If you're a gamer getting ready to head off to college, then a gaming laptop is a good investment. While usually a little pricier than some cheaper options, a good gaming laptop can easily play all the latest games while lasting you through college.

Right now is a good time to consider picking something up, too, as several of the best retailers are featuring a combination of 'back to school' sales and 4th of July specials. The RAM crisis is still affecting laptop prices, but you can still save a chunk by scoring a discount at Best Buy, Dell, Walmart, or other leading retailers. Just below, you can see six deals that I've picked out as especially good buys.

Most of today's highlights come from Best Buy and include this Lenovo LOQ with an RTX 5060 for $1,002 (was $1,499) at Best Buy, this Acer Nitro V with an RTX 5070 for $1,249.99 (was $1,379), and this Acer Predator with an RTX 5070 Ti for $1,899.99 (was $2,199).

While a bit pricey, all three of these offer great bang for your buck if you're looking for outright performance. The latter in particular is a great buy for those with flush pockets since it features not only a powerful graphics card, but also a high-end OLED display and a great chipset. You can read more about this deal — and others — just down below.

4th of July gaming laptop sales — quick links

• Amazon: cheap laptops from $799
• Best Buy: up to $550 off gaming laptops
• Dell: up to $900 off on back-to-school deals
• Lenovo: up to 42% off cheap laptops
• HP: up to 61% off OMEN gaming laptops

This week's best gaming laptop deals

Amazon's Prime Day has featured some of the best PC hardware deals for top-quality products. This ranges from SSD deals to Nvidia RTX-powered gaming laptops, and yet again, there's another one of the latter to join the party.

The Alienware 16 Aurora is now available on Amazon for £899 (was £1,319), with a generous 32% discount, dropping its price effectively as low as Valve's new Steam Machine.

Powered by Nvidia's RTX 5060 laptop GPU, Intel's Core 7 240H processor, and 16GB of RAM, there's plenty to love about the 16 Aurora. While the GPU's VRAM is only 8GB, it can handle a large variety of triple-A games, even the most demanding when using DLSS 4.5 upscaling.

On sale, it's currently within the exact ballpark of the Steam Machine's price, and is ultimately a more powerful system, particularly for games, with better capabilities to handle ray tracing, and superior upscaling quality.

The only major advantage the Steam Machine currently has over the 16 Aurora is that AMD hardware works much better on SteamOS. Nvidia GPUs are yet to be fully optimized, so major aspects such as game mode in SteamOS may not function well, and game performance may not be up to par.

However, Valve has already made significant efforts to improve the Linux operating system for a wider range of hardware — and SteamOS update 3.8 has opened the doors for any PC to install the OS without hassle.

We can only expect that this will eventually be the case for Nvidia GPUs, so if that's an obstacle when considering the 16 Aurora, it shouldn't be a permanent one.

The RTX 5060 in the 16 Aurora isn't a high-end GPU, but for consumers who are just joining the PC space, it's perfectly fine for 1080p or 1440p gaming.

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Amazon Prime Day is running throughout this week, and I've been checking Amazon, as well as its rivals, which are also running sales, for the best gaming laptop deals. As Managing Editor of Core Tech for TechRadar, I've spent nearly two decades writing about laptops and covering major sales events, so I have a pretty good idea of what makes a great gaming laptop deal — and it's not just about finding the very lowest price.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

What you need is a gaming laptop that balances both price and performance. There's no point spending money on a cheap gaming laptop if it struggles to play modern games, so sometimes it's better to invest a little more.

All the gaming laptops I've picked below for both US and UK readers will be able to run modern games without issue, and they'll also set you up nicely for the inevitable PC version of GTA 6, which will hopefully be announced in the near future.

So, fellow PC gamers, let's not just sit and watch jealously while console gamers preorder GTA 6; let's go out and buy some exciting new rigs, safe in the knowledge that Rockstar's upcoming game will one day play best on PC.

Today's best gaming laptop deals in the US

Today's best gaming laptop deals in the UK

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

The PC hardware market has been dominated by the RAM crisis in 2026, with prices for components reaching absurd levels, particularly (and unsurprisingly) memory kits. Without an affordable way to buy RAM for new PC builds, there's not much that can be done outside of playing the waiting game or overspending.

It's also the same story for GPUs; VRAM is a vital part of graphics cards and their functionality, especially with new games demanding more VRAM to allow users to play games at their desired graphics settings — and that means prices for GPUs, especially Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5000 series lineup, have also skyrocketed.

It's not impossible to find pre-built systems that are fairly affordable this summer, but it won't be easy, especially if you're looking at acquiring anything equipped with an RTX 5070 and beyond.

It also doesn't help that Microsoft's Windows 11 and certain applications can hog RAM, which isn't so bad for systems with 16GB or 32GB of system memory, but it's not the same case with systems using 8GB.

Fortunately, some of MSI's Nvidia-powered gaming laptops are on sale thanks to Amazon Prime Day, and there are big and generous savings involved, considering the state of the PC hardware market.

In the UK, the MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 5050 B2RW is now available on Amazon for £849.99 (was £1,399), with a huge 39% discount, making it one of the most affordable options this Prime Day. The RTX 5050 isn't exactly the best Nvidia GPU available, but for 1080p gaming with the help of DLSS 4.5, it's enough to handle multiple triple-A games with ease.

It doesn't stop there, though. The MSI Cyborg 15 RTX 4050 AI A1VE is now available for £799 (was £1,169), with a 32% discount slightly closer to that of its RTX 5050 counterpart.

Last but not least, the MSI Thin 15 is now available on Amazon for £749.99 (was £829), with a smaller 10% discount, but it is the most affordable option on the list. The sale price is around the same ballpark as the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, which would be relevant for a desktop system upgrade.

The biggest takeaway is that all of these gaming laptops on sale feature at least 16GB of RAM despite the ongoing crisis, which is the minimum amount of system RAM required for most modern triple-A games. While this isn't the case with VRAM (the RTX 5050 has 8GB), DLSS should help provide improved performance where necessary.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

It's pretty tough being a gamer on a budget these days, as evidenced by the Steam Machine's rather exorbitant price tag. RAM prices have massively shot up in recent months, and subsequently, it's almost impossible to find a decent budget gaming machine.

Not all is completely lost, however. I've been browsing through Amazon's massive Prime Day sale today, and I've found three Acer Nitro gaming laptops that are actually - dare I say - good value.

They start with this RTX 5050-equipped model for £679 (was £849), which is a very decent option indeed if you're really on a budget. The RTX 5050 graphics card in this machine is very much an entry-level component, but it's up-to-date and enough to get you started if you're willing to tweak a few settings on demanding games.

For something a little higher-end, you could consider this RTX 5060 configuration for £799 (was £986), which again, is an amazing choice if you're not looking to spend too much. It's essentially the same as the RTX 5050 version above, but you get a slightly better graphics card and a bigger 1TB storage drive, which is a pretty significant upgrade.

Finally, if you're really looking to get something powerful, then consider the RTX 5070 configuration for £1,299 (was £1,499). The price jump is significant here, but this machine features a much better graphics card, a Ryzen 9 chipset, and 32GB of RAM, which are all higher-grade components. It's almost overkill having these specs for this machine's native 1080p display, but the RTX 5070 will be great for powering external monitors if you're planning on doing that.

Today's best value gaming laptops at Amazon

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptops at Amazon

If you're interested in knowing more about the Acer Nitro V15, you can check out TechRadar's review on this very model. We tested the mid-range RTX 5060 configuration specifically and found it to be a good performer for the money. It's not a high-end machine by any stretch, but it does offer good value.

Note, as with most Prime Day deals today, these above listings are exclusive to Amazon Prime members only. If you're not a member, however, don't fret - you can simply use the 30-day free trial that I've linked just below to gain access.

More of today's best Amazon Prime Day sales

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

The Steam Machine is making headlines today, mostly for the sticker shock. While undoubtedly interesting, the Machine's high price has sent many prospective buyers reeling. Such is the price of a new gaming PC today.

Not all is lost, however, as there are still some good deals out there for gamers. If you're willing to go for a laptop, for example, then you can score some relatively good options in the Prime Day adjacent sales events this week. Best Buy's 'Tech Fest' sale is particularly good right now.

Just below, you can see four gaming laptop deals that come in at around the same price as a Steam Machine, give or take.

My top pick, so far, has to be this Acer Nitro V Slim 16 with an RTX 5070 for $999.99 (was $1,299) at Best Buy. This one is the cheapest RTX 5070 gaming laptop I've seen in months, though I think Best Buy has mistakenly labeled the chipset on this machine (you can read more about that here).

Another very good option, in my opinion, is the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S for $1,199 (was $1,724) at Best Buy. This one will cost a bit more than a Steam Machine, but you do get a premium OLED display. If you're not planning to hook up your machine to an external monitor, that can go a long way. Read more about this laptop and others, just down below.

The best gaming laptops I've seen today

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptops at Best Buy

More early Prime Day deals today

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Smartwatches: up to $250 off Garmin & Apple
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

This week is set to be a busy week for deals. Not only is Amazon hosting its annual Prime Day event, but Best Buy has its own 'Tech Fest' sale with pretty great price cuts across the board.

One such example this Acer Nitro V Slim 16 gaming laptop for the absurdly low price of $999 (was $1,299) at the retailer. I spotted this one while looking through the retailer's listings today and almost did a double-take because it's so cheap.

With the RAM price crisis, it's extremely rare to see an RTX 5070 gaming laptop for under $1,500, let alone $1,000 these days. With a price this low, there has to be a catch, right?

Well, scanning through the specs sheet, this machine is listed as featuring an 'AMD Ryzen 7 2000 Series' chipset. That's a very vague description, and if that's not a mislabelling, that could be a very, very old processor indeed.

What's happening here, I believe, is that Best Buy has incorrectly listed a modern Ryzen 7-260 chipset as an ancient 2000 series. That would explain why the 16GB of RAM featured on this machine is a more recent DDR5 version, rather than the older DDR4. If that is the case, then you're getting a really, really cheap RTX 5070 gaming laptop here.

The cheapest RTX 5070 gaming laptop I've seen today

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptop deals at Best Buy

Other good RTX 5070 gaming laptops today

• The first HDMI 2.2 products are likely to arrive in 2027
• Massively increased bitrates with 4K 480Hz support, or 10K resolution
• Great for PC gaming, but won't make much difference to TV viewers

HDMI 2.2 is coming, and it could be a very big deal for gamers. That's because it delivers double the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1: up to 96Gbps.

That means HDMI 2.2 is capable of delivering uncompressed 4K at up to 240Hz (current HDMI can only do this using Display Stream Compression, aka DSC) or uncompressed 4K at 480Hz with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and it can also deliver uncompressed RGB 8K at 60Hz. And using DSC, it's capable of delivering 1440p at rates exceeding 1,000Hz.

There is an important qualifier, though: devices can be HDMI 2.2 certified without delivering the very fastest data speeds, so you'll need to study the spec sheets of any potential purchases.

As FlatpanelsHD reports, the HDMI organization expects the first HDMI 2.2 devices to go on sale in 2027; testing and certification are already taking place.

According to Rob Tobias, CEO and president of the HDMI Licensing Administrator, "We're hearing chip manufacturers will start to sample their FRL2 [Fixed Rate Link, the signalling technology used by HDMI] chips this year. And so we should start to see some 96 or up to 96 gigabit HDMI 2.2 products next year."

Will HDMI 2.2 be a big deal?

The specifications are impressive, though it'll be available in three flavors, all of which are faster than HDMI 2.1: 64Gbps, 80Gbps and 96Gbps.

The performance for gaming is particularly impressive, but we already have DisplayPort 2.1 at up to 80Gbps in many of the best gaming monitors so there isn't a hugely pressing need to upgrade. And HDMI requires licensing fees that are likely to be higher than for DisplayPort.

Chances are if you're into high-end gaming hardware you've already gone down the DisplayPort route, especially if you have a multi-monitor setup, but HDMI 2.2 should mean more choice among premium displays.

HDMI has more benefits in living rooms, thanks to features such as ARC (Audio Return Channel), CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and ALLM (Auto Low-Latency Mode), so it's conceivable that the PlayStation 6 could embrace the higher bitrates of HDMI 2.2 — although games only rarely achieve the 4K 120Hz that's already achievable over HDMI 2.1, and we're not sure that's going to really change with the PS6.

But some 4K 240Hz games might be possible, and the best gaming TVs might offer the refresh rate to support it, so there may be some benefit for the most hardcore. For most living room uses, though, HDMI 2.1 is probably overkill — it's really best for PC connectivity when it comes to the pure data rate.

However, there's another benefit to HDMI 2.2: LIP, which stands for Latency Indication Protocol. LIP improves sound syncing on home theater setups, such as soundbars or AV receivers — this can be a pretty common problem with even the best soundbars, so we'll be keeping an eye on how well this works.

For most of us, I think HDMI 2.2 is generally something to keep an eye on rather than something to demand as soon as it debuts. HDMI 2.2 has been made with 10K resolution in mind, but the vast majority of commercial and streaming video tops out at 4K.

It's something to think about when buying new AV hardware in the future (there's good chance we'll need to wait for 2028's CES for widespread adoption in TVs), but initially at least, it'll be more about marketing than real-world benefits for most of us.

And bear in mind that HDMI adoption is really driven by the companies that provide the connection hardware.

Even today, not all high-end TVs have four HDMI 2.1 ports, because the most powerful processing chips used by many manufacturers don't support this. Some lower-tier TVs from the same makers do, because those chips have more up-to-date HDMI control elements — it's a bit of a mess. I suspect HDMI 2.2 will have the same kind of slightly chaotic support.

On PCs, we'll be relying on GPUs to support the tech, and new models aren't expected until late 2027 or after that — so there's a good chance of seeing HDMI 2.2 on them. But like HDMI 2.1, it'll probably launch on the highest-end models first.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.

Razer Blade 18 (2026): Two-minute review

Another year, another Razer Blade laptop lineup. At this point, these reviews have become something of a foregone conclusion for me; if there are three things I can reliably expect from each new Blade release, it's great gaming performance, a sleek and robust design, and a sky-high price tag.

Sure enough, the latest Blade 18 (2026) delivers on all three fronts – but I can't just say 'yep, buy it if you can afford it'. This new Blade is superior to its predecessors in several ways, and it's quite possibly the best large-screen gaming laptop (or portable workstation) you can buy right now.

Having seen the dawn of Nvidia RTX 5000 GPUs in Razer's laptops when I reviewed the Razer Blade 16 (2025) last year, I had some idea of what to expect in terms of performance. The new Blade 18 did not disappoint in this regard, delivering top-notch gaming quality across everything I tested.

Those games look better than ever on the new display as well, since this Blade doesn't eschew 4K display options as the 16-inch model does. That's not all I have to say about the screen, though. This Blade has an ace up its sleeve; a dual-mode display that can be switched between UHD+ 240Hz and FHD+ 440Hz modes.

I'll dig more into the specifics of this later, but it's a feature that will appeal specifically to esports-oriented gamers. In the upper echelons of competitive gaming, resolution takes a back seat to framerate in terms of importance, so being able to nearly double the maximum refresh rate of your screen at the cost of locking your resolution to 1200p becomes a very attractive tradeoff.

Still, even if you're not a hardcore esports gamer, there's little doubt that the Razer Blade 18 is worthy of standing among the best gaming laptops on the market right now. The updated design and premium build quality of the CNC-milled metal chassis, combined with the powerful gaming and creative performance (and great functionality for AI workloads, if you're so inclined), make this an easy winner – just as long as you can afford the steep price of the higher-spec configurations.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Price & availability

• Starts from $3,499.99 / £3,299.99 (around AU$4,870)
• Available now in the US and UK
• No Australian release yet

Yeah, it's pretty bloody expensive. Just the starting configuration of the Razer Blade 18 will set you back a hefty $3,499.99 / £3,299.99 (around AU$4,870), though even the base specs are fairly impressive: an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32GB of RAM (no wonder it's so pricey, with RAM prices spiralling out of control due to AI datacenter demand), and a 1TB SSD.

You can also get RTX 5080 and 5090 models, with my review configuration sporting the latter GPU along with an upgraded Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU and double the SSD storage.

The absolute top-spec model, which also bumps the RAM up to 128GB, will cost you an eye-watering $6,999.99 - and this configuration is only available in the US, with UK models topping out at 64GB and no availability whatsoever in Australia – sorry to our readers on the other side of the globe, but you're stuck with the Blade 14 and 16 unless you want to spend extra to import the 18-inch model.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Specs

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Design

• Thin for a large gaming laptop, but heavy
• Premium precision-milled aluminum chassis
• Plenty of ports

Long gone are the days when Razer couldn't resist the urge to cram RGB lighting into every nook and cranny of a product. Like its most recent predecessors, the 2026 Blade 18 is a clean, minimalist piece of hardware, with a pleasingly large keyboard and a chassis crafted from a single block of tempered aluminum.

As you might expect, the large display and all-metal body mean that the Blade 18 is rather heavy, weighing more than 3 kilograms. It's not exactly a device you'd want to regularly take with you on the go, but I will note that it's surprisingly slender for such a powerhouse laptop, measuring barely more than an inch thick with the lid closed.

The wide touchpad and well-spaced, comfortable backlit keyboard are excellent, making longer typing or gaming sessions very comfortable – though of course, I used a USB mouse for gaming. No, I'm not one of those terrifying Valorant players who only use the touchpad.

Speaking of plugging in peripherals, there's a fine selection of physical ports here, with the 18-inch Blade giving you three USB-As and two USB-Cs (one of which is a high-speed Thunderbolt 5 port) as well as an HDMI port, RJ-45 Ethernet, and an SD card reader – great for professional creatives who work with cameras. With regard to wireless connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.4 and high-speed Wi-Fi 7.

The webcam is also surprisingly decent, capable of capturing 1440p video at 30Hz, which comfortably outdoes any webcam you'll find on the average office laptop. Considering that the webcam is frequently an afterthought on gaming laptops, this was nice to see. It features an IR camera for Windows Hello logins, and a physical privacy shutter (the latter of which should frankly be a feature on every webcam in this day and age).

As is usually the case for modern gaming laptops, there's not much in the way of upgradability here, but you can add in more storage if you're so inclined. There are two PCIe M.2 slots, one of which is occupied by the existing SSD, and the system supports up to 8TB of additonal storage per slot, meaning you can have up to 16TB of storage – assuming you have very deep pockets, given the current price of SSDs.

Now, let's discuss this display. In its default mode, it's a particularly nice 4K (3840 x 2400p) panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and an impressive 600 nits of maximum brightness. It's also Calman verified for color accuracy, with a 100% DCI-P3 gamut, meaning that games look bright and vibrant, and pro-level photo or video editing is a very realistic proposition.

But if you swap it into high refresh rate mode, the maximum resolution drops to FHD+ (1920 x 1200p) and the refresh rate leaps to a blindingly fast 440Hz. It's geared towards hardcore esports players who want their framerates to be as high as possible, for games like Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant where every millisecond matters.

Now, I'll be honest here; the beefy gaming performance of my RTX 5090-equipped review unit meant that I was comfortably getting high framerates at native UHD+ resolution, so I never really felt the need to use the 440Hz mode. I accept that I'm not the target audience for a feature like this (yes, I kind of suck at Valorant), but I'm not in a small crowd there. The majority of PC gamers won't really be able to eke any significant benefit from the high refresh rate mode, and switching to it is a bit of a fiddly process too: you have to use Razer's Synapse software to change the display mode, then restart the whole laptop.

This might seem like a bit of an unfair criticism, but I have to assume that including this dual-mode display functionality added to the overall cost of the Razer Blade 18, and considering that most users won't need or use it, it's a bit difficult to justify its presence here. It's certainly a neat feature that isn't offered by Razer's competitors, though, so I can't knock Razer too much for it.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Performance

• Silky-smooth AAA gaming
• Powerful creative performance
• Gets a bit hot under load

Unsurprisingly, the RTX 5090 and Core Ultra 290HX Plus in my Razer Blade 18 review unit absolutely chewed through our selection benchmarking tests, as well as everything else I threw at it.

Razer has long been the brand of 'performance at any cost', and this laptop is no exception to that rule. In 4K gaming benchmarks, it delivered solid performance further boosted by Nvidia's DLSS upscaling, but I didn't need to turn on the still-controversial frame-generation features to ensure a high and stable FPS.

In terms of gaming performance, I was comfortably getting a stable 60+ frames per second at 4K resolution with maximum graphical settings in almost every game I tested, both within our usual suite of benchmarking games and in a handful of other titles I played during my general testing process, which included Marathon and Alan Wake 2. The fans got a little noisy in the process, but I've heard far worse from other gaming laptops, and

The notable exception here was Total War: Warhammer III, which is historically more reliant on the CPU than the GPU; it appears that the 2nd-gen Intel Core Ultra processor inside the Razer Blade 18 still struggled a little with the 4K Ultra preset here, though I would note that it still managed to maintain an average above 60 FPS at maximum graphical settings, and it's also very power efficient (more on that in the next section).

The only other part of my game testing that gave me pause was a relatively low average at 4K Ultra settings in Marvel Rivals. Although the game ran stably, my average FPS sat at a little over 70 in the built-in benchmark – yet in actual matches, I found that the FPS counter very rarely dropped below 100, so I'm a little unclear on what caused this. Driver and OS updates, multiple tweaks to the in-game and display settings, and even running the game via an external 4K monitor did not seem to remedy this. I won't mark the Blade 18 down for this, though, as it appeared to be an anomaly with Rivals rather than the laptop itself.

Turn on Nvidia's frame-gen tech, and you'll see those numbers skyrocket across almost every game I tested. I was getting 40% stable gains on average with 2x mode across four different games, with no noticeable impact on visual fidelity.

3x and 4x modes push the framerate higher, but do start to degrade the visual quality of gameplay; I found that 4x mode was prone to tearing and artifacting in all games tested except Alan Wake 2, to the point where it wasn't worth the trade-off in improved framerate.

Outside of gaming benchmarks, the Blade 18 excelled in virtually every area; 2D and 3D rendering, productivity workloads, transfer speeds, single- and multi-core CPU workloads... you name it, this laptop can power through it. For users who want a gaming laptop that can also pull double duty for high-end professional creative or scientific workloads, this Blade has got the goods.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Battery life

• Fantastic for a gaming laptop
• Outlasts many rivals
• Bundled charger is proprietary, not USB-C

I'll make no bones about this: for a high-powered gaming laptop, the battery life on the Razer Blade 18 is nothing short of phenomenal.

The average gaming laptop tends to peter out before the 6-hour mark in regular use, with powerful internal components that draw a lot of juice; if you're actively gaming on it, you'll usually be lucky to get more than two hours of play time before needing to seek out a wall socket.

But the Blade 18 mustered an impressive amount of longevity in my testing, reaching nearly eight and a half hours of continuous video playback and more than three and a half hours of continuous gaming in Marathon – a distinctly superior showing to the vast majority of gaming laptops we test at TechRadar, and is most likely down to the excellent power efficiency of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor.

The only downside I can possibly pick out here is that you need to use the bundled proprietary adapter for power delivery, and it's a pretty chunky brick that hurts the laptop's portability. But considering that it's already a great big 18-inch slab of machined aluminum, you shouldn't be buying the Blade 18 if you want a super-portable gaming laptop anyway!

Should I buy the Razer Blade 18 (2026)?

Razer Blade 18 (2026): Scorecard

Buy the Razer Blade 18 (2026) if…

Don't buy it if…

Razer Blade 18 (2026) review: Also consider

How I tested the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

• Tested for one work week
• Used for gaming and other tasks
• 8+ years of experience reviewing dozens of laptops

I swapped out my usual desktop workstation rig for the Razer Blade 18 for five days (one work week), during which I used it for all my usual activities. This included day-to-day work in the Google software suite, online research, playing videos, and of course a lot of after-hours gaming.

In terms of the games tested, I ran out entire synthetic and gaming benchmark lineup (listed in the 'performance' section of this review, as well as playing some other games that are in my current rotation: Marathon, Warframe, Alan Wake 2, Borderlands 4, and of course my current addition Slay the Spire 2 (though let's be honest, that last one isn't exactly a performance stress-test).

I've been a PC gamer since my tender pre-teen years, starting out on my dad's boxy beige home office desktop, and I've been a professional tech journalist reviewing all kinds of laptops and PC tech for nearly a decade now, starting out at Maximum PC magazine before making the jump to digital journalism and joining the TechRadar team. I've personally reviewed more than seventy laptops, so you can trust that my knowledge and experience give you reliable insights into the quality of the products I write about.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read more about how we test

There's been a surprising number of excellent gaming laptop deals this week as we build up to Amazon Prime Day later this month. Yesterday, I found a great listing on an RTX 5080 Lenovo at B&H Photo, and today, I've found a fantastic alternative for those on a budget.

It's this RTX 5060-equipped Gigabyte A16 at Walmart for $999 (was $1,499), which is going cheap(er) thanks to a massive $500 price cut at the retailer.

Specs include the excellent RTX 5060 graphics card alongside a decent Ryzen 7 260 chipset, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD. These are good specs for the money, even if it would have been nice to have 32GB of RAM right out of the box.

With RAM prices so high, it's somewhat understandable that you only get 16GB here, which should be enough for good performance either way. The RTX 5060 is paired with a 1200p 165Hz display, so it's a good mid-range setup for smooth gaming on most titles.

Today's best value gaming laptop deal

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptops at Walmart

Right now is usually a bad time to pick up tech, as we're only a few weeks away from the big annual Amazon Prime Day sale. Gaming laptops may be one of the sole exceptions to that rule, however, as I generally find retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Dell to have better deals.

Having looked through Amazon's gaming laptop listings, I haven't found anything that challenges this Gigabyte A16 for value right now. Waiting for Prime Day is an option, but if you do, I'd still recommend checking out rival retailer discounts to see what's about. Prime Day is set to run from June 23 to 26 this year, so regardless of whether you wait it out or not, you don't have to hang around too long.

Also highly recommended this week...

It's increasingly difficult to find great value gaming laptops in recent times due to the ongoing RAM price crisis. If you know where to look, however, there are still a few diamonds here and there.

One highlight I've just spotted is this Lenovo Legion Pro 7i for $2,549 (was $3,499) at B&H Photo. This retailer has really surprised me with excellent deals recently, and this particular listing might just be the best yet — if you have deep pockets.

While pricey, the $950 discount offsets the blow significantly, and you get not just an excellent RTX 5080 graphics card, but also an Ultra 9 chipset, 32GB of RAM, and a 240Hz OLED display. In short, this machine is ready to go right out of the box, and should last you a few good years down the line, too.

If I were looking for a higher-end gaming laptop, this would definitely be on my shopping list this week. You can check out our Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review for a full rundown of this particular model.

Today's best RTX 5080 gaming laptop deal

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptops at B&H

Is it worth waiting for Prime Day now?

For those not in the know, Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner. The annual mega-sale is set to take place from June 23 - 26 later this month, and it usually has excellent discounts that rival those from Black Friday.

I usually recommend that readers hold out until the big sale for most tech purchases, but I think you're pretty safe with this particular listing at B&H Photo. As someone who covers gaming laptop deals all year round, I find Amazon to be one of the least consistent retailers out there for gaming laptops. There are usually discounts for Prime Day, but I've found Best Buy, Walmart, and Dell to have much better options in their rival sales.

It's hard to find a great value gaming laptop these days with RAM prices so inflated. But, that doesn't mean there isn't the occasional gem that crops up every now and again.

I'd argue, for example, that this Lenovo Legion 5i at B&H Photo for $1,299 (was $1,699) is an exceptional deal in any context.

While $1,299 isn't exactly cheap, it's a reasonable price for what you're getting here. The Lenovo Legion 5i features a high-end OLED display, and this configuration in particular comes with an RTX 5060 graphics card, Intel Ultra 7 chipset, a 1TB SSD, and 32GB of RAM right out of the box.

It's exceptionally rare to find a machine that ticks all the boxes at this price point, but the $400 off at B&H is really making this one a great value buy. No glaring upgrades are needed here, and you'll get excellent performance for a few years down the line.

Today's best RTX 5060 gaming laptop deal

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptop deals at B&H

Great specs, paired with an OLED display

We haven't tested the latest Legion 5i model at TechRadar, but we have reviewed the older iterations and consistently found them to be great laptops overall. While they're not the flashiest machines on the market, the hardware is top-notch, and generally, they're well built, too.

With this particular deal, you're getting a mid-level configuration with an OLED display, which remains the biggest selling point for the latest Legion 5i. It's a premium panel that's going to get you much nicer colors, contrast, and inky blacks versus the cheaper displays featured on budget machines. It's a 1600p resolution panel, which is quite pixel dense for a laptop, but luckily the RTX 5060 graphics card should be up to the task for providing smooth performance.

The ongoing RAM crisis has sent gaming laptop prices skyrocketing in recent months, but it's not all bad news, as the annual Memorial Day sales are offering some surprisingly good discounts today. In fact, retailers like Best Buy have some of the best deals I've seen since Black Friday today.

I've been scanning through hundreds of listings to find the best discounts for our readers, and interestingly, I've found good options on everything from super-budget machines to stunning high-end models. In some cases, we're seeing price cuts in excess of $500, which is impressive considering RAM prices have massively hit gaming laptops.

Just below, you can see my top 7 gaming laptop deals in the Memorial Day sales laid out in descending price and with specs detailed. A few highlights include the Asus TUF A16 with an RTX 5070 for just $1,499 (was $1,799) at Best Buy, the Alienware 16 Aurora for $1,374 (was $1,749), and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for $1,499 (was $1,774) — a particularly fine choice thanks to its premium OLED display.

You can read more about these laptops just down below. While you're here, you can also check out our main Memorial Day landing page for picks on TVs, appliances, and other categories this week.

Today's best Memorial Day gaming laptop deals

May is usually a pretty quiet patch of the year for gaming laptop deals, but the annual Memorial Day sales are definitely an exception. In fact, discounts at retailers like Best Buy can rival those from Black Friday and other well-known events.

Best Buy's Memorial Day sale is already live this week, so I've been scanning through all the listings to find the best price cuts. In short, there's plenty to consider right now if you're looking for an RTX 5060, RTX 5070, or RTX 5070 Ti machine. Even slightly cheaper (and older) models are on sale today.

Just below, you can see my top five gaming laptop deals in the Best Buy Memorial Day sale, starting with this Lenovo LOQ for just $749 (was $1,049). That's a great option if you're just looking to cover the basics — especially since spiralling RAM costs have really hit the budget gaming laptop scene in recent months.

Other highlights include the Asus TUF A16 with an RTX 5070 for just $1,499 (was $1,799), the Alienware 16 Aurora for $1,374 (was $1,749), and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for $1,499 (was $1,774) — the latter being a popular choice due to its premium OLED display.

You can read more about these laptops just down below. While you're here, you can also check out our main Memorial Day sales guide for picks on TVs, appliances, and other categories this week.

Best Memorial Day gaming laptop deals at Best Buy

More Memorial Day sales at Best Buy

• Apple: up to $300 off iPads & MacBooks
• Appliances: up to 45% off major appliances
• Cameras: up to $500 off Kodak & Nikon
• Gaming: PS5, Switch & Xbox games from $7.99
• Headphones: up to $150 off Bose & Sony
• Kitchen: up to 50% off slow cookers & coffee makers
• Laptops: from $149
• Phones: up to $250 off Apple & Samsung
• Smart home: up to 50% off Ring & Blink
• Smartwatches: up to $250 off Garmin & Samsung
• Tablets: up to $250 off iPads
• Toys: deals on Lego, Bandai, and more
• TVs: up to 50% off 4K & OLED TVs
• Vacuums: up to $550 off Dyson & Shark

Looking for a gaming laptop that offers some serious performance for the price? You can get an Asus V16 at Amazon for $1,189.99 (was $1,499.99). That's over $300 off this powerful gaming laptop with an Intel Core 7, RTX 5060, and 32GB of RAM.

These are modern specs for the current gaming market. The RTX 5060 from Nvidia's latest GPU series guarantees some longevity for the next few years, and the 32GB of RAM raises this V16 configuration higher than the average gaming laptop that costs around $1,200.

The full price lands this laptop right at mid-range, but the price cut brings it closer to budget territory, while still offering enough power to run even the most demanding games at medium-to-high settings in 1080p, without compromising on frame rate.

Today's best gaming laptop deal

The Asus V16 is a more lightweight alternative to the Asus TUF gaming laptop series. In our Asus V16 review, our reviewer praised the balance between its large screen and light body, its fans with reasonable noise suppression, and a "clicky and snappy" keyboard that didn't require much pressure to use. It earned four out of five stars.

The battery life is another standout quality, promising up to 15 hours on one charge. Our tester reported around 12 hours, which is less than that, but double the battery life of something like the Acer Nitro V.

As for its other specs, the 16-inch screen supports a 144Hz refresh rate, the bare minimum for fast-paced gameplay, and 300 nits of brightness. That's about average, but good value for the price.

For more, check out our best gaming laptops and current gaming laptop deals for under $1000. We also have a separate list for best gaming PCs, in case you'd prefer a fully fleshed home setup.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+: Two-minute review

The MSI Stealth 16 AI+ is hard to identify as a red-blooded gaming laptop at first glance. The dark grey finish sets it apart from the mostly jet-black marketplace, while the rounded corners and lack of branding further distinguish it from others in the sector.

Its form factor also follows suit. It’s surprisingly thin and light for a 16-inch gaming machine, making it more portable than many of its rivals.

Despite this lithe form, though, the Stealth 16 AI+ doesn’t feel that flimsy. The materials feel smooth and premium, although there’s some flex to the base, so it’s not as solid as the best gaming laptop models.

Also impressive is the number of ports featured. There are two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and two USB-A. There’s also an HDMI port and an RJ-45 for wired network connectivity. However, all of these are set further forward than usual, which may prove inconvenient in certain setups.

The gaming performance of the Stealth 16 AI+ is excellent. My review unit handled AAA titles with no issue, offering impressive frame rates even at full resolution. Some heat and noise was generated, but both of these aspects were far from troubling.

Games also looked great thanks to the brilliant display. The 1600p resolution and OLED tech meant content was super sharp and vibrant, without being blighted by reflections. The high 240Hz refresh rate will also please gamers who prize supreme smoothness.

The keyboard is tactile and easy to use, offering easy presses and just enough dampening to be satisfying. The touchpad is large and smooth, which makes for easy navigation, yet it rarely got in the way while I typed.

The Stealth 16 AI+ also has a very respectable battery life. It lasted over 14 hours when I ran a movie on a continuous loop, which surpasses many other gaming laptops. It’s also quite quick to charge, taking over two hours to fully replenish.

As you might expect for all its qualities, the Stealth 16 AI+ doesn’t come cheap. It might be hard justifying paying this much for such a powerful and versatile machine, but if you need a gaming laptop that does it all, there aren’t many better than the Stealth 16 AI+.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Price & availability

• Starts from $2,099.99 (about £1,540 / AU$2,900)
• Available from mid-to-late May
• Unsurprisingly expensive

The MSI Stealth 16 AI+ starts from $2,099.99 (about £1,540 / AU$2,900) and will be available from mid-to-late May. The base model is loaded with an RTX 5060, whereas the top model has a 5080 and costs $3,299.99 (about £2,420 / AU$4,550).

This is expensive, even for a gaming laptop. But when you consider the top-tier spec, it’s hardly surprising. It’s similarly priced to the A16 AI+, although that machine features 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage across all of its models.

If you’re on a much tighter budget, but still want decent gaming performance, the Asus V16 is an option. It’s just as easy to carry around as the Stealth 16 AI+, but you’ll have to settle for a 40 series RTX rather than a 50 series, and the display is far less impressive. However, if you just want a decent machine for 1200p gaming, it’s worth considering.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Specs

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Design

• Thin and light for a large gaming laptop
• Smooth materials
• Plenty of ports

For a large gaming laptop, the Stealth 16 AI+ is quite restrained. It has a smart and minimalist body, lacking any odd angles or protrusions, which is always nice to see.

This is complemented by the lack of branding or any other gaming-oriented flourishes. All it features is a small logo and an S pattern on the lid, but both are so discreet and close to the same base color that you’ll barely notice them.

The dark grey colorway is smart and a little more interesting than the total black finishes of many in this class. The tasteful RGB backlighting of the keyboard, along with the rounded corners of the chassis, help to soften its appearance, too.

It also seems quite well made. The main material feels very smooth and premium, although it’s not especially solid. For example, the base can be flexed if you push a little too hard, or hit the keys a little too enthusiastically.

This is the price paid for its lightweight construction. For a large gaming laptop, the Stealth 16 AI+ is remarkably unobtrusive, especially when you consider it’s loaded with an RTX 50 series GPU. This makes it a more realistic option for on-the-go gaming than many of its rivals.

However, this portability is somewhat undermined by the feet underneath, which are quite thick. At least the ventilation area, also underneath, doesn’t have any bulk to it. It’s merely a large but completely flat honeycomb pattern, which also has its own aesthetic qualities.

Oddly, the most solid aspect of the Stealth 16 AI+ is the lid. There’s far less flex here, which is all the more impressive given just how thin it is. What’s more, the hinge provides plenty of stability while gaming, but puts up little resistance when opening up the display.

I was also surprised by the number of ports onboard the Stealth 16 AI+. There are two USB-C connections, both of which utilize the Thunderbolt 4 standard that supports DisplayPort and Power Delivery. There’s also a dedicated DC-in port for powering your laptop using the included adapter.

Two USB-A ports are also featured, which are split across both sides of the unit for added convenience. An HDMI 2.1 port, an RJ-45 port, and a headset jack round out the rest of the interfaces.

All ports on both sides are set further forward than you might expect, no doubt to give room to the GPU at the rear. I found this a little inconvenient, especially when connecting a power cable, since it protruded from near the middle of the unit. This can eat into desk space and lead to tangling if you have other wired connections to make.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Performance

• Smooth AAA gaming
• Sharp and vibrant display
• Easy and tactile keys

I was impressed by the gaming performance of the Stealth 16 AI+. I got around 50fps when playing Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray Tracing: Ultra preset selected. This shot up to around 90fps when Frame Generation was enabled on top. I only experienced occasional drops in frame rate during busier scenes, but these weren’t steep enough to adversely affect gameplay.

When I first booted up the game, there was a lot of fan noise. Once I started playing, this quietened down, but it was still noticeable. Heat was noticeable, too, but this remained at the very back of the unit, and temperatures weren’t extreme.

The display in the Stealth 16 AI+ is excellent. The 2.5K resolution is more than sharp enough for a display this large, while the OLED technology provides a vivid color palette. It’s also very bright, which makes all kinds of content shine. I never had any problem with reflections showing up on the screen, either. And for those who value ultra-smooth gameplay, it’s capable of delivering a 240Hz refresh rate, which is more than enough for most gamers.

The keyboard is a joy to use. The keys are light yet offer a pleasing amount of travel, which increases their feedback. They’re more damped than those on your average laptop keyboard, which makes them more satisfying to hit, but they’re still harsher than those on the best gaming keyboards.

I also welcomed the generous spacing between the keys. This made them comfortable to use and made typing easier. However, this spacing comes at the expense of a number pad and navigation keys, which is a shame for a 16-inch laptop.

The touchpad is very large and has a very smooth surface — aspects that make it great for navigation. And although my thumb palms frequently made contact with it while typing, this rarely triggered cursor movement or clicks.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Battery life

• Excellent for a gaming laptop
• Outlasts many rivals
• Quick to charge

By gaming laptop standards, the battery life of the Stealth 16 AI+ is very impressive. During our movie playback test, it lasted over 14 hours. This means it has better longevity than many of its rivals, including MSI’s other Stealth model, the A16 AI+, which didn’t even make it past five hours.

It also outlasted the Asus V16, which only managed 12 and a half hours. It’s also quite quick to charge, taking about two and a half hours to reach 100% from total depletion.

Should I buy the MSI Stealth 16 AI+?

Scorecard

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ review: Also consider

How I tested the MSI Stealth 16 AI+

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and other tasks
• Gaming laptop experience

I tested the Stealth 16 AI+ for several days. As well as gaming with AAA titles, I also used the laptop for general browsing and streaming video.

I also ran our series of benchmark tests for gaming laptops. This included a battery test, where I ran a movie on a continuous loop until it shut down.

I’ve been PC gaming for decades, and have experienced many systems in that time. I’ve also reviewed plenty of gaming laptops before, as well as other gaming hardware.

• First reviewed: May 2026
• Read more about how we test

When it comes to finding the best gaming laptop deals, it's usually the same big-name retailers that crop up again and again - Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg, and so on. Right now, however, I'd argue that B&H Photo has them all beat when it comes to great value options.

On browsing the retailer's current listings, I was surprised at just how good the price cuts are for RTX 5060, RTX 5070, and RTX 5080 machines this week. In fact, they're among the best deals I've seen this year.

For example, you can currently get an Acer Nitro V with an RTX 5070 for $1,199 (was $1,399) at B&H Photo - a great price for a machine with this card. The downside with this particular deal is that this config only comes with 16GB of RAM, but you can choose to drop down to an RTX 5060 and get 32GB of DDR5 RAM for $1,149 (was $1,249), which again, is a good deal considering how expensive RAM is at the moment.

Higher-end options today include this Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 for $1,499 (was $1,849) at B&H Photo. If I were looking for a machine for my own personal use, I'd be severely tempted by this one in particular due to its RTX 5070, Intel Ultra 9 chipset, and 32GB of RAM. These are not only good specs for the price, but also powerful enough to avoid any upgrades for outstanding performance on this machine's 1600p 240z display.

I've included one more surprise gaming laptop for those looking for something truly powerful just down below - as well as further details on the machines I've already covered.

Today's best gaming laptop deals

It might feel like you have to spend a fortune to be able to play games on the move, but if you don’t mind making some compromises, it’s still very possible to do so on a budget. That’s the case with this Acer Nitro V at Amazon for $699.99 (was $799.99).

It has the essentials, including a 15.6-inch full HD display with a 165Hz refresh rate, so it looks suitably sharp and responsive when playing most games. There are compromises for the lower price, though, like an older Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and only 8GB of RAM — but that’s not bad at all for the price and is capable of playing undemanding games at medium settings without issue.

It’s a good starter gaming laptop for anyone who doesn’t want to spend too much, but still wants to play some games such as Fortnite, League of Legends or Counter-Strike away from home or with limited space.

Today’s best gaming laptop deal

We haven't specifically reviewed this particular model but when looking at a newer revision, our Acer Nitro V review called it a “capable 1080p gaming machine with a surprisingly vibrant display to boot.”

We gave it four stars out of five and appreciated its “good 1080p performance.” Such performance led to it being one of the best gaming laptops around for anyone on a budget. Just bear in mind that its battery life could be a little better, but I’m not surprised there are some flaws when it’s such a low price.

That mentality extends to this slightly older model and looks just as good with a subtle but fun gamer aesthetic.

If you can afford to spend more, there are other gaming laptop deals to consult. If gaming isn’t a priority, there are some great value laptop deals around too.

Spiralling RAM prices haven't just hit those who build their own PCs — they've also majorly hit gaming laptop prices in recent months. There are still a few bargains to be had, however, if you're keeping an eye out.

In the process of updating my monthly gaming laptop deals roundup, I've found a few listings that are actually worth sharing — and worth the cash.

First up is this Asus TUF F16 at Best Buy for $1,299 (was $1649), which features 32GB of RAM, a decent Core i7 chipset, and an RTX 5060 graphics card. I've seen quite a few sub $1,000 RTX 5060 machines recently, but they all tend to cheap out on the other components. By comparison, you're getting a laptop that's gameworthy right out the box here — albeit one that's a little pricier than some.

For a meaningful upgrade, I'd also highlight this Acer Nitro V17 for $1,499 at Amazon as a great option. There's no outright price cut, but this listing is a rare diamond in the rough at a retailer that's usually flooded with subpar listings. An RTX 5070, 32GB of RAM, and Ryzen 7 chipset mean it's a decent value today. It is a larger 17-inch model, though, which may be a drawback if you value portability.

You can read more about these gaming laptops and two more fantastic options below.

4 excellent gaming laptop deals today

On-the-go gaming can cost under $1,000 if you know where to look. Right now, you can get the Asus TUF F16 at Amazon for just $859.99 (was $999.99). That's a great low price for one of the flagship gaming laptops from Asus.

Asus is known for budget-friendly buys like the TUF F16 and its AMD-powered sibling, the Asus TUF A16. The F16's biggest highlight is the RTX 4050, Nvidia's base-level graphics card from its last-generation GPU series, which is best-suited to entry-level gaming on medium settings.

Today's best budget gaming laptop deal

At this price, the Asus TUF F16 is comparable to our best budget gaming laptops. It just depends on what specs you want to prioritize. For example, its 16-inch FHD+ screen supports a speedy 144Hz refresh rate for smooth and responsive gaming. Its CPU, the Intel Core 5, is on par with our best cheap gaming laptop, the Acer Nitro V.

As for memory and storage, the Asus TUF F16's 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD are average. But, they should be enough for someone just starting out with PC gaming or a low-maintenance gamer who only wants the basics for undemanding titles on medium settings at 1080p.

For more, browse our best gaming laptop deals for under $1,000. I’d also recommend looking at our best gaming laptops in general if you have a bigger budget.

As someone who regularly rounds up the best gaming laptop deals, I've often found myself exasperated by the lack of decent listings. Ever since RAM prices spiralled, it's been increasingly hard to find good offers that I'd actually buy.

There are still a few good deals here and there, including listings that I'd recommend to those who are on a budget.

The best option I've found this week is this Asus TUF F16 with an RTX 5050 for $899 (was $1,299) at Amazon. For the price, this is actually a fair deal right now, considering the combination of an RTX 5050 and Intel Core i5 chipset should allow you to play a wide range of titles smoothly. With $400 off, you're also not overpaying for what is essentially a budget machine here.

Even cheaper still is the Lenovo LOQ for $789 (was $1,049) at Best Buy. This particular configuration features an RTX 4050 graphics card and Ryzen 5 chipset, so it's roughly equivilent with the Asus, albeit a little older. I'd recommend coughing up the extra for a machine with a newer RTX 5050, but this Lenovo will definitely get you started on the cheap if you're willing to tweak a few graphical settings here and there.

Cheap gaming laptop deals this week

Also available this week

If you’re keen to game on the move but also dealing with a tight budget, you’re in luck. Right now, you can buy the Asus TUF F16 Gaming Laptop at Amazon for $999.99 (was $1.199.99). That’s a pretty sweet deal for a gaming laptop which has an RTX 4050 GPU — ideal for 1080p gaming.

The Asus TUF F16 Gaming Laptop is a limited-time deal, so you’ll likely need to move fast. It offers a reasonable set of specs for the price, with a 16-inch full HD+ display with a 144Hz refresh rate working well alongside the budget-friendly RTX 4050 GPU. It also has 512GB of SSD storage, 16GB RAM, and an Intel Core i7-13620H CPU. The laptop looks pretty stylish, too, without completely succumbing to an excessive gamer aesthetic.

Today’s best budget gaming laptop deal

We haven’t reviewed this particular model, but we have reviewed a similar Asus TUF A16 Gaming Laptop, which was awarded a strong four out of five stars. It doesn’t quite compete with the very best gaming laptops, but it’s excellent value for money.

It has a good mixture of hardware that complements each component well. It looks pretty sleek yet stylish without being too in your face. It also has military-grade durability, so it can handle a more physical life if needed (but please don’t throw your laptop).

Little details like a backlit keyboard, HDMI port, Thunderbolt port, and plenty of USB ports all add up nicely as well. If you want one of the best laptops around, but also be able to game, this is worth checking out if you’re on a budget and can’t go all out with your purchase.

If you’re interested in seeing what else is out there, there are other cheap gaming laptop deals around. If you want a regular laptop, there are also some strong laptop deals to look through.

Despite the ongoing RAM crisis, there are still occasional good deals on laptops at major retailers if you keep an eye out. For example, both Walmart and Best Buy have a few great value gaming laptops right now that won't put budget gamers too far out of pocket.

If you're really on a budget, then this Lenovo LOQ with an RTX 4050 is a great buy at $649.99 (was $959) at Best Buy today. Sure, it's not a world-beater in terms of performance, but for well under $700, I could see this machine being a fantastic choice for a student or gamer who prefers older titles.

Moving up in price slightly, you could also consider something like this MSI Katana 15 with an RTX 5050 for $899 (was $999) at Walmart. You get a more up-to-date GPU with this one as well as a 14th-gen Intel Core i7 chipset for outstanding everyday performance. At $899, it's not a super-cheap machine, but you do get decent specs for the money.

Finally, if you're looking for something a little more high-end, it's hard to ignore this Acer Predator Helios Neo at Best Buy for $1,199 (was $1,599). This machine is definitely on the pricey end for a laptop with a mid-range RTX 4060 graphics card, but it makes up for it significantly with its premium 240Hz OLED display. With such a high-end panel, you're getting a machine that can really showcase its performance here.

Five decent-value gaming laptop deals right now

When I was a teenager, the ultimate piece of tech unobtanium for me was the Acer Predator 21X. A decade ago, I remember seeing this ridiculous brute of a laptop and thinking "What if?" with regard to ever getting my hands on one.

It wasn't so much the internals of the device at the time, but more the fact it came in an over-the-top suitcase and with a curved, ultrawide screen and a proper Cherry MX Brown mechanical keyboard in a laptop – it's still nuts to this day in my head.

When this laptop was first announced at IFA 2016, I was fourteen. That firstly makes me feel quite old, and was secondly around the time I got into tech journalism on a very small basis, writing for, at the time, one of the only mechanical keyboard-focused news and reviews websites in the UK on the interwebs – MechBoards UK.

Searching around for news one morning, I spotted the Predator 21X announcement, and I remember marvelling at the device. Weirdly, I didn't end up writing about it, and I don't really know why, but here we are.

Fast forward virtually a decade, and I finally got pally enough with Acer's PR folks for them to let me borrow the Predator 21X for a couple of weeks, for the benefit of seeing whether it can actually fit in my home and how this once-$10,000 / £9,000 laptop holds up in the big 2026.

Look at the size of this

The first thing that got me was the sheer size of the Acer Predator 21X. Granted, this is well-covered ground by this point, but for a device I'd only seen in pictures, having a delivery driver turn up at my doorstep with a literal suitcase with lots of padding and a laptop somewhere in the middle inside was a new experience.

To put things into perspective, even some of the biggest and heaviest gaming laptops from the last couple of years, such as the Alienware 16 Area-51 and MSI Titan 18 HX AI, tip the scales at 3.4kg and 3.6kg, respectively.

By contrast, the Predator 21X weighs 8.5kg. That's those two laptops combined, and an additional 1.5kg, for one laptop – not to mention the two hefty power bricks you'll need to carry around to keep it topped up with go-juice that pushes the weight over the 10kg threshold.

The weight is only the start of things, though, as this Acer behemoth is also nearly two feet long, a foot deep and just over three inches high. We've got to the point where modern ultrabooks can be under 15mm in thickness and weigh less than a kilo, so going from that to this in my day-to-day workflow is quite the shock.

Acer said at the time it wanted to let its designers loose with the look of the Predator 21X, and I think it encompasses the 2016 RGB gamer aesthetic perfectly with lots of lighting and aggressive styling. It's not bereft of ports, either, coming with a sum total of four USB-A 3.0 ports on the sides, plus a headphone and microphone jack, with the rear having an HDMI port, two DisplayPort connectors, Gigabit Ethernet and a USB-C port.

Opening up the lid reveals a huge bottom tray, of which only half is used for the keyboard and trackpad. The top portion is for cooling and additional flair, such as a triangular viewing window for a cooling fan, while below, you get a tactile, RGB-enabled mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Brown RGB switches inside (and a sole MX Black on the Esc key) that feels excellent.

The trackpad sits to the right of it, and can be turned over to reveal a scissor-actuated number pad if you'd prefer to use a separate mouse. It's a ludicrous laptop from a design perspective, and one I can't help but adore because of it.

The beating heart of the machine

The Predator 21X was an exhibition of the top-end components of the time for a laptop, within reason, as Acer didn't want the laptop to catch fire due to too much grunt. Here's the spec sheet in case you need a reminder:

That's two desktop-class GTX 1080 GPUs in an SLI configuration (remember that?) that could yield some immense gaming performance for the time alongside the quad-core Intel Core i7-7820HK that's unlocked, so can be overclocked if you wanted to try and eke out as much oomph as possible.

To see how this laptop performs in 2026, I thought it might be fun to run it through a range of games – both ones that are contemporaries of the Predator 21X (with some that support SLI) and some slightly more modern titles that might push it quite hard. I've also put it through a range of modern benchmark tests to gauge performance against newer laptop hardware.

For reference, when this laptop was delivered to me, it was still running a version of Windows 10 from 2018 and hadn't been updated since, which took some head-scratching and troubleshooting to fix, plus a fair bit of waiting for the laptop to come to life.

For the benefit of stability, it's running the latest version of Windows 10 22H2 and Nvidia's last Game Ready drivers for the GTX 10-series, 581.80, which was released at the start of November 2025.

I've also elected to run games at both the laptop's native 2560x1080 ultrawide resolution, where supported, and also hooked up to my 4K QD-OLED monitor to see how far we can really push the Predator 21X.

Era-appropriate games

Firstly, I thought it was only right to run the Predator 21X through some games that would be period-correct for the time this laptop was released, and could potentially reap the benefits of SLI, to give an idea of a baseline alongside the original numbers Matt (Hanson, Managing Editor of Core Tech at TechRadar) gathered in his original Predator 21X review. Games were run at their highest respective settings, as you'd expect.

Far Cry 5 seemed to be universally acclaimed for its SLI integration when it released back in 2018, and at the Ultra preset with HD textures enabled, it managed a 73fps average at 2560x1080. Overclocking took things up to 77fps, although this is one of the only instances where the overclock and full fan-speed in the PredatorSense software yielded any benefits. At 4K, the Predator 21X managed a respectable 58fps average, which is excellent considering the age of the laptop.

I followed this up with the original Dirt Rally, again lauded for its SLI integration, and a game that relies on a strong CPU to help along the pair of desktop-class GTX 1080s inside. With the Ultra preset, I saw a 99fps average at 2560x1080, making for a smooth and immersive sim racing experience, while at 4K, results took a hit down to 46fps.

The original Hitman is where things get interesting, as it's here where we get a bit of a choice between DirectX 11 and DirectX12. Using the latter allows for multi-GPU scaling and potentially stronger performance, which is where I started. I saw an average of 87fps at 2560x1080 and 69fps at 4K. Running on DirectX 11 without multi-GPU scaling saw results go to 65fps and 61fps, respectively, providing a difference in power with two 1080s in tow.

Conversely, Rise of the Tomb Raider wouldn't work in DX12 mode at all, as the game simply wouldn't boot, and there wasn't anything I could do to help. Nonetheless, at the game's maximum settings, the Predator 21X managed 73fps at 2560x1080, although 4K results weren't too strong at 38fps.

I also wanted to run 2013's Crysis 3 for obvious reasons, but the wretched combination of the Xbox app and the EA Play integration on PC meant the game wouldn't load despite my troubleshooting and verbal threats aimed at the laptop.

Something a little newer

I also chose to run the Predator 21X through some newer games to see if this system could keep up. Of course, there isn't any SLI support in these more modern titles (due to Nvidia dropping the tech half a decade ago), and as you'll see, this is where things get a little disappointing.

My first port of call was Cyberpunk 2077, perhaps this generation's Crysis equivalent, as it can be quite a demanding title for a range of systems. At native 2560x1080 resolution on the game's Ultra preset, it yielded 37fps, while adding in the default FSR 2.1 upscaling on Quality mode pushed things up to 48fps.

4K Ultra Cyberpunk at 12fps natively was quite a rotten experience, though, and the upscaler could only push it up to 17fps. If you wanted to play Cyberpunk on the Predator 21X, you'd need to sacrifice some settings and be quite liberal with the use of the upscaler to hit more playable framerates.

It was much the same story for Returnal, too, with the native 2560x1080 resolution pushing 44fps, while the 4K result of 22fps is quite meagre.

In moving over to Rainbow Six Extraction, I had higher hopes for a more modern eSports-type title. The default Ultra preset includes a 'Dynamic' resolution of 25-100%, which is how I left it, and the Predator 21X managed an 82fps average at 2560x1080 and a more than playable 64fps at 4K. Fiddle around with some settings, and you'd be close to maxing out the 120Hz refresh rate on the Predator 21X's ultrawide IPS panel.

For one final test, I thought it'd be interesting to try a super up-to-date Unreal Engine 5-based title in Black Myth Wukong, as one of the only games I've got that doesn't need any hardware-based ray-tracing.

I elected to step down to the Very High preset, with FSR enabled (with a resolution scale of 33) and frame-gen on. With those settings applied, the Predator 21X achieved 49fps at 2560x1080 and 37fps at 4K. That pleasantly surprised me, I must admit.

Time for benchmarking

As for the more modern synthetic benchmarks, I'll put these in a table against more modern hardware, so you can judge performance for yourself. In essence, the CPU here is anything from a third to a half as quick as its more modern equivalents in single-core loads, while multi-threaded performance is several magnitudes worse.

3D performance in the array of benchmarks is reasonable, if quite unremarkable, although that is being compared with the latest generation of GPU hardware, as you'll see below. The scores provided were run with the laptop's CPU, and GPU overclocked in PredatorSense to eke out as much performance as possible, which made more of a tangible difference here than in games.

With all of these tests, the Predator 21X fan noise was surprisingly manageable and wasn't too loud, although crank the fans up to full with an overclock, and it will turn into a jet airliner taking off a few feet away from you.

10 years on... is the Acer Predator 21X still a beast?

So, to sum up – the Acer Predator 21X is everything I hoped it would be when I was a teenager when coming to take a look at it a virtual decade later. Okay, it isn't that powerful in more modern games, and your $10,000 investment wouldn't have necessarily been as sound all this time after, but it can still run well in the titles it was ultimately designed to, while feeling excellent with a full mechanical keyboard, a decently bright ultrawide screen and the thickest laptop chassis I've ever seen.

It goes to prove how much laptop tech has moved on, with beefy gaming machines being a third of the weight of this Acer beast while still packing in several magnitudes more power.

But, I can't help but feel a certain appeal to this large slab of ridiculousness, especially with things we don't seen on laptops much these days. Ultrawide, let alone curved, displays haven't really caught on in the mobile space, while mechanical keyboards in laptops are also rare – there has only been a handful with ultra-low-profile switches in them in more recent years.

It's a reminder of a time gone by in computer design, when manufacturers encouraged the sublime and diabolical, where now a lot of things have turned into a homogenous, thin, black or grey slab. I think we need to return to the days of the bonkers in gaming, as the hardware was all the better for it.

This past week has seen a huge array of spring sales at major retailers: Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, to name just a few. If you've been thinking about picking up a new gaming laptop, however, then Walmart has particularly good options today.

I've scanned through the retailer's listings and I've found some real gems. Admittedly, they aren't the cheapest, but they do offer fantastic overall value if you're seeking performance.

For example, this Lenovo Legion 5i with an RTX 5060 graphics card and OLED display for $1,385 (was $1,499) is a great mid-range choice right now. A little on the pricey end for a machine with an RTX 5060, but I'd happily pay to get a really great screen on my laptop — and you also get a decent Core i7 chipset backing up your GPU here.

If you just value specs, check out the Asus ROG Strix G16 for $1,399 (was $1,749) at Walmart. You lose the OLED display but gain a powerful RTX 5070 graphics card and Ryzen 9 chipset. The G16 is a really solidly built machine too, with a fantastic premium design and futuristic aesthetic.

Finally, if you want to go all-out, check out this higher-spec Lenovo Legion 5i for $1649 (was $1,849). You'll not only get an RTX 5070 here, but also an OLED display to pair up nicely with it. Annoyingly, this machine only features 16GB of RAM, which is something that's increasingly hard to avoid with the ongoing RAM crisis.

Walmart's best gaming laptop deals

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptop deals at Walmart

These past few weeks, I've been trying out the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI as part of an in-progress product review. In my testing, I've found it excels in gaming, 3D workflows, and especially creative applications. I would recommend it for all these reasons - as well as the fact that you can now buy the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI at Best Buy for $1,549.99 (was $1,899.99).

With a 16-inch OLED display (240 Hz refresh rate), an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32 GB RAM, and a 1 TB SSD, this is a seriously high-spec laptop that performs even under the most demanding of workflows.

So, if you're searching for a powerful laptop to cover all your tech work and hobbies, this deal is well worth a look.

Today's best Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI deal

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Best Buy

We've not carried out a full review of the Predator Helios Neo 16S AI but we did love the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 when we reviewed it in 2024. The 16S AI is a slimmer version of that model with a focus on AI performance and features.

The thinner and more lightweight design is a win for users craving on-the-go power. You can use this laptop at home, in the office, in a coffee shop, or anywhere you want.

The laptop includes 32 GB RAM, which, given the recent surge in memory prices, is a great inclusion. This, alongside the Intel Core Ultra 9 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, will keep everything flowing nicely.

The display is a 16-inch OLED panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate. That means it'll handle deep blacks like a pro, offer vibrant colors, and deliver buttery smooth graphics.

When you're paying this amount of money, you'll no doubt want to make sure you're getting great value for money. To help you narrow your search, we've put together a guide to all the best gaming laptops.

Gaming laptops aren't cheap, but they're an essential purchase if you're looking for maximum performance on the go. Luckily, there are plenty of deals to check out this week, thanks to the Amazon Spring sale - the best being this Lenovo Legion 5 at Amazon for £1,349.99 (was £1,549.99).

If you're thinking about gaming specs, then you're likely wanting the latest GPU from Nvidia and a whole load of RAM thrown in to boot. With an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU and 32GB of RAM, that's exactly what you're getting with this particular machine. And, considering the cost of RAM nowadays, the price tag here doesn't seem too excessive.

As well as outstanding hardware under the hood, the Lenovo Legion 5 boasts a 15-inch OLED display, which sets it apart from much of the competition. With a powerful GPU like the RTX 5070, you can either hook this machine up to an external monitor or make full use of the stunning OLED display. Don't deliberate for too long, however, as the Amazon Spring Sale is set to end on Monday, the 16th of March.

Today’s best gaming laptop deal

Despite not having reviewed this specific model, our time with the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i gives us great confidence to make the recommendation. Lenovo Legion gaming laptops offer top specs inside a long-lasting chassis.

The CPU, GPU, and RAM will keep your gaming pursuits flowing along smoothly, while 1TB of storage provides enough room to install a handful of your favourite games without too much issue. The 15-inch OLED screen rounds everything off with bright output and a fast refresh rate.

Every purchase offers three months of PC Game Pass, including EA Play. With new games added regularly, you're sure to find the perfect set of games to unwind to.

At this price, the Lenovo Legion gaming laptop is easily one of the best gaming laptops out there, but it won't be for everyone. If that's the case, have a look at our laptop deals and MacBook deals pages for other options.

Amazon's huge Spring Deal Days sale is live today — and aside from having an extremely awkward name — it's a great resource for gaming discounts. I've been scanning for gaming laptops in particular, and today's discounts are probably the best I've seen since Black Friday.

For example, you can currently get an RTX 5070 gaming laptop for just £1,199. And it's not some basic stripped-down machine either, but one with a Ryzen 9 chipset, 32GB of RAM, and a 180Hz display.

Options are good for cheaper machines, too. I've seen laptops with RTX 5050 graphics cards for as low as £679, which could be fantastic if you're on a budget. Slightly more powerful RTX 5060 options start at £799, which is again one of the lowest prices I've seen this year.

All nine of my favourite deals have been laid out below by price. Of all the deals, the Acer Nitro V16 with the RTX 5070 is probably my favourite, but today's discounts include options from MSI, Lenovo, and even Alienware. If you're interested, you'll also find an overview of the sale as a whole at the bottom of the page.

My favourite gaming laptop deals at Amazon today

More of today's Amazon Spring Sale highlights

• Amazon Devices: Fire TV & Blink from £13.99
• Apple: AirPods & Apple Watch from £139
• Appliances: up to 30% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Clothing: up to 50% off Sketchers & Crocs
• Essentials: from £5
• Gaming: up to 50% off PS5 & Switch games
• Headphones: Sony & Shokz from £59
• Health & Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Smart home: up to 50% off cameras & doorbells
• Smartwatches: Apple & Huawei from £99
• Tablets: Fire & Galaxy Tabs from £59.99
• Toys: up to 30% off Lego
• TVs: from £139.99
• Vacuums: up to 30% off Shark & Vax

The HP Omen 16 has had multiple refreshes throughout the years, including models with Nvidia's latest RTX 50 series of graphics cards. And right now, you can get this HP Omen 16 with an RTX 5060 at Best Buy for $1024.99 (was $1479.99).

The RTX 5060 is one tier above the RTX 5050, the cheapest of the bunch. Alongside the RTX 5060, this HP Omen 16 also includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD. These specs fall within what I'd consider mid-range, but the price makes it much more competitive with budget models.

Today's best HP gaming laptop deal

We haven't reviewed the HP Omen 16 with the RTX 5060, but we have positively reviewed other HP Omen laptops like the HP Omen 16 Max in the past. The HP Omen 16 Max is a splurge compared to the standard HP Omen, but the value for the price stands out at nearly 50% off the price.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD combined fit squarely into the low-to-mid-range. The 16-inch 2K display with a 144Hz refresh rate also helps with performance, in case you need to capture reactions in real-time while playing esports or other action-packed games.

For more, I'd recommend looking at our best gaming laptops or, if you're looking for work and play, our best laptops for work and gaming. We also have a separate list for our best HP laptops.

As someone who regularly writes about gaming laptops, it's usually the US retailers that have the lion's share of deep price cuts. But today, I've found an excellent deal for our UK readers — a deal so good that the Americans will be jealous, in fact.

It's the Acer Nitro V16 for £1,199 (was £1,299) at Very, which, by my estimation, appears to be a record-low price on this wallet-friendly RTX 5070 gaming laptop.

The Acer Nitro V16 is what I'd call a lower mid-range laptop, but this is the highest spec you can get right now, with an AMD Ryzen 7 chipset, 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM accompanying the RTX 5070. For the price, these are very impressive specs indeed, although it would have been nice to have a little extra RAM.

Annoyingly, like all laptops right now, you won't find 32GB of RAM on a machine at this level due to the ongoing RAM shortage. What you will get, however, is a gaming laptop that's still very quick and capable of running all the latest titles at respectable graphical settings. The RTX 5070 will do a lot of heavy lifting here, that's for sure.

Excellent value RTX 5070 laptop at Very

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptops at Very

A solid mid-range laptop at this price

We haven't reviewed this machine personally at TechRadar, but our sister-site GamesRadar published a detailed review a few days ago with a full run-down of the machine.

They tested the cheaper RTX 5060 variant, but the laptop chassis is the same, so expect the same understated black design and IPS display. You should, however, get a decent bump in performance here with the RTX 5070 under the hood.

As an overall package, the Acer Nitro V 16 is a decent buy for the price, but you do miss out on a few of the higher-end touches like an OLED display or metal chassis. It's a laptop that's been built to a price, but it is pretty slim, and performance is decent for a machine at this level.

Looking for a gaming laptop that looks premium but on a budget? Right now, you can get the Alienware 16X Aurora Gaming Laptop at Dell for $999.99 (was $1,419.99).

The Alienware 16X Aurora is just one of the few Dell gaming laptops we recommend buying this President's Day. Even though it's the cheapest configuration, the RTX 5050 and Intel Core 7 combo is still fairly robust for the cost if you need a solid, entry-level gaming laptop.

You can also get the Alienware 16X Aurora with the RTX 5070 for $1,899.99 (was $2,369.99) if you think you need a machine for more demanding titles. However, the discount only applies to models with 16GB RAM. If you upgrade to 32 or 64GB, you have to pay full price.

Today's best Alienware gaming laptop deal

As mentioned earlier, this cheapest configuration features an RTX 5050, Intel Core 7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD for storage. I wouldn't put it in the highest tier, but it's the best value for aesthetics and entry-level performance on a budget for games such as Valorant, League of Legends, and Fortnite.

We reviewed an RTX 5070 / Ultra 9 configuration with 32GB RAM for our Alienware 16X Aurora review. In that, we rated it four out of five stars for its 1440p performance, 240Hz refresh rate, and pretty, lightweight chassis. As our reviewer wrote, the Alienware 16X Aurora is more about "simple on-the-go power than benchmark-breaking performance."

If you want the opposite, I'd recommend the Alienware 16 Area-51 Gaming Laptop for $2,119.99 (was $2,719.99). I'd also look at our best gaming laptops just to see what else is out there.

I think I may have just spotted the gaming laptop deal to end all gaming laptop deals this Presidents' Day. It's the Lenovo Legion 5i currently on sale as part of the official Lenovo Store's doorbuster event for $1,299 (was $2,034.99).

A gaming laptop with an RTX 5070 graphics card and Ryzen 7 chipset for $1,299, what's so good about that? Well, you can currently use the codes BUYMORELENOVO and EXTRAFIVE at checkout to further knock the price down to just $1,194.99.

That's close to the lowest price I've ever seen for an RTX 5070 gaming laptop, and this isn't come cheapo model that Lenovo has just upgraded with a mid-range GPU, either. The Legion 5i also features a 1600p OLED display with excellent image quality, which is one area where a lot of similar models fall short.

My only criticism of this particular deal is that the featured configuration only has 16GB of RAM. That's somewhat understandable with the insane level of price inflation surrounding RAM right now, but it's still a black spot on an otherwise flawless deal. On the plus side, this machine will support a RAM upgrade, so that is an option if RAM prices eventually settle in the not-too-distant future.

Today's best RTX 5070 gaming laptop deal

• See more: check out all of today's laptop deals at Lenovo

This particular deal is just one of many available today, but it's probably my favorite from the hundreds of listings that I've checked this past week or so. It's just hitting that sweet spot in terms of value - although, admittedly, it's not the cheapest machine on the market currently.

It's also a machine that we haven't personally reviewed here at TechRadar. We have reviewed the slightly higher-end Legion 7i, however, and we thought that was a great gaming laptop. Our sister site TomsGuide has also got a fantastic review of the Legion 5i that's well worth checking out if you want a full run-down of the machine.

February isn’t typically a standout month for gaming laptop bargains, but Presidents’ Day sales are the big exception. Now the big day itself is here at last, retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are rolling out some surprisingly strong discounts on a wide range of machines.

After digging through hundreds of listings, I’d argue a few of these offers are competitive with - and in some cases close to - last year’s Black Friday pricing. That’s especially noteworthy given recent upward pressure on laptop costs due to the ongoing RAM shortage. In context, today's discounts are definitely better than expected if you're looking for a good value machine.

I’ve rounded up 8 gaming laptops below that offer particularly solid value right now, with prices starting at just $579. There are picks for every budget today, but options like this MSI Cyborg 15 for $899 (was $1,199) and this Lenovo Legion 5 for $1,399 (was $1,849) at Walmart are particularly good buys right now.

While the above highlights are all at Walmart today, you'll also find excellent discounts at Best Buy, HP, Dell, and Lenovo - all of which I've included in more detail just below.

Today's gaming laptop sales - quick links

• Amazon: deals on Asus, Alienware, Acer, and more
• Best Buy: cheap laptops starting at $599
• Dell: $600 off Alienware gaming laptops
• HP: up to 40% off HP Omen
• Lenovo: extra $100 off with coupon codes
• Walmart: options from just $579

Today's best gaming laptop deals

More of today's best Presidents' Day sales

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks, Kindle & tablets from $18
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods, AirTags & iPads from $17
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Fitness: deals on treadmills, weights & apparel
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Health: vitamins, protein, toothbrushes & more
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Toys: 57% off Lego, Tonies & board games
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

I've tested and reviewed a wide range of gaming laptops over the years, and there are very few that I'd consider purchasing for personal use, as the value often isn't where I'd want it to be. When it comes to the best gaming laptops, their weight is often a massive dealbreaker, and it's unfortunately a necessity to accommodate hardware components and ensure there's sufficient cooling.

We're also in a period where the PC hardware market is unstable, with prices for RAM reaching unprecedented levels, and all hardware across the board being impacted, whether that's via shortages or price hikes. It's all because of the memory crisis, and there isn't much that can be done to combat it on the consumer side.

However, there's one in particular that I've tested and lauded as the only gaming laptop I would consider buying. That laptop is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 available on Best Buy for $1,899.99 (was $2,399.99). It's easily one of the best gaming laptops I've ever used, and it's equipped with Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of RAM, and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor – and to top it off, an OLED 120Hz 3K display.

Portable gaming is supposed to be gaming made easy, and Asus nailed it with the ROG Zephyrus G14. It's an incredible lightweight powerhouse gaming laptop, and its 14-inch size makes it easy to take when traveling away from home.

While its high temperatures under heavy load are certainly noticeable, it's not a dealbreaker because that's the sacrifice made to make it lightweight and easy to set up.

The design of the ROG Zephyrus G14 is easily my favorite among all of the gaming laptops I've tested, with a sleek and smooth chassis containing hardware powerful enough to play games like Cyberpunk 2077 at max resolution above 60fps with DLSS enabled, as you can see in the benchmarks below.

With speakers that pack a bigger punch than most might expect, along with a beautiful and immersive OLED display, there is so much to enjoy with this gaming laptop. While its price is still, I'll admit, quite steep, it's one of the rare discounts that I can confidently say is generous.

This is the closest you can get to buying a high-end desktop gaming PC or laptop, without spending rent money. It's also at its lowest price ever on Best Buy, thanks to the Presidents' Day sale, and it's safe to say I'll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Shop more of today's best Presidents' Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: 60% off mattresses + $599 in freebies
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe's: up to 40% off appliances, furniture & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses + 66% off bundles
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Tempur-Pedic: up to $500 off mattresses
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off furniture, rugs & decor

• HP has a new gaming laptop rental scheme (alongside subscriptions for everyday notebooks, too)
• Unfortunately, there's no option to buy the device outright; you can only lease it
• The pricing of the gaming laptops is high, to an off-putting degree in fact – but there could still be mileage in this idea in the future

Don't want to fork over a ton of cash for a heavyweight gaming laptop? The RAM crisis hasn't helped here, of course, but HP has a solution – lease your notebook, business-style, for a monthly subscription fee.

PC Gamer noticed HP's scheme, which has seemingly been around for a while now in the US (and only that country), but has flown rather under the radar, and only jumped to the fore when Linus Tech Tips talked about it on YouTube.

So, the deal is this: you pick a tier of gaming notebook – or a standard laptop, as these models are available from HP too – from entry-level to high-end, and rent it for a monthly fee. That means there's no big outlay to secure yourself a fancy gaming portable.

On top of that, you get a beefy support package: 24/7 live support, in fact, and if the HP expert can't fix your issue, the company will send you a replacement laptop by the next business day. That's a nifty touch, certainly.

Okay, so the catches – are there any? Of course. One of the main snags is that there's no buyout option here. The initial contract gives you the laptop for a rental period of a year, and after that, you can keep it and carry on paying monthly if you want, but there's no point where you'll be able to purchase the device to own it for good. (Even if you spend the equivalent of the total cost of the laptop, or more, eventually).

Really, the idea is that you'll send it back after a year and get a newer model on another year-long plan, meaning you can constantly upgrade your notebook.

That's how a package like this tempts consumers – those who buy a new gaming laptop on a regular basis may find that the financial equation doesn't work out too badly for them. Especially given that if they have any issues with the laptop, they get a replacement sent out straight away.

The trouble is that, certainly for the gaming laptops, the monthly prices are high. Getting the top-end HP Omen Max 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, Nvidia RTX 5080, and 32GB of RAM will run you $130 per month. That's over $1,500 for the year.

Indeed, across all the available models of HP gaming laptops, in the first (compulsory) year of rental, you'll have paid in the order of half the total cost of the notebook. That doesn't sound too clever, now, does it?

There are a couple of other things to note here: you can cancel in the first month at no cost, but afterwards, there's a hefty contract exit penalty. Also, only one laptop can be rented per household in the US.

Analysis: own nothing and game happily? Or maybe not…

HP's gaming laptops are simply too costly to rent for my liking, although the idea could still appeal to those who compulsively upgrade their notebook to the latest hardware on a regular basis. The standard consumer laptops are better value for money, but on the flipside, they're not in need of such regular upgrading as a gaming machine (which somewhat lessens the appeal).

There are other obvious issues here, such as what about accidental damage to the notebook? What's a fair level of wear-and-tear (some of which is inevitable)? If the laptop arrives back at HP in what the company judges to be a poor condition, what happens then, and what kind of extra charges could pop up? (Also, it goes without saying that if you break the laptop outright, you must pay for the device in full).

Furthermore, HP reserves the right to disable the machine remotely, which, to be fair, is a necessary safeguard against people not paying the subscription.

I'm really not convinced of the value proposition here, but I don't object to the idea of offering notebook buyers different options. However, given HP's rental prices for the gaming laptops, if that's your bag, you are better off simply looking at a finance agreement. Another option could be to consider a game streaming service at a much lower monthly price, one you could run on your ailing old laptop (or other devices, including your TV).

Granted, with the pricing of laptops potentially getting jacked up considerably this year, as RAM, storage, and GPU cost pressures come to bear with even greater force on PCs – and gaming laptops more than most (equipped with system RAM plus video RAM) – HP's rental subscriptions may end up looking better value down the line.

It's not surprising to see HP trying this spin with its laptops, given that the firm has been a pioneer with hardware subscription services, for example, with printer ink (Instant Ink).

HP isn't the first PC manufacturer to try rental subscriptions, though, and notably, NZXT does this for desktop gaming rigs with its Flex packages. Those offerings work in much the same way as HP's here, in that you can never buy the hardware outright, and you get dedicated tech support.

Thinking about buying a gaming laptop? I can tell you what not to do. Don't buy a super-cheap third-party listing at Amazon or another major retailer.

At any one time, even these reputable retailers' sites are absolutely full of listings from murky companies looking to sell off their cheap 'gaming laptops'. I put gaming laptops in quotes there because the machines in question are really only suited for playing the most basic or most ancient games. The issue is particularly acute right now because retailers are ramping up discounts ahead of Presidents' Day.

For those who don't already know, these machines are usually older office or productivity laptops that have been repurposed by third-party sellers. The images and branding are usually geared towards gamers, but these machines are standard Ultrabooks. They often don't even have dedicated graphics cards - in some cases, listing an integrated GPU instead.

Integrated cards aren't inherently bad - they're just designed for rendering standard windows rather than games. They've even improved a lot in recent years, but the truth is, you'll still get better performance from a machine with a dedicated graphics card.

Gaming laptops with dedicated graphics cards usually start at around $600 to $700, so that's where I usually recommend readers start their shopping. That's rule number one, and it's pretty hard to escape that if you want a gaming laptop specifically. I rarely see a machine under $600 that I'd actually recommend buying.

Rule number two is: do your research beforehand, but actually buy around major retail events. The Presidents' Day discounts that are happening right now are a good example. From what I can see, there aren't many true record-low price cuts, but nearly every decent gaming laptop I've price checked is at the same price as back in November. Outside of one-off clearance sales, prices tend to be the best around these national holiday sales.

Finally, rule number three is to make sure your machine is upgradable. Most gaming laptops these days are still fully upgradable with more RAM and storage, but some machines - particularly this with more premium lightweight designs - tend to come with soldered RAM. That means you're basically locked in with that configuration for the entire life cycle of the laptop. If you're going cheap, then the chances are your machine will only come with 16GB of RAM - which, you may want to upgrade once RAM prices have settled down (hopefully they will).

These 9 gaming laptops are the ones I'd buy today

Good discounts on peripherals today

February isn't usually the best time to pick up a gaming laptop, but there is one exception in this otherwise quiet month: the annual Presidents' Day sales. Even though the big day is next week, several retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have already launched promising price cuts on laptops.

In fact, I've been scanning through hundreds of listings today, and I'd say some of these deals are almost as good as those from Black Friday last year. Considering laptop prices have had a bit of a knock lately with the ongoing RAM crisis, that's very impressive in context. It's definitely not the worst time to pick up a machine, that's for sure.

Just below, you can check out nine gaming laptops that I think are particularly good value right now, starting at just $599. Included are options for all budgets today, but the RTX 5060, RTX 5070, and RTX 5070 Ti machines at Best Buy and Walmart are particularly good value right now – with some prices actually beating those from Black Friday.

One more thing. It looks like the pre-Presidents' Day sales are also ramping up at Amazon right now. I always love Amazon for cheap peripherals, and as always, there are some great options for cheap (but good) gaming mice, keyboards, and headsets right now. I've included a few of my favorite discounts below the laptops.

These 9 gaming laptops are excellent value today

Good discounts on peripherals today

Looking for your next gaming laptop upgrade, but aren't sure where to look with the ongoing RAM and storage crisis? Right now, I've spotted this Asus ROG Strix G16 at Walmart for $1,299.99 ($1,749.99).

At that price, the Strix G16 is a much more reasonable buy as a mid-range gaming laptop. The RTX 5070 in particular is worth highlighting as a mid-range GPU in Nvidia's latest RTX 50 series.

It may not be worth upgrading from a laptop with last year's RTX 40 series, but I'd consider it if you're looking for your first gaming laptop or for an upgrade from an ageing gaming laptop.

Today's best RTX 5070 gaming laptop deal

We haven't tested this particular ROG Strix G16 model, but Asus has regularly released some of the best gaming laptops we've tried.

The latest ROG Strix G16 features a 165Hz/3ms FHD+ display, much higher than budget and mid-range gaming laptops that stop between 60Hz and 120Hz. In addition to the RTX 5070, it runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX processor with 16GB RAM and includes 1TB of SSD storage.

That's plenty to suggest that it'll still perform well under pressure and have enough space to store a large library of games. It also includes three months of PC Game Pass for free.

For more, I'd recommend looking at the best Asus computers we saw at CES 2026 and our best affordable gaming laptop, the Asus V16.

Acer Nitro 18 AI: Two-minute review

The Acer Nitro 18 AI is a large gaming laptop with a spec that looks capable of handling the latest and greatest AAA titles with assuredness. Like many in this sector, the Nitro 18 AI has a functional appearance, with little fanfare on display. The RGB backlighting of the keyboard is about the only lively element of its design.

Although it’s undeniably large, I was pleasantly surprised by how thin the Nitro 18 AI is. What’s more, the rear protrusion, common on many large gaming laptops, is quite restrained, while many of its sides are unsullied by further juts.

However, this isn’t a laptop that’s easy to carry around: the Nitro 18 AI weighs a considerable amount, which, coupled with its 18-inch diagonal, makes it a lot less portable than the best gaming laptop models.

I also found the build quality underwhelming. Materials don’t strike me as premium, while the chassis and the lid can be flexed a little too easily for my liking. What’s more, the touchpad in my review unit appeared to be faulty, sometimes failing to register clicks and taps, and other times the left click was stuck held down.

With the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU equipped in my review unit, the Nitro 18 AI took AAA gaming in its stride. Titles such as The Outer Worlds 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 ran with impressive frame rates, even with maximum settings applied.

What’s more, the Nitro 18 AI did an admirable job of keeping cool. Even its hottest parts could only be described as lukewarm. What’s more, fan noise, while noticeable, was much quieter than some others in this class, even when Performance mode was selected in NitroSense, Acer’s utility app. Naturally, Turbo mode increased fan volume considerably, but again, compared to its rivals, the Nitro 18 AI remained relatively hushed.

However, I did experience some issues with general performance. Apps and windows occasionally froze, and one of the 3DMark gaming benchmarks I ran crashed before it could complete.

Also, a Windows security update failed to install even after multiple attempts, which again is concerning. I hope these issues will be fixed with future updates from Acer or elsewhere but when you pay this much for a device, you don’t expect to run into such problems.

The WQXGA resolution of the display is suitably sharp for its 18-inch spread. Content is rendered with sufficient vibrancy, although it looks a little less vivid than what the best displays in this price range can manage. Reflections can make themselves known on occasion, too, although in the main I found the brightness levels sufficient to retain clarity.

Whether you’re gaming or typing, the keyboard on the Nitro 18 AI is a joy to use. The keys are comfortably spaced, while their snappiness and tactility make them feel satisfying. There’s also a good selection of shortcuts on the top row, although the omission of an Fn Lock shortcut is a baffling and inconvenient choice.

The price point of the Nitro 18 AI is commendable considering what’s on offer here, but I’m not sure it equates to the best value gaming laptop around, considering its drawbacks. There are plenty of alternatives with similar specs, and while they might be more expensive, they could be a more worthwhile proposition for you.

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Price & Availability

• Starts from £1,899 (about $2,500 / AU$3,840)
• Available in the UK
• Reasonable price for the spec

The Acer Nitro 18 AI starts from £1,899 and is available in the UK and the EMEA region. US availability is yet to be announced.

Various configurations are possible, but they’re confined to a fairly narrow spectrum. Most aspects are binary choices: you can have a Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU, an RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti GPU, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and 1TB or 2TB of storage.

Oddly, the pricing appears to be much the same across all models, since their various specs tend to even out: for instance, the model with an RTX 5070 Ti and 16GB costs the same as the model with an RTX 5070 but 32GB of RAM.

Regardless, the cost of the Nitro 18 AI is quite reasonable compared to its rivals. Other gaming laptops with RTX 5070s can be significantly more expensive. An Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with similar specs, including the same RTX 5070 Ti, costs considerably more, although it’s arguably one of the best thin and lightweight gaming laptops around right now. Acer’s other large gaming laptop, the Predator Helios 18 AI, is also dearer, although I found this to be a superior machine in most areas when I tested it.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Specs

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Design

• Surprisingly thin
• Quite heavy, though
• Poor quality in places

True to many gaming laptops, the Nitro 18 AI adopts a rather utilitarian aesthetic, with its all-black finish doing little to remedy this fact. However, the RGB backlighting of the keyboard does add some levity to proceedings.

Unsurprisingly, such a large machine eats up a lot of desk space, but it's not as bulky as you might expect. In fact, the Nitro 18 AI is relatively thin for a laptop of such proportions, and the rear bulge, common on many high-end gaming laptops, is pleasingly truncated.

Aside from this, there are no other protrusions that spoil the flat planes of any side, either. Even the two long rubber bars underneath that constitute the ‘feet’ are surprisingly shallow compared to others in this class.

It is, however, about as heavy as you might expect. This really isn’t a laptop I’d be keen to ferry around in my backpack all day. Yet despite its weight, the Nitro 18 AI doesn't feel as solid as you might hope. The base and lid have a fair amount of flex to them, while the display hinge fails to prevent small amounts of wobble.

What’s more, the materials used all over the Nitro 18 AI don’t feel particularly premium. The button in the top-left for switching fan modes is a particular lowlight, as it feels decidedly cheap and awkward to press.

Thankfully, the keyboard feels more upmarket. There are a good number of Fn and other shortcuts available as well, although I wished there was one for the Fn lock, as is common on many laptop keyboards. For reasons beyond me, you have to go into the BIOS to toggle this function, which means restarting the Nitro 18 AI every time you want to do so.

Given the sheer amount of real estate, you would expect there to be plenty of ports on the Nitro 18 AI and so there is. There are three USB-A ports and two USB-C ports (which support external display connections), as well as HDMI, RJ-45, headset, and microSD ports.

On the whole, the placement of all these interfaces is sensible. The three USB-A ports are spread across both sides, while the two USB-C ports, HDMI and power adapter connections can all be found on the rear. The headset jack is nice and close to the user as well.

However, I was a little dismayed by the close proximity of the two right-side USB-A ports, which could cause issues if you have particularly bulky peripheral connections. Also, it’s a small shame the card reader only accepts the microSD format – although many gaming laptops don’t get any form of card reader.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Performance

• Impressive AAA performance
• Relatively cool and quiet
• General performance issues

My Nitro 18 AI review unit was one of the top-spec models, equipped with an RTX 5070 Ti. As expected, it was composed when dealing with the demands of modern AAA titles.

Frame rates hovered around the high 70s and low 80s when I played The Outer Worlds 2 at its highest preset, with Hardware Ray Tracing, DLSS Frame Generation, and DLSS Quality upscaling enabled. Changing this latter setting to Balanced mode made little difference.

When playing Cyberpunk 2077 at the highest Ray Tracing: Ultra preset with Balanced DLSS upscaling, I saw around 30fps on average, with occasional rises to the low 40s. Turning on Frame Generation boosted these figures to between the high 50s and low 70s.

Heat was kept impressively low throughout, with the keyboard and most of the base remaining relatively cool. What’s more, fan noise is impressively suppressed, even when NitroSense’s Performance mode is selected.

It was just about quiet enough to hear audio clearly through speakers, which certainly isn’t something I can say about many gaming laptops. The volume of the fans inevitably soars when Turbo mode is selected, but even here, the Nitro 18 AI is impressively muted compared to the competition.

The display of the Nitro 18 AI has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, which offers plenty of sharpness on the 18-inch space. Colors are reproduced accurately enough, although they lack the same level of vibrancy seen on some of the best gaming monitors. Reflections can also show on occasion, but for the most part I found they could be outshone by the maximum brightness setting.

I do have some concerns about the general performance of the Nitro 18 AI, though. I encountered some freezing of everyday apps, such as Windows Explorer and the Chrome browser. Also, 3DMark’s Fire Strike gaming benchmark crashed midway when I ran it, something I haven’t experienced before when testing a gaming laptop. What’s more, a Windows 11 security update repeatedly failed to install, even after multiple attempts and restarts.

It’s possible the above issues are OS related and can be rectified with future Windows or BIOS updates. But the fact remains that I experienced them, and they’re troubling for a powerful and expensive gaming laptop such as Nitro 18 AI.

Less easy to rectify, though, is the dire touchpad. Clicks frequently registered of their own accord, and worse still would remain held down. Conversely, there were also plenty of times when clicks and taps failed to register at all. All this led me to believe that my particular touchpad was faulty, and further testament to the lackluster build quality of the Nitro 18 AI.

Thankfully, the keyboard fared much better. I found the layout comfortable thanks to the spacing of the keys, and their sufficient travel and dampening made them satisfying to use. However, while they don’t quite match the best gaming keyboard units for tactility, they’re just as snappy, thanks in part to their light actuation.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Battery Life

• Reasonable longevity
• Quick to charge

The Nitro 18 AI has a large 90Wh battery inside, which provides the Nitro 18 AI with a reasonable amount of stamina, relatively speaking. When I ran a movie on a continuous loop, it lasted five hours, which beats the three achieved by Acer’s other 18-inch model, the Predator Helios 18 AI – even though this had a larger 99Wh battery.

However, the Nitro 18 AI lags behind the Medion Erazer Beast 18, which lasted six hours. It is, however, quick to charge, taking just two hours to fully replenish.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Nitro 18 AI?

Buy the Acer Nitro 18 AI if...

Don't buy it if...

Acer Nitro 18 AI review: Also Consider

How I tested the Acer Nitro 18 AI

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and other tasks
• Plenty of gaming laptop experience

I tested the Acer Nitro 18 AI for several days, during which time I used it for gaming and general entertainment.

I played various AAA titles, including The Outer Worlds 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. Additionally, I ran our series of benchmark tests, designed to assess the overall performance of gaming machines.

I've reviewed many gaming laptops before, varying in their specs, form factors, and price points. I've been PC gaming in general for over a decade and have used many systems and components in that time, too.

• First reviewed: February 2025
• Read more about how we test

We've teamed up with Newegg to provide our readers with an exclusive discount, which you can use right now to make a number of the retailers' already-cheap gaming laptops even better value today.

For a limited time, you can use the code FUTUREGNB3OFF at checkout to get an extra 3% off machines of all shapes and sizes. That's a code that stacks on top of any discounts the retailer is already running, by the way.

That means you can get several gaming laptops right now for Black Friday-level prices. I've rounded up my six favorites today just down below, which include options for RTX 5060, RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5080 machines. My personal picks start at just $1,164.99 thanks to our code, but I'd highlight the Acer Nitro 15 for $1,357.99 and the MSI Vector for $1,940.99 as particularly strong options currently.

If you're looking to bundle up your new laptop with some high-end peripherals, note that Newegg's current sale also has fantastic discounts on gaming mice, keyboards, and headsets. You can check out a few of my highlights from Newegg's gaming section just below my top gaming laptop deals.

My favorite gaming laptop deals at Newegg

My favorite deals on gaming peripherals at Newegg

Asus V16: Two-minute review

The V16 is a large gaming laptop with a strong spec at an appealing price point. It looks understated yet elegant, thanks to the smooth finish and lack of gaming-related embellishments. The rounded edges and smooth planes further add to its minimalist appeal.

What’s more, the V16 is remarkably sleek by the standards of its class. Despite the large 16-inch size display, its body is very thin and light, making it a contender for the best gaming laptop you can realistically carry around with you.

The build quality of the V16 is also commendable, featuring materials that feel premium and well put-together. It’s more solid than some of its rivals, although it’s perhaps not the sturdiest gaming laptop in existence.

There are enough connectivity options to satisfy most gamers, although the lack of an RJ-45 port might disappoint keen online players. The fact that all but one of the V16’s interfaces are located on the left – and none on the rear – might also be a pain point for some.

MyAsus is the utility software bundled with the V16, used to view system information and make performance tweaks. It gets the job done, although the interface and odd loading times make it less polished than rival software.

Thanks to the RTX 4050 in my review unit, the V16 managed to hold its own when contending with today’s AAA titles. I didn’t manage to achieve 60fps at full resolution when playing Cyberpunk 2077, but I still had a smooth and enjoyable experience at around 50fps with Ray Tracing enabled.

Heat made its way onto the keyboard while playing, with the space bar experiencing the most intense temperatures. It was still comfortable to use, though, and more impressively, the fans were relatively hushed.

The 16-inch display on the V16 provides a large vista for showcasing blockbuster titles at their best. The 1920 x 1200 resolution is just about sharp enough for its size too. However, while colors are vibrant enough, they lack the intensity of the best gaming monitors, and reflections can reveal themselves all too readily.

The starting price of the V16 makes it a tempting proposition, although there are others with similar costs that offer a better spec, such as the Acer Nitro V 15, which features an RTX 5050 in its base model instead of a 4050. However, the portable design, large display, and excellent keyboard are all points in the V16’s favor, resulting in a strong contender in the mid-range gaming laptop market.

Asus V16 review: Price & Availability

• Starting from $949.99 / £849.99 / AU$1,399
• Available now
• Some rivals are better value

The Asus V16 starts from $949.99 / £849.99 / AU$1,399 and is available now. The base models in each region differ: the US gets an Intel Core 7 and an RTX 3050, the UK a Core 5 and an RTX 4050, and the Australian a Core 5 and RTX 3050. In the UK, we’ve also seen the RTX 5050 variant on sale for less than the 4050 counterpart.

This is a reasonable starting price for an RTX 40 series-equipped laptop. However, there are some rivals that represent better value, such as the Acer Nitro V 15, which has a significantly lower starting price (in the US, at least) but features an RTX 5050 rather than a 4050. Its display is an inch smaller, though, and it's decidedly bulkier and therefore less portable.

If you want to spend even less money, the MSI Cyborg 15 is a strong budget pick. You’ll have to settle for an RTX 30 series GPU to keep the costs down, but this still offers passable performance, and the overall design and brilliant keyboard of the Cyborg certainly haven’t fallen victim to cost-cutting.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Asus V16 review: Specs

Asus V16 review: Design

• Impressively light and thin
• Decent build quality
• Sufficient utility software

To look at, the V16 cuts a very un-gamerish figure. Only a small and discreet Asus logo adorns the lid, while the perfectly flat contours, unsullied by any of the protrusions or sharp angles typical for this class of device, further belie its gaming prowess.

Setting the V16 apart even more from its equally large rivals are its weight and dimensions: even the best laptops would envy just how light and thin it is. This makes it much easier to carry around than you might imagine – although you’ll still need plenty of space in your bag to accommodate its 16-inch diagonal.

Materials are impressively premium, too. The chassis has a super smooth finish, while the keys have a very subtle texture that enhances their tactility. What’s more, the whole construction feels quite solid, with minimal – but still noticeable – flexing to the panels.

Port selection on the V16 is adequate. There’s no ethernet port, which online gamers might lament, but you still get an HDMI port and a headset jack. There are also two USB-A ports and one USB-C port, the latter of which supports both power delivery and external displays.

All ports are loaded on the left-hand side, except for one of the USB-A ports, which is on the right. This lack of balance might prove inconvenient depending on your setup, especially for those who like some on the rear.

The utility software for the V16, MyAsus, doesn’t exactly have the most enticing interface, and the fact it shows loading bars every time you open it is a little disconcerting, even if they don't take long. The app contains some useful system information and various settings you can adjust. Along with the usual fan profile selections, you can also adjust the GPU operation, with modes ranging from Standard to Optimized, that control when and where the GPU and integrated graphics are employed.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Asus V16 review: Performance

• Smooth but unspectacular performance
• Surprisingly quiet
• Excellent keyboard

The combination of the Intel Core 5 and RTX 4050 in my review unit resulted in respectable, if not outstanding, gaming performance. I got around 50fps when I played Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ray Tracing: Low preset. More importantly, I experienced virtually no slowdown or stuttering, even during busy scenes, which is always something to prize.

A small amount of heat was generated on the keyboard during my play time, but this was never uncomfortable. Oddly enough, the space bar experienced the highest temperatures, rather than the rear, as is the case with many other gaming laptops. Also unusual was the fact that the sides and underneath stayed remarkably cool as well.

As expected, the fans in the V16 whirred continuously while playing demanding titles, but the noise was suppressed quite well. Also, the tone and pitch was far less grating than in other gaming laptops I’ve tried.

The large 16-inch display of the V16 is certainly great for gaming, with the thin bezels around the screen enhancing the visual experience further. The 1200p resolution also offers sufficient sharpness for the size of the screen.

Colors are vibrant enough, although they do seem a little washed-out compared to those rendered on the best gaming laptop displays. What’s more, the display can be quite reflective, although minor positional adjustments were enough to remedy this.

I had no qualms with the keyboard, though. The keys are generously spaced (which is impressive given a number pad is present), so they’re comfortable to use, and the WASD keys are easy to locate thanks to their translucent design and subtly different texture.

While they feel clicky and snappy, the keys also have plenty of dampening, so they never feel harsh when you hammer down on them. They also have a pleasing amount of travel, which further enhances their feedback and tactile nature. The above qualities make the keyboard great for typing as well.

The touchpad on the V16 is probably the biggest I’ve seen on a laptop, which is useful for navigation purposes. Yet despite its size, it didn’t get in the way when using the keyboard for either gaming or typing.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Asus V16 review: Battery Life

• Decent battery life
• Outlasts rivals

For a gaming laptop, the V16 has a respectable battery life. It managed to last over 12 hours during our movie playback tests, which is several hours better than many others in the sector, and almost double that of the Acer Nitro V 15.

It also posted a commendable result in the PCMark Gaming battery test, lasting just shy of two hours. The Nitro V 15, by contrast, managed a little over 90 minutes.

• Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Asus V16?

Buy the Asus V16 if...

Don't buy it if...

Asus V16 review: also consider

How I tested the Asus V16

• Tested for several days
• Ran games and benchmarks
• Extensive gaming laptop experience

I tested the V16 for several days, during which time I used it for gaming and general browsing.

I played Cyberpunk 2077 at various settings, and ran TechRadar's series of benchmarks tests, designed to comprehensively assess all facets of performance. I also tested battery life by running a movie on a continuous loop until the V16 shut down.

I have been PC gaming for over a decade, and have used a number of systems and components during that time. I've also plenty of experience reviewing gaming laptops of all kinds, from budget offerings to state-of-the-art machines.

• First reviewed: January 2026
• Read more about how we test

Alienware 16X Aurora: Two minute review

Compared to the Area-51 line of gaming laptops from Alienware, the 16X Aurora is more about simple on-the-go power than benchmark-breaking performance. Starting at $899 (£1,449, AU $2,549), the Alienware 16X Aurora serves as one of the best gaming laptops you can buy under $1K, thanks to its Intel Core 7, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, and 16GB DDR5 RAM. It’s enough to play any big AAA title at 1080p with respectable frame rates, do some light creative content curation, and perform general computing tasks.

Despite all of that, it remains just as portable as a MacBook Air or Razer Blade 16 while maintaining solid performance power alongside the cool design Alienware has spent the past several decades being known for.

The look of the 16X Aurora features anodized aluminum on the top and bottom panels beyond the magnesium alloy interior frame, which balances a nice weight of around 5.66 pounds (2.57 kg) with less than an inch in height when closed. A beautiful deep blue colorway and smooth curvatures around the edges remain in line with Alienware’s design philosophy. Adding a nice amount of ports (no SD Card slot, unfortunately) makes this gaming laptop something that both PC gamers and creators can appreciate.

This is why the mid-tier configuration (which is the model Alienware sent to me for review) of the 16X Aurora provides great 1440p performance and portability that allows the laptop, alongside its pretty chunky power adapter brick, to sit in a standard-sized laptop backpack. What we have is an Intel Core Ultra 9, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 laptop GPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD storage.

That’s enough for modern games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows to be played at nice frame rates and max settings if used in conjunction with Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology. Configuration options don’t get higher than a 5070, as the highest $2,699 price point just increases RAM and SSD storage size. At that price, users are better off getting a gaming laptop with less RAM and SSD storage and going for a higher GPU like a 5070 Ti or 5080.

While the speakers may be below average in sound quality, the other highlight of the 16X Aurora is the beautiful 2560 x 1600 display that also manages to pump out a 240Hz refresh rate. This is definitely perfect for competitive gamers who want to play Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite with the comforts of playing on a gaming desktop. Beyond that, image quality is awesome as well, even if only SDR is available.

One of the biggest things where the 16X Aurora does disappoint is battery life, which is, on average, around four hours. If that wasn’t a big enough issue, charging is relatively slow as well.

Users who don’t mind having to constantly have their battery charger on them at all times are still going to have much to love about the 16X Aurora. Not only does it travel incredibly well space-wise, but it also has enough performance power to play today’s most popular games at good frame rates.

Alienware 16X Aurora: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? It starts at $899.99 (around £1,449 / AU$2,549)
• When is it available? Now
• Where can you get it? From Dell’s online store or other digital retailers

Interested readers can purchase the Alienware 16X Aurora now through Dell’s online store or other digital retailers, including Amazon. The starting price of $899 (£1,449, AU$2,549) provides some solid 1080p performance through the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB, and 1TB SSD storage, and there are customization options that almost provide parity among the various territories.

The only outlier is the lack of a mid-range review configuration for Australia, requiring 2TB SSD storage when matched with an Intel Core Ultra 9, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, and 32GB DDR5 at AU$3,899. In the US and UK, the configuration I reviewed comes with a 1TB SSD for $1,999.99 (£1,799).

At the highest $2,699 (£2,399, AU$3,899) configuration, you still get the Intel Core Ultra 9 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 alongside 64GB DDR5 RAM and 4TB SSD storage. One thing that’s constant across all options is the 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display pumping out a 240Hz refresh rate alongside the 1080p webcam.

There is value to be had at the lower $899 price point. This places it in direct competition with budget gaming laptops like the Acer Nitro V 15, shaving less than half an inch off the display real estate but providing some outstanding battery life with comparable performance power.

Going into the mid-to-high range options is where the higher prices kick in. However, when you begin looking to spend that kind of money, there are other interesting options. At the highest range of premium laptops, the Razer Blade 16 is what we consider the best overall gaming laptop. Not only does it have the portability and gorgeous display, but can be pushed to 4K-level performance, and also offers better speakers.

• Value: 2.5 / 5

Alienware 16X Aurora: Specs

The Alienware 16X Aurora is available in several configurations, some of which you can find below:

Alienware 16X Aurora: Design

• Weighs 5.66 pounds and less than an inch thick in height when closed
• Plenty of ports, yet lacks an SD Card slot
• No biometric security or camera shutter

The Alienware 16X Aurora's design is certainly unique, offering stylish vibes that you're not going to get anywhere else when it comes to gaming laptops in its class.

The deep blue (or 'Interstellar Indigo') color really does blend well with the sleek angles, giving the Alienware 16X Aurora' a unique spaceship aesthetic. The Alienware logo is on the top panel, which is made up of anodized aluminum, as is the bottom of the laptop.

Unlike the Area 51, don’t expect elaborate RGB lighting on anything outside of the single-zone keyboard when opened. Thankfully, there are enough configuration options for color and effects through Alienware’s Command Center app. The interior frame is made up of magnesium alloy, which helps in terms of keeping the 16X Aurora lightweight 5.66 pounds (2.57 kg). When closed, the gaming laptop is less than an inch high at 0.92 inches.

On the left-hand side is an Ethernet jack, single USB-A, 3.5 headset jack and a status-indicating LED. That’s matched on the rear with another USB-A, two USB-Cs, and single HDMI port. As mentioned earlier, the lack of an SD Card slot is disappointing, considering the bigger Area 51 laptop has one.

When open, the 16X Aurora features that lovely 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with a 1080p web camera at the top. It’s a shame that there aren’t any biometric security features in terms of the camera, and the lack of a fingerprint scanner.

Meanwhile, while using the keyboard and touchpad below the speakers feels nice, it would have been good to see it come with mechanical switches like its bigger Area-51 sibling.

• Design: 4 / 5

Alienware 16X Aurora: Performance

• Can handle resource-heavy AAA games at 1080p and 1440p
• Several performance settings through Alienware Command Center
• Lovely-looking 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with 240Hz refresh rate

One of the first games that I tested to push 2560x 1600 performance on the Alienware 16X Aurora was Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. An audio/visual masterpiece, it’s a fantastic way to see what a laptop or desktop can do in terms of image quality and frame rate. The 16X Aurora managed to hit an average of 30fps with max settings and around 50fps thanks to Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology.

This was nearly constant with other single-player games as well. I got similar results with Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Black Myth: Wukong on Ultra High settings at around 27fps. Meanwhile, 2025 awards darling Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 worked well on the 16X Aurora, reaching an average of 60fps as well. Finally, Doom: The Dark Ages, provided around 46fps.

When it came to multiplayer and competitive games, the Alienware 16X Aurora also provided some solid numbers. Marvel Rivals on ultra settings at native resolution provided an average of 44.7fps. Playing a couple hours of Roblox, every game room performed over 200fps as well. Playing Forza Horizon 5 lent an average frame rate between 60 and 110fps. Even fighters like Street Fighter 6 ran well at max settings with 60fps. As mentioned previously, DLSS, alongside other tech like Frame Generation, can help improve frame rate performance depending on the supported game.

Add Alienware Command Center’s ability into the mix, and general 1440p performance is great when placed in Overdrive mode. At this point, the 16X Aurora’s fans whirr into action while making use of the gaming laptop’s Cryo-Chamber cooling system. One thing that’s for certain is that it doesn’t get loud when performing general gaming tasks, but can turn into a jet engine when pushing specs.

The 16X Aurora can handle modern games at native resolution with strong visual fidelity and competitive performance. Most importantly, games look fantastic on the lovely display. Though it lacks HDR capabilities, image quality and color accuracy is great overall. Playing games with exceptional art design like Dispatch and Lumines Arise are a treat with this display. 100% DCI-P3 and ComfortView Plus makes this great for content creators who use Adobe Suite software, including Photoshop and Premiere Pro. On the other hand, the pure gaming performance of this display is above average as well thanks to its 240Hz refresh rates and G-Sync capabilities.

However, it's too bad that the stereo speakers that come inside the 16X Aurora let the laptop down. These speakers feature Dolby Atmos, but often sound hollow while lacking audio nuance. If the cooling fans are engaged at max, hearing anything is incredibly difficult. Listening to music or gaming isn’t a great experience, but audio during video conferences is fairly standard. In adequate lighting conditions alongside a quiet room, using Zoom and Google Meet sessions isn’t that bad. Just don’t expect any webcam software enhancements or the likes here, though the 1080p webcam works well enough.

Taken as a whole, the 16X Aurora delivers a well-rounded experience in terms of game performance and visual quality. Though the audio doesn’t match everything else, that’s what good gaming headsets are for.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Alienware 16X Aurora: Battery life

• Battery life is around four and a half hours
• Charging takes around two hours
• Requires a large power brick adaptor

Gaming laptops aren’t known for their long battery lives, and the Alienware 16X Aurora serves well as an example of this. The six-cell 96Wh Lithium-Ion battery on average lasts just a few hours when the laptop is being used for general computing tasks.

During our Web Surfing (Battery Informant) test, we were only able to get 4 hours and 23 minutes of usage before the laptop ran out of juice. During everyday testing, I was able to get around half of that; meaning users are going to have to carry the large adapter with them at all times.

Don’t expect any quick charging out of the 16X Aurora either, as it’ll take around two hours for this to charge to full. Through the USB-C with DisplayPort, users can also charge a power adapter of adequate power; however, GPU performance will be limited.

• Battery Life: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the Alienware 16X Aurora?

Buy the Alienware 16X Aurora if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If my Alienware 16X Aurora review has you considering other options, here is another laptop to consider:

How I tested the Alienware 16X Aurora

• Tested the gaming laptop over the span of a week
• General computing tasks include Google Docs and Tidal
• Games played include Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, Forza Horizon 5, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Dispatch, Roblox, Neon Inferno, Lumines Arise and Street Fighter 6

During my week with the Alienware 16X Aurora, I split my time between general computing tasks and gaming. Most of my everyday usage of the gaming laptop started with software like Google Chrome and music streaming service Tidal. Google Chrome allowed me to see how the laptop handled day-to-day tasks, alongside how many tabs could be open at once. Tidal was more of a test of speaker quality through a hi-fi audio music streaming service.

When it came to games, I used Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Forza Horizon 5 to test more resource-intensive games. Lower resource-intensive games were used to push frame rates and display refresh rates, and these included Street Fighter 6 and Roblox. Games that I used to showcase color vividness in the display included Dispatch, Neon Inferno and Lumines Arise.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed December 2025

PC gaming is becoming increasingly demanding over time, with modern titles launching with more stringent and beefier system requirements than usual. If you're up to date on the state of the PC hardware market, you'll know that higher system requirements aren't great news for consumers at all.

Well, that's where upscalers come into play, and fortunately, Nvidia's DLSS has evolved over many years to provide excellent image quality and performance results. It has progressively improved after each iteration, utilizing new technologies to achieve significant enhancements over predecessors.

Fortunately, I can report that the trend continues with DLSS 4.5 in my testing on the Lenovo LOQ 15i Gen 10 gaming laptop, so much so that it's becoming harder to distinguish the difference in image quality and clarity between each mode, from DLSS Performance to Quality.

While DLSS Quality is certainly going to give you the best image quality possible (excluding DLAA, which is essentially native), gamers can now utilize DLSS Performance or Balanced and achieve very similar image stability and clarity, but with better performance results.

This comes after multiple DLSS iterations (particularly DLSS 3.1), including Performance and Balanced modes that were drastically different from DLSS Quality. It was mostly down to whether gamers wanted to prioritize the best visual clarity and sacrifice performance, or vice versa.

Now, with DLSS 4.5, gamers don't have to worry about sacrificing either, and Doom: The Dark Ages is a prime example (as you can see above), with very few differences between DLSS 4.5 Quality and Performance modes. This is ideal, as it means visual clarity won't be bogged down by blurriness or ghosting, as it normally would on previous DLSS versions.

I found similar results testing both Final Fantasy 16 and Arc Raiders and all of their DLSS 4.5 upscaling modes, where Performance and Quality are shockingly close. It's all thanks to Nvidia's 2nd-gen transformer model for super resolution, building upon what DLSS 4 delivers – which I must add, is already fantastic.

Performance mode isn't one-to-one with 4.5's Quality mode, and that should be quite clear since both are upscaling from different internal resolutions, but the differences between the two are minor in several gameplay scenarios.

It's arguably most evident in the Final Fantasy 16 comparison above. If you examine it closely, you may notice that Clive's sword still features some jaggedness around the flames in Performance mode, but not in Quality mode. However, this wasn't perceivable to me while active in gameplay – and frankly, I doubt many will be looking at every pixel with a loupe during gameplay.

DLSS 4 to DLSS 4.5 upgrade is very impressive

We've looked at how DLSS 4.5's image quality, specifically with Quality and Performance, but another strong point here is the leap from DLSS 4 to DLSS 4.5 in image stability.

I didn't think there was a way for DLSS to get much better, going from the first transformer model, which was introduced as a major jump from DLSS 3.1's CNN model, but here we are.

At 1080p using DLSS 4 Balanced, visuals are great, and I've never really had any complaints about this version when using it in many other scenarios with beefier hardware, other than some noticeable ghosting.

At 1080p using DLSS 4.5 Balanced, I instantly noticed a much more refined and sharper image, and better yet, I could use Frame Generation with a less noticeable trail on objects in motion – but just bear in mind, RTX 5060 laptop GPUs are only using 8GB of VRAM, and I found several scenarios where enabling Frame Generation makes performance less stable, due to increase in VRAM usage.

As for performance, since the Legion LOQ gaming laptop is powered by Nvidia's RTX 5060, the frame rate loss (going from DLSS 4 to DLSS 4.5) isn't very noticeable. However, users who don't have an RTX 50 or RTX 40 series GPU will likely suffer a major performance loss, supposedly around 20% to 25% using DLSS 4.5, due to the lack of native FP8 support (part of Nvidia Tensor Cores) on RTX 30 and older GPUs.

Fortunately, the performance loss in most of my benchmarks of this RTX 5060 laptop was only around 5% to 7%, which is insignificant when you realize the benefits you gain in image quality.

While DLSS Ultra Performance on DLSS 4.5 is an improvement coming from the previous version, it's still held back by very noticeable blurriness and ghosting, but this should be expected as it's quite literally the most aggressive upscaling option.

It's all getting to a stage now where DLSS is so good, it's hard to recommend ever gaming at native resolutions again. While many games are well optimized enough to maintain high frame rates, DLSS 4.5's image stability, almost across the board, is fantastic, which is a huge benefit for low-end hardware that may not be able to handle a native resolution or higher graphics settings.

I just hope game developers don't rely on these advancements as a band-aid for poor optimization.

There's a pretty amazing deal floating around the various editorial sites that cover gaming laptop deals right now - one that I think is probably the best I've seen since Black Friday.

It's a coupon code that you can currently use over at the official Lenovo Store to knock upwards of a $900 off the brand's LOQ and Legion models.

The code in question is GAMINGDEALS, and you can currently use it at check-out on most of the brands' configurations. I've tested it myself, and I can confirm it works across a range of options.

If you're interested, I've been scanning through the site's listings today to find my favorite deals. Just below are three machines that I'd particularly recommend if you're looking to squeeze as much value out of this coupon code as possible.

My favorite gaming laptop deals at Lenovo today

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Lenovo

Collectively, these are some of the best gaming laptop deals I've seen since Black Friday in November, and I imagine they'll likely overshadow many of the upcoming Presidents' Day laptop sales that are about to ramp up at major retailers.

Lenovo does this thing where it lists ridiculous retail prices for its machines to make the price cuts bigger. Even with that, these are very strong deals when compared to other retailers currently. You're getting a good price for the specs, and in the case of the latter two options, premium OLED displays. We haven't personally reviewed the latest Legion 5, but we were very impressed with the previous generation, so these deals are definitely worth considering.

HP Omen Max 16: Two minute review

Many of the best gaming laptops on the market feature Nvidia’s latest 50 series graphics cards, and while these are perfect for those who are looking for a powerful device, they typically come at an exceptionally high price point.

Enter the latest HP Omen Max 16, which comes with a more affordable pricepoint when compared to its rivals, though it will still leave a significant dent in your wallet.

The HP Omen Max 16 is a formidable machine designed for high-end gaming, and from the moment you power it on, its capabilities shine through, offering smooth gameplay and crisp visuals.

While it features a more traditional gaming laptop aesthetic with a slightly bulkier build, its performance under pressure is where it truly excels. The Omen Max 16 manages heat impressively well, maintaining optimal performance even during extended gaming sessions, and its display offers a truly immersive visual feast.

This laptop is a strong choice for gamers who prioritize raw power and a high-quality visual experience, and it's well-equipped to handle the most demanding AAA titles - all for a price that's (slightly) more sensible than other gaming laptops at this end of the market.

HP Omen Max 16: Price and availability

• How much is it? Starting at $2,599 / £1,999
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

The Omen Max 16 is available for $2,599 / £1,999. This price positions it competitively within the high-performance gaming laptop market, especially considering the specifications it offers.

While it's certainly not a budget option, it provides excellent value for serious gamers looking for top-tier hardware without reaching the ultra-premium price points of some alternatives. For example, the MSI Stealth A16 AI+, which boasts an Nvidia 5070 Ti - less powerful than the 5080 featured in the Omen Max 16 - comes in at $2,899 / £2,199.

The laptop is currently available in the US, UK, and several European countries. While there's no official word on wider global availability, HP typically expands its distribution to other regions over time.

• Value: 4 / 5

HP Omen Max 16: Specs

The HP Omen Max 16 is equipped with a powerful Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a fast 1TB NVMe SSD. These specifications combine to create a powerhouse capable of handling the most demanding games and applications with ease.

HP Omen Max 16: Design

• Dated design
• Keyboard looks great
• Excellent screen

The Omen Max 16 embraces a bold, aggressive design that is characteristic of gaming laptops - while you could take it into an office environment or on the go, you might get some strange looks.

Personally, I find this aesthetic quite dated, so it’s not really the best option for me, but this won’t be the case for everyone. One thing I will note, however, is that the RGB keyboard is stunning thanks to the semi-transparent keycaps.

Its chassis is sturdy, and while it's not the slimmest laptop on the market, its build quality feels premium. The laptop's larger footprint accommodates its powerful components and effective cooling system, but it does also mean that this device will be taking up a fair amount of space on your desk or in your bag if you’re intending to take this laptop on the go with you.

HP has provided an ample selection of ports, ensuring you can connect all of your gaming peripherals without the need for an extra USB adaptor. You'll find multiple USB-A ports, a versatile USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support, an HDMI 2.1 output for connecting to external monitors, an Ethernet port for stable online gaming, an audio jack, and even an SD card reader.

However, it's worth noting that if you’re intending to run a streaming setup off of your gaming laptop, you may need more ports in order to plug in a microphone and higher-resolution webcam.

The 16.1-inch QHD IPS display is a highlight, offering vibrant colors, sharp details, and a smooth 240Hz refresh rate. While it’s not as good as an OLED panel, IPS still offers decent image quality, and is capable of an impressive range of colors. This screen provides an incredibly immersive visual experience, making games and movies truly pop. The high refresh rate ensures fluid motion, and there's no hint of screen tearing.

• Design: 4 / 5

HP Omen Max 16: Performance

• Excellent performance
• Efficient cooling
• Fans can get loud

The performance of the HP Omen Max 16 gaming is exceptional, consistently delivering high frame rates across a wide range of demanding games.

Whether battling in the latest AAA titles or engaging in intense competitive multiplayer, the laptop maintains smooth and responsive gameplay. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card, paired with the Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, easily handles graphically-intensive games, even with settings cranked up to 'ultra'.

During extensive testing, titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 ran beautifully at high resolutions with ray tracing enabled, showcasing the laptop's ability to render stunning visuals without compromise. In each game I tried I got high frame rates with no stuttering and no issues whatsoever, and beyond gaming, the Omen Max 16 handles resource-intensive tasks such as video editing, 3D rendering, and complex multitasking with remarkable efficiency, making it a versatile machine for power users.

One of the standout features is its cooling system. Despite running demanding applications, the laptop manages heat impressively well. While the fans do become quite loud under heavy load, they are effective at keeping internal temperatures in check, preventing thermal throttling and ensuring sustained performance. The keyboard area remained comfortable to use, even during prolonged gaming sessions, which is a testament to the efficient cooling design.

The speakers provide decent audio, clear enough for general use, but for the best results, I'd suggest picking up one of the best PC gaming headsets to take advantage of directional audio.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

HP Omen Max 16: Battery life

• Surprisingly good battery life
• Almost a full day's regular use, about two and a half hours of gaming
• Charges fast but uses a proprietary charger

While HP promises a decent battery life for general usage, in real-world testing, the Omen Max 16 delivered an average of around five to six hours for light tasks such as web browsing or video playback.

This is a respectable figure for a powerful gaming laptop. However, as expected with high-performance hardware, engaging in intensive gaming or demanding applications significantly reduces battery life, typically down to about one and a half hours.

Our PCMark 10 battery life benchmark and TechRadar movie test both lasted around 5 hours, which aligns with typical expectations for this class of device. For extended gaming sessions, keeping the laptop plugged in is essential.

• Battery Life: 3 / 5

Should you buy the HP Omen Max 16?

Buy the HP Omen Max 16 if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the HP Omen Max 16

For a period of two weeks, the Omen Max 16 served as my primary device for both work and leisure activities. I integrated it into my daily routine, using it for typical office tasks, extensive gaming sessions in the evenings, and general media consumption.

To assess its portability and performance outside of a stationary setup, I also used it in various remote working environments. Beyond everyday usage, comprehensive benchmark tests were conducted using industry-standard software such as 3DMark and GeekBench, alongside in-game benchmarking tools, to rigorously evaluate its performance across different scenarios.

• First reviewed January 2026

Need a new gaming laptop for the new year? Whether you're trying your first gaming laptop or looking for an upgrade, you should consider the MSI Vector A16 at Walmart for $1,299 (was $1,999.99).

This particular MSI gaming laptop stands out because of the low price for the specs, especially the RTX 5070 Ti GPU with 12GB graphics memory. The RTX 5070 Ti is within the mid-range of Nvidia's RTX 50 graphics card series, but that's pretty powerful for something that costs this much. Usually, you'd only expect to find budget models with an RTX 5060 or similarly weaker hardware in this price range.

Today's best gaming laptop deal

We haven't reviewed the MSI Vector A16, but we did review its larger counterpart with similar specs. In our MSI Vector A18 review, we rated it four out of five stars for its performance and 4K gaming capabilities, even when playing demanding games.

Our review even considered it as a desktop replacement. However, it is a bit on the heavier side, even for the 16-inch version. The MSI Vector A18 that we tested had an RTX 5080, which is slightly stronger than the RTX 5070 Ti.

In addition to the RTX 5070, this MSI Vector A16 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9-8940HX processor with 16GB DDR5 memory and 1TB SSD for storing a generous library of games. It features a 16-inch 240Hz QHD+ display, perfect for capturing fine details in games where every movement matters, with 100% DCI-P3 color for improved brightness and contrast.

Not convinced? Well, the year just started, so there's plenty of time for bigger and better deals. For more laptops to add to your wish list, see our best gaming laptops and best budget gaming laptops.

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1: Two-minute review

It might not come from a household name, but the Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 aims to win gamers over with its high-end spec and modest price tag.

However, it won't be winning any design awards. Its nondescript appearance, with its all-black finish and lack of accoutrements, condemns it to anonymity — and this in a market that has more than its fair share of tired designs.

However, the Major 16 X1 is surprisingly sleek for a 16-inch laptop. Most sides are perfectly flat, while the lid is impressively thin and the rear bulge impressively restrained. Even the best gaming laptop designs can be bulkier than this.

The base, though, is quite thick and heavy, which severely hampers the portability of the Major 16 X1. On the upside, it does feel quite solid and durable, with little flex to any of the panels.

There are plenty of ports on the Major 16 X1, including an SD card reader and a Mini DisplayPort interface, which are rare sights on gaming laptops. The distribution of all ports is fairly equitable across both sides and the rear, and they’re sensibly ordered.

Medion’s Control Center software is hidden away, but it proved to be a useful utility tool, allowing me to quickly and easily adjust performance modes and other basic system settings. It ran smoothly, and I experienced no issues with it during the course of my testing.

The performance of the Major 16 X1 is pretty good, as you would expect given its promising spec. You’ll get the sought–after 60fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at the medium Ray Tracing setting if you enable DLSS upscaling — and much higher if you enable Frame Generation on top.

It achieves this without breaking much of a sweat, either; strangely, the small space between the touchpad and space bar experienced the highest surface temperature, and even this section was still comfortable to touch. Also, while fan noise is certainly apparent, I didn’t find it to be distractingly loud.

The display equipped in the Major 16 X1 is excellent, largely thanks to its high pixel count, imbuing images with superb clarity. Colours are rendered vibrantly, too, and while reflections can be seen, I found there’s enough brightness on tap to prevent them from negatively impacting the gaming experience.

The keys are light and snappy, although they’re not as damped as others in this sector. Their spacing is generous, though, which makes typing comfortable, and it is all the more commendable given that the Major 16 X1 features a number pad.

More surprising is the touchpad: it’s incredibly smooth, which makes it easy to use. What’s more, its small size means it rarely gets in the way when using the keyboard. However, this also makes it less effective for navigation.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Major 16 X1, though, is its battery life. In both the PCMark benchmark and our movie playback test, it posted poor results. Granted, gaming laptops aren’t known for their endurance, but the Major 16 X1 ranks among the worst of them.

There’s no question that at £1,999, the Major 16 X1 is expensive. However, when you consider its powerful spec, it offers better value than many of its nearest rivals. It might lack the panache of models from Razer and Lenovo et al, but the no-frills approach on the design front means the Major 16 X1 can provide an excellent gaming experience at a relatively modest price.

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Price & Availability

• £1,999.99 (about $2,685 / AU$4,050)
• Available in the UK
• Good price for the spec

The Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 costs £1,999.99 (about $2,685 / AU$4,050) and is available now in the UK. For this, you get an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

Considering its impressive specs, the Major 16 X1 is a well-priced gaming laptop. There are plenty of machines from bigger names that offer less yet ask for more. It may not have the same cache as such rivals, but the Major 16 X1 isn’t far behind in terms of overall quality.

If you want to save even more money without gaming performance taking a nosedive, there are plenty of alternatives to the Major 16 X1 that fit the bill. Among them are another Erazer model, the Deputy 15 P1, and the PC Specialist Defiance II 16. However, the big advantage the Major 16 X1 has over these two is its super-sharp 2560 x 1600 resolution, which eclipses the displays of the aforementioned by a considerable margin.

• Value: 4 / 5

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Specs

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Design

• Anonymous looks
• Surprisingly sleek
• Quite heavy

As with many gaming laptops, the Major 16 X1 isn’t likely to be embraced for its looks. The design is rather plain, lacking any fanfare save for the RGB backlighting of the keyboard. The totally black finish hardly helps matters.

That said, there’s a surprising sleekness to the Major 16 X1, at least by gaming laptop standards. There aren’t any superfluous juts or angles on the unit, helping it maintain a minimal form. Even the rear ventilation section protrudes only by a small amount.

There’s a noticeable overhang at the top of the lid, but since this helps with opening, I can forgive it. What’s more, the lid is impressively thin, and while it’s perhaps less stable than others in this sector, it didn’t wobble while I used the Major 16 X1.

However, the thick and heavy base makes the Major 16 X1 impractical for ferrying around too much. The rubberised bar underneath only compounds the issue, as it’s considerably thicker than those on other gaming laptops. At least the weight contributes to the solid feel of the device, although there are rivals with stronger constructions.

There are a good number of physical connectivity options on the Major 16 X1. On the left is an RJ-45 port and a combo audio jack, both of which are sensibly positioned: the former furthest away from the user and the latter closest to them. In between these are two USB ports: one Type-A and one Type-C.

On the right are two more USB-A ports, along with an SD card reader, which isn’t a common sight on gaming laptops. Rarer still is the Mini DisplayPort, found on the rear of the Major 16 X1. Here you’ll also find the power jack, an HDMI port, and another USB-C port.

It doesn’t make itself readily apparent, but the Major 16 X1 comes preinstalled with utility software called Control Center. This is a basic but effective app, making it easy to select performance modes and adjust other system settings, such as toggling the lock for the Function key (although it’s a shame there’s no keyboard shortcut for this). Control Center is quick to load and run, and I didn’t experience any bugs or glitches during my time with it.

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Performance

• Strong gaming performance
• Brilliantly sharp display
• Relatively cool and quiet

As expected given its Intel Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070 Ti, the Major 16 X1 excels at gaming. When playing Cyberpunk 2077, I was getting between 55-60fps at the Ray Tracing: Medium preset with DLSS upscaling set to Auto. Changing this latter setting to Balanced only resulted in marginal performance gains, while enabling Frame Generation saw frame rates rocket to an average of 110fps.

The display in the Major 16 X1 is also excellent. The ultra-sharp 2560 x 1600 resolution makes for a crisp image, while colours are vibrant, if not quite as vibrant as those of the best gaming monitors. Reflections are apparent on occasion, but for the most part, the Major 16 X1 does well to mitigate this with its brightness levels.

While fan noise is expectedly noticeable, it’s impressively hushed compared to that emitted by many others in this class. The cooling ability of the Major 16 X1 is also admirable: it only became lukewarm during my sessions, with most external areas staying completely cool.

Oddly, the hottest part was the small section between the touchpad and space bar, which I found slightly distracting when my thumb naturally came to rest on this spot. However, it wasn’t hot enough to ruin my experience.

The keys are snappy and satisfying to use, although they lack the dampening of the best gaming keyboard switches. The layout is comfortable, despite the inclusion of a number pad on the right, which helps to make the Major 16 X1 good for typing.

What surprised me even more was the touchpad. It’s incredibly smooth, which makes swipes and gestures easy to perform; as a result, they execute precisely. It’s also small enough to prevent accidental inputs when using the keyboard. However, this also means that navigation is somewhat restricted compared to those with larger surface areas — but since many will likely be using the best gaming mouse models with a laptop, this drawback might not matter.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Battery Life

• Short even for a gaming laptop
• Quick to charge, though

The battery life of the Major 16 X1 is quite short, even by gaming laptop standards. It lasted less than five hours when I played a movie on a continuous loop, a time that a lot of its rivals can beat.

It also performed poorly when I ran PCMark’s battery benchmark for gaming scenarios, lasting about an hour. Thankfully, the Major 16 X1 is quick to charge: it took roughly 90 minutes to fully replenish.

• Battery Life: 2.5 / 5

Should I buy the Medion Erazer Major 16 X1?

Buy the Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 if...

Don't buy it if...

Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 review: Also Consider

How I tested the Medion Erazer Major 16 X1

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and benchmarking
• Extensive gaming experience

I tested the Medion Erazer Major 16 X1 for several days, during which time I used it for gaming and other tasks, such as light entertainment and productivity.

I played AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, and ran our series of benchmark tests to assess every facet of the laptop.

I've been PC gaming for over a decade and have used many different devices and components in that time. I've also reviewed a good deal of gaming laptops, across a wide range of specs, brands, and price points.

• First reviewed January 2025
• Read more about how we test

Best Buy's Black Friday sale is a thing of the distant past now, but the retailer's current batch of gaming laptop deals is almost as good if you're on the hunt for a decent machine. In fact, today's price cuts reach all the way up to $650 off - not bad, considering the New Year isn't typically known for these types of deals.

Today's best deals start with this HP Omen 16 for $1,099 (was $1,689) at Best Buy - an incredible mid-range option if you just want something solid and no thrills. While this machine features a potentially divisive League of Legends-themed design, the combination of an RTX 5060, Core i7 chipset, and 32GB of RAM is fantastic at this price.

Moving up in price, two fantastic RTX 5070-equipped options are this Asus TUF A16 for $1,399 (was $1,699) and this Lenovo Legion 5 for $1,399 (was $1,999). Of the two, the Asus is the slightly better bang-for-the-buck option, but the Lenovo features a stunning premium OLED display that's definitely worth checking out.

You can read more about these deals, and others, just down below. Note that Best Buy's New Year sale is starting to wind down now, so you might not have that much longer to get a discount if you're interested.

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CES 2026 is well underway now, and the TechRadar team has been on the show floor – and in the many private briefing rooms dotted all over Las Vegas – to see what the most important, most innovative, and most fun gadgets coming your way in 2026 will be.

We've had our experts all over the big launches as well as the smaller stuff tucked away at the back of the halls, and we've chosen our 25 favorite products of the show. We're covering a wide gamut of consumer tech here, so make yourself a coffee and dig into what we loved, and why it stood out to us.

Want to watch along and see more of the tech we loved at CES? Check out the video below!

Best phone

Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

• A phone that really turns into a tablet
• Impressive camera system, too
• Read more: I finally tried the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold and couldn't believe my eyes

We finally got to try Samsung's first double-folding phone (it may be called the TriFold, but there are two hinges…), and we called it a "remarkable feat of engineering that offers the potential of truly pocketable big-screen tablet productivity". When folded, it isn’t meaningfully thicker than regular phones, and it has a 6.5-inch screen… but then it becomes 10-inch tablet – so truly tablet-sized – in an instant when you fold its two sides out.

It's not just a one-trick pony, though – the TriFold has five cameras in total, to make sure it can deliver all the flexibility you want from a modern phone. There's Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy customized powerful processor, and a generous 5,600mAh battery. It's the clear stand-out among CES's phones this year.

Best earbuds

Shokz OpenFit Pro

• Shokz' first open earbuds with active 'noise reduction'
• Great fit and sound quality
• Read more: I’ve worn the all-new Shokz open earbuds for 4 days and the ‘noise reduction’ is so good, I forget they’re open-ear

The best open earbuds have become incredibly popular, but Shokz has making them for longer than most, and the new OpenFit Pro proves that it's good to be the veteran. Crucially, these are the company's first with active noise cancellation – even though Shokz doesn't want to call it that, because not having an in-ear seal means it's not quite as effective as what people think of for ANC. No, this is 'noise reduction'.

Well, we've tested them, and actually the noise reduction is as good as a lot of ANC earbuds. It's really effective, and paired with impressive sound and high levels of comfort, these are really impressive.

Best stereo speakers

Cambridge L/R Series

• 3 sizes of wireless stereo bookshelf speakers with huge power
• Dedicated bass drivers with passive radiators
• Read more: Cambridge has unveiled three active bookshelf speakers at CES and it’s not hard to see the KEF resemblance

British hi-fi company Cambridge launched its first wireless stereo speakers, and despite being modest in size, they are huge in sound. There are three sizes – the L/R X is the biggest, the L/R M is the medium, and the L/R S is the small – and it's amazing how much oomph they provide.

We heard the L/R X going hard, and the bass is enough to shake the room, despite not being that big. A big down-firing woofer and dual passive bass radiators get it to this point, delivering an amazingly full sound, with tons of detail and finesse to it as well. And they're great-looking, too.

Best Bluetooth speaker

Fender Audio Elie 6

• 3-way speaker system in a small body produces great sound
• Connections for guitars and mics, and great wireless options
• Read more: Fender just released new wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers

Fender Audio launched two speakers and a pair of headphones at CES, and all are interesting in various ways, but during our ears-on time it was the Elie 6 that really impressed us. It's a pretty small unit, but it packs in a tweeter, full-range speaker and down-firing bass driver, meaning the sound is amazingly full and impactful – especially in stereo mode, with two units connected wirelessly.

They have interesting features, too – a combined XLR and 1/4-inch port for connecting a mic or guitar directly, and even two wireless buttons for a specific connectivity feature Fender is planning to work with wireless mics. We like the design too, with a solid carry handle.

Best headphones

TDM Neo

• Headphones that 'twist' to become a portable speaker
• 200-hour battery life in headphones mode

We love seeing something totally new at CES. The TDM Neo work like a regular pair of on-ear wireless headphones. You put them on, you enjoy some nice bassy music. But when you take them off, you can twist the flexible headband and connect the earcups together magnetically, to form a small round device. As soon as you do this, they start playing music out loud, as a Bluetooth speaker.

They have two sets of audio drivers to make this happen: one for headphones mode, and a more powerful set for speaker mode. And they're really thoughtfully designed – the headband hinges attach to each other when you twist, so you know you've done it correctly, but then they become a flat surface you can stand the speaker on.

If you prefer, you can also change the behavior so that when you twist, they pause instead of auto-switching to speaker mode. And because the speaker mode requires more power, they have huge batteries, and can deliver a colossal 200 hours of life in headphones mode.

Best toy

Lego Smart Play

• A classic Lego brick, now with sound and light magic
• All the tech is under the hood – no screens required

At first glance, Lego’s Smart Brick looks like a regular 2x4 Lego brick. Aside from a transparent top, you’d never know it’s any different. But bring a Smart Minifigure close, and that's where the magic starts to happen. If Darth Vader approaches, the Imperial March starts up. Move R2-D2 nearby and you’re greeted with frantic boops and flashes of blue light. Same goes for a Smart Tag to identify what the Lego build is – say, an X-Wing or Tie Fighter.

All of this is powered by a custom chip hidden inside the brick, along with sensors, a gyroscope, non-invasive microphones, and a sound synthesizer. Together, they let the Smart Brick understand what’s around it and respond with the right sounds and lighting effects, without adding a screen or changing the core Lego experience. For now, it’s limited to a handful of Star Wars sets, but it’s a smart, confident foundation – one that enhances play rather than distracting from it.

Best OLED TV

LG W6 Wallpaper TV

• LG's best OLED panel, in a super-thin 9.9mm body
• Uses a wireless connections box to keep it aesthetically pure
• Read more: LG announces new OLED TVs at CES

The LG W6 is a stunner in more ways than one. It uses LG's most advanced OLED panel – the new Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 also used in the LG G6 – but in a design that's just 9.9mm thick. It's also totally uniform, meaning it can be as invisible on the wall as pretty much any TV can be these days. In the image above, you can see how well it blends in using a photo of the wall behind it. To help this minimalism, it uses a wireless connections box that's capable of full-quality 4K HDR pictures, but without the tangle of cables running to the TV.

It looks like it'll be a fantastic TV, thanks to the panel and LG's latest-gen image processing, and should only cost a little more than the G6 does. That means you'll be getting something super-impressive and premium at a still-realistic price.

Best RGB TV

Samsung R95H

• Stunningly rich color and fantastic contrast
• Available in realistic sizes, and shown in an amazing 130-inch model
• Read more: Samsung's enormous micro-RGB TV is coming to smaller screen sizes, and it borrows one great feature from Samsung OLED TVs

CES has been dominated by RGB TVs this year. These are basically mini-LED TVs with a new more colorful backlight behind the pixels, meaning they offer a greater range of colors, and can be even brighter. Having seen them in action, our pick of the bunch is the Samsung R95H. It looks so lush and colorful, with impressively inky black tones, and Samsung's anti-reflective screen ensuring you can see everything, without distractions.

More than that, this is a TV available in realistic sizes – Samsung showed off 75-inch and 85-inch versions, but overall its RGB TVs will come in sizes starting from 55 inches – while still feeling cutting edge. However, for good measure, Samsung also showed an amazing 130-inch version of this TV.

Best Mini-LED TV

TCL X11L SQD MiniLED

• A twist on traditional QLED mini-LED TV tech
• Astoundingly bright, with 20,000 dimming zones
• Read more: TCL launches next-gen SQD mini-LED TV at CES – the ‘best TV in the market’ for 2026

TCL has put a fascinating twist on its flagship TV here. It uses more traditional mini-LED tech rather than RGB mini-LED – but only sort of. TCL is employing a single-color mini-LED backlight, but has applied a layer of 'Super Quantum Dots' (the SQD part) directly over the top, which filter the color before – rather than after – it reaches the LCD layer.

This means it kind of works like an RGB TV, but TCL says this approach means it can pack in way more LEDs. It can produce 10,000 nits of brightness and 20,000 dimming zones for probably the best contrast we've ever seen from a mini-LED TV. Based on early impressions, this is the closest we've seen to mini-LED beating the blooming problem completely.

Best projector

Hisense PX4-Pro

• Ultra short throw laser 4K projector with amazing brightness and color
• Up to 200 inches projected with the device just inches from the wall
• Read more: Hisense unveils two 4K laser projectors — a 300-inch beast with huge brightness, plus the sequel to the best ultra short throw projector

The PX4-Pro is the follow-up to the projector we rate as the best ultra short throw projector overall right now, so we were excited to take a look, and it lived up to our expectations. Its picture looks beautifully bright with a good light-rejecting screen – closer than ever to TV brightness – and eye-grabbingly rich color.

But it can now project up to 200 inches in size still from right near the wall, while maintaining immersive brightness and color depth, and all still in the same size of projector package. CES is full of projectors this year, but this one popped for us.

Best soundbar

LG Sound Suite H7

• The world's first Dolby Atmos FlexConnect soundbar
• A powerful all-in-one, and you can add more speakers in any position
• Read more: LG’s 2026 TVs and soundbars get the Dolby Atmos FlexConnect treatment

Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is a really interesting technology that means you can place home theater speakers wherever is convenient for your room, and the system will configure their sound to create immersive spatial audio, even if they're not in the 'ideal' spot.

LG's Sound Suite H7 is the first soundbar to include the tech, delivering 9.1.6 channels of Dolby Atmos sound on its own. However, you can add a sub and satellite speakers that are positioned anywhere in the room, and the soundbar will automatically optimize them and create the ideal immersive system. It sounds amazing, and the freedom of placement is a game-changer.

Best smartwatch

Pebble Round 2

• The original smartwatch returns!
• E-paper screen means a week of battery life
• Read more: Pebble unveils Pebble Round 2 — and fixes all the original's major pitfalls

Pebble holds a strong place in the heart of tech lovers – it was the first smartwatch that really took, and now it's back with its coolest model yet. Pebble Round 2 is a sleeker, rounder watch, and using a color e-paper helps it deliver a week of battery life per charge.

Naturally, it does some fitness and sleep tracking, and there's a big range of apps and watch faces, thanks to the ongoing commitment to having open source software on the Pebble range.

Best fitness tracker

Noise Luna Band

• A screenless health-tracking band
• No subscription needed – a rarity these days

We've enjoyed the Luna Ring models, and now the brand has the Luna Band. It's a Whoop-like fitness tracker, meaning there's no distracting screen. It doesn't really feel like tech, and that's a good thing – you just live your life, and the Luna Band will offer helpful updates on your diet, workouts, sleep, mood and more. You can use your voice to tell it what meal you ate, to log your workouts, or how you're feeling – and then you can review them later on the app. The one downside is that this function uses Apple's Siri, which means it's iPhone-only for now.

Perhaps the best part is that it doesn't require a subscription on top of the device cost to do all this – people are tired of being nickel-and-dimed, and so the Luna Band looks like it'll help you stay zen in more ways than one.

Best exercise tech

Merach W60 Walking Pad

• "Treadmill-grade engineering" for a low price
• Auto-incline or manual incline options

Walking pads are getting more and more popular, especially for people who work from home and want to get some exercise in during the work day. Merach's new model promises to help you do this more easily and reliably than ever. We love the promise of "treadmill-grade engineering" for a super-sturdy feel, and Merach says it will have a 2,000km warranty.

It's available in two options: one with an auto-incline feature, and one where you'll have to manually set an incline. There's also RGB lighting and Bluetooth speakers built in, if you want to set a mood. Starting from just $299 for the manual version and $329 for the auto-incline version, this really looks like it could be the new standout walking pad on the market.

Best wellness innovation

Nuralogix Longevity Mirror

• A smart mirror that can detect blood flow in your face to give health insights
• Everything from physiological age to mental health

This smart mirror has cameras built in that combine with an AI algorithm to work out a surprising amount of health data just from your face. It's not looking at your features – it's detecting blood-flow patterns, which it can make a variety of sophisticated estimations from.

These include your heart-rate, your physiological age (as in, is your body working as well as it should for your 'real' age?) and your mental health. It appears to be pretty accurate based on early testing – it seems like an incredibly clever system.

Best laptop

Dell XPS 14

• Smart new design with usability improvements
• Intel's new Core Ultra 3 chips inside
• Read more: Hands on: Dell XPS 14 2026 and XPS 16 2026

Without question, the most exciting laptop of CES 2026 was the Dell XPS 14. While many a reviewer and tech journalist is praising the return of the XPS brand itself, what matters most – in our opinion – is the redesign of the laptop. The last Dell XPS 14 and 2025's Dell 14 Premium (the short-lived successor to the XPS 14) were both fantastic laptops that were hamstrung by some major design flaws; namely, the virtual function keys and ‘invisible’ trackpad that turned out to be an accessibility nightmare.

Those have now been fixed with a new design that is also thinner and more modern-looking than its predecessors. And with the new Intel Core Ultra series 3 chips, it’s even more powerful and better equipped to take on the Apple MacBook Air for the 'thin and light' laptop crown.

Best gaming laptop

Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable

• A 16-inch display that expands to a 24-inch display
• The flexible OLED screen literally rolls out like a scroll
• Read more: Lenovo officially unveils the rumored Legion Pro Rollable gaming laptop with expanding screen

The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable, previously rumored but officially unveiled at CES 2026, is easily one of the most intriguing gaming laptops we’ve ever seen. Its screen expands horizontally from a 16-inch display to 21.5 inches, then once more to a 23.8-inch panel at max extension – all from a quick keyboard shortcut.

The Legion Pro Rollable is an exciting prospect for PC gamers who travel often and want desk-like levels of screen space without attempting to cram a massive laptop into their bag. Gaming aside, it also brings benefits to everyday browsing and productivity, giving you more space to organize windows at the click of a button. It’s only a proof of concept at the moment, but we'll be following it closely to see if the Legion Pro Rollable hits mainstream production.

Best computing innovation

Core Ultra series 3

• Excellent performance in thin-and-light laptops
• Particularly impressive GPU means great gaming on ultrabooks
• Read more: The Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors look impressive enough, but the Arc B390 iGPU is the real game-changer here

We’ve been waiting for the Intel Core Ultra series 3 for several months now, having seen pre-launch builds of Intel Panther Lake last year. Now the Core Ultra series 3 has launched, every laptop we’ve tried with the new chips just reinforces how well Intel has stuck the landing on this release.

This is especially true when it comes to the graphics performance of the higher-end 12 Xe core Arc B390 iGPU, which delivers high-quality 1080p PC gaming on an ultrabook – no other chipmaker even comes close in 2026. If you’re looking to upgrade to a premium thin and light Windows laptop, there’s little reason to buy anything other than a laptop with an Intel Core Ultra series 3.

Best action camera

Dreame Leaptic Cube

• Tiny modular 8K action camera
• Clip to a screen module, or just a battery

Dreame is best known for its vacuum and cleaning tech, but it used CES 2026 to announce its entry into a ton of other product categories. And one of the coolest things we saw at the show was this tiny action camera. The core here is a really small action cam with up to 8K recording, or 4K in HDR if you prefer.

But the clever part is its modular design. It has a little docking system, and Dreame showed it running into two modes: one with a clip-on battery, keeping the whole thing at a small size; and one with a touchscreen module that's larger. You can imagine all the possibilities for accessories from here, all enabling smart extra functions, not just attaching dumbly.

Best gaming accessory

Razer Project Madison

• The ultimate immersive gaming chair
• Surround speakers, haptic feedback and RGB lights all react to games

Razer has decided to throw every kind of immersive gaming chair tech into one product here. This chair uses sight, sound and touch to create something totally enveloping, taking features from Razer's products including the Freyja haptic gaming cushion and Clio headrest speakers.

This chair has speakers behind your head, which combine with front speakers to create a true 5.1 or 7.1 surround system. It has lights that react to compatible games, creating the feeling that events are happening around you, not just on the screen. And the built-in haptics deliver sensations and impacts during play. It looks like the best way to get truly lost in a game.

Best gaming innovation

Neurable / HyperX headset concept and priming software

• A brain-reading gaming headset to improve your performance
• Helps you lower reaction times and improve accuracy
• Read more: I tried a prototype brain-scanning headset designed to make you better at Valorant — and it actually works

Brain-scanning company Neurable has worked on headphones that can scan your brain activity using EEGs to help you focus and prevent burnout in the past. Now it's bringing these ideas to gaming headsets, in a collaboration with HyperX – but the focus is on improving your focus and performance in games.

We tried it out, and it really makes a difference. Using a 'priming' exercise before playing, where you have to focus your mind to shrink a cloud of dots down to nothing, we improved accuracy by a few percentage points, and the company's research has shown it can reduce reaction time by around 40 milliseconds. For esports players, this is a big deal, and the software can track your focus and cognitive load levels while playing, to potentially help with coaching and to prevent tilting.

Best robot mower

Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD

• Offers ±1 cm positioning precision via an upgraded LiDAR, RTK and Vision navigation system
• Can make decisions almost instantly with a 10 TOPS AI chip
• Read more: I just watched Mammotion's new flagship lawnbot scale an astroturf mountain, and it was mesmerizing

There were a lot of incredible robot lawn mowers on show at CES this year, but the one that really stood out to us was the Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD. It builds on the success of the excellent LUBA 2 AWD that precedes it, and is one of the most all-round capable lawnbots we've seen.

At the heart of the design is an upgraded 'Tri-Fusion' navigation system, where the bot will switch between LiDAR, RTK GPS and AI Vision depending on what's most appropriate for the situation. That means it's unlikely ever to get itself lost – the brand promises positioning accuracy to ±1 cm. Mammotion has also upgraded the processing system with a powerful AI chip that can handle 10 trillion operations per second, meaning it can make smart mowing decisions almost instantly.

Best robot vacuum

Roborock Saros Rover

• It's a robovac with actual, proper legs
• It can climb stairs, duck and dive, and even hop
• Read more: I saw Roborock's new robot vacuum with legs, and it promises to make no-go zones a thing of the past

This one is still in the middle of development, but is so cool already – and, admittedly, a little weird. This robot vacuum uses two extended legs that make it look like a Star Wars droid to get around your house more easily. Having articulated legs means it can climb stairs – including spiral staircases – cleaning them as it goes.

In fact, stairs are just the start. Roborock says the Rover is designed to be able to tackle any kind of terrain or home layout, no matter how awkward. Think of it like a 4x4 for cleaning.

It has some fancy object avoidance tech that means it can duck and dive, weave and jump, remaining completely stable throughout. We're not sure exactly what this is for, but it sure is impressive to watch. This maybe the most that a robovac has looked like a pet – it's got personality, it's useful, and we love it.

Best haircare tech

L'Oréal Light Straight +

• A straightener that uses infrared light tech to straighten effectively at lower temperatures
• Avoids the high temperatures that damage hair
• Read more: L'Oréal exec on why its new glass, infrared-powered hair straightener is so exciting

This innovative hair straightener promises to be three times faster at straightening hair, and yet will leave hair twice as smooth as regular plate straighteners do. And at the same time, it can do this at a lower temperature – always under 320°F / 160°C, compared to 365°F / 185°C for typical models. High temperatures break down hair, so reduction is a long-term good for your hair's health.

We got to try them out on – and this has been the first time we've ever used this phrase – human demo hair, and they certainly seemed to work incredibly well. This could be a huge change for a long-running industry, and that's what CES is all about.

Best smart light

IKEA Varmblixt LED Lamp

• It's a glowing, color-changing donut
• Works with IKEA's smart hub, or a Matter home system
• Read more: IKEA just revealed a new donut-shaped smart light – and it'll look sweet on your tables or walls

Sometimes, you've just got acknowledge when something is charming as hell, and that's what we're talking about with the new IKEA Varmblixt. It's a revamp of an ultra-popular lamp IKEA launched in 2022, but this new version is all about the color options, using an array of LEDs to create a beautiful soft toroidal glow.

It can be controlled with a remote, or you can connect it to IKEA's Dirigea home hub, but it also works with any Matter-ready smart home control option.

I'm here in Las Vegas for the Lenovo Tech World event and CES 2026, and Lenovo has some exciting new developments to share. One of the most interesting, by far, is the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable: a 16-inch laptop that expands to 23.8 inches of screen space at the click of a button.

This isn't the first time Lenovo has unveiled a rollable laptop proof of concept - that was back at CES 2025 with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable - but this is Lenovo's first horizontally-rolling display, and the first time it's been tested on a gaming laptop.

Watching the screen grow was impressive to say the least, but I'm not convinced user demand has any wind behind its sails.

Going hands-on with the Legion Pro Rollable

The star of the show here is the rollable 16-inch PureSight OLED display. It expands from 16 inches, dubbed "Focus Mode" (16:10) to 21.5 inches, "Tactical Mode" (21:9) with a simple keyboard shortcut, and once again to 23.8 inches, "Arena Mode" (24:9) at max expansion.

It has some pretty impressive specs, like a 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Lenovo didn't have any games loaded up on the Legion Pro Rollable, but I was able to test the screen expansion and retraction, use the keyboard and trackpad, and imagine what it would be like to game on this first-of-its-kind laptop.

At it's 16-inch minimum screen size, it's a sleek Legion laptop with Lenovo's usual high level of polish. When at full expansion, it looks like a computer you'd see in a Sci-Fi movie's spaceship, with fascinating proportions and ultra thin bezels.

It was also wildly impressive that the screen doesn't need any time to 'think' about the expansion - no flashes to black, no 'expansion in progress' overlay - you just click a button and it grows in size without skipping a beat.

A Lenovo rep mentioned that you can close the lid while the screen is fully expanded, though it may not be a great idea for the display's durability.

Rollable screen aside, it's an imposing high-tier gaming laptop with a punchy full-size RGB keyboard, a smooth, large trackpad, and a solid port selection. It also features an RGB lightbar along the bottom edge of the backside.

Internally, the Legion Pro Rollable comes equipped flagship-level hardware, including up to an Nvidia RTX 5090 mobile GPU and an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor.

Will this laptop ever make it to production?

Lenovo positions the Legion Pro Rollable as a solution for esports competitors who travel often and need to train on large displays, similar to those they'd use in tournaments.

The concept make sense, and I see the benefits of traveling with a 16-inch gaming laptop rather than trying to bend space and time to fit a 24-inch monitor in your backpack.

But I'm not sure this is a problem that needs to be solved.

Many major esports organizations provide equipment for players to use once they reach their destination, often from sponsorships. Players are seldom expected to bring their own PC and monitor with them to events - though many prefer to take peripherals along like the keyboards and mice they use every day.

FPS professionals often take setup and viewing angles to the extreme to remain on top of their game, positioning the monitor exactly the same way every time and sitting just inches from the display. One thing to note is that while the screen expands horizontally, you cannot adjust its vertical position (without a laptop stand or the old stack of books trick).

As for casual PC gamers, I doubt this will be the most cost-effective solution on the market.

You'd be better off investing in a quality budget gaming laptop and 24-inch monitor to hook it up to. No, you don't get the ability to easily travel with that monitor, but you can always use the smaller screen in a pinch.

But of course, the Legion Pro Rollable is a proof of concept. It's Lenovo pushing the boundaries of what computer enthusiasts call 'normal,' challenging the limits of modern computing technology, and coming up with new ideas.

And for that, I love it.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!