Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: high performance at a lower cost than alternatives

Medion Erazer Beast 18: One-minute review

With the laptop editions of the best graphics cards finally getting into the hands of manufacturers, it only makes sense that we’re seeing a flurry of gaming laptops hit the market.

And with that onslaught lands the Medion Erazer Beast 18, a top-end, high-performance gaming laptop, which not only delivers high frames and stunning visuals, but does so at a lower price point than its competitors.

Starting from £2,999, this laptop is one of the cheaper options if you’re looking for a gaming laptop featuring the new 50 series GPUs. However, this laptop does have a few flaws holding it back from perfection, including extremely loud fans, a lack of 4K display despite containing a 4K-ready GPU, and being so big you may never take it off your desk.

Overall, you get a great (and reliable) gaming laptop, perfect for anyone looking to keep their laptop static rather than take it on the go with them. While I wasn’t able to achieve the promised eight hours of battery life, I could comfortably get a few hours out of this machine while running AAA games.

Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From £2,999
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? UK only

Coming in at £2,999, this laptop is definitely at a premium price point - which is to be expected with specifications like these.

Similar gaming laptops, such as the MSI Raider A18 HX at £4,799, come in a significantly higher price point making this a better value option for those top-end specs compared to the competition.

Unfortunately, one major downside of the Medion Erazer Beast 18 is the fact that it’s only available in the UK, so people in other regions are out of luck when it comes to this machine.

• Price score: 4/5

Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: Specs

There are two models available for the Medion Erazer Beast 18, one featuring an Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics card and the other hosting an Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU.

Paired with the higher-spec graphics card (both GPUs are their laptop versions, so they aren't quite as powerful as their desktop counterparts), the premium model also houses 64GB of RAM, making it the more suitable option for those who are looking for a powerhouse of a device which is future-proofed beyond belief.

You also get the benefit of 4TB of storage space on the more expensive model, which is great for those who are planning on booting up some hefty titles. With AAA games only increasing in size, it makes sense to opt for a larger SSD.

Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: Design

• Heavy
• Sky Blue is subtle but attractive
• Excellent construction, materials, keyboard, and trackpad

As you’d expect from an 18-inch gaming machine, this laptop is pretty hefty. It weighs in at 3.6kg, which is almost too heavy to take on the go with you… almost.

It can certainly be shoved into a backpack and lugged to your destination if needed, unlike the MSI Raider A18 HX I reviewed recently which wouldn’t even fit in my bag. Measuring in at 408 x 30.4 x 297mm (WxHxD), this machine is more suited to staying in one place like a desktop PC, which is something to take note of if you’re hoping to take your gaming laptop on the go with you.

Outside of size, the style of this laptop is very traditionally gamer-y, incorporating RGB in a range of places, including the logo, the back bezel, and the keyboard.

You get a gorgeous screen on this laptop, but it’s unfortunately not 4K which does feel a bit disappointing considering the specifications of the machine. Coming in at 18 inches, as the name implies, with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 the display still looks stunning despite the lack of 4K. You also get 240Hz at your disposal, perfect for those who are looking to play competitive titles with higher frame rates.

For a laptop, you do get a fair amount of ports. With three USB-A ports, one Thunderbolt Type-C port, an SD card reader, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and an audio jack, this is perfect for those who have a load of peripherals they’ll be plugging in.

Anyone hoping to stream from this laptop will likely need a USB extender however, as you likely won’t be able to run a streaming set up with this amount of ports.

• Design score: 4/5

Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: Performance

• Fans are very loud
• Brilliant game performance
• Speakers are decent

When first booting up this laptop, I was immediately met with the fans blasting at full speed despite not running anything on the device yet.

Turns out this was the fans running at their lowest setting and not at full-speed at all, as I found them getting even louder when I actually booted a game up.

This laptop is one of the loudest I have ever used, but in turn it does stay relatively cool, which for a machine of this calibre is still quite hot. However, some other gaming machines get so hot I’m unable to use the keyboard properly and this was never an issue with this laptop.

I had a great experience no matter what title I was booting up on this laptop, which is to be expected from these specifications. You get excellent performance and high frame rates even when playing AAA titles at Ultra settings. I was able to get almost 200 frames in Cyberpunk 2077 when playing at Ultra and 1080p.

The speakers on this laptop were also pretty good, particularly for consuming media. While they’re also okay for gaming, you’d be better off using a gaming headset so you get directional audio and better quality.

• Performance score: 4/5

Medion Erazer Beast 18: Battery life

• Promises eight hours
• Our tests found it was closer to six hours

While the Medion Erazer Beast 18 promises eight hours of battery life, it didn’t quite meet this, coming in at just over six hours in our battery test benchmarking.

I did find that the battery capacity was significantly less when playing AAA titles, which is to be expected, getting closer to three hours of usage.

When considering the specifications and power draw of the components inside this laptop, getting this long out of the battery is okay, but unfortunately just not at the eight hours promised from Medion.

• Battery score: 3/5

Should you buy the Medion Erazer Beast 18?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Medion Erazer Beast 18 review: Also consider

If our Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

Razer Blade 14
If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop which provides you with immaculate performance regardless of if you’re looking for stunning visuals or high frame rates all packed into a compact and stunning chassis, then the Razer Blade 14 is a great option.

Check out our Razer Blade 14 review

MSI Katana 15
The MSI Katana 15 is a great budget option for those who are looking for a powerful gaming laptop without having to fork out too much cash. You can pick it up at less than £1,000 and still get decent AAA performance in 1080p.

Read more: MSI Katana 15 review

How I tested the Medion Erazer Beast 18

• I used the Medion Erazer Beast 18 for two weeks
• I worked and played on the laptop
• I ran TechRadar's suite of benchmark tests

I spent two weeks using the Medion Erazer Beast 18 as my everyday laptop for work and leisure. I was sure to use the device all day for my typical work day, and then also used it for gaming in the evening.

I took it on the go with me to different locations where I needed to work to see how it would feel outside of my workstation.

As well as using it every day, I also benchmarked the laptop using a range of different benchmarking software and in-game benchmarking tools for a range of titles.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2025