The best gaming laptops 2024: Australia’s top laptops for gamers
Get gaming with these neat portable powerhouse systems
1. The list in brief
2. Best overall
3. Best cheap
4. Best value
5. Best lightweight
6. Best AMD
7. Best desktop replacement
8. Best premium
9. Best RTX 4000
10. Best dual-screen
11. Best Mac
12. Best Last Gen
13. How to choose
14. How we test
If you're looking for gaming flexibility then it's hard to go past a gaming laptop. You can get enough power from the top end gaming laptops for most people to fully replace a desktop, but they're also portable enough to take with you on the go. Thanks to game stores like Steam you can also stream games running on your laptop to TVs and other less powerful devices to make Laptops a great console replacement too if you want.
Gone are the days when all gaming systems were big and bulky units that would barely survive between powerpoints – thanks in no small part to the popularity of Ultrabooks, they're becoming more sleek and portable while maintaining the power needed to handle the latest games. There’s even a whole category of Gaming Ultrabooks that give you impressive gaming performance in a thin and light package.
Regardless of whether you're in it for the sleek numbers to slip in your satchel on the go, or an all-in-one replacement for a desktop rig, we've sifted through what's on offer to bring you the best gaming laptops available in Australia.
It's worth noting that our list of the best gaming laptops here in Australia will be a bit different to our US and UK counterparts. While the laptops themselves are undisputedly powerful and capable, the Australian 'tech tax' means we simply don't get as good a deal down under, and so the value proposition is a little different.
The quick list
Want to cut to the chase and find out what the best gaming laptops are? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices, and you can jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.
Best of the best
The best overall
With a large QHD 240Hz screen in a generous 17.3-inch format, standout CPU performance, a top of the line GPU in a standardised form factor that gives you a lot of value for money, this is the best overall rig for serious gamers.
Best budget
The best cheap gaming laptop
Acer’s Nitro 5 is a well balanced gaming laptop for anyone on a tight budget. The device utilises a cheaper 12th gen Intel CPU and pairs it with the latest 40 Series Nvidia GPUs to maximise gaming potential and the 144Hz 15.6-inch screen is perfectly balanced for FullHD gaming. Importantly, you can also get it for next to nothing.
Best value
The best value
The 8th Generation Lenovo Legion Pro Pro 5i is a pretty fair offering at full price, but when on a discount it’s hard to top the 13th Gen i7, Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and 32GB RAM configuration. Especially when it comes with a 16-inch 240Hz display at 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution.
Best lightweight
The best lightweight
This isn't just a durable and powerful gaming laptop - it's also one of the most lightweight options on the market. Just be ready to pay a premium for it.
Best AMD option
The best AMD laptop
This 2022 model is almost due for an update in Australia, but until we get the latest edition it's still the top all AMD gaming rig on offer. You also get a high res 120Hz HDR IPS display at a pretty affordable price.
Best desktop replacement
The best desktop replacement
The Alienware 18 offers exceptional performance while maintaining a decent price point for the desktop replacement market. It's a kilo heavier than many competitors, but it means you get better performance from cheaper components.
Best with OLED display
The best premium
Sporting a QHD+ screen at 240Hz, a 140W 4070 GPU and an i9 CPU, this device offers an amazing looking and responsive gaming experience no matter how challenging the title. Play competitively with an edge thanks to the quick refresh rate or crank up the graphics for a solo session, the M16 can do it all.
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Best RTX 4000 laptop
The best RTX 4000 laptop
One of the first Nvidia RTX 4000 gaming laptops we've tested, the Pro 7i pairs incredible performance with a stunning and fast display.
Best dual-screen
The best dual-screen
Both gamers and content creators will appreciate this laptop's dual-screen layout. The second screen is a 4K touch panel with smart stylus support.
The best gaming laptops in 2023
Why you can trust TechRadar
Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best gaming laptop in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best gaming laptop overall
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Strix Scar 17 has long been the flagship of Asus’s gaming portfolio, and while this year we also get an even bigger 18-inch Scar in 2023 the 17-inch gaming powerhouse is just as powerful… and even better value.
This year’s ROG Strix Scar 17 can be configured with an AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU for performance we rarely see in a laptop. The 7945HX CPU has been configured to pull up to 65 Watts while the 4090 is capable of drawing an impressive 175W. This massive amount of throughput delivers general working CPU performance gains of around 25 percent over a 55W Intel Core i9-12950HX on last year’s Strix Scar 17 SE and up to double the performance on highly multi-threaded tasks.
This is a pretty amazing result for AMD since it was able to outpace a 65W Intel Core i9-13900 on a Lenovo Legion Pro 5i by up to 18-26 percent on two of our CPU benchmarks. That’s a big performance difference for two processors with the same 32 thread count.
You’ll also get up to 45 percent better graphics than last year’s ROG Strix Scar 17 SE running a 175W 3080 Ti GPU. This equates to frame rate averages over 130 fps playing RDR2 or Cyberpunk 2077 on 1080p Ultra settings, or close to 90 fps using the screen’s native QHD resolution and Ultra Ray Tracing.
That performance is more than enough power to really challenge the screen's impressive 240Hz refresh rate. At a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels the display offers a little more clarity in the 17.6-inch screen, without losing out on the competitive edge of a fast screen thanks to a 3ms response time.
The screen also offers an onboard G-Sync chip that’ll allow you to have faster tear-free refresh rates and reduce any ghosting artefacts. The MUX Switch and Nvidia Advanced Optimus work well in swapping between 60 and 240Hz refresh rates, saving energy when working and ramping up performance during gaming sessions. This means this power hungry device can actually last a few hours on its 90Wh battery when you’re just working.
AU$5,599 is actually less than the starting RRP of last year’s Strix Scar 17 SE and the handful of other devices we’ve seen with 4090 GPUs have run at over AU$6K. You can get better value with slightly more conservative processors, but if you need a no compromise rig then this is a solid option at a fair price.
Read the full Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 review
The best cheap gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
While it might have a 12th Gen CPU, this won't affect performance much since a lot of i5 and i7 laptop chips saw conservative gains. The Nitro 5 does have either a GeForec RTX 4050 or 4060 GPU from Nvidia however, an upgrade that'll improve gaming performance by about 20% over the previous 3060 models. This is a noticeable jump of between 10 and 40 frames per second meaning you can play less demanding games at well over 120fps and modern shooters like Cyberpunk 2077 at over 80 fps using 1080p Ultra settings.
This matches up nicely with the 144Hz refresh rate on the 15.6-inch FullHD IPS screen, allowing you to really push games to the maximum potential without either component overpowering the other. It’s got a 300 nit typical brightness and 72%NTSC (100% sRGB) which is good colour and brightness for a budget gaming laptop too.
There's plenty of interface options and while it doesn't have the absolute latest Wi-Fi spec, it's not far off. It's also got a fast SSD and handy NitroSense software.
I've seen Acer selling this configuration for as little as $1,399 down from an RRP of $2,199, which is exceptionally good value.
Read the full Acer Nitro 5 review
The best value gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i was one of the first 13th generation Intel gaming gaming laptops we’d tested, which can mean you’re a bit in the dark with regard to the underlying value it offers. The Legion Pro 5i comes in a few configurations locally, and all of the devices are competitively priced but Lenovo is opposed to putting them on sale for up to 28% less than the RRP. If you can nab one at this price then they offer unbeatable value.
The main factor in this equation is the balanced 16-inch screen which offers a 2560 by 1600 pixel resolution. This is a great resolution as it adds a little extra clarity to FullHD, but not enough to tax the GPU capabilities too heavily. This combines with a 500nit peak brightness decent colour capabilities and a 240Hz refresh rate to make it one of the most well rounded gaming displays on offer.
The Legion 5i Pro also offers 32GB of RAM and a Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU at a price that would usually only get you a 16GB 3060 setup (and the other models are similarly well priced, especially on sale). This means you have a heap of power to really push games into the 100-plus fps range using Ultra 1080p settings and you’ll get around 50fps in WQXGA resolution.
Battery life isn’t amazing, lasting just 2.5 to 4 hours, but gaming devices rarely last much longer and it’s perfectly portable at 2.49kg. The latest connectivity specs and a fast 1TB SSD round out a solid gaming laptop that costs much less than the nearest competitors. There's also an AMD alternative Lenovo Legion Pro 5 that goes for even less if you're open to a non-intel CPU.
Read the full Lenovo Legion Pro 5i review
The best lightweight gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Sure, it might be very expensive, but the new Razer Blade 14 is just a thing of beauty; a compact, quiet, durable, and powerful gaming laptop that ticks just about every box. Top-notch internal components are joined by an incredibly bright and vivid screen, with the classic machined metal chassis that has come to define the aesthetic of the Blade laptop line.
What's even better here is that despite its thin and light chassis, it boasts excellent gaming performance that's comparable to similarly-specced yet less portable gaming laptops. During our usual round of testing and benchmarking, it felt like its CPU and GPU worked better in tandem, surpassing other laptops in performance with something like Cyberpunk 2077 on high settings. In Marvel’s Spider-Man, its framerate didn't even dip below 75fps even under the highest possible settings.
Also for a thin laptop, it's got impressive cooling. That is, even though it did heat up during intense gaming sessions in our testing, it never suffered noticeable stuttering, freezing, or slowing down, meaning that you can push it like you would other laptops without getting frustrated. You might be disappointed by the battery life, though. Rated at 10 hours, it typically hovers around the eight-hour mark when used for productivity work. Sadly, that is cut down to at most half when you're gaming on it.
Read the full Razer Blade 14 (2023) review
The best AMD-powered gaming laptop
5. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Asus Rog Zephyrus G14 and G15s have regularly been at the top of our best gaming laptop roundups due to their great performance and reasonable price tags. This market dominance has given the company a bit of cash to splash on updating features like the 1,000-strong LED AniMatrix that can show battery life, audio amplitude animations, or even custom gaming visuals on the outside of the gaming shell.
This new look isn’t the only thing this 14-inch gaming rig has going for it though, it’s also got a 6th gen AMD CPU and GPU combo, a larger touchpad and a faster screen. The entry-level Zephyrus G14 comes with a Ryzen 7 6800S CPU, a Radeon RX6700S GPU and 16GB of RAM that’ll set you back around AU$3K. Depending on the vendor selling the device you can nab either the FullHD+ 144Hz display or the QuadHD 120Hz panel with full DCI-P3 HDR colour for the same price. Although, if you go by what was still available on shelves, it seems the masses would prefer 24 extra frames to having a brighter, higher resolution and more colour accurate display.
Laptops like the ROG Zephyrus G14 will be a bit behind Intel 12th Gen in general computing tasks, but the Ryzen 9 has upped its boost clock speed to 4.9GHz, allows it to perform equally well in gaming tasks.
Asus is claiming noteworthy improvements in gaming performance translating to 70+ fps on your average Triple-A title running at 1080p Ultra settings. A six hour battery life for light workloads it’s way better than your average gaming machine, and while it comes with a standard power brick, you can alternatively charge it using USB-C if you’re in a bind.
Read the full Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) review
The best desktop replacement
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
What’s most important in a supersized gaming workstation is performance and Alienware’s unique configuration performed exceptionally well in a wide range of tasks. Despite going up against Nvidia 4090 GPUs with just a 4080, the Alienware was able to achieve frame rates within six percent of the combined averages of all laptops we’ve tested with a 4090.
Alienware seems to have achieved this by adding significantly more cooling to the architecture. Sure the added thermal mass adds a whole kilo over Razer and Asus’ 18-inch competitors, but these large-format devices are hardly appealing to gamers wanting an ultra-portable experience and it means you’ll keep up with the best using more conservative (and affordable) components.
The CPU scores weren’t bad either, with the i9-13900HX keeping up with or outpacing higher specced Intel processors in demanding encoding tasks. The screen might be a little under gunned for professional gamers, but the best laptops still struggle to get over 150fps on modern titles like RDR2 and Cyberpunk 2077 in 1080p Ultra, so there's actually plenty of overhead for the rest of us.
Battery life was on par with competitors offering just two to three hours depending on what you’re doing (don’t expect to be able to game on battery). What’s perhaps the biggest drawcard of this excellent gaming laptop it’s over AU$1K less than the RRP of Asus's ROG Strix Scar 18, at just AU$5,298 on Dell’s online shop.
Read the full Alienware m18 review
The best 16-inch gaming Ultrabook
8. Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 (2023) GU604
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Zephyrus M16 is a 16-inch gaming laptop focused on a balancing of portability and power. The 2023 update is designed to compliment the existing 2022 range by offering only one CPU: The Intel Core i9-13900H. Some regions do range models that include a Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU, but the lightweight constraints of the Zephyrus M16 mean your money goes a lot further with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 configuration (for which the 4.5 stars were given).
At 2.3kg heavy and 2.2cm thick, the ROG Zephyrus is thicker and heavier than the 2022 Razer Blade 15, but only fractionally, so you can easily make this work as a professional machine if you want.
The Intel Core i9-13900H CPU on the M16 is not quite as powerful as the top processors you’ll see on beefier gaming laptops, but it’s still capable of a meaningful 29 percent performance increase over the i9 m16 we tested from last year.
The RTX 4070 will push modern online games to over 100fps when using 1080p Ultra settings, with light-weight competitive titles being able to utilise the speedy 240Hz screen refresh rate and 3ms response rate. Add to this the QHD+ resolution and wide DCI-P3 colour gamut which allows you to play solo titles in vivid detail, or work professionally of a range of creative and general office tasks.
A 4 Hour work or 7.5h 1080p movie playback battery lifespan won't break any records, but it's portable enough to carry anywhere you can plug in to work or play.
Read the full Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 2023 review
The best RTX 4000 gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is one of the most powerful gaming laptops we’ve tested so far, thanks to its RTX 4080 mobile GPU. When we tested it out, it delivered some incredible gaming performance, absolutely smoking through every one of our graphics-based benchmark tests with flying colors, and nearly matched our scores for the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC. This level of power also translates to gaming performance, with titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered looking its best.
Its display is an absolutely ridiculous 16-inch WQXGA, 240Hz, 500nits screen, which means that when we took it for a gaming test drive, we found the refresh rate to be butter smooth enough for professional gamers. The screen is extremely bright with a high-definition resolution, and it also features an RGB-lit keyboard with an excellent port selection to boot.
The chassis is very bulky and heavy, as befitting of a desktop replacement laptop, with an abysmal two-and-a-half-hour battery life. This laptop was made purely for performance, with not a thought to its aesthetics, but for the performance it’s worth it.
Read the full Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review
The best dual-screen gaming laptop
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
If you're after something a bit different — or you're a content creator who wants a laptop for gaming too — then the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 is an incredible (if expensive) choice. The 16:10 main display is joined by the delightful ScreenPad Plus, a secondary touchscreen that elevates out of the chassis when you open the lid, creating a laptop that's reminiscent of a certain beloved handheld console.
Nintendo DS references aside, the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 is also an absolute monster of a system thanks to its Ryzen 9 6900HX processor and RTX 3080 Ti graphics card, backed up by a whopping 64GB of DDR5 RAM. It's great for gaming and watching movies, in no small part due to a set of powerhouse speakers that provide shockingly good room-filling audio.
Read the full Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 review
How to choose the best gaming laptop for you
Choosing the best gaming laptop is easy when you’ve got deep pockets or have a couple of thousand dollars to spare. It’s when your budget is more limited that getting a great gaming laptop becomes trickier.
Lucky for us, we’re getting plenty of more affordably-priced CPUs and GPUs that don’t compromise on power. The latest internals are more capable yet also cheaper than ever. That means that gaming notebooks under AU$4000 can be just as capable as any gaming PC while keeping things portable and space-saving.
Still, some components are more powerful or cheaper than others. While it’s no longer a hard and fast rule, AMD’s offerings are generally more affordable, which means that AMD Ryzen-powered laptops tend to be slightly cheaper.
In terms of graphics cards, Nvidia is still king when it comes to performance, although which RTX card you should go for depends on the type of gaming experience you want. The RTX 3060, for example, is a terrific mid-range contender with lots of power for 1080p gaming. However, if you want that 4K goodness, an RTX 3070 or higher is the way to go.
Consider the RAM as well. Other things to look at are the amount of storage, type of display, and type and variety of ports. Take a look at the battery life as well, especially if you plan on gaming on the go. Know that just because something is premium doesn’t automatically mean it’ll deliver a long battery life – the Alienware laptops are a cautionary tale. And, of course, since you do have to like how your gaming notebook looks, think about the design and whether or not you want RGB lighting.
Whichever one you pick however, we guarantee one of our picks below will let you dive into your favorite games, from the best cheap PC games to the best laptop games and the best PC games – all without tethering you to a desk.
Which laptop is best for gaming?
At a base level, you’re going to need a gaming laptop that runs the newest game releases, whether they’re AAA or games that require lower graphics settings. Ideally, you’ll want to pick a gaming laptop with a decent graphics card - it doesn’t have to be as advanced as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, which can play even the most graphically intense games at the highest settings, but you’ll want something that can play any and every game you might play.
RAM is crucial in the best gaming laptops as well, as it makes sure there aren’t performance issues within the laptop. The last thing you want is for your game to sputter or freeze in the middle of important action sequences or cutscenes, so you’ll want a gaming laptop with plenty of RAM to tackle those high-intensity games.
Screen size should also factor into your gaming laptop decision. If you’re someone who likes having the biggest screen to see as much as possible of your game, you’re going to want a bigger screen, ideally something from 16- to 17.3-inches. If you’re okay with having a standard size screen, you may be able to get away with getting a gaming laptop with a screen anywhere from 14 to 15.6 inches.
If you travel a lot you’re going to want to consider how heavy the gaming laptop is, as well as any necessary accessories you’ll need to pack. Travelling often will also mean you need to make sure your gaming laptop has a decent battery life, otherwise you’ll be trekking from outlet to outlet on your journey.
How much RAM do I need for gaming?
There are many gaming laptops that start you off with an 8GB DDR4 memory, which is the minimum these days. However, that might not be enough for a speedy performance.
If you play a lot of demanding AAA titles, at least 16GB is recommended for the smoothest experience. If you can afford to splurge, a 32GB memory will give you the smoothest, most immersive experience.
Is it worth it to get a gaming laptop?
Absolutely. Gaming PCs are no longer incomparable, thanks to mobile devices getting smaller yet also more powerful. If you need something that's space-saving and/or portable yet powerful enough to tackle your favorite games, no matter if those are not-so-demanding games or the most graphically-intensive titles, one of the best gaming laptops is worth considering.
What is a good thin gaming laptop?
There aren't a lot of thin and light gaming laptops out there, but that doesn't mean you can't find several options to choose from.
The best ones are impressively portable without sacrificing power or battery life. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 sits at the top of that pile, with MSI GS65 Stealth and the Razer Blade Stealth following closely behind.
How we tested these gaming laptops
Testing a gaming laptop isn’t as easy as you might think. But, then again, neither is narrowing down your options and choosing the best one for you, which is why we take our job seriously. Even if that means gaming for hours on end – hey, someone’s gotta make the sacrifice, right?
In all seriousness, we put every gaming laptop we test through its paces to make sure it delivers as promised and is worth your hard-earned case. That means that on top of playing the latest and hottest games on it, noting things like gaming and thermal performance, we also run synthetic benchmarks like PCMark 10, 3DMark and Geekbench 5 as well as battery tests.
Because a gaming laptop is only as good as its peripherals, we take a look at how smooth and fast the display is, how comfortable and responsive its keyboard is, whether or not there are enough ports on hand, and how good its overall design is. We also test its webcam, in case users want to utilize it for game streaming.
We then take everything we’ve learned about the gaming laptop and compare it to its price – whether or not it’s performance and features are worth that price tag, and whether or not it offers the best value to customers.
Latest Updates
September 7th, 2023
Updated 'Value' and 'Budget' offerings.
August 25, 2023
Major 2023 refresh to new buying guide format and a new list of systems.
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Joel has been the in-house benchmark monkey for the Australian TechRadar team and Australia’s two biggest tech magazines (APC and TechLife) since 2014.
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