is lined with a proprietary power port, Ethernet, a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right, you'll find the Thunderbolt 5 port, HDMI 2.1, another USB-A port, the SD card slot, and a Kensington lock slot.

The two different Thunderbolt ports aren't labeled. I wish Razer had made it clear which is which without looking it up or plugging a device in.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Between the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, the Blade 18 can tackle just about anything you throw at it.

In Resident Evil Requiem, with the resolution set to 3840 x 2400 and settings topped out, including path tracing and hair strands, the game typically ran between 30 and 37 frames per second, though it dropped to 28 FPS during a scene in which Leon was chased by a giant spider. Upscaling was forced on, so I opted for quality, but left frame gen off. By dropping to 2560 x 1440, I had a more consistent 49-57 FPS, including during a boss fight with that spider.

Soon after, I realized that the 3840 x 2400 display mode had forced me into a 60 Hz refresh rate while gaming. Switching to 1920 x 1200 mode, the same boss fight at a lower resolution ran around 90 FPS.

On our benchmarks, we found that the Blade 18 didn't deliver a meaningful performance bump over last year's model, which utilized a Core Ultra 9 275HX with the RTX 5090 (our review model from last year also had 64GB of RAM). The Blade 18 beat out the MSI Raider 16 HX and Alienware 16 Area-51 at 1920 x 1200 in our tests, though in some cases the leads were small. In most cases, the Blade 18 at 3840 x 2400 ran very similarly to last year's system at the higher resolution. The Alienware and Raider top out at 2560 x 1600, a much more common resolution on gaming laptops these days.

On our stress test, which consists of running Metro Exodus 15 times in a loop, the Blade 18 averaged 146.03 FPS. The system actually did best after three runs, when it warmed up, and never dipped back down. During this test, the CPU's performance cores averaged 5.14 GHz while the E-cores averaged 2 GHz. The GPU ran at an average of 1,986.32 MHZ.

Productivity Performance on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

We tested the Blade 18 with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. Unsurprisingly, it's a strong competitor.

On Geekbench 6, the Blade 18's single-core score of 3,170 and multi-core score of 20,166 are admirable, but not terribly different from last year. In fact, the multi-core score was down a few points. Both the Alienware 16 Area-51 and MSI Raider 16 Max HX, each with the same CPU as this Blade 18, were slightly faster on both the single and multi-core tests.

The new Blade copied 25GB of files at a rate of 1,670.53 MBps, beating the MSI Raider 16 Max HX, but falling far behind the Alienware's PCIe Gen 5 SSD, which Razer supports but didn't include, even in a laptop over $5,000.

The Blade 18 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 2 minutes and 1 second, effectively the same as last year. That's faster than the Alienware, but the Raider did the job in 1:51.

Display on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The big (sorry) selling point on the Blade 18 is its massive, 18-inch display. The dual-mode display can switch between 3840 x 2400 at 240 Hz for productivity work or 1920 x 1200 at 440 Hz for gaming, though this does require a reboot in some instances. While trying to game at 4K, I was limited to just 60 Hz even when plugged in.

The Dual-mode is a unique advantage, though some people might prefer OLED for gaming at this price. That being said, I haven't seen 18-inch OLED panels, so Razer may have opted for dual-mode as advantageous over Mini LED. There aren't too many gaming laptops that offer 4K resolution these days.

In Resident Evil Requiem, I found myself wishing for the black levels on OLED screens in dark environments. Still, when Leon shot a gas can that exploded into an orange fireball during the game's infamous spider boss fight, it was quite vivid.

The biggest change Razer is promising outside of performance over last year's model is a brighter screen. At 538 nits, it was brighter than last year's model (467.6 nits) and both the Alienware and MSI Raider.

The color volume coverage didn't change, however, at 80.8% DCI-P3 and 114.1% sRGB. The Raider was slightly higher, while the Alienware led the pack with its OLED screen.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Razer Blade 18

Razer outfitted the Blade 18 with a full keyboard, including a number pad. Razer claims 1.5 mm key travel and 63 grams of actuation, along with a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-Key rollover for gaming.

Using MonkeyType, I hit 115 words per minute with 97% accuracy, which is fairly standard for me. The keys are comfortable enough, though I've seen competitors like MSI and Alienware use mechanical switches in their most expensive halo products. That would be a nice addition here.

The layout is fine, but in its quest for a totally symmetrical layout, Razer used half-size up and down arrow keys and full-size left and right keys. I prefer an "inverted T", no matter which size is used, but this comes down to preference.

The touchpad is massive. At this price, I'd really like to see haptics, but Razer has opted for a standard mechanical touchpad. You can use it relatively high up, but clicks get stuck above the halfway point, leaving some of that space just for moving the cursor. There's plenty of room for gestures, though.

Razer put the touchpad in the center of the palm rest. That looks great aesthetically, but it means that when you're not using the number pad, you're likely to hit it with your hand while typing. Most gamers will use a separate gaming mouse, but if you're the type of AI developer Razer is aiming this machine at, and you're working on the go, you might accidentally move the mouse while using the keyboard. (You can disable the touchpad with a press of the decimal key on the number pad.)

Audio on the Razer Blade 18

The Razer Blade 18 has a six-speaker sound system, with four firing upward and two down-firing speakers. They support THX Spatial Audio (THX is owned by Razer), and can be customized in Razer Synapse.

These speakers are very loud. They could fill my apartment at just above 50% volume. "Raise Him Up," the immensely catchy satirical gospel tune off the soundtrack to Season 5 of The Boys, filled my home with actor Daveed Digg's voice, along with horns, a choir, and drums. I've heard better audio, particularly when it comes to pure clarity and bass, but this is pretty solid, especially if you like your music and games loud. Playing with the well-labeled ranges in Synapse THX did help me draw out the vocals and low-end from the busy track.

In Resident Evil Requiem, the speakers showed off. When Leon stepped on a skull in Racoon City, the crunch was sharp. In a boss battle with a giant spider, the shrieks were terrifying, and the gunshots were booming. Someone from my office politely came over and asked me to turn it down. I couldn't blame them.

Upgradeability on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Twelve Torx 4 screws hold the Blade 18's bottom to the chassis. Once I removed them, the base popped off with just my hands, and no worrying plastic clips. That's about as easy as it gets unless you have a dedicated door to components.

There are two SSD slots. On our review unit, the PCIe 4 slot was already filled, but you can add a second SSD to a slot that supports PCIe 5. The Wi-Fi card is removable, as is the slotted RAM, which is under shielding.

The battery is replaceable as well, though there is a fan integrated in the middle of the battery, so you'll need to be sure to disconnect the fan connector from the motherboard before removing the screws. This is a fascinating battery, and it might be harder to get than more standard shapes.

Battery Life on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

When it comes to 18-inch gaming laptops, portable really is a turn of phrase. You'll largely want this thing plugged in for performance, if for no other reason than that it's huge.

That being said, it can run off the battery for a decent amount of time. On our test, which browses the web, streams videos, and runs light OpenGL tasks with the screen set to 150 nits of brightness, the Blade lasted for 5 hours and 31 minutes. That's slightly longer than last year, and a big improvement over the Alienware (3:33). But the MSI Raider lasted the longest of the bunch at 8:34 — a full workday.

Heat on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The Blade's vapor chamber and tri-fan cooling have their work cut out for them. The system still gets hot under use.

After 15 runs of the Metro Exodus benchmark, the keyboard was hot to the touch at 109 degrees Fahrenheit. The touchpad was cooler at 100 F (though that's still toasty for a touchpad), while the bottom of the system was 116 F at the hottest point.

The CPU measured 88.90 degrees Celsius during the test, while the GPU averaged 69.62 C.

Webcam on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The Blade 18 comes equipped with a 5-megapixel webcam. Its biggest strength may be in color accuracy. In our well-lit office, it caught the exact shade of red-orange in my shirt, and some tired bags under my eyes after a long weekend. It did, however, have some graininess.

The camera system includes infrared for Windows Hello login duties, as well as a physical privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The only software on the Razer Blade 18 is the company's Synapse app. It does a ton, including managing macros, letting you set custom profiles for games, adjusting lighting and audio, and setting performance modes. There's a lot here. Unfortunately, there are a few ads for Razer's hardware, but they're not too intrusive.

Razer sells the Blade 18 with a 1-year warranty on the laptop and a 2-year warranty on the battery.

The company has two RazerCare plans, Essential ($729.99) and Elite ($999.99), which extend your warranty to 3 years and add 24-hour claim support and coverage for mechanical failures and surge protection. Only the Elite plan covers accidental damage.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) Configurations

The Razer Blade 18 is supremely expensive. We tested it with an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage, which adds up to $5,399.99.

The cheapest version is $3,999.99, with the same processor, an RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of memory, and 1TB of storage. A maxed-out version is $6,999.99 and is identical to what we reviewed, except with 128GB of RAM, which is pointed more at AI developers.

As of this writing, last year's models with a Core Ultra 9 275HX are still available, and they're all $500 less than this year's version. Given the CPU upgrades aren't huge, that's a discount worth considerling.

Bottom Line

If you want one of the biggest gaming rigs with top-end components, a bright, dual-mode screen, and tons of ports, the Blade 18 will absolutely fit the bill. But that bill will be expensive, with the system starting at $4,000 and getting more expensive from there (our review unit goes for $5,399).

For those who want an 18-inch gaming rig with few compromises, this is the one to get if you can afford it. Last year's model is $500 cheaper with a Core Ultra 9 275HX, but you'll also lose the brighter screen. I'm not sure how many people dropping $4,000-$6,000 care about that extra $500, but it's worth noting.

You won't want to miss this huge saving on this formidable HP gaming laptop right now. HP has itself slashed the price of one of its top-spec HP Omen Max 16 laptops down to just $1,999.99, or slightly more if you opt for an OLED display, fitted with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and a top-spec Intel CPU, and securing you a saving of $800 in the process.

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Your focus, first of all, should be on the GPU installed in this rig. The mobile version of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti isn't quite an equivalent to the desktop version, coming with a pared-down set of 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB GDDR7 VRAM. That aside, this is still a 115W GPU with plenty of power for high-resolution gaming, especially compared to running games on a laptop's integrated GPU.

You won't find it difficult to comfortably hit high frame rates on this HP laptop's native 1600p resolution. This current-gen Nvidia Blackwell GPU's DLSS 4 support will give you extra breathing room, too, if you find you need a bit more performance muscle in the most intensive games, with multi-frame generation giving you an AI-generated boost. As our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review explains, this laptop is an extremely competitive option for gamers who want a high-quality, high-spec build. The build quality will match the base model on offer here, but the GPU (and display) will vary, depending on the specs you choose.

That's because this laptop is heavily customizable, although the GPU is one of the few components on this laptop (at least, this spec of laptop) that you can't switch up. The other elements, however, are fair game, including the CPU you're getting as standard. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270HX is a 20-core processor, split between eight performance cores (which are the best options for gaming) and 12 efficient cores (which are typically best for multi-threaded work).

This HP Omen Max 16 build comes with 16GB of DDR5 RAM at this price point, although upgrades to 32GB, 48GB, and even 64GB are available, albeit with much higher price tags. Likewise, the base model here comes with a 16-inch IPS display with a refresh rate up to 240Hz. If you want to spend $60, you can upgrade to an OLED with a refresh rate of 165Hz, or $120 will get you an OLED with a 240Hz refresh rate.

The small compromise you'll be making to hit the under $2,000 price tag is storage: only a 512GB SSD with Gen 4 speeds is included for the base spec. 1TB and 2TB models are available as upgrades; however, if you have a bit of extra budget going spare. Other areas of the laptop's build quality are worth praising, however, with a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB lighting, along with a chassis that includes liquid metal cooling and a vapor chamber that should improve heat dissipation overall. There are also plenty of ports for you to hook up your peripherals, with two USB-A and USB-C ports apiece, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and Ethernet connections, along with Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 7 support.

The $1,999.99 sale price for the base model of this HP Omen Max 16 laptop is a great price for the quality and specs you're getting here. If the budget allows, upgrading to the OLED will be a worthwhile improvement, which you can select when you head to the checkout. Expect to see this laptop, with its $800 discount, sell out quickly.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

As PC gaming costs continue to rise thanks to the AI crunch, pre-built PCs and gaming laptops continue to be a rare source of solace for gamers who want to upgrade in 2026. Right now at Walmart, you can get an MSI Vector gaming laptop with RTX 5070 Ti GPU for just $1,499.

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Not only is that a $500 discount off the $1,999 list price, but it's also just $200 shy of the price we saw on this laptop during Black Friday last year. Considering RAM has increased in price by 400% since then, and given SSDs aren't much cheaper, that is a relatively excellent deal on a decent gaming laptop.

The highlight of this laptop is the RTX 5070 Ti, which is a potent mobile GPU that should provide very solid gaming performance at the 2,560 x 1,600 resolution this laptop supports. With 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB of VRAM, that should be ample memory for most titles at this resolution, although it stops short of the 16GB of VRAM available in higher-end models.

The aforementioned display is a 240Hz 16-inch IPS panel, so while it isn't OLED, that'll save you plenty of battery life for when you're gaming without nearby power.

The processor in this laptop is AMD's Ryzen 9 8940HX. This mobile Zen 4 CPU has 16 cores and 32 threads, with base clocks of 2.4 GHz and up to 5.3 GHz boost clock. It also features 80MB total cache.

Other specs include 16GB of DDR5 RAM. 32GB would be ideal, but in this economy, that's a good deal at this price, as is the 1TB SSD. Otherwise, this laptop comes with a stealthy grey gaming aesthetic, and the laptop has a 24-zone RGB keyboard. You'll also get Wi-Fi 7 for great internet, as well as Bluetooth 5.4 for connecting accessories. If you want to save even more money, Walmart is also selling this 15.6-inch Cyborg with RTX 5070 for just $1,378, featuring the same RAM and SSD, Intel Core 7-240H, and Wi-Fi 6E.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you want to jump into PC gaming but don't have a massive amount of money in the budget or a lot of room for a full desktop setup, then this compact gaming PC from HP is a great choice. Packing the latest generation of PC hardware in a small form factor, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is just $1099.99 direct from the HP store, in their 72-hour flash sale. The original list price says $2599.99, but that seems a little excessive, and I'd take that with a pinch of salt. But the fact that this gaming laptop is only just over a thousand dollars and still contains some potent hardware and a gorgeous OLED screen makes it a standout deal.

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The Omen Transcend 14 features a 14-inch, 2880 x 1800 pixel display. Not only that, but the display is an OLED panel with up to a 120Hz refresh rate and a bright, colorful display. The system is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H 16-core processor and an Nvidia RTX 5060 laptop graphics card, all stuffed into a svelte 3.6-pound white anodized aluminum chassis.

The HP Omen Transcend 14 still incorporates a full-size keyboard, even given its small size. The keyboard features pudding-style keycaps with a 4-zone RGB backlit keyboard and 26-key rollover anti-ghosting key technology. It also features Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity. Plenty of USB ports adorn the sides of the laptop, with 1 USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port with 40Gbps speeds, power delivery, and DisplayPort integration.

A competent gaming laptop with a decent graphics card and an acceptable 16GB of precious memory, the lower limit for a gaming machine. The storage at 1TB is large enough for a few AAA games to be installed, and an RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM isn't going to set any framerate records, but used in conjunction with DLSS 4, it will let you achieve a very smooth gaming experience. For just $1,099.99, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is a superb pick.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Not a great time for buying some of our favorite PC components with all the high prices and shortages, but if you're still on the lookout for an all-in-one gaming and work solution, then you might want to consider a gaming laptop over a larger desktop PC. A powerful laptop that you can use for both work and a bit of play, Gigabyte's Aero X16 is now just $1389.99 at Best Buy, down $610 from the $1999.99 list price. This is one of the best prices for an RTX 5070 laptop, even more so, considering the large amount of RAM and 1TB SSD.

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Inside the Gigabyte Aero X16 in this deal are the following components: an Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (8-core, 16-thread) processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage. This is a larger laptop that sports a 16-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. That's a sharp image on display that size, plus you also have an up to 165Hz refresh rate for incredibly smooth motion while gaming.

In our review of the Gigabyte Aero X16, we found the laptop to be a well-rounded offering from Gigabyte, with plenty of gaming prowess thanks to the dedicated RTX 5070 graphics card, solid hardware choices, and a competitive price. This laptop is suitable for gaming and daily productivity tasks. During testing, the Aero X16 had an excellent battery life that lasted longer than the average workday, and came top compared to other similar spec laptops that we've had the chance to test.

The Gigabyte Aero X16 is a slimline 16-inch laptop with a slate-gray chassis, large screen, and RGB backlit keyboard for playing in darker environments, or just showing off the gamified aesthetic. There are plenty of USB ports and video ports for easily connecting up extra monitors to either its HDMI 2.1 port, or via the USB Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4.

With 32GB of precious memory, a 1TB SSD, and an RTX 5070, the $1,389.99 asking price for the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a good price. Comparing it to various other laptops on sale with similar specifications, it's one of the best prices on the market currently.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Here at Computex 2026 in Taipei, Asus held an early press event to showcase its updated Zenbook, Expertbook, and Strix Scar laptops, along with the new TUF T700 gaming desktop. The additions to the Zenbook and Vivo series, the Zenbook 14 (3 different models), and Vivobook Series (S14/S16 and S14/16 Flip) promise to, according to Asus, ‘elevate the everyday computing experience’ with an all-metal construction, updated branding (the shell will only say Asus now), and new colorways including Arctic Blue and Komodo Coral for a more personalized look. Meanwhile, the company’s compact TUF Gaming T700 desktop bumps up its specs and moves to a proprietary motherboard.

The Zenbook 14 laptops use Intel, AMD, or a Snapdragon processor, with up to 24GB of RAM (16GB for Snapdragon-based models) and up to 512GB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage (Snapdragon model, the others do not list 512GB as a maximum). The Intel-based SKU (UX3480AA) sports up to a 3K (2880x1800) 14-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the AMD and Snapdragon SKUs (UX3480GA and UX3480QA, respectively) use an FHD (1920x1200) screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. They all include Wi-Fi 6E and offer typical connectivity, including audio combo jacks, HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and Type-C – the latter supports PD and DP support for charging and display output. Each has at least one 40 Gbps Type-C port, with the Snapdragon-based Zenbook shipping with two. The Vivobook S14/S16 Flip, with its Snapdragon X (orX Plus) and flexible 360-degree design (laptop/tablet/tent), also receives new colorway options.

In addition to the Zenbooks, we also saw the new Expertbook B5 Flip G2, a 360-degree convertible designed for hybrid workflows for business professionals, students, and educators who are looking for flexibility, performance, and security. It even hides the stylus in its thin (0.58-inches) and light (2.9 lbs) chassis. Specs-wise, it’s powered by the Intel Core 7 350 processor, an 18 TOPS NPU, and Intel graphics. You can pack it with up to 32 GB of LPDDRX5 RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, and it has plenty of connectivity, including TB4 USB-C ports, HDMI, and two USB 3.2 gen 1 Type-A ports, all in a Gentle Grey finish.

The Expertbooks, P5 (14-inch) and PM5 G2 (16-inch) are enterprise-grade devices and feature Asus ExpertGuardian and a NIST PSP 800--1930 compliant BIOS and other various safeguards, including a fingerprint sensor, physical webcam shield, and more. Performance-wise, both Expertbooks' NPUs exceed 40 TOPS.

Asus also showed off its ROG Strix G16/G18 and Strix Scar gaming laptops for 2026, with minor hardware updates. The Scar 18 now supports up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX processor with 200W sustained power (from the 275HX), along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with max power up to 175 TGP – a gaming beast, no doubt. Both the G16 and G18 get a bump in GPU performance, with the G16 offering an RTX 5080 laptop GPU and the G18 an RTX 5070 laptop GPU. The illuminated numeric keypad, which looks cool in person, I must admit, also made its way to the G16 and G18 (from the familiar ROG Zephyrus and Zenbook lines). I'm not sure how useful that will be on a laptop designed more for gaming, but it's a nice aesthetic touch. Pricing wasn’t listed, but you should see these, along with the updated Zenbook/Vivobooks, available early in the second half of 2026.

The TUF T700 Gaming PC is an updated version of the T500, with a different (and better-looking) chassis and access to more powerful CPUs. The new boards sport up to an Intel Core U9-275HX or an AMD Ryzen 7-8700F APU. The inside of the chassis includes a 240mm TUF-branded AIO, a PCIe 4.0 storage interface, up to 64GB of SO-DIMM DDR5-5200 MT/s RAM (we’d like to see faster spec-RAM), an efficient 80 Plus Platinum power supply, and up to an Nvidia RTX 5070 Prime graphics, an increase over the last generation T series that maxed out with an RTX 5060 Ti (16GB). Asus will also use a proprietary motherboard in these systems, with a proprietary form factor that resembles MicroATX, with an extra ‘tab’ protruding along the right edge to support additional USB ports.

The incremental, sometimes mostly aesthetic-only, updates on laptops aren’t exactly exciting, but when you’re in the middle of a CPU lifecycle from both camps and video card upgrades have also stalled (thanks, AI), there isn’t a whole lot laptop makers can do. That said, we’re told Asus’ booth at the convention center has something special they couldn’t share at this pre-briefing, so keep an eye out for additional coverage of Asus at Computex 2026 in the coming days to see what it and dozens of other companies will have to offer as the year progresses.

Acer is bringing two new gaming laptops, along with a handful of interesting companion pieces, to Computex 2026.

Headlining the laptops is the Predator Helios 18 AI, packing up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and RTX 5090 mobile GPU. The smaller Acer Nitro 16 tops out lower at a mobile RTX 5070 Ti, but comes with a CPU from AMD: either the Ryzen 9 9955HX, or the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with AMD’s coveted 3D V-Cache. Joining the two flagship devices, which are looking to earn a spot among the best gaming laptops, are a streaming-only handheld called the Nitro Blaze Link, a travel backpack with integrated USB-C laptop charging, and a TKL keyboard boasting an 8,000 Hz polling rate.

The Predator Helios 18 AI is naturally Acer’s flagship device this year, packing top-level specs from Nvidia and Intel. Outside of the main compute, the laptop supports up to 256GB of DDR5 memory (no word on speeds yet), as well as 6 TB of storage, including three PCIe 5.0 NVMe slots. The platform provides Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, including support for Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro, allowing you to leverage the included RJ-45 plug and your normal Wi-Fi connection simultaneously.

Acer unsurprisingly built out the connectivity of the laptop. In addition to an RJ45 plug (presumably Gigabit, but Acer hasn’t confirmed speed yet), the Predator Helios 18 AI comes with dual Thunderbolt 5 ports (Type-C), two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, HDMI 2.1, a full-sized SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The laptop is large, coming in at 15.8 inches wide and 12.1 inches tall, with a thickness of 0.68 inches at the thinnest point and 1.2 inches at the thickest. It’s heavy, as well, clocking in at 7.7 pounds, partially due to the 99 Wh battery.

Rounding out the laptop is an 18-inch 4K mini-LED display with a resolution of 3840 x 2400 (16:10). Acer claims the panel can reach 1,000 nits, and it allows you to switch between 4K and 1080p resolutions, either at 120 Hz for 4K or 240 Hz for 1080p. The display supports Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus to leverage the integrated GPU when you’re away from the charger. Powering audio is an array of six speakers under Acer’s Predator Vox branding, along with support for DTS:X Ultra.

On the key deck, Acer is offering a mechanical keyboard with its Predator MagKey 4.0 switches, allowing you to swap key caps on some switches. You can also deck out the lighting with per-key RGB. Acer hasn’t announced pricing or availability for the laptop yet, but given the current state of DRAM and NAND prices, the Helios 18 AI will likely start at several thousand dollars.

The Acer Nitro 16 is smaller in both size and specs, but it still packs in some powerful hardware. Taking the CPU slot is either the Ryzen 9 9955HX or 9955HX3D, the latter of which we’ve only seen in a handful of devices. The Nitro 16 doesn’t support an RTX 5090, but Acer is still offering the laptop with up to an RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU with 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM.

Compared to the Helios 18 AI, everything is more sensible. You can pack up to 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and up to 2 TB of storage across two PCIe 4.0 slots. Connectivity is still decent with a USB 4 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a single USB 2.0 port, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and an RJ-45 connector. Wireless connectivity is still provided through an Intel chipset, sporting Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

For the display, you get a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 (16:10) panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate, with claimed response times of 3 ms, alongside Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus. Acer includes two speakers with DTS:X Ultra, alongside a Full HD webcam. Like the Predator Helios 18 AI, we don’t have pricing or availability details for the Nitro 16 yet, but Acer describes it as “a value-driven powerhouse,” so hopefully it won’t be too expensive.

Acer Nitro Blaze Link, Aethon 750 TKL, and Robust Plus

Alongside the two laptops, Acer revealed a handful of new companion devices. Chief among them is the Nitro Blaze Link, which is a streaming-only handheld that’s designed to work on your home network. The handheld uses the streaming clients Sunshine or Moonlight on top of a Debian-based OS to stream games from your main rig. The handheld isn’t capable of running games locally (at least not officially). Acer hasn’t shared what chip is powering the handheld, but with just 1 GB of LPDDR4-2133 and 8 GB of eMMC flash storage, you shouldn’t expect much.

Without any real compute under the hood, the Nitro Blaze Link is light at only 464 grams, or just a smidge over 1 pound. It charges with just 15W over USB-C and includes a single-cell 18 Wh battery, alongside a Wi-Fi 6 antenna. The screen is a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 display with five-point multi-touch, and you get a pair of built-in 2W speakers. Again, Acer hasn’t shared pricing or availability for the Nitro Blaze Link.

Outside of mobile devices, Acer has the Aethon 750 TKL and Robust Plus backpack. The Aethon 750 TKL is described as a “tournament-grade keyboard,” matching the specs we’ve seen from devices from brands like Razer and Logitech, among the best gaming keyboards. The TKL keyboard features three modes of connectivity, including wired, 2.4 GHz, and Bluetooth, and it comes with a speedy 8,000 Hz polling rate.

Finally, there’s the Predator Robust Plus backpack, which is, well, a backpack that can fit up to an 18-inch laptop. It looks robust enough, pun intended, but the unique offering is an integrated passthrough cable for charging your devices from an external power bank. There are plenty of backpacks with a cable passthrough, but if you want to deck out your travel setup with all Acer gear, you can.

Computex 2026 is just getting underway, and Tom’s Hardware is on the ground in Taipei to check out all of the latest announcements. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see Acer’s latest devices in the flesh, alongside reveals from several other brands.

Best Buy is back with yet another absolute banger gaming laptop discount, this time on an OLED Asus model that's nearly $600 off. Right now, you can score this Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 16" 2.5K OLED 240Hz gaming laptop for just $1,574.99, giving you $575 off.

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The heart of this gaming laptop is Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, replete with 8GB of VRAM for solid gaming performance. That's paired with the flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285H Arrow Lake, a blistering CPU for both work and play. Also included are 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a delightful OLED 240 Hz display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600.

There are quite a few headline specs on this build, starting with the aforementioned RTX 5070. Nvidia's mid-range mobile GPU comes with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, with support for DLSS 4 and the more recent 4.5 update.

The CPU is Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H, with 16 cores (6P, 8E, and 2 LP) and 16 threads, along with a CPU base clock frequency of 2.5 GHz that can boost to 5.4 gigahertz. This blend of power and efficiency should give you good gaming performance while also preserving battery life on the go.

The display is also an eye-catching 2560 x 1600 OLED with a 240Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness.

The 1TB SSD is plenty for storing games, with the 16GB of RAM enough for multitasking. While 32GB would have been ideal, you'll struggle to find a better laptop at this price thanks to this generous discount.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

There’s no better feeling than upgrading your gaming experience. Now, imagine transforming your setup with the latest toys while enjoying unbeatable savings. If you're a mobile gamer, the XPS 16 and Alienware 16 Area-51 are up to 26% and 20% more affordable, saving you $900 and $1,000, respectively. If you're not fond of dragging your gaming system around, you can save up to $950 on Dell's Alienware Aurora gaming desktop.

• Check out the XPS 16 deal on Dell
• Check out the Alienware 16 Area-51 deal on Dell
• Check out the Alienware Aurora deal on Dell

The Dell XPS 16 is a formidable, premium laptop with attributes that will appease even the most demanding consumer. The device features a Core Ultra 9 285H, a 16-core chip with a 5.4 GHz clock speed, and a GeForce RTX 5060 to deliver delightful gaming performance. The 16.3-inch 2K (1920x1200) display with a refresh rate between 30 Hz and 120 Hz and a maximum brightness of 500 nits delivers beautiful visuals and buttery-smooth gaming.

The laptop's other features aren't anything to sneeze at, either. Along with a performant processor and graphics card combo, the XPS 16 also wields 32GB of LPDDR5X-7567 memory and a 1TB M.2 SSD. There's also a six-cell 99.6 Whr battery that guarantees up to 27 hours of battery life while streaming.

Dell's Alienware portfolio has some of the fastest gaming laptops. The Alienware 16 Area-51 fits the bill if you need a no-nonsense gaming laptop. The device's impressive feature set starts with a high-performance Core Ultra 9 285K, a processor with 24 cores and a boost clock speed that eclipses 5.7 GHz. On the graphics side, the GeForce RTX 5080 is more than enough firepower to drive that 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) display at 240 Hz.

The gaming laptop really doesn't compromise on any aspect. There's 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5-6400 memory and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, both of which are upgradeable. Other noteworthy features include a six-cell 96 Whr battery, keyboard with per-key AlienFX RGB lighting, and speedy Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.

Alienware's Aurora desktop is a fan favorite among pre-built gaming systems. The variant on sale comprises a Core Ultra 9 285K processor with a top-tier GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card. If that weren't enough, the gaming PC also wields 64GB (2x32GB) of DDR5-5200 memory and a 2TB M.2 SSD.

Keeping the Core Ultra 9 285K's temperatures under control is a 240mm liquid cooler with AlienFX lighting. Meanwhile, a 1000W 80 Plus Platinum-certified power supply ensures the system has all the power it needs and provides headroom for future upgrades.

There are countless Dell products currently on sale, so there's something for every enthusiast. However, if you're looking for the top gaming deals, the XPS 16, Alienware 16 Area-51, and Alienware Aurora are the first ones to come to mind. Don't miss your chance to improve your gaming and drop by Dell's online store to take advantage of the limited-time deals.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you're in the market for a monster gaming laptop that wil serve you just as well on the go as it will at home, then Best Buy's $1,000 discount on this eye-catching Lenovo Legion Pro 5i might be the deal for you. Right now, you can score this 16-inch laptop, replete with one of Intel's top Arrow Lake mobile processors, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and Nvidia's RTX 5070 for just $1,749 at Best Buy. That's down from its usual price of $2,749 and even brings you within spitting distance of the savings we saw on this same model last year, pre AI-price crunch.

● Grab this deal at Best Buy

The CPU that powers this laptop is the excellent Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. This 24-core beast has eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores, with max boost clocks of up to 5.4GHz. Overall, given the current state of the PC market, this is an excellent gaming laptop at a very enticing price, just $150 more than when we saw it in October last year. While those prices are a thing of the past (and unlikely to return soon), this is one of the best gaming laptop deals we've seen in some time.

While we haven't reviewed this specific model of Lenovo Legion laptop, we have reviewed its big brother, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, which features many of the same specs and a few key differences. One of the most impressive aspects of this laptop is the OLED display. You're getting the same 16-inch OLED panel with 2560 x 1600 resolution, which performs very well in testing versus rivals, as you can see from our benchmarks below.

Crucially, the model on sale is "only" 165Hz refresh rate, rather than the 7i's 240Hz. The screen is rated for 500 nits of brightness.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX features in not one but two of our best gaming laptop picks, including the best choice overall, the Razer Blade 18, so you know you're getting a great CPU that can handle productivity and games alike. The RTX 5070 comes with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM and should make light work of most games at this resolution.

As mentioned, you also get 1TB of SSD storage and 32GB of DDR5 5600 RAM. Connectivity-wise, there's one HDMI 2.1 port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, three USB-A 3.2 ports, and a single USB-C 3.2 port (four total). There's also a headphone jack and a microphone, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 7, as well as an Ethernet port. Finally, there's a 5MP webcam.

This would make a fantastic gaming companion or a college laptop for a student who can also support a bit of downtime on the sides. As noted, this is a really excellent discount on a great all-around gaming laptop.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i can be bought from Best Buy online or collected in store, but you'll want to move fast to secure one at this excellent price.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

HP is embracing Memorial Day this year with some excellent deals across its range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. There's a massive saving to be had on a powerful HP gaming laptop with the very impressive RTX 5080 laptop GPU inside. HP has slashed the price of this HP Omen Max 16 (Model: 16-ah0097nr) laptop, fitted with an RTX 5080, down to just $2,699.99 right now, netting you a massive $1,100 saving off the original list price.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

The main selling point of this HP laptop is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU that sits inside. This powerful mobile version of the RTX 5080 packs a punch and comes with 16GB of speedy GDDR7 VRAM and 7,680 CUDA cores. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor is also a great gaming and productivity CPU, and along with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD, the Omen 16 is more than up to the task of blasting through your favorite game titles.

Our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review highlighted the excellent performance of the Omen Max 16, especially the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU in productivity workloads. Whether we were surfing the web, copying a large group of files, or transcoding a video, the results were speedy.

This is a gaming laptop with several niche features. There's a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB lighting, along with NKRO anti-ghosting tech, liquid metal cooling, a vapor chamber for improved cooling, and built-in wireless connectivity for select HyperX peripherals (no need for the dongles). You're also getting plenty of ports here, with two USB-A and two USB-C ports, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and Ethernet connections.

The $2,699.99 sale price for this HP Omen Max 16 gaming laptop is a big chunk of change, but given how expensive the market has transitioned to with the rising costs of memory and storage, this deal isn't too bad. A hefty $1,100 saving isn't to be sniffed at, so if you're looking for a gaming laptop upgrade or a portable desktop replacement, then you might want to consider this deal. If you want to see more deals, you can save up to 72% on gaming PCs, laptops, and monitors in HP's Memorial Day sale.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

MSI’s Raider 16 Max HX (starting at $2,999) is one of the fastest gaming laptops, featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU and up to an Nvidia RTX 5090. Besides performance, this laptop delivers a vibrant OLED display and lasts much longer on battery than expected.

While it’s missing a mechanical keyboard and could use a faster storage drive, it remains a viable pick if you’ve got the cash – our RTX 5090 review model is priced at a lofty $4,099.

Design of the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

The Raider’s thick chassis, flashy LED lighting, and lid graphics make no attempt to hide its gaming pedigree. The light bar along the front edge of the chassis and the shield logo on the lid back are customizable for effects and colors in the SteelSeries GG app. The laptop pulls off an aggressive look without overdoing it. Ignoring its size, there’s not a lot to attract the eye with the lighting disabled.

Measuring 14.29 by 10.62 by 1.14 inches (WDH), the Raider occupies a similar footprint compared to the Alienware 16 Area-51 (14.37 by 11.41 by 1.12 inches) and Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (13.94 x 10.55 x 0.90 inches). However, the MSI is easily the lightest of the group, at 5.73 pounds versus Alienware’s 7.49 and Asus’ 6.28 pounds.

The Raider's construction might have something to do with that – while the chassis feels solid enough, it definitely feels plasticky. The lid is aluminum, but it feels thin and flexes more than I expected. At least the lid’s hinges are smooth and sturdy.

MSI’s port selection is practical, with ports on three sides. On the left are two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and an SD card reader; on the right, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 and an audio jack; and on the back, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, and another USB-A port. The 400 W power brick attaches to a USB-like proprietary connector on the back. The laptop also features a cable lock slot on the left edge. Inside, the Raider utilizes a Killer BE1750 networking card supporting the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 standards.

MSI Raider 16 Max HX Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We tested the Raider 16 Max HX in flagship form, featuring a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, RTX 5090 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM.

Playing F1 24 at 2560 x 1600 with Ultra High settings and DLSS disabled, I saw the game average in the mid to low 90s when monitoring frames per second. The Raider didn’t skip a beat.

The high-end gaming laptops in our comparison lineup include the Alienware 16 Area-51 (Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, RTX 5080 175 W, $4,309), Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 (Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5080 175 W, $3,299), and Razer’s last-gen Blade 18 (Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5090 175 W, $5,199). All share the same class of CPU, with our MSI and the Alienware sporting the Arrow Lake Refresh chips, and all use an Nvidia RTX graphics card with a maximum graphics power rating of 175 W.

Our comparisons focus on FPS at 1920 x 1080, but we also included results at each laptop’s native resolution, which was 2560 x 1600 for all except the Razer’s 3840 x 2400.

On Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the Highest detail preset, the Raider’s 197 FPS at 1080p was second only to the Razer (213 FPS) and edged ahead of the Alienware (191 FPS). The Raider produced the best numbers at native resolution, with 134 FPS next to the Alienware’s 116 FPS and the Asus’ 112 FPS. These differences are slight but show that the RTX 5090, which is also present in the Razer, offers a touch more performance than the RTX 5080 found in the Alienware and Asus.

Running Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ray Tracing Ultra preset, the RTX 5090 laptops continued distinguishing themselves, with the Raider again topping the charts. Its 70 FPS was just behind the Razer (74 FPS) but well ahead of the Alienware (63 FPS) and Asus (61 FPS). It maintained that lead at native resolution, producing 42 FPS against Alienware’s 39 FPS and Asus’ 35 FPS.

Moving to Far Cry 6 at the game’s Ultra preset, these laptops produced mostly indistinguishable performance, though the Raider slightly edged ahead of the Alienware and Asus at 1080p.

The Raider continued its strong performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 at Medium settings, where its 130 FPS at 1080p outpaced the Alienware’s 123 FPS but was just shy of Razer’s 132 FPS. Meanwhile, it dominated native resolution, with 90 FPS against the 77 FPS each produced by Alienware and Asus.

Testing Borderlands 3 at the “Badass” preset, the Raider tied with Razer with 189 FPS for the highest 1080p number, clearly surpassing the Alienware (164 FPS) and Asus (156 FPS). This gap is wider than we saw in some of the other games.

MSI’s Raider delivers excellent gaming performance, landing neck-and-neck with the larger Blade 18. Its RTX 5090 delivers marginal but measurable performance advantages over Alienware’s RTX 5080 system, which runs at the same maximum graphics power. That said, the differences might not be noticeable to most gamers; MSI also offers this laptop with RTX 5080 for about $600 less. The RTX 5090’s other differentiator is its larger 24GB frame buffer versus the RTX 5080’s 16GB, though the latter is already more than enough for today’s games.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the Raider averaged 142.3 FPS across all runs with almost no variance, starting the first loop at 143.5 FPS and finishing the final loop at 142.8 FPS. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus averaged 4.51 GHz on its P-cores and 2.59 GHz on its E-cores while the RTX 5090’s average boost clock was 1.99 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We evaluated the Raider with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s notable MSI includes a PCIe 4.0 drive, not a PCIe 5.0 drive as we’d expect in a high-end gaming laptop. (One of its two M.2 slots supports PCIe 5.0 drives, MSI simply doesn’t equip it with a PCIe 5.0 drive.)

In Geekbench 6, these laptops are essentially neck-and-neck, though the refreshed Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus chips in the Raider and Alienware perform marginally better than the Core Ultra 9 275HX in the others. The real-world differences between these chips will likely go unnoticed.

In our 25GB file transfer test, MSI’s Raider performed well below par, with 1,357.93 MBps against the next-fastest Asus, with 1,841.41 MBps, and nowhere near the Alienware’s 2,738.9 MBps.

The Raider bounced back in Handbrake, completing the test in the shortest time at 1 minute and 51 seconds. The Alienware was the next quickest at an even two minutes, with the Razer (2:07) and Asus (2:24) trailing.

Display on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

The Raider’s 2560 x 1600 OLED display is one of its best features, offering a world-class picture for multimedia and everything else. Watching Blade Runner 2049, I noticed subtle creases on K’s trench coat, mesmerizing colors on Joi’s holograph, and the intricate detail in Wallace’s eyes. I also admired the searing brightness of my lightsaber and the feel of total blackness in caves and unlit rooms in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The 240 Hz refresh rate translates to smooth scrolling and no frame tearing. For immersion in any kind of media, this screen is sure to please.

These laptops use different screen technologies – OLED for the MSI and Alienware and mini-LED for the Asus and Razer. OLED demonstrates better color coverage, with the Raider’s 86.1% higher than Asus’ 81.2% and Razer’s 80% but not quite matching the Alienware’s 93.7%. However, the Raider’s 456-nit peak brightness was much sunnier than the Alienware’s 369 nits and practically tied the Asus and Razer.

In our HDR testing, not shown in the charts, the Raider’s 40% average was 991 nits and 100% average was 600 nits.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s keyboard prioritizes gaming and makes some curious layout choices in the process. There’s no left Fn key, which has been moved next to the arrow keys. Oddly, another slash key is there, too. The MSI Center app allows toggling the Windows key and/or swapping it with the Fn key, but those use to left-handed Fn and Windows key shortcuts will need to adjust.

The arrow keys are full-size but the three-column number pad isn’t, which has a strange layout and tiny keys – it probably should have been left out in favor of dedicated macro or media control keys. Macros can still be configured in the SteelSeries GG app, but nothing beats dedicated keys.

Typing feel is quite satisfying, though, with a crisp keypress, just enough travel, and a rigid deck. I managed 119 words per minute with 99% accuracy in my usual MonkeyType run. A mechanical keyboard might further improve the typing experience; alas, MSI doesn’t offert one on this model, though Alienware does on its Aurora..

Keyboard backlighting is also more than bright enough and customizable in per-key RGB fashion, with patterns and layered effects using SteelSeries GG. In another gaming flourish, the WASD and arrow keys are transparent and appear extra bright.

MSI’s touchpad is also superb. Though it’s top-hinged rather than haptic, it clicks predictably and has plenty of surface area relative to the 16-inch display.

Audio on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s built-in speakers satisfy casual listening. User-facing in the screen hinge, they project well even if the laptop isn’t on a solid surface. Bass doesn’t thump but is present, adding a sense of immersion in games and movies. The included Nahimic audio app provides equalizers that make the speakers sound much fuller than they would otherwise be, though beyond enabling the basic preset for Movies, Music, or Gaming, I didn’t hear a benefit to tweaking the other settings, such as bass and treble boost.

In Blade Runner 2049, I could hear the subtle strain in Lieutenant Joshi’s voice as she was being interrogated and the delicate patter of rainfall on the city streets. The Movie equalizer proved useful here, though I disabled the volume leveling feature as it made quiet scenes too loud. I also appreciated the audio in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, from the crunch of my footsteps over rocks to the piercing ignition of my lightsaber.

Upgradeability of the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI simplified the Raider’s upgradeability by housing all common components under a dedicated upgrade panel, secured with two Philips-head screws.

Behind the panel are the two SODIMM slots and two M.2 2280 PCIe slots, making these upgrades simple.

Removing the entire bottom panel is necessary to access the 92 Whr battery and the M.2 2230 wireless card. After removing the Philips-head screws around the edges, all of which are the same length, I found there was one more in the center under the upgrade panel that was hard to spot. Finding a gap between the chassis halves where I could fit my trim removal tool proved challenging, but I was able to make one along the LED lightbar on the front edge. The panel popped free after I freed the clips along the edges.

Battery Life on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

Our battery test consists of web browsing, running OpenGL tests, and streaming videos with the screen at 150 nits while connected to Wi-Fi. The Raider distinguished itself with a commanding time of 8 hours and 34 minutes, over two hours more than the Asus (6:30) and totally outclassing the Alienware’s 3:33.

Heat on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We measure gaming laptop surface temperatures while running the 15 loops of our Metro Exodus stress test. During the test, the Raider peaked at 87 degrees Fahrenheit between the keyboard G and H keys, 74 F on the touchpad, and 109 F on the underside towards the exhaust vents. Internally, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus ran at 75 degrees Celsius across all cores while the RTX 5090 averaged 72 C.

Fan noise is well-controlled on the Raider – while gaming, the laptop’s built-in speakers are able to overpower the fan noise, and the fans are hardly noticeable for everyday tasks.

Webcam on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s webcam produces satisfactory video quality. Though its 1080p resolution is the minimum accepted these days, it accurately exposed my face despite the window behind me and didn’t show any grain, even in the shadows of my black t-shirt. The webcam also includes an infrared (IR) sensor for facial logins with Windows Hello and a sliding privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

Minimal software is included on the Raider. MSI Center provides hardware monitoring, support access, and settings: the Windows key can be toggled and/or swapped with the Fn key, and there’s a toggle for USB power share. The app also provides power profiles for Extreme Performance, Balanced, or Eco (Silent), and features a MUX switch for disabling the onboard graphics.

Tinkering with the keyboard and external lighting is done through the familiar SteelSeries GG app, which sees the Raider as a device. Preset lighting patterns and color themes are included, and the app provides in-depth settings for creating your own, including layered effects.

MSI backs the Raider with a one-year warranty.

MSI Raider 16 Max HX Configurations

MSI offers three Raider 16 Max HX configurations through Micro Center, all of which feature a 240 Hz OLED display, Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The only difference between them is the GPU, with the base RTX 5070 Ti model (B2WJ-002US) commanding $2,999, the RTX 5080 $3,499 (B2WI-003US), and our tested RTX 5090 model $4,099 (B2WH-004US). Our model was discounted to $3,499 at review time.

MSI’s pricing is competitive among RTX 5090 laptops. The ROG Strix Scar 16 was $4,499 directly from Asus, though it included a 2TB SSD. Meanwhile, Alienware’s 16 Area-51 listed at $4,699, though a flash sale temporarily brought it down to $3,699.

Bottom Line

MSI’s Raider 16 Max HX delivers an elite gaming experience in a laptop: its Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and RTX 5090 push high frame rates with ease, the OLED panel looks superb, and the system stays impressively cool and quiet under load. Customizable lighting and practical connectivity round out its appeal.

At this price, though, a PCIe 5.0 SSD and more premium chassis materials would feel more appropriate. Compared with Alienware’s 16-inch Area-51, the Raider lacks a mechanical keyboard and isn’t quite as showy, but it counters with far better battery life and a noticeably brighter display. All in all, the Raider is a compelling option for anyone with the money to spend on it.

If gaming on a small laptop has always put you off leaving the desktop PC for your gaming, then the gateway laptop for tempting you to switch probably looks like today's deal. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI is reduced to just $1799 at Walmart and features a huge 18-inch IPS display with a fast 240Hz refresh and 3ms overdrive response time. This model also includes an Intel CPU and RTX 5070 Ti laptop graphics card, so there's plenty of oomph for playing the latest and greatest games. Best of all, the laptop is $400.99 cheaper than it should be.

● Grab this deal at Walmart
● Add 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage with this deal at Amazon

This model of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI features an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU with 12GB of fast GDDR7 VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The chassis is a mix of metal and plastic, with an abyssal black finish. There are multiple RGB zones all over the laptop, so you can dial it up to 11 if you want to go for the full gamified lightshow.

Also on sale is the slightly beefier version of the same Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 Ai laptop, available from Amazon for $2399.99. This more potent variant sports double the RAM at 32GB and double the storage at 2TB, but does cost significantly more. The original list price of the 32GB Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 Ai was $2699.99.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this model of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, so we can't fully compare the laptop to any competition or see its performance benchmarks. These are familiar components, though, so we do have a rough idea of the capabilities. The RTX 5070 Ti will be able to run games smoothly on the 18-inch 2560x1600 WQXGA+ screen, and can also make use of Nvidia's DLSS software to increase framerates for a smoother experience on more taxing titles.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Alienware has typically positioned itself as a premium brand of laptops and desktops for PC gamers. With the new Alienware 15 laptop, however, the Dell subsidiary is boiling down to the essentials in the hopes to reach a wider user base and offer a cheaper laptop.

For the lowest-end configurations, Alienware is digging in the parts bin for some older components, including AMD Ryzen 200 ("Hawk Point Refresh") and Intel Core Series 2 ("Raptor Lake") CPU options and GPUs starting with the RTX 4050 Laptop GPU in the United States, though some regions will start with the older RTX 3050 Laptop GPU.

In the U.S., the starting configuration with an AMD Ryzen 5 220, 16GB of RAM (1x16GB DDR5-5600), 512GB of storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU will start at $1,299, while the cheapest Intel variant, subbing out the Ryzen chip for an Intel Core 5 210H will run $1,349. A Dell spokesperson suggested that there may be promotions that lower the prices at some point.

Those starting GPUs have just 6GB of VRAM, where as an update to the RTX 50-series options will get you a roomier 8GB.

I had access to a pre-production unit for early hands-on time, but I wasn't able to benchmark it (stay tuned for a full review for that). My initial opinions of it were that it didn't feel like an Alienware laptop. I'm used to Alienware laptops including some aluminum or premium plastics. While this system looks the part, with the Alienware head logo and rounded edges of the company's AW30 design language, the black polycarbonate lid and bottom cover feel a bit cheap. The bezels, in shiny plastic, feel like a relic of the old Dell G-Series, and the whole thing feels halfway between a standard Dell laptop and an Alienware machine.

I'm not surprised to see plain, white keyboard backlighting, similar to the Alienware Aurora line. RGB lighting is about the easiest thing to cut.

Our hands-on unit, with an RTX 4050, had a simple rear foot. If you get an RTX 50-series GPU, the company adds the cryo-chamber found on the Alienware Aurora for some extra cooling.

The keyboard has 1.3mm of key travel, and only comes with white backlight, similar to the Alienware Aurora line. On the bright side, in a short hands-on time with it, I didn't notice much flex in normal typing. You also get a 180-degree hinge.I'm not looking forward to fully testing that display. Dell claims the 15.3-inch, 1920 x 1200 screen covers 62.5% of the sRGB gamut and offers 300 nits of brightness. That sounds about right — games and movie trailers looked dim and often washed out.

On the bright side, Alienware hasn't skimped on ports here, with two USB Type-A ports, an Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.1, and a USB-C port with charging support and DisplayPort on the left side, while the right side has a 3.5 mm headphone jack and another Type-C port. These are slower, 5Gbps ports (USB 3.2 Gen 1 on all but the USB-C port on the left, which is USB 3.2 Gen 2) but if you're only using them for accessories, that shouldn't be a big deal.

Resident Evil Requiem seemed to run fine on the device at native resolution, even during a busy mid-game boss fight with tons of fire effects, but that game is extremely well-optimized. There's no unannounced silicon in this device, so we know what to expect, for the most part. But it didn't look amazing on the screen, which was dim and bland.

There will be more expensive versions, going up to an RTX 5060, 1TB of RAM, and either a Ryzen 7 or Intel Core 7 processor. Here's a table of configurations that Alienware provided:

It is understandable why Alienware is going for a cheaper laptop. Notebooks are very expensive right now, and the budget category has all but evaporated. For real deals, you often have to go several generations back on at least the CPU. This should widen the number of people considering Alienware in this market, and people who buy the entry-level system this time around may consider an Aurora or an Area-51 in a few years, alongside any of the mice, headsets, or keyboards that Alienware also makes.

The price is questionable. It's unclear what promotions may come and drop the price down the line — perhaps holiday or back to school sales. If a less premium brand dropped a laptop like this at this price, it might actually seem downright reasonable, given the current state of components. In fact, if some of Alienware's rivals, or even Dell itself under the G-series brand, had dropped this exact laptop two years ago and this was now the going price, I think some people would think it was more agreeable. But Alienware launching a less premium notebook with old parts now might make it seem expensive for what you get, or at least feel off-brand. And some of those higher tiers are still pricey, with an Intel system with an RTX 5060 passing $2,000.

It does risk making Alienware look a bit less premium. I'm very curious to see the mainstream reception to this notebook. Dell ended its G-Series gaming laptops, which were cheaper and technically not affiliated with Alienware, when the company rebranded its laptops in 2025. But hey, at least something is coming out aimed at the masses.

With the prices of memory and storage at record highs, the amount of laptop you get for the money has shrunk significantly. We've used our knowledge and experience, informed by our extensive testing and benchmarking program, to find the best available gaming and productivity laptops on sale for under $1,000 to help you find the right laptop for you. We're updating this page constantly with the best deals available, but be aware that these deals often expire quickly, so you'll need to act fast.

A giant desktop gaming PC isn't for everyone! Price, space, and portability are negatives of a giant desktop gaming rig. These are things a compact and powerful gaming or productivity laptop can help to solve, especially if you can get your hands on one for under $1,000. There are, of course, obvious compromises that you'll need to make if you're going to try to find a budget machine. Things like dedicated graphics, the amount of onboard RAM, storage space, and even the size and quality of the screen and chassis.

Apple has jumped to the rescue with the likes of the MacBook Neo, but Windows users haven't been as lucky as of late. For gaming laptops, you're going to be looking at the lower end of GPUs from Nvidia's RTX 5050 and even graphics chips from older generations. The same goes for the processors used. Expect to see previous-gen CPUs in lower-priced laptops that are available for under $1,000.

Best Gaming and Productivity Laptops Under $1,000: Quick Links

• Amazon: Top gaming laptops under $1,000 at Amazon
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• Dell: Our favorite Dell laptop deals
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Gaming laptops can be pricey, and in the past few years, they have only gotten more expensive. The components inside laptops have gotten more expensive, the market below $1,000 has effectively been decimated, and finding a good deal is harder than ever. But we're still testing, and while the goal posts of what defines a budget gaming laptop may be a bit more expensive than they used to be, there are still ways to save.

At Tom's Hardware, we test many gaming laptops every year at a range of prices with different features and parts, so we know what to expect at every price point, no matter what your budget. While even the budget gaming laptops may not be cheap, we can still point out where you get the most for your money. We thoroughly benchmark all of the best budget gaming laptops in numerous games, extensively measuring gaming performance under a wide range of graphical conditions to suss out the best cheap laptops on the market.

Most gaming laptops under $1,500 will use Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5050 and RTX 5060 graphics cards. Many of them will use the latest Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen mobile processors, though sometimes you'll still find last-gen options. Above $1,500 (which, unfortunately, is still on the low end with all-new components these days), you should have the latest. That being said, don't cut corners so far that you settle for 8GB of RAM or just 256GB of storage. Those are outdated specs for gaming laptops.

With a budget gaming laptop, you'll be able to play most games — even graphically intensive ones — on medium or high settings, if not better. If you're playing lighter games, like esports, you should still be able to achieve high frame rates.

Best Budget Gaming Laptops You Can Buy

Best budget gaming laptop overall

The Acer Nitro V 16S AI is, as of this writing, typically selling around $1,500. This laptop is great for those who are willing to trade off some gaming performance for a bright and colorful screen and a ton of ports, including a microSD card slot.

Those ports, paired with a speedy storage drive in our tests, make the Nivro V 16S AI a solid productivity machine alongside one that can play most games. Acer is using an RTX 5060 with an 85W graphics card, so it's not the most performant system out there, but it's well-balanced if you're going to use just one laptop for gaming, work, or school.

The 16-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS screen goes up to 180 Hz, allowing for smooth gameplay for esports and indie games. Our system came with a 1TB storage drive, which should hold a few games, and there's room to add another inside. It also came with 32GB of RAM, which should be a bit future-proof.

There is a bunch of bloatware that you'll probably want to uninstall, and the webcam is just 720p.

Read: Acer Nitro V 16S AI review

Best budget gaming laptop for work and play

We had previously seen this laptop as high as $1,800, but lately it's been on sale closer to $1,500. The machine is another good mix of productivity and gaming. Like many other budget systems, it's using an 85W GPU (in this case, an RTX 5070), which means you won't get the most powerful gaming performance.What it does allow for, however, is strong battery life, lasting 9 hours and 13 minutes on our test. We also found the keyboard and touchpad to be quite comfortable.

The Ryzen AI 7 350 is a recent chip, and one that offers strong productivity performance, should you be using this system for work other than just gaming.It would have been nice to see Wi-Fi 7 at this system's full price, though on sale, Wi-Fi 6E is more forgivable. That being said, the display and audio are both middling, so this may be best if you use a monitor or speakers to bump up your experience.

Read: Gigabyte Aero X16 review

Best for battery life

If you want something a bit more minimalist, the Alienware 16 Aurora, the gaming brand's stripped-down machine, may work for you. This one has been consistently available.

The Aurora has an attractive chassis that mixes its plastic body with an alumium lid. The indigo color seems almost black, but has a navy shimmer in the right light.

The biggest benefits we saw were in the 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 IPS display, which goes up to 120 Hz. That screen was brighter and far more vivid (112% of sRGB color volume, 312.2 nits) in our measurements compared to other budget machines.

We also appreciated the Aurora's 96 WHr battery, which helped the system last for 9 hours and 41 minutes on our battery test.

The 80W RTX 5060 is fairly low-power, which might help with the longevity, but means you'l have to set your expectations while gaming. Additionally, the storage could be faster, though you could consider swapping that out down the line.

Read: Alienware 16 Aurora review

Quick Shopping Tips

What to Expect From the Best Budget Laptops for Gaming

There's a massive saving to be had right now on a powerful HP gaming laptop with an impressive OLED display, thanks to Best Buy. The company has slashed the price of this HP Omen Max 16 laptop, fitted with an RTX 5080 and a top-spec Intel CPU, down to just $2,899.99 right now, netting you a massive $1,120 saving in the process.

● Check out this HP laptop deal at Best Buy

The main selling point in this HP laptop is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU that it ships with. While this is the mobile version of the RTX 5080, it still packs a punch, fitted with 16GB of speedy GDDR7 VRAM and 7,680 CUDA cores. That boost in VRAM, especially compared to 8GB models, means you've got more capacity to hit higher frame rates at higher resolutions.

Luckily, the rest of the spec in this rig isn't bad, either. You're getting an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, offering 24 cores, split across eight performance cores (which are best for gaming) and 16 efficient cores (which are good for multi-threaded work). The build also comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM, so you're not forced to compromise there, along with a huge 2TB SSD, giving you plenty of space for a big game collection.

Our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review puts it simply: this is an extremely competitive laptop, with a gorgeous screen that offers stunning visuals. The model we tested featured an RTX 5090, but the quality of this rig, along with the screen itself, is identical.

The screen isn't something you should ignore, either. This Omen Max 16 comes with a 16-inch OLED panel, ensuring a max resolution of 2,560 x 1,600, along with a 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and max brightness of 500 nits. For gaming, the RTX 5080 won't be troubled to hit the high frame rates at 1600p, while the OLED means you'll enjoy games at their absolute visual peak, with the display giving you true blacks and incredible contrast levels to make your games feel as lifelike as possible.

This is a gaming laptop, so you're getting a full-size keyboard built with that in mind, with per-key RGB lighting, along with NKRO anti-ghosting tech, liquid metal cooling, and a vapor chamber for improved cooling overall. You're also getting plenty of ports here, with two USB-A and USB-C ports apiece, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and Ethernet connections.

The $2,899.99 sale price for this HP Omen Max 16 laptop is an absolute steal, especially given how expensive the market has been in recent months. A $1,120 saving isn't one you can ignore, so if you're in the mood for an upgrade, grab this deal quickly before it sells out (or goes back to full price).

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Last year, Dell's gaming arm substantially updated the Alienware 16 Area-51 with a new design. This year, the laptop has a much more moderate adjustment: the addition of an OLED display, which fans of the pricey brand have been clamoring for for a few years, and that several of the best gaming laptops already have.

Without any major GPU launches, Alienware's other internal update is an upgrade to Intel's latest CPUs, which are a light refresh that didn't provide any massive upgrades to our performance in testing.

You still get plenty of ports, and the $50 mechanical keyboard is worth it – at least to my fingers. And while I can't imagine most people buy new gaming rigs on an annual basis; there's not a ton of change year-over-year.

Design of the Alienware 16 Area-51

The 2026 edition of the Alienware 16 Area-51 looks identical to last year's model, which was a total overhaul, with rounded corners and curved edges, along with a striking "liquid teal" color that stands out from other gaming laptops and looks like different colors under different light.

The lid features Alienware's alien head logo in a mirror finish, but you can't see that once it glows with RGB lighting when you turn the rig on. The lighting can also be found in a diffused ring around the ports on the back "shelf" where the ports live, as well as beneath the keyboard and around the intake fans.

The majority of the ports are at the back of the laptop, including three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a pair of Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI 2.1, and the connector for the 360-watt power adapter. The left boasts an SD card slot and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

I get why Alienware puts the ports in the back; it lets you plug in major accessories and forget about them, and allows for a clean desk. But if you want to plug in external drives or peripherals that don't always have a home on your desk, you'll have to reach around the back of this big notebook. I would have loved at least one USB port on the side, but Alienware has spent most of the real estate on the side of the laptop for exhaust in its four-fan system.

On the bottom of the laptop, there's a glass window exposing part of the motherboard and the cooler, and you can also catch some RGB lighting here. It's cool on first glance, I guess, but I'd rather have something less breakable than glass on the outside of my laptop. It would probably save some weight to switch the glass, too.

The 16-inch Area-51 measures 14.37 x 11.41 x 1.12 inches and weighs 7.49 pounds (before the 2.2-pound power adapter). I could just barely close my backpack around it, largely because of the thermal shelf at the back. And there are smaller flagship 16-inch gaming notebooks out there. The MSI Raider 16 Max HX is 14.29 x 10.62 x 1.14 inches and 5.73 pounds.

Alienware 16 Area-51 Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Alienware 16 Area-51

The Alienware 16 Area-51, with its Intel Core Ultra 290HX Plus and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU (16GB GDDR7, 175 W TGP, 1,500 MHz boost clock), proved to be a powerful performer across our benchmarks and in playtesting.

For instance, Resident Evil Requiem ran between 87 and 113 frames per second, as I explored the care center and engaged in a shootout to take down a blisterhead. That was at the system's native 1440p, with ray tracing on, hair strands improvements on, high graphics quality (with some at max), and without any upscaling or frame generation. It fell to 74 FPS in a darker area where I ultimately snuck behind and killed the villain known as the Chef.

We compared the Area-51 to last year's model, with a Core Ultra 9 275HX and an identical RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, to see how much the year-over-year CPU upgrade matters. We also compared it to a slightly more expensive system, the MSI Raider 16 Max HX, with an RTX 5090 and the same Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus as our review unit.

This year's Area-51 and last year's system were consistently in range. At 1920 x 1200, the newer model typically won out, with the exception of Far Cry 6. In a few games, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redmption 2, last year's model did better at 2560 x 1600, even if it lost at lower resolutions. In general, though, the two systems were largely in spitting distance of each other.

Unsurprisingly, the MSI's RTX 5090 won out in most games.

But if you just bought a top-of-the-line gaming laptop last year, slight CPU upgrades aren't going to make or break your experience. You likely won't even be able to tell the difference.

During our Metro Exodus stress test, in which we run the game at RTX settings for 15 runs, approximating half an hour or game play, the performance cores on the CPU averaged 4.11 GHz, while the efficient cores hit 2.75 GHz. The GPU ran at an average of 1,950.46 MHz.

Productivity Performance on the Alienware 16 Area-51

The Alienware 16 Area-51 we tested is using an Intel Core i9-290HX Plus. This new chip is based on a refreshed version of Arrow Lake, and we didn't see any massive changes in our testing. Last year's Area-51 that we tested ran on an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, while the MSI Raider 16 Max HX we're comparing here is using the same 290HX Plus processor.

On Geekbench 6, the Area-51 with 290HX Plus earned a single-core score of 3,216 and a multi-core score of 20,754. Last year's Alienware with Core Ultra 9 delivered scores of 3,126 and 20,498, so nothing eye-bulging here. The Raider achieved similar scores as the current model, at 3,231/20,656.

The SK Hynix drive in this year's system proved speedy, copying 25GB of files at a speed of 2,738.90 MBps, easily beating the MSI Raider (1,357.93 MBps) and last year's Alienware.

On Handbrake, the Alienware 16 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 2 minutes, which is 2 seconds behind last year's model, and enough for me to say it could go either way. The Raider was faster, at 1:51.

Display on the Alienware 16 Area-51

The major difference between the 2026 version of the Area-51 and last year's is the display. It's still a 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz screen, but this year there is an option for an anti-glare OLED panel.

In the trailer for The Odyssey, the screen appeared bright, especially in early scenes with Odysseus and his men underneath clear blue skies. There were some very deep blacks, like when Odysseus enters the cyclops' cave, where green foliage and orange flames all popped. It's not the most vivid OLED screen I've ever seen, but it's still nice.

The OLED worked to strong effect in Resident Evil 9, with dark blacks making for increasingly haunting shadows. But it was just as good with buckets of crimson zombie blood.

I like the anti-glare. I assume this took some of the shimmer out of the screen, but considering I work next to a window at home, I was still able to see most of the screen without reflections, even if the colors weren't as good at an angle.

The OLED screen covers 93.7% of DCI-P3 color volume, compared to 132.2% sRGB, surpassing last year's non-OLED model and the screen on the MSI Raider. Those screens, however, were brighter than the Area-51's OLED screen, which measured 368.6 nits on our light meter. Last year's model came in at 515.8 nits.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Alienware 16 Area-51

Our review unit came with a low-profile Cherry MX mechanical keyboard. We've seen these on a few gaming laptops (mostly from Dell and MSI), and they always seem worth the upgrade. In this case, it's $50. Frankly, I think that on these high-end notebooks, Alienware should just make these mechanical keyboards the default.

It feels great to type on, and I hit 121 words per minute at 98% accuracy on monkeytype.com. That being said, the keys are clicky, loud, and even have a bit of ping to them. But if you wear headphones while you type, your fingers may be happy enough that your ears don't care.

The layout is a bit weird, with a row at the end of the keyboard for the volume and mute keys. It feels out of place, as I'm used to having those on the function keys. Instead, four macro keys take up those spaces. Additionally, there's a massive Copilot key on the right side. It's about a key and a half wide.

The touchpad measures 4.4 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall, bucking the trend of large touchpads finally making their way to gaming laptops. This one feels a bit cramped, but not difficult to use, especially as people playing games typically use a mouse.

Audio on the Alienware 16 Area-51

There are four speakers on the Area-51: two 2W tweeters and a pair of 2W woofers. They're fine, but nothing special.

Listening to Jade Bird's "I Get No Joy," the computer filled my apartment with sound. Bird's vocals were clear, as were the guitars and some synths. When drums played alone, like in the song's intro, they were clear, but they got lost in the mix with the rest of the instruments. Despite the bulky chassis, there's not much bass here, either.

The system came tuned with Dolby Atmos, but in the settings software, changing the equalizers didn't seem to do very much.

In Resident Evil 9, Grace's nervous breathing was loud (and constant — tamp down, Capcom), and infected zombie growls were clear. The sound was acceptable, if not earth-shattering.

Upgradeability of the Alienware 16 Area-51

To open up the Alienware 16 Area-51, you need to loosen the four screws on the bottom of the system closest to the palm rest. These are captive. Another four screws hold the rest of the cover on, and those come out completely.

The bottom cover has glass on it, which provides a window into the system. Dell's maintenance guides stress that you shouldn't scratch it with a sharp tool, like, say, a screwdriver.

Dell's guides suggest that you can use your fingertip to loosen the base cover, but just like last year, I needed a plastic spudging tool to get through the plastic clips holding it on.

Once you're inside, you have access to the battery, as well as the memory slots and three SSD slots. There's a code written in an alien language on the bottom of the case, but it's identical to last year.

Battery Life on the Alienware 16 Area-51

The 96 WHr battery in the Alienware 16 Area-51 can't power the laptop for too long. On our battery test, which includes browsing websites, streaming video, and running light OpenGL tests with the screen set to just 150 nits of brightness, the system ran for 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Last year's non-OLED model lasted for 4:10. The MSI Raider 16 Max HX ran for much longer, at 8:33. Both appear to have Nvidia's Advanced Optimus, so it's unclear why the Alienwares aren't running as long.

Heat on the Alienware 16 Area-51

We measured heat on the Area-51 while running our Metro Exodus gauntlet, running the benchmark for about half an hour.

The chassis gopt a bit toasty. The center of the keyboard climbed to 105.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which you can definitely feel, while the hottest spot on the bottom was 114.5 F. The touchpad stayed cool at 83.5 F. Be sure to use this on a desk.

Inside, the CPU measured an average of 82.8 degrees Celsius, while the GPU reached 62.11 C.

Webcam on the Alienware 16 Area-51

There's a 1080p webcam embedded in the Area-51's top bezel. It's OK, though perhaps not befitting of a laptop that costs over $4,000.

While it caught stitching my shirt and individual hairs in my beard, images taken from the cameras had some pixelation, which also occurred in video calls. On the bright side, the camera was color accurate.

Last year, I tested a version of this system with a 4K webcam that I enjoyed more, but Alienware isn't offering it this time around. A representative for the gaming brand said in an email that this would "help pricing without compromising in other areas that are more essential for premium gaming."

Software and Warranty on the Alienware 16 Area-51

Alienware has preinstalled some software. I've seen worse, but there's more than I like here. Alienware Command Center is the primary application on the machine, with control of AlienFX RGB Lighting, system performance adjustments, and a built-in game library.

Otherwise, the Alienware apps include one dedicated to downloading anything you bought at purchase, as well as Dell Support Assist for customer service.

There is bloat on here, including McAfee with a month-long trial.

Alienware sells the 16-inch Area-51 with a 1-year warranty. You can cover accidental damage and spill for a year for an extra $79, while Elite Care adds extended battery support and "top-tier gaming support experts" for $99.

Alienware 16 Area-51 Configurations

We tested the Alienware 16 Area-51 in a $4,309.99 configuration including a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSD, and the new 16-inch OLED screen. It also features a CherryMX low-profile keyboard and Windows 11 Pro.

The base model is $1,949.99 with a Core Ultra 7 255HX, an RTX 5060 Laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, a non-OLED screen, a membrane keyboard, and Windows 11.

Alienware's configurator has many options in between, including a Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, laptop GPUs up to an RTX 5090, RAM up to 64GB, and storage up to 12TB in RAID 0 (3 x 4TB). The most expensive configuration we could make came out to $8,009.99.

Bottom Line

The Alienware 16 Area-51 is a large, bulky gaming laptop designed to deliver a ton of gaming power on the go.

It's a heavy system, one that barefly fit in my backpack. Ideally, Alienware could find some way to slim this down, or at least drop a few pounds. But a slim, lighter laptop with the same components almost certainly wouldn’t be able to deliver the same level of performance.

On the bright side, Alienware finally brought OLED screen options, which should have always been available given the prices it's asking for its top-tier laptops. But this year's chip upgrades really don't povide better gaming performance year-over-year (not that most people are buying gaming laptops every single year.) It was unfortunate to see that the webcam was downgraded from 4K to 1080p; while that's arguably one of the parts people might care about least on a gaming rig, this system is over $4,000. It should have the best of the best.

If what you're looking for is a desktop replacement that's plenty powerful and portable enough, Alienware's 16-inch system delivers. But you may need a bigger backpack.

With the AI boom causing desktop PC hardware to skyrocket in price, gaming laptops are a serious alternative, especially with deals like this one. Best Buy have knocked $400 off this Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI gaming laptop, fitted with an RTX 5070 Ti and 32GB of DDR5 RAM for just $1,799.99 right now.

● Check out this laptop deal at Best Buy

This isn't the cheapest we've seen this laptop on sale, but you'll struggle to find a cheaper RTX 5070 Ti laptop at the moment with an OLED display that includes specs this good. It ships with a 16-inch OLED panel, offering a 240 Hz refresh rate, along with Nvidia G-Sync support and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. This is a 1600p display, capable of a max resolution of 2,560 x 1,600.

You'd usually pay a premium for an OLED display like this on a laptop, but the $1,799.99 price tag here makes it a more affordable option. You simply won't find a better alternative for gaming on a laptop than an OLED panel like this one, either. OLED's are fast, with near-instantaneous response times and infinite contrast ratios that give a depth and clarity to the colors on your screen that a traditional LCD can't really match.

Performance-wise, you're also getting one of Intel's best CPUs for laptops right now in the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. This processing beast comes with 24 cores, split across eight performance cores (which are good for gaming) and 16 efficient cores (for multi-threaded work). That couples well with the 32GB of DDR5-6400 RAM included in this rig, which is more than enough to handle the demands of modern gaming, along with any productivity work you might need to complete.

The real MVP on this laptop, however, is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU. The mobile version of the RTX 5070 Ti included here is a little different, with a pared-down 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB GDDR7 VRAM. That aside, this 115W GPU is a powerful option for gaming, especially compared to an integrated GPU. Expect to be able to comfortably hit high frame rates at the laptop's native 1600p resolution here, with this Blackwell GPU's DLSS 4 support supporting you in the most intensive games, thanks to multi-frame generation.

This Acer Predator laptop is a thin and lightweight option, too, coming in at around 5lbs, with a thickness of just 19mm. Despite that, you're still getting a good amount of ports to choose from, including USB-C and USB-A, along with Ethernet, HDMI, headphone, and a microSD card slot. It also includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 support, along with a 76Wh battery that Acer claims will last almost a full day. There's a 1TB SSD included, too, delivering enough space for at least a few big game installations.

The $1,799.99 sale price for this Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI gaming laptop is a decent one for the specs you're securing here, especially for an OLED gaming laptop capable of hitting above 1440p in-game. A deal like this won't be around for long, however.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

With extreme pricing on some of the most important PC components, the ability to get into PC gaming is becoming ever more expensive. The gaming laptop, which, at one time, was a much more expensive alternative to a desktop PC, is now caught up in terms of pricing. This deal at B&H Photo lets you pick up the fantastic Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop with RTX 5070 graphics and a 15-inch OLED screen for just $1599. This laptop has been discounted by $500 from the original $2099 list price. Comparing this laptop to similar spec gaming laptops on sale at various retailers highlights how good this deal is.

● Grab this deal at B&H Photo

The potent Lenovo Legion 5i comes with a 15.1-inch OLED display with a sharp 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution and a fast 165Hz refresh rate. Powering the games and content on this gorgeous display are the 2.7 GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX 24-core processor and Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM. Other important component specs include 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB M.2 SSD, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, and 2x USB-C ports, plus 3 x USB-A ports.

We haven't had the opportunity to directly test the Lenovo Legion 5i, so we do not have any specific benchmark data for this model. Do remember that laptop GPUs are not as powerful as full-size desktop graphics cards, and their confusing naming conventions can make them seem to offer the same level of performance; they do not. It's not feasible to fit large cooling solutions into a small laptop chassis, and the power draw of a fully fledged GPU would drain your laptop's battery in minutes.

With 32GB of RAM and an acceptable 1TB of storage, the Legion 5i has room to install a few AAA games and have plenty of memory for browsing and productivity applications. The 8GB of VRAM on the GPU is the main limiter, but with appropriate use of Nvidia's DLSS software, you will be able to eke more performance out of the RTX 5070 mobile GPU in gaming for higher/smoother framerates.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you're in the market for a potent gaming laptop that will handle pretty much any title you throw at it, then this whopping discount on the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 at Newegg is not to be missed. Thanks to the RAM crisis, the gaming laptop market is pretty bleak right now, but if you know where to look, there are bargains to be had. Right now at Newegg, you can get a 16-inch laptop with an RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU, an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, 64GB of RAM, 2TB SSD, and a 240Hz IPS display, all for less than $2,000. At $650 off, that's a 24% saving on the previous list price. Better still, you can save another $60 by using our exclusive code FUTUREGNB3OFF at checkout.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The beating heart of this laptop is the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, a top-of-the-line Arrow Lake featuring 24 cores (eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores) and boost clocks of up to 5.4GHz. That's paired with a potent Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU that will breeze through 1080p and 1440p titles on this 2560 x 1600 IPS display thanks to its 12GB of dedicated VRAM.

The headline attractions of this laptop are, naturally, its impressive processor and GPU pairing. However, it's quite easy to find laptops with decent headline specs that are let down by crummy RAM or SSDs. Not so with this Neo. The Intel Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070 Ti are complemented by a very generous 64GB of DDR5 6400 RAM, a frankly astonishing amount given the current squeeze on RAM. Likewise, the SSD is a capacious 2TB Gen 4 number, meaning you'll have plenty of space to store your games and files.

As you'd expect, this laptop runs Windows 11, and comes with solid connectivity. There's Wi-Fi 6E for networking, and a singular port each for USB-C, Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI 2.1. That means you can easily connect a dock or monitor to expand your setup.

As noted, the display is a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS WQXGA panel with a 240Hz refresh rate. It might not be a premium OLED display, but that will save you battery life, and the refresh rate is not to be sniffed at.

Overall, this is a really impressive laptop for the package. It's rare to see a high-specced laptop for under $2,000 these days. If it's still too pricy, you could save a further $500 by opting for this slightly less punchy, but no less impressive RTX 5070 version, which is just $1,499. At $350 off, this laptop features a more modest Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU with 20 cores and boosts of up to 5.2GHz. It has the same display as the more expensive model, but saves money with a trimmed 1TB SSD and just 16GB of RAM.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

A laptop user brought their PC to a repair shop, apparently complaining of overheating issues on their gaming laptop. You can see in the Reddit post embedded below that it took the tech less than ten seconds to fix the issue after the tech peeked underneath the device and saw that it was covered in stickers all over, including the vents for its fans. When the technician took off the covering, the laptop seemed to be able to breathe again, prompting the laptop owner to peel off the remaining design that didn’t cover any vents from the bottom of the gaming laptop.

This lady wondered why her gaming laptop overheats while gaming. from r/pcmasterrace

It’s unclear why the laptop owner thought it was a good idea to cover up the vents of their laptop. It could be that it was their first time owning a gaming laptop and that the previous computer they owned was a MacBook Air, which has no fans and uses passive cooling, or they’ve only used smartphones before and have no experience working with computers. Unfortunately, computers, especially gaming laptops, are a completely different beast, and they require a lot of airflow to achieve the performance demanded by several titles. Keeping vents clear of blockages is a no-brainer for PC enthusiasts and tech-savvy people, but, unfortunately, not everyone has the same level of knowledge.

Despite that, researching on the internet is free, and even the AI Overview on Google search said, “Laptops get hot primarily due to blocked air vents, dust accumulation on fans, and high processor usage from demanding applications or excessive background processes.” The first phrase hit the nail on the head for this particular problem, but it seems that tinkering on their expensive devices might feel a bit too much for some people, even if they decked it out with a lot of aesthetic features.

Hopefully, the user learned something from this incident and that their laptop suffered no serious long-term issues from this incident. We also hope that it starts their journey to becoming more curious about the equipment they use. Everyone starts with zero information on computers, after all, and only the combination of interest and environment makes many tech enthusiasts the people they are today.

Laptops have become a lot more enticing as of late, especially if you've been looking to upgrade in this gloomy cycle of shortages. Even without the AI boom's consequences, laptops offer a great way to take your work on the go, but sometimes you want more than just a MacBook Neo. We've spotted a deal that could even replace some desktop systems: MSI's Vector 16 with an RTX 5070 Ti is just $1,529 on Newegg right now.

• Check out the MSI Vector 16 deal on Newegg

MSI has packed the Vector 16 with a 16-inch display running at 240 Hz, but since it's a 16:10 panel, you get a slightly above 1080p resolution. The machine is powered by Intel's Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU, a high-end chip featuring 20 cores. The RTX 5070 Ti here is a 140W variant, with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD. Both memory and storage can be upgraded with secondary slots.

That entire combination makes the Vector 16 a competent performer across games and productivity workloads, such as editing. Backing up that grunt is a 90Wh battery that should easily last you all day with moderate tasks. The chassis is a bit old-school with its plastic build and loud fans, but if you look at it from another perspective, that suggests it should have better-than-average sustained performance.

The design is relatively modest for a gaming laptop, maintaining a stealthy aesthetic that'll only stand out when you want it to. You get a backlit keyboard with 24-zone RGB and a Copilot key that we all definitely love. There's Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity, along with plenty of fast USB ports, HDMI, Ethernet, a headphone jack, and even an onboard SD Card reader.

Did we mention this unit also comes with the new game Pragmata for free? That's worth $60 on its own, so you're technically saving $430! With a powerful hardware pairing, you'll certainly enjoy that game and many more without any hiccups. Sure, the Vector 16 doesn't have extras like an OLED display, but at just $1,529 right now, it's a great performer that doesn't compromise on the basics.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Would you like to own a gaming laptop with the most powerful laptop GPU available, and at a deal price? Well, you are in luck! Target is offering the superb Lenovo Legion Pro 7i gaming laptop with a 16-inch OLED screen and super-powerful RTX 5090 laptop graphics card for just $3199.99. This laptop has been heavily discounted by a whopping $800 from its original list price of $3999.99. This is a top-end gaming laptop with a price to match - even with the discount. But if you want the best and most powerful gaming laptop for a portable desktop replacement, then this is one of the best prices we've seen for an RTX 5090 laptop.

● Grab this deal at Target

The specs of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i include the aforementioned Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU with 24GB of GDDR7 VRAM, a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 pixel WQXGA OLED screen with a 240Hz refresh rate, 1TB SSD, and WiFi 7. There are also plenty of USB ports, with five ports available for your peripherals and more.

We reviewed a less powerful version of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i with an RTX 5080 inside, but using the same Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. We were thoroughly impressed with the build quality and solid overall performance of the laptop.

The OLED screen was outstanding, and the design of the aluminum chassis was superb; even the webcam had an excellent, sharp image. In our benchmark testing, the OLED display produced exceptionally vibrant colors, sharp detail, and brilliant brightness.

Things we didn't like so much included the original expensive asking price of the laptop, a lack of biometric features, a so-so battery life, and some annoying software ads on our test unit. Running an RTX 5090 GPU, along with an OLED panel, is sure to drain any battery very quickly, so do expect to be plugged in to the mains a lot when using this gaming behemoth.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

We’ve tested AMD’s Strix Halo platform in desktop form, and now it arrives in a 14-inch laptop courtesy of Asus’ TUF Gaming A14. This compact laptop delivers abundant CPU performance from its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 and proves well-rounded in many areas beyond raw speed, from battery life to input devices. However, for $2,199.99 as tested, the question is whether its integrated Radeon 8060S graphics can deliver the gaming performance needed to justify its premium price, let alone make it one of the best gaming laptops.

Design of the Asus TUF Gaming A14

All-black with a gunmetal lid, the TUF Gaming A14 looks understated without being drab. Up close, the TUF logo on the lid and stylized keyboard typeface mark it as a gaming machine. The laptop has no external lighting except for the keyboard.

The laptop feels sturdy, with a mostly plastic build except for the aluminum bottom panel and lid backing. It seemed impervious to flex even when I picked it up by a corner. Measuring 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.67 inches and weighing 3.26 pounds, the TUF Gaming A14 is similarly sized yet slightly lighter than the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI (12.68 x 8.84 x 0.71 inches, 3.5 pounds).

The practical port selection starts on the left with HDMI 2.1, USB4, USB-A (10 Gbps), and 3.5mm audio, plus the proprietary power jack for its rather compact 200 W adapter. The remaining ports on the right include a MicroSD card reader and USB-C and USB-A ports (both 10 Gbps). The only area for improvement is wireless; the Realtek 8852CE card supports Wi-Fi 6E, not 7.

Asus TUF Gaming A14 Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

We tested the TUF Gaming A14 with a Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor with Radeon 8060S graphics and 32GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory. The Radeon 8060S promises strong performance for an integrated GPU featuring 40 cores, though whether it stacks up to a dedicated card in an entry-level gaming laptop remains to be seen.

Playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at a 2560 x 1600 resolution with Epic settings, I saw between 55 and 75 frames per second (FPS), with smooth performance throughout.

Our comparison lineup starts with Acer’s Predator Triton 14 AI featuring a “Lunar Lake” Core Ultra 9 288V and a GeForce RTX 5070 (110 W), which retails for $2,499. Lenovo’s Legion LOQ 15ARP9 follows, delivering a Ryzen 7 250 and RTX 5060 (115 W) for $1,299. The last spot is filled by the Framework Desktop, which seems like an unequal comparison, but it’s one of the only other Strix Halo systems we’ve tested. Its Ryzen AI Max+ 395 offers 16 cores and a 5.1 GHz boost versus the 12 cores and 5 GHz boost of the Max+ 392 chip in the TUF Gaming A14, though the Radeon 8060S GPUs in both chips feature the same number of cores and run at the same frequency. That said, The Framework Desktop offers a substantially more powerful 400 W power supply and has more thermal cooling capacity, differences we expect to show in the benchmarks.

Our charts focus on the 1080p numbers, but we also test at the system’s native resolution if different, which is 2560 x 1600 for the Asus and a slightly higher 2880 x 1800 for the Acer.

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the Highest detail preset, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 67 FPS at 1080p, well behind the Framework Desktop (87 FPS) and significantly trailing the Acer (102 FPS) and Lenovo (105 FPS). Performance fell to 37 FPS at native resolution, which is only marginally playable.

The results worsened in Cyberpunk 2077 at Ray Tracing Ultra, where the TUF Gaming A14 managed just 16 FPS at 1080p. While the Framework Desktop fared slightly better at 22 FPS, neither system delivered a playable experience. The Acer (30 FPS) and Lenovo (32 FPS) performed much better thanks to their dedicated Nvidia GPUs.

Playability improved somewhat in Far Cry 6 at Ultra settings, where the TUF Gaming A14 reached 66 FPS at 1080p, though it still lagged the other systems: Lenovo (73 FPS), Framework (83 FPS), and Acer (84 FPS) all did better.

In Red Dead Redemption 2 at the Medium preset, the TUF Gaming A14 posted 49 FPS at 1080p, trailing the Acer and Framework (both 57 FPS) and falling well short of the Lenovo’s leading 68 FPS.

The TUF Gaming A14’s standings didn’t improve in Borderlands 3 at the “Badass” preset, where it delivered 54 FPS at 1080p – 34 FPS slower than the Lenovo’s 88 FPS, its closest competitor in this test.

Stepping back, the TUF Gaming A14 is capable of modern gaming in most titles at 1080p, though running games at its native 1600p resolution may require dialing back the detail settings for smooth performance. However, as the Lenovo LOQ 15 demonstrates, even entry-level gaming laptops can deliver substantially better performance.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 49.8 FPS across all runs, starting at 54.2 before dropping to around 49 FPS by the fourth loop, where its numbers remained steady for the remaining iterations. The Ryzen AI Max+ 392 averaged 1.92 GHz while the Radeon 8060S averaged 1.84 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Our TUF Gaming A14 review sample features an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. With 12 cores, the CPU should deliver strong performance for any task.

In Geekbench 6, the TUF Gaming A14 delivered competitive single-core performance, scoring 2,867 points to slot between the Acer (2,806 with a Core Ultra 9 288V) and Framework (2,966 with a Ryzen AI Max+ 395) while the Lenovo trailed at 2,548 (Ryzen 7 250). It stood out in multi-core, posting 17,334 points, effectively matching the Framework (17,574) and decisively outperforming both the Acer (10,974) and Lenovo (9,713).

Storage performance was middle-of-the-road. In our 25GB file transfer test, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 1,520.83 MBps, edging out the Acer (1,232.68) and Lenovo (1,378.45), though falling well short of the Framework Desktop’s 2,976.46 MBps.

The TUF Gaming A14 also showed strong performance in Handbrake, completing the 4K-to-1080p transcode in 2 minutes and 45 seconds. That result tied the Framework (2:45) and comfortably beat the Lenovo (4:56) and Acer (6:03).

Taken together, these results indicate the TUF Gaming A14’s value proposition is strongly skewed towards CPU performance. From a productivity standpoint, its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU is substantially stronger than a standard Ryzen 7 laptop CPU based on the Lenovo Legion, making it highly capable for content creation and multi-threaded workloads.

Display on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The TUF Gaming A14’s 14-inch display will satisfy most buyers. Its 2560 x 1600 resolution is well-suited for productivity yet not out of reach for gaming with its Radeon 8060S graphics. Its smooth 165 Hz refresh rate, anti-glare surface, and IPS wide viewing angles also earn it good marks.

The image quality is satisfactory but doesn’t stand out. Watching Blade Runner 2049, the display’s ample contrast allowed for good detail in shadowy scenes and enough brightness to make firefights immersive, though an OLED screen would have punchier contrast and greater color depth.

With a peak brightness of 390 nits, the TUF Gaming A14 easily outshined the Lenovo (315 nits) and the Acer (359 nits), though the latter’s OLED panel doesn’t require the same luminance to appear as bright as the Asus’ IPS. With 82.1% DCI-P3 and 115.3% sRGB coverage, the Asus practically tied the Lenovo in color reproduction. Neither could match the Acer, which covered an astounding 135.7% of DCI-P3.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Ample throw, a cushioned rubbery feel, and comfortable key spacing provides a satisfying typing experience on the TUF Gaming A14. The layout offers no surprises and includes convenient dedicated keys above the Function row for volume, microphone, and launching the Armoury Crate app. Its only real miss is lack of backlighting color customization. Though the white lighting is bright, adjustable in four levels, and offers breathing and strobing effects, this price point virtually mandates RGB customization.

Meanwhile, the touchpad is excellent, offering an appropriately sized surface and quiet, responsive physical clicking action.

Audio on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The Asus’ downward-facing speakers produce a subpar audio experience. They sounded strained with the music I sampled, particularly bass-heavy dubstep, producing almost no bass. Volume is also sufficient only for personal listening. Additionally, there’s no app for tuning equalizers. They can suffice for basic gaming, but the lack of bass means the immersion factor isn’t there. For an entertainment-focused laptop, Asus has a lot to improve here.

Upgradeability of the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The TUF Gaming A14 offers moderate upgradeability: two M.2 2280 drive slots, an M.2 2230 wireless card, and the battery are all serviceable. The RAM is soldered.

The bottom panel is secured by 11 Philips-head screws. Oddly, the one under the corner of the right palmrest is retainer-style while the one on the opposite side isn’t, and both of those screws are shorter than the rest, all of which are uniform length. I didn’t need to use a pry tool to pop the clips securing the bottom panel, using just my fingers to pop the clips along the back edge and working my way around the edges.

Battery Life on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Our battery test consists of web browsing, running OpenGL tests, and streaming videos with the screen at 150 nits while connected to Wi-Fi. The TUF Gaming A14 lasted 9 hours and 7 minutes for the longest runtime in the group, edging out the Acer (8:16) and leaving the Lenovo LOQ (6:50) far behind. While it lands a few hours shy of a premium ultraportable, the TUF Gaming A14’s impressive CPU performance is a worthy tradeoff.

Heat on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Asus’ dual-fan cooling system exhausts air out the rear edge, producing steady streams of heat under load while maintaining an acceptable noise level – it didn’t become bothersome or distracting in my testing.

We measure the surface temperatures of gaming laptops during the Metro Exodus stress test. The peak temperatures on the TUF Gaming A14 were more than acceptable, peaking at 99 degrees F between the keyboard’s G and H keys, 77 F on the touchpad, and 108 F on the underside. Internally, the Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU averaged 58 degrees Celsius.

Webcam on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The A14’s webcam offers a disappointing picture. Its 1920 x 1080 sensor produces a soft picture with muddy details and suffers from grain in low-light environments. It also struggled to handle background windows and light, underexposing my face. It offers an IR sensor for biometric facial logins but lacks a privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Asus includes two main apps on the TUF Gaming A14. The first is Armoury Crate, which provides performance profiles including Performance, Silent, Windows Default, and a manual mode.

By default, the system automatically switches to Performance when plugged in and Silent on battery. Manual mode is a technical deep-dive, with wattage settings for CPU power states and customizable fan profiles. The app also provides control over the amount of system memory dedicated to the GPU, which defaults to 4GB. Even if left at the minimum, the system can still requisition up to 14GB on demand. More memory can be allocated, but it reduces the amount available to Windows. With the default 4GB, Windows can access 28GB of the 32GB total memory.

Armoury Create also includes user preferences: toggles for turning the Windows and Armoury Crate keys and touchpad on or off, keyboard backlighting settings (four brightness levels and static, breathing, or strobing effects), display settings for color temperature and various profiles, such as FPS and RTS/RPG modes for gaming and an eyecare mode to reduce blue light. Most of these settings can be stored in profiles, which can automatically be applied when a specified app is opened.

The other app is MyAsus for diagnostics, support access, and system updates. It also provides a battery care mode to limit the charge to 80%.

There is some bloatware, namely a McAfee Premium + Individual app.

Asus includes a one-year warranty on the TUF Gaming A14.

Asus TUF Gaming A14 Configurations

Our TUF Gaming A14 review sample included a 14-inch 2560 x 1600 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor, Radeon 8060S graphics, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It was $2,199.99 at Best Buy as of publishing.

This is the only configuration available with the Ryzen AI Max+ CPU. Best Buy also offered a $1,699.99 model featuring a Ryzen AI 7 350, RTX 5060 and 16GB of RAM, which ought to provide superior gaming performance.

Bottom Line

The TUF Gaming A14’s ultimately succeeds or fails on the strength of its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU. On the upside, it delivers exceptional CPU performance for demanding productivity workflows at a level rarely seen in a 14-inch chassis, yet still maintains respectable battery life. Paired with comfortable input devices, a competent if unremarkable display, and a solid selection of ports, it presents itself as a capable productivity machine.

The problem is that its Radeon 8060S, while impressive for an integrated solution, simply doesn’t deliver near the level of gaming performance expected from a laptop positioned and priced as a premium gaming system. Even entry-level models, such as the RTX 5060-equipped Lenovo LOQ we used for comparison, provide substantially greater performance at a significantly lower cost, making the TUF Gaming A14 a tough sell as a gaming-first laptop. While its strong CPU performance may suit niche workflows, gamers will find far better value in a laptop with a true dedicated GPU.

If you're on the hunt for a powerful laptop that you can use for both work and a bit of play, we've got you covered. Best Buy has a large 16-inch laptop discounted by a tidy $300, which has the power to game and plenty of oomph for work applications. Gigabyte's Aero X16 is now just $1349.99 at Best Buy, down $300 from the original $1649.99 list price. This is an exceptional price for a laptop with the latest Nvidia 50-series GPU inside, an RTX 5070 to be precise, and lots of RAM.

• Grab this deal at Best Buy

Inside the Gigabyte Aero X16 in this deal are the following components: An Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, AMD's Ryzen AI 7 350 (8-core, 16-thread) processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage. The large 16-inch screen has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, with a 165Hz refresh rate for smooth gaming.

In our review of the Gigabyte Aero X16, we found the laptop to be a well-rounded offering from Gigabyte with plenty of gaming prowess thanks to the dedicated RTX 5070 graphics card, solid hardware choices, and price. Suitable for both gaming and handling daily work tasks, the Aero X16 had an excellent battery life that lasted longer than the average workday, and came top compared to other similar spec laptops that we've had the chance to test.

Not to look out of place in an office, the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a fairly unassuming slate-gray laptop with a relatively thin chassis. There is still plenty of RGB if you desire it, with backlighting on the keyboard, but you're not stuck with something that would bring stares in a professional setting. Speaking of work environments, you can easily connect up extra monitors to either its HDMI 2.1 port or USB Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4.

This is a good price on a "gaming" laptop that contains an above-average 32GB of memory and 1TB SSD. Plus, the inclusion of the RTX 5070 means it can handle most of the latest video games comfortably. Move fast, though, as there are fewer than 24 hours left on this discount.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

A gaming laptop may not offer the same level of performance as a desktop gaming system. However, if you travel a lot and like to game, it makes sense to invest in a gaming laptop that you can take with you wherever you go. If your budget is around $1,500, you're in luck: the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora is currently on sale at Best Buy for $1,469.99, saving you $580.

• Check out the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora deal on Best Buy

The Alienware 16X Aurora arrives with robust specifications for a gaming laptop in the $1,500 price bracket. The device features the Core Ultra 9 275HX, a high-end 24-core Arrow Lake mobile chip boasting a boost clock up to 5.4 GHz. With a balance between raw performance and efficiency, you can't go wrong with the Core Ultra 9 275HX as your processing muscle.

When it comes to gaming laptops, the graphics card is equally important as the processor, and the Alienware 16X Aurora excels in that area. Equipped with the Blackwell-based mobile GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card, the gaming laptop delivers excellent 1080p (1920x1080) frame rates, making every gaming session enjoyable. Then there's DLSS 4.5 and Multi-Frame Generation features that the GeForce RTX 5060 can rely on in more graphics-intensive titles.

Complementing the Core Ultra 9 275HX and GeForce RTX 5060 is a vibrant 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) screen with an ultra-fast 240 Hz refresh rate. However, you won't have to worry about the nuisances of screen tearing, stuttering, or input lag since Nvidia G-Sync will ensure you always receive a smooth gameplay from any titles that you play.

With memory and storage shortages still in full force, it's great to see that the Alienware 16X Aurora isn't lacking in that regard. The gaming laptop has 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5-5600 memory, so you won't have to worry about the memory requirements of modern games. Also, the device doesn't have soldered memory; instead, it uses standard SO-DIMM slots so that you can upgrade the capacity in the future. The same can be said for the storage, where the Alienware 16X Aurora comes with a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD.

With a massive $580 discount, the Alienware 16X Aurora offers great value for $1,469.99. Considering the same configuration sells for $1,699.99 on Dell's online store, you're pocketing up to $200 savings by choosing Best Buy. If you're set on a GeForce RTX 5060 gaming laptop, this is a rare opportunity as the Alienware 16X Aurora is unlikely to stay at this price for long.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Gigabyte’s Aero X16 aims to be a do-it-all machine for gamers and creators alike, pairing an AMD Ryzen AI CPU and an Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card inside a clean, professional-looking chassis. There is plenty to appreciate here, particularly its strong productivity performance and excellent battery life, though its average display and some shortcomings make it feel less modern than it should. While capable, it's quite expensive for those looking for one of the best gaming laptops.

Design of the Gigabyte Aero X16

Available in lunar white or space gray on our unit, the Aero X16 looks understated yet modern, with slim display bezels and a thin chassis. Its aluminum exterior exhibits minimal flexibility and feels strong. The quality is excellent, with minimal and consistent gaps between parts and includes luxury touches, like a display that opens one-handed. The only branding is a small highlight on the lid and Aero lettering under the screen.

Measuring 14 x 9.9 x 0.78 inches and 4.2 pounds, the Aero X16 is shallower and significantly lighter than the Framework Laptop 16 (14.03 x 11.43 x 0.82 inches, 5.29 pounds with graphics module). The Acer Predator Trito 14 AI (12.68 x 8.84 x 0.71 inches, 3.5 pounds) is more portable, but it uses a smaller 14.5-inch display.

Gigabyte’s port selection is adequate, starting on the left with Ethernet, HDMI, USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, and USB4. On the right, you’ll find a 3.5 mm audio jack, another USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, and a USB 2.0. The barrel-style power connector and the legacy USB 2.0 port make the laptop feel less modern than it should. Internally, the Realtek 8852CE wireless card doesn’t help by only supporting previous-generation (albeit perfectly adequate for most users) Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. A modern laptop in this price-range should have Wi-Fi 7.

Gigabyte Aero X16 Specifications

Gaming Performance on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Our Gigabyte review unit features a Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, a GeForce RTX 5070 rated for 85 W of total graphics power, and 32GB of RAM.

Playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with Epic settings at 2560 x 1600, I saw upwards of 100 frames per seconds outdoors and sometimes near 140 FPS, with only occasional dips into the mid-80 to 90 FPS range in firefights. Gameplay was fluid and stutter-free.

Our comparison systems include two other creative-centric gaming laptops: the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI (Core Ultra 9 288V, RTX 5070 110 W, $2,499) and the Framework Laptop 16 (Ryzen AI 7 350, RTX 5070 100 W, $2,309 as tested but now $2,609). The MSI Katana 17 HX (Core i7-14650HX, RTX 5070 115 W) fills out the last spot as a budget gaming option. (The MSI was $1,299 when we reviewed it but appears out of stock everywhere, though the 15-inch version is still available for around the same price.) It’s notable that all these laptops have a higher-wattage GPU than the Aero X16, even though they're all RTX 5070's.

We use the 1080p numbers as a baseline, but we also tested at native resolution, which was 2560 x 1600 for the Gigabyte and Framework and 2880 x 1800 for the Acer. Only the MSI has 1920 x 1080 as the native resolution.

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest detail preset), the Gigabyte’s 109 FPS at 1080p compared favorably to the Acer (102 FPS) but trailed the Framework (132 FPS) and MSI (119 FPS). The 64 FPS it achieved at 1600p naturally outpaced the Acer’s 48 FPS at 1800p, though the Framework remained the 1600p leader with 76 FPS.

Testing Cyberpunk 2077 at its demanding Ray Tracing Ultra preset, the Gigabyte posted a just-playable 34 FPS at 1080p, edging out the Acer (30 FPS) but trailing the Framework and MSI by a few FPS. Native resolution proved too demanding, where the Gigabyte posted just 17 FPS, but it outpaced the Acer (8 FPS) and nearly matched the Framework (18 FPS).

At Far Cry 6’s Ultra preset, Gigabyte’s laptop produced a competitive 85 FPS at 1080p, which was within a few FPS of the Acer and Framework, though it couldn’t catch the MSI (94 FPS). Its 70 FPS at native resolution was playable, much more so than the Acer (53 FPS). The Framework (83 FPS) remained noticeably faster.

In Red Dead Redemption 2 at the game’s Medium settings, the Gigabyte’s 78 FPS at 1080p handily outperformed the Acer’s 57 FPS, though it continued to trail the Framework (91 FPS) and MSI (85 FPS). The gap narrowed at native resolution, with Gigabyte’s 49 FPS proving much better than Acer’s 32 FPS, but it wasn’t quite on the Framework’s level (57 FPS).

Finally, in Borderlands 3 at the game’s “Badass” settings, the Gigabyte’s 96 FPS at 1080p and 61 FPS at native outperformed the Acer (91 FPS and 50 FPS) but trailed the Framework (115 FPS and 76 FPS) and MSI (101 FPS).

This Gigabyte performs within expectations considering its RTX 5070 is tuned for 85 W, whereas the GPUs in the comparison laptops have at least another 15 W on tap. It’s nonetheless proficient for 1080p gaming and can handle 1600p, though some newer games might require reducing the visual quality settings for optimal performance.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the Gigabyte Aero X16 averaged 80.86 FPS across all runs, with an impressively minimal standard deviation of 0.22 FPS between runs, suggesting stable thermal performance. The Ryzen AI 7 350 had an average clocks peed of 2.76 GHz while the RTX 5070 averaged 1,928 MHz.

Productivity Performance on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Our Aero X16 review unit features an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, 32GB of DDR5-5600 RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

On Geekbench 6, the Gigabyte’s Ryzen chip yielded the highest single-core score (2,916 points), just outpacing the Framework (2,878) powered by the same chip. It also led in multi-core, with 14,074 points to lead the next-best MSI (13,570) powered by a venerable Core i7-14650HX and more surprisingly, the Framework (12,399). The Predator Triton’s Ultrabook-class Core Ultra 9 288V landed it in last place (10,974).

The Gigabyte placed mid-pack in our 25GB file transfer test, with an average of 1,480.57 MBps. The Acer and MSI barely managed over 1,200 MBps while the Framework’s 1,724.69 MBps was clearly the fastest.

Our 4K to 1080p Handbrake video transcoding test was another win for the Gigabyte, which it completed in 3 minutes and 54 seconds, again leading the Framework (4:18). The MSI was just behind (4:30) while the lightweight Acer took 6:03.

Overall, with the Ryzen AI 7 350 on tap, the Aero X16 provides ample performance for most productive and creative tasks.

Display on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Gigabyte’s IPS screen has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, anti-glare surface, and a 165 Hz refresh rate with adaptive sync support. Its picture leans more towards serviceable than eye-popping, with brightness that’s adequate but not noteworthy. Colors have adequate saturation but lack the pop you’d get in an OLED or mini-LED panel.

Watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, I noted deep if not inky blacks in space scenes and convincing flashes from blaster bolts and explosions in firefights. Endor’s rugged forests had plenty of color. I was left with the sense that this display is of the minimum quality for a laptop in this class. A better display would significantly improve its appeal.

The Gigabyte unsurprisingly outperformed the budget MSI gamer in all metrics, particularly color, with 78.5% of DCI-P3 to MSI’s 46.6%. Its peak brightness of 369 nits slightly exceeded the Acer (359 nits), though the Acer uses an OLED panel that appears brighter than IPS at similar ratings. Acer’s panel was far more colorful, with 135.7% DCI-P3 coverage. The Framework system also outperformed the Gigabyte, with superior DCI-P3 coverage and an impressive 444-nit brightness. Overall, given Gigabyte’s creative focus, lack of full DCI-P3 coverage hurts it.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Typing on the Aero X16 is comfortable, with a healthy 1.7 mm of key travel and sufficient cushioning at the bottom of the keystroke. Tactile feel is average, without much feel during the keystroke and not enough spring at the bottom to make it feel exciting. Nonetheless, I nearly matched my peak typing speed in my MonkeyType run, hitting 126 WPM with 99% accuracy.

The single-zone RGB backlight works well in the dark. One zone at this price isn’t impressive, but some leniency can be granted given this isn’t purely a gaming laptop. The backlighting can be changed in the RGB Fusion app, with some patterns available like color cycling and breathing.

The expansive surface and responsive tactile feedback from the touchpad make it a joy to use. It’s slightly indented into the palm rest, giving your fingers a clear barrier. The touchpad can be disabled with Fn + F9.

Audio on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Audio quality is a weak point for the Aero X16. Listening to Lockbox’s “Something Bout You”, I noticed muddy details and a lack of instrument separation, compounded by distant vocals and minimal bass. Though the laptop includes Dolby Atmos, the equalizers didn’t help much, including my go-to Balanced preset. Volume is also barely adequate -- you might be able to watch a movie or show or play a game in a quiet room, but the immersion factor isn’t there.

Upgradeability of the Gigabyte Aero X16

The Aero X16 is about as upgradeable as laptops get, with two SODIMM memory slots, two M.2 2280 drive slots, an M.2 2230 wireless card, and a removable battery. These can all be accessed under the bottom panel once the 10 Philips-head screws are removed, all of which are the same length. I used a plastic trim tool to pop the clips on the bottom panel, starting near the display hinge cutouts and working my way along the back edge and sides.

Battery Life on the Gigabyte Aero X16

In our battery test, which includes web browsing, video streaming over Wi-Fi, and OpenGL workloads at 150 nits, the Aero X16 led the group, lasting 9 hours and 13 minutes. The Acer (8:16) and Framework (8:20) placed about an hour behind, and the MSI landed well back (6:21).

Gaming laptops don't have the best reputation for battery life, so it's nice to see a full workday here.

Heat on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Gigabyte’s cooling system uses two fans that exhaust from the sides and rear. I noticed almost no noise for everyday tasks. Fan noise is audible while gaming, but isn't enough to be a distraction; the built-in speakers easily overpowered the noise.

The cooling system kept the Aero X16’s surface temperatures within acceptable ranges during our Metro Exodus stress test, where we measured peaks of 71 degrees F on the touchpad, 95 F between the keyboard G and H keys, and 114 F on the bottom towards the rear edge. Internally, the Ryzen AI 7 350 averaged 58 degrees Celsius while the RTX 5070 ran at 68 C.

Webcam on the Gigabyte Aero X16

Gigabyte’s center-mounted webcam offers an average picture. It sports the expected 1080p resolution, though details remain soft particularly in lower lighting conditions. Noise reduction appears to be excellent, with minimal graininess until lighting deteriorates, though the aggressive tuning here likely mutes details. There's no privacy shutter, but there is an IR sensor for facial recognition logins with Windows Hello.

Software and Warranty on the Gigabyte Aero X16

The only significant app included on the Aero X16 is GiMATE, which provides basic system settings including battery charge mode (full or options to limit at 80% or 60%) and, interestingly, toggles for the battery status and power indicator LEDs. The app also has a hardware dashboard and provides system updates. Available power profiles include balanced (the default), gaming, creator, power saving, and online meeting. These are all well explained in the Scenario Profile Setting section, and can be customized. For instance, Game Mode prioritizes CPU/GPU power and network traffic for your game; meeting mode enables presence detection (automatically locking your laptop when you walk away) and uses the webcam to detect onlookers; and power saving even disables keyboard backlighting. Its real pitfall is that users must manually switch between these modes, which they will most likely forget to do. Balanced worked well for nearly all my testing.

GiMATE also includes some AI features; you can bring up a prompt using the keyboard shortcut and give it basic commands. As an example, I used “disable keyboard backlight”, and that worked, automatically sending the requisite command to the RGB Fusion app. Using “enable keyboard backlighting” turned it back on. This was surprisingly useful and a good feature for users who don’t want to hunt through menus for basic settings.

GiMATE also includes a Creator app, which connects to Hugging Face and lets you use various image to image and text to image models locally. It’s useful if you have an offline need to use this, though only certain models are available, and it’s not a truly unique feature. That said, it does simplify downloading the models and provides a consistent interface for them, a thoughtful touch if you want to try a bunch without needing to learn a new interface each time.

Gigabyte Aero X16 Configurations

Our Gigabyte review sample features a Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It retails for $1,899 through B&H Photo and Video, though Newegg had what appeared to be the same model for $1,739, making it worthwhile to shop around.

Other configurations start at $1,499 with a GeForce RTX 5050 and 16GB of RAM, with an RTX 5060 model available on Newegg for $1,549 at review time. Both B&H and Newegg listed an out-of-stock notice for a model with our review specs but an uprated Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip; expect to spend a few hundred more for it should it come back in stock.

Bottom Line

Gigabyte’s Aero X16 is a reasonable attempt at straddling creative and gaming duties. It gets the core concepts right, including solid productivity performance, decent battery life, comfortable input devices, and welcome upgradeability.

However, some shortcomings keep the Aero X16 from joining the top ranks. The most limiting is its display, which is serviceable for everyday use but misses the creative mark with incomplete DCI-P3 coverage and modest brightness. Weak speakers don’t help its expressive ambitions, and the reliance on Wi-Fi 6E and USB 2.0 give the machine a slightly dated feel. And while the RTX 5070 is capable, gaming performance trails far cheaper alternatives, making the Aero X16 a tough sell for those prioritizing framerates.

Overall, the Aero X16 feels less like a hybrid and more like a compromise, competent in several areas but not exceptional where it counts. Creators willing to spend more will find a far better display in the Framework Laptop 16, which boasts even more upgradeability, while budget-minded gamers can get stronger performance from systems like MSI’s Katana 17 HX. The Aero 16 X16 has its merits, but at this price, the competition simply plays its cards better.

Personally, I have a lovely desktop gaming PC that's my pride and joy, but it does keep me tied to my desk when I manage to find some free time to actually game away. Now, if I want to game in another room, I can stream from my PC, but not everyone has a suitable home network, and you may also start to encounter issues like latency. I prefer to then switch to a gaming laptop, which solves all those problems, and lets me play my favorite games on the move. Today, we have a gaming laptop that meets my minimum specs for a modern gaming laptop and is on sale at a respectable price. The Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025) is $1259.99 at Amazon, saving $130 off the $1389.99 list price.

• Grab this deal at Amazon

This model of the Rog Strix G16 from Asus comes with a 16-inch screen with an FHD+ resolution, a 16:10 screen ratio, 165Hz refresh rate, and 3ms response time. Powering this gaming laptop is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 laptop graphics card, an Intel Core i7 14650HX processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB Gen 4 SSD for storage. For connecting to networks and the internet for online gaming, the laptop has Wi-Fi 7 built in.

Some of my favorite features of the Rog Strix G16 are its vapor chamber cooling and, best of all, a tool-less design for accessing the SSD and RAM of the laptop to make upgrading a less daunting task for owners of expensive gaming laptops. So, in the future, if you need it, you could expand the RAM to 32GB and up the SSD storage from 1TB to be able to keep more installed games on the system.

We reviewed the Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025). The unit we reviewed had slightly different specifications from today's model. Our review unit used a Ryzen 9955HX3D processor, a more powerful RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, and higher screen specifications. Apart from that, the rest of the system was almost identical. We really liked the solid performance for the value, but found the speakers in the system a little lacklustre.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Dell, which makes some of the best gaming laptops, has unveiled upgraded Alienware 18 Area-51, 16 Area-51, and 16X Aurora gaming laptops powered by Intel's latest Arrow Lake-HX Refresh processors. The 16-inch models add premium anti-glare OLED panels, while the 16X Aurora specifically receives a graphics boost courtesy of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.

The Alienware 18 Area-51 was already Dell's mobile gaming juggernaut, and now the device gets even more processing muscle. The new processor options include the Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus and the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus.

The Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus boasts 20 cores with boost speeds up to 5.3 GHz, positioned between the Core Ultra 7 265HX and Core Ultra 7 275HX models. Meanwhile, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is the flagship SKU in the Arrow Lake-HX Refresh lineup. It brings 24 cores to the table with a boost clock speed up to 5.5 GHz for unmatched gaming power.

In terms of discrete graphics, you can pick from a GeForce RTX 5060 up to the GeForce RTX 5090 on the Alienware 18 Area-51. The device uses standard SO-DIMM slots and can accept up to 64GB (2x32GB) of DDR5-6400 memory. Storage options include 2TB PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 SSDs .There is also an option to equip it with up to 12TB (3 x 4TB) in a RAID 0 array.

Alienware 18 And Alienware 16 Specifications

The Alienware 16 Area-51 is a more compact gaming powerhouse for those who prefer portability without sacrificing top-tier performance. It comes with a more manageable screen size than the Alienware 18 Area-51, but doesn't compromise on power. It features the same cutting-edge Arrow Lake-HX Refresh processor upgrades and specifications as the larger Alienware 18 Area-51 model. The greatest upgrade of all in the Alienware 16 Area-51 is the OLED panel with an anti-glare coating.

The resolution and refresh rate haven't changed, as they're still 2560 x 1600 and 240 Hz, respectively. However, the OLED screen ushers in significant upgrades over the previously offered LCD screen. For one, it has improved visual quality while reducing the response time to 0.2 ms, compared to the LCD version's 3 ms. The OLED screen has also increased the peak brightness from 500 nits to 620 nits.

The Core Ultra 2 270HX Plus and Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus upgrade options are also available with the Alienware 16X Aurora. In addition, you can not outfit the gaming laptop with a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti when it previously maxed out at the GeForce RTX 5070. Memory capacity is similar to the Alienware 18 Area-51 and Alienware 15 Area-51, with slightly lower supported data rates limited to DDR5-5600. For storage, consumers can pick between a 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB drive, but are limited to PCIe 4.0 on the non-GeForce RTX 5070 Ti models.

The Alienware 16X Aurora receives the same OLED panel as the Alienware 16 Area-51. Gamers can enjoy vibrant gameplay on the 2560 x 1600 screen with a 240 Hz refresh rate, 0.2 ms response time, and a maximum brightness of 620 nits when needed.

The renovated Alienware 18 Area-51, 16 Area-51, and 16X Aurora gaming laptops will be available on Dell's online store.

There’s a brilliant deal on an Acer Nitro gaming laptop that you won’t want to miss. Amazon has slashed the price of this Acer Nitro V15 gaming laptop, featuring an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, to just £799.99 right now. That’s a 11% saving that makes it one of the most affordable laptops on sale with the power to hit high frame rates at 1080p.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

While this has a decent spec sheet for the model we tested in our Acer Nitro V15 review, where we scored its performance and build quality pretty highly, it’s an otherwise identical machine. That includes the screen it holds, with the V15 containing a 15.6-inch LCD display with a fast 165Hz refresh rate. That rate is important because it means that, when you’re maxing out the frame rates in-game at 1080p on this rig, you won’t see any ugly screen tears or stuttering.

Ultimately, though, the power in this rig resides in three of its major components. Starting with the CPU, it comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-13620H. It’s a 10-core Raptor Lake processor that, while it is starting to age a little, is still a reasonable option for gaming on a laptop, with six performance cores able to handle gaming tasks, and four efficient cores for multi-threaded work, with a max boost clock speed of 4.9 GHz.

All in all, though, it’s the RTX 5060 that most gamers will focus on. The mobile version of one of Nvidia’s latest Blackwell GPUs has 3,328 CUDA cores, along with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM. From a gaming perspective, especially with this CPU, expect to manage high to even ultra graphics presets with high frame rates in most modern games. 1440p is possible in some cases, too, especially using this GPU’s DLSS 4 support. Multi-frame generation will be helpful here, using those AI-generated frames to give you a lift in games that are especially demanding.

16GB of RAM is about standard for a modern gaming laptop these days, but it’s nice that it isn’t an area of compromise at this price point. You’ve also got a 1TB NVMe SSD installed in this rig, ensuring fast Gen 4 speeds and enough capacity for a few big game installations, alongside plenty of Steam indie releases, to sink your teeth into.

The £799.99 sale price for this Acer Nitro V15 gaming laptop makes it one of the most affordable options if you’re looking for solid performance at 1080p. It’s a deal that isn’t destined to last, however, with Amazon UK’s Spring Sale Days event set to end on March 16th. If you want it, you’ll need to be quick, as the stock might run dry before then, too.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

A standout deal spotted in the current Amazon Spring Day Deals sales event is this Acer gaming laptop. The Acer Nitro V 16 AI gaming laptop is just £1,199.99, shaving £300 off the £1499.99 list price. Saving any money is always a good thing, and when you can save a tidy £300, it's even better. Although there's an AI moniker slapped on the product, don't be put off. This is a gaming laptop through and through. From the gamified aesthetics to the choice of hardware, inside the sleek black chassis. Don't be tied to your desktop, and play your games anywhere, thanks to this powerful little gaming machine.

• Grab this deal at Amazon

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI is a powerful gaming laptop equipped with an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop GPU, accompanied by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, able to bring games to life with crisp graphics and fast framerates. If you need a little more juice to hit the 180Hz refresh rates of the WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display, this current-gen Nvidia GPU supports DLSS 4, which enables multi-frame generation. In games that support this feature, you'll be able to boost your frame rates by the GPU inserting AI-generated frames, ensuring smoother gameplay, but there may be some trade-offs in texture and picture definition.

With 32GB of RAM, an RTX 5070, and 1TB SSD, the Acer Nitro V 16 AI is more than equipped to handle most gaming tasks. This is one of the best value-for-money gaming laptops right now, going by pure specifications. Thanks to the AI crunch causing surging memory and storage prices, the cost of gaming laptops is only going to rise in the near future.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you've been looking at buying parts for a new PC build, or even a shiny new prebuilt PC, the market has been looking quite grim for a little while now, thanks to the AI crunch pushing up all the prices for normal consumers and enthusiasts. One area that has remained relatively stable, though, depending on your RAM and SSD selection, is laptops. Many manufacturers have managed to absorb some of the memory price hikes and not pass those on to customers. How long this will hold for is anyone's guess, but it's not going to be forever. In a limited-time sale at Best Buy, you can pick up a well-priced RTX 5070 gaming laptop. The Acer Nitro V 16-inch gaming laptop is just $1,249.99, shaving $50 off the $1,299.99 list price. This deal expires tomorrow, so check out the deal and see if it is of interest, but be wary of the cut-off.

• Grab this deal at Best Buy

The Acer Nitro V 16 is a thoroughbred gaming laptop with an Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card at its heart, along with a powerful Intel Core 7 240H processor with 10 cores and 16 threads. The CPU cores are split into 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. Its P-cores have a boost potential of up to 5.2GHz.

With its FHD screen, the battery life of the laptop won't be instantly drained, and it will look crisp on a small 16-inch panel. The RTX 5070 laptop GPU in this machine shouldn't struggle to reach the potential to power the 180Hz refresh rates of this laptop screen.

With 16GB of RAM, the Acer Nitro V 16 is more than adequate for most gaming tasks; however, the smaller 512GB SSD can be quickly filled up with modern AAA games being over 100GB in size. You may want to think about upgrading the storage in the future.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Spotted today are a couple of excellent deals on two almost identical gaming laptop models from HP. The hardware components spec sheet reads the same, bar a difference in CPU model and manufacturer. So, whether you prefer Intel or AMD, you can choose your favorite, and best of all, the sales price is exactly the same.

These super high-end gaming laptops both feature Nvidia's RTX 5080 laptop graphics card and plenty of RAM; just the ticket for playing the latest video games on the move. Originally priced at $3,299.99, the Intel variant of the Omen Max 16 (Intel) model: 16-ah0097nr has been slashed in price to $2099.99, a whopping $1200 discount. The AMD variant Omen Max 16 (AMD) model: 16-ak0098nr has dropped $1000 from $3099.99 to now just $2099.99. Both are significant discounts.

• Grab this Intel Omen Max 16 deal at HP
• Grab this AMD Omen Max 16 deal at HP

The big standout on both of these gaming laptops is the high-end RTX 5080 graphics with that all-important 16GB of speedy GDDR7 VRAM. With newer games using more and more RAM for textures and shaders at higher resolutions, it's very easy for a game to swallow up 12GB of VRAM. Having 16GB is enough to cover current and upcoming game titles.

The configuration of these models of the HP OMEN Max 16 consists of either an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU or AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 (16GB) GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) screen with a max 240Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time, 500 nits brightness, and 100% sRGB color gamut.

We have had one of the Omen Max 16 laptops in for testing and had the opportunity to review the OLED version of the Omen Max 16 with RTX 5090 graphics. In our testing, we found the gaming laptop extremely competitive with the competition in our suite of test games when using similar configurations. This is a more powerful laptop than the laptops featured in our deals today, so our included chart is only a rough guide as to the performance of today's models. Test results were also compared to other laptops sporting the RTX 5090 and similar configurations to keep results fair.

The HP Omen Max 16 comes with a full-size gaming keyboard that has per-key RGB backlighting and NKRO anti-ghosting tech, liquid metal cooling, and a vapor chamber for improved cooling. There are also plenty of ports for connecting all your extra peripherals and external monitors. Ports include 2x USB Type-A (10Gbps), 2x USB Type-C (40Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and an RJ-45 Ethernet port.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you're on the market for a new gaming laptop to replace an aging workhorse, or fancy having something a little more portable for stepping away from the desktop battlestation, then this Lenovo gaming laptop deal from Best Buy is a winner. At just $1,149.99 for the Lenovo Legion Pro 5, you're saving an impressive $510 off its usual list price, while picking up an OLED screen, plenty of RAM, and a discrete RTX 5060 GPU for a very good price. If you compare the laptop's specs to those of other machines available with similar components, this Legion 5 Pro shines with its value proposition.

• Grab this deal at Best Buy

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (model: 83LT000MUS) in today's deal features an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX processor with a 3.6GHz base clock and Nvidia's mobile RTX 5060 graphics, paired with 8GB of VRAM. An ample 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD for storage are further standout specs for the price. Making your games and media look gorgeous is a bright 500 nit OLED screen measuring 16 inches with a sharp 2.5K resolution, and a speedy 165Hz refresh rate for those fast-paced action games.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this particular model of laptop, but we have tested other Lenovo Legion 5i machines with different specs, but similar features, such as the OLED screen used in this laptop, and so we're aware of how OLED panels can have an effect on battery performance. The battery here is rated for 6.5 hours of use, but, as we've commonly found with gaming laptops that use powerful GPUs and especially OLED screens, the battery can be drained more quickly than a standard IPS screen. Of course, to receive the full gaming potential of this laptop, you should connect to a mains power source.

Other features of the Legion Pro 5 include 2x USB-C and 3x USB Type-A ports, DisplayPort 2.1 (over USB-C), HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 7, an RGB backlit keyboard, and a 720p webcam.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Are you tired of lag and using low-quality settings during your gaming sessions? Now is your chance to demolish low frame rates and increase image fidelity. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI has gone on sale for $1,359.99, an incredible $740 off its regular price. Powered by the Core Ultra 9 275HX and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, this powerhouse gaming laptop ensures you get ultra-smooth gameplay in even the most demanding games.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The Predator Helios Neo 16 AI features Intel’s Core Ultra 9 275HX flagship mobile gaming processor. It's a 24-core chip with boost clocks up to 5.4 GHz, rivaling AMD's competing solutions. Acer pairs the Core Ultra 9 275HX with a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile graphics card that can handle 1080p (1920x1080) and 1440p (2560x1440) gaming with ease. It's a great combination for the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI's 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) IPS screen, which flaunts a 240 Hz refresh rate.

Also on board are 16GB of DDR5-6400 SO-DIMM memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD. They provide a solid starting point for a gaming laptop and supports future upgrades. Beyond being a formidable device for gaming and entertainment, the Core Ultra 9 275HX is a highly capable processor for productivity and work. You can always upgrade the laptop with more memory or a bigger SSD if you plan to use it for your work.

The Predator Helios Neo 16 AI includes two free gaming bundles to get you started if you're new to PC gaming. On the Core Ultra 9 275HX's end, there's the Intel Holiday 2025 Bundle, with a $59.99 value, that lets you choose from four great games. The list consists of Battlefield 6, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Dying Light: The Beast, or Sid Meier's Civilization VII. There are a couple of other freebies, like Marvel Rivals in-game content, one-month access to Magix Vegas Pro Edit 365, and three-month access to XSplit Broadcaster and Canvid.

On the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti's end, you receive Nvidia's latest Resident Evil Requiem gaming bundle. Capcom's upcoming survival horror launches on February 27, and the $1,359.99 Predator Helios Neo 16 AI passes the system requirements with flying colors, so you'll have a great gaming experience if you're into the Resident Evil games.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.