The BEST Gaming Laptops for 2026 ｜ Buying Guide

Looking for the best gaming laptop? I've rounded up five of my favorites. Whether you're looking for a desktop replacement, the best bang for your buck, or even a laptop that you can upgrade for years to come. And if you're not even sure where to start, hopefully this video will help you out. And to make things even easier, I've linked all the best deals for these gaming laptops below. Let's kick things off with our best overall gaming laptop, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. The ASUS ROG G14 combines portability and performance in a minimalist design that I happen to love. Honestly, it's hard to tell this is even a gaming laptop. It has all the qualities of a premium ultrabook with a gorgeous 2.8K, 120 hertz OLED display with a very solid MacBook Pro-esque aluminum body, tactile keyboard, and a glass touch pad that feels great. But it's what's inside that counts, right? Well, here we have an AMD Ryzen A9 HX370 with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080. The Zephyrus G14 is as much of a creator and prosumer machine as it is a gaming laptop. With DLSS 4 enabled, we saw games like Cyberpunk 2077 running at over 140 frames per second at max settings, which is wild for a device this thin and light. Pricing starts at $1,800 for the less powerful RTX 5060 version, but if you wanna spec this all the way up to the RTX 5080 monster that we have here, it'll set you back over $3,000. If you're looking for the best gaming laptop that won't break the bank, we're talking under $1,000. You gotta check out the MSI Cyborg 15. The MSI Cyborg 15 can be configured with up to an NVIDIA RTX 5070, but it's actually the RTX 5060 model that we have here, which I think makes for a great mid-range laptop. It can play most of your AAA games at 1080p at medium to high settings and get at least 60 frames per second. For less demanding games or if you don't mind dropping your settings a bit, this does have a 15.6-inch full HD 144-hertz IPS display for that faster action. I think this is actually one of the better-looking budget gaming laptops with a semi-transparent chassis and that four-zone RGB keyboard with highlighted WASD keys. You also get a great selection of ports, including full-size HDMI 2.1, USB, Type-A, and even ethernet. Finding a solid budget gaming laptop does come with a few compromises, including being a little bit chunky. But if you're mainly looking for the best laptop performance for under $1,000, the MSI Cyborg 15 will not let you down. If you want a gaming laptop that's powerful enough to take the place of your desktop PC, then check out the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18. It's ridiculously powerful, has an incredible screen, and nails the details. With an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and up to an RTX 1590 that can hit 175 watts, this beast pushes ludicrous frame rates to its 18-inch 240-hertz mini-LED display. With maxed-out settings and DLSS turned on, you can easily hit over 150 frames per second in titles like Cyberpunk 2077. This is also a really solid choice for video editing, 3D modeling, and other creative workflows, especially with its Pantone-validated color-accurate screen. For added flair, the back lid has AniMi Vision, which sports 810 LEDs that let you show off pre-made animations, upload GIFs, or even create your own custom image. Unsurprisingly, this 18-inch laptop with all these specs is going to be hefty, battery-hungry, and expensive. This weighs 7.3 pounds, with pricing starting at just over $2,000 and growing fast when you reach higher configurations. But if you really want uncompromised performance in a laptop, it is hard to beat the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18. Not every laptop has to be heavy or screen gaming. If you're like me and prefer thin and light gaming laptops and still want plenty of oomph, you're gonna love the HP Omen Transcend 14. This could probably pass as a business ultra book, but it's actually hiding really solid, portable 14-inch gaming laptop specs and weighs just 3 1⁄2 pounds. Every model comes equipped with a beautiful 3K 120Hz OLED display, which may seem a bit overkill for gaming. But as this also doubles as an excellent productivity machine that you can take to the office without anyone batting an eye, this extra resolution is appreciated. It can be configured with either an Intel Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9 processor and RTX 5050, 5060, or 5070 graphics card. Personally, I think the Ultra 7 RTX 5060 model is the sweet spot. Starting around $1,800, this is not cheap, but when it hits one of its frequent sales, the HP Omen Transcend is one of the more affordable thin and light gaming laptops for its specs. It's even better that HP is always running great deals, so be sure to keep an eye out. Finally, we've got one of the most unique laptops that I've ever tested. This is the Framework Laptop 16. Gaming laptops aren't usually known for their upgradability or repairability, but the Framework 16 is looking to change that. The Framework 16 is a gaming laptop that you can actually build yourself. Pricing starts at $1,400 for their DIY 16-inch model or $1,700 for their entry prebuilt. These laptops use a highly customizable chassis and series of components that let you swap everything out from the graphics card, the number pad, and even the USB ports. This makes the laptop incredibly customizable. You don't like the trackpad in the center? Slide it over. Need more USB-C ports? Just swap out an expansion port. You can even drop in a different numpad or screen bezel. Internally, you can also upgrade or switch out the main board and CPU, your RAM and storage, and even the GPU, which at the time of this video supports up to an RTX 5070. Down the road, if you ever need to upgrade or repair a component, you can just swap out that part instead of needing an entirely new laptop. The Framework 16 will definitely require a little technical know-how, but there are plenty of easy-to-follow guides for the gamers who want total control over their machine or who want more of that traditional gaming PC experience. The Framework Laptop 16 is a phenomenal choice. If you've made it this far into the video and you're feeling a little sticker shock about why gaming laptops are so expensive, you are not alone. The short answer? You're paying for that higher-end performance in a portable design, and miniaturization usually costs money. These laptops need top-tier graphics cards, higher refresh rate displays, and serious cooling systems for a positive gaming experience. And that's before getting into the sleek designs and RGB effects that gamers always seem to appreciate. If that sounds like overkill, there's good news. You can still get a fast, reliable laptop for under a grand. Check out our Best Budget Laptops video here on the channel for some solid picks. There's also a good chance if you're subscribed to our channel that you've already caught some of my other gaming videos. You know, we talk a lot about gaming handhelds around here. So before you decide on your next gaming laptop, it's worth considering if a gaming handheld might make more sense. While handhelds aren't as powerful as these gaming laptops, they are much more portable and still offer excellent performance at low to medium settings in a lot of AAA games. If you're after portability and wanna stick to a budget of around $1,000 or less, these handhelds can be a great way to play your favorite games on the go. Gaming laptops are still gonna be the better choice if you need that laptop form factor for your other work, but take it from me, someone who has used their gaming handheld as a PC desktop replacement for over a year, you'll be surprised by how well these work, especially when connected to an external monitor in your peripherals. And here's another thing. Whether you're working with a tighter budget, which limits your GPU selection, or you think handhelds are the way to go, it doesn't mean that you're stuck with less powerful hardware. Cloud gaming has come a really long way and NVIDIA GeForce Now can deliver up to RTX 5080 desktop level performance for the games that you own on practically any device, so long as you have a really fast internet connection. So it's worth checking that out. There are a lot of great gaming laptops to choose from, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of these picks. Check out the best deals for them linked below. Let me know which one you're eyeing, or if you think there are any that I should try out for next time. If this video helped you out, make sure to subscribe for more buying guides and you can follow me to see what other cool tech I'm reviewing. And until the next one, I'll catch you later.