A core reason you’d want one of the best gaming laptops is to play your favorite PC games on the go. However, your experience with AAA games won’t be great on battery power. Not only will you generally get less than two hours of gameplay, but you'll suffer severe drops in frames per second (FPS). This is why most users keep their gaming laptops plugged in during use.

But what if you’re itching to play a game and there’s no wall outlet in sight? Are you stuck playing for just a couple of hours at 30 frames per second or lower? Not necessarily, so long as you make various adjustments to the laptop and game. Though the results won't always match what you'd get when plugged in, you’ll have a smoother gaming experience.

If you want to squeeze as much performance as possible from a gaming laptop running on battery, I’ll show you how!

On battery vs plugged in

Generally, a battery provides around 40 to 90 watts of power, whereas a wall charger can provide 100 to 200+ watts. That extra power allows laptop components like the GPU and CPU to run more efficiently, delivering smoother gaming performance. However, on battery power, operating systems automatically switch to low-power or balanced profiles, which lowers frame rates and screen refresh rates.

There are also safety reasons. Drawing too much power too quickly from a battery can generate excessive heat and damage the cells. Laptops also slow the CPU and GPU on battery power to prevent overheating. When you connect a laptop to a wall outlet, your computer knows it has an endless energy supply and removes all the speed caps.

I ran Cyberpunk 2077 on the Alienware 16 (2026) on both battery power and while plugged in to show you the difference. At default graphical settings and native 2560x1600 resolution, the game ran at around 110-120 fps while I was on foot and around 90-100 fps when I drove through the city center. Unplugged, Cyberpunk 2077’s frame rate dropped to the 70s on foot and to around 55 on the highway.

To be clear, the Alienware 16 is an extremely powerful gaming laptop, which accounts for its high fps even when unplugged. Still, a 30 frames-per-second drop isn’t small and illustrates the difference between playing plugged in and unplugged.

How to get better performance on battery

I’ll now detail how to get battery gaming laptop performance while on battery. Keep in mind that the battery can’t output enough wattage for full gaming speeds, so performance will always be limited compared to when you’re plugged in. With that out of the way, let’s get into it.

On your laptop, click the battery icon on the taskbar and set the power mode to Best Performance. If your laptop has an Nvidia RTX GPU, you can disable BatteryBoost or raise the frame rate cap in the GeForce Experience app (or the Nvidia app).

Similarly, open your laptop manufacturer’s custom app (such as Asus Armoury Crate, Razer Synapse, or Lenovo Vantage) and switch the operating mode from Eco/Silent to a manual or performance profile. You can also set a custom frame limiter in the Nvidia Control Panel to limit CPU and GPU usage as needed.

To improve battery life, you can lower the refresh rate from a high rate like 144Hz to 60Hz. You can also reduce the display’s brightness to around 50% or lower and turn off RGB lighting if your laptop uses it. Unplugging unnecessary peripherals also helps improve battery life. And of course, shut down any apps you’re not currently using.

On the game side, you can do things like lower the game’s resolution, shadow quality, and graphical settings to reduce the workload on your laptop. Similarly, you can cap your maximum FPS in the game settings to keep stable performance.

Bottom line

I will always advise folks to keep their gaming laptops plugged in while playing for the best possible performance. However, if there’s nowhere to connect, the tips above should help you get better performance on battery life. It’s not as optimal as when you’re plugged in, but you’ll have a smoother overall experience.

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To be considered one of the best gaming laptops, a PC must do a few things: pack a high refresh rate for smooth gameplay; make colors look vibrant; and it shouldn’t overheat. The MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W does all that and more. Boasting excellent color coverage and accuracy, as well as a 240Hz refresh rate, the Crosshair 16 HX packs performance in spades.

The Crosshair 16 HX also features an effective, albeit extremely loud, cooling system that ensures the laptop doesn’t get too hot during intensive games. All of these goodies are packed into a lovely, premium and practical design — but it also houses the laptop’s mediocre battery life, which puts a damper on things.

For the complete breakdown, read my full MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Specs

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A 16-inch gaming laptop boasting excellent performance across the board
• Who is it for? Gamers looking for a high-performing Windows laptop
• How much does it cost? At the time of writing, pricing hasn’t been confirmed
• What do we like? The great design, outstanding performance, 240Hz refresh rate for gaming, effective cooling system, and great color coverage and accuracy
• What don’t we like? The loud fans and mediocre battery life

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: The ups

From its premium design and excellent color coverage to its superb gaming performance and effective cooling system, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is a formidable laptop.

Gorgeous design with plenty of ports

If you took one look at the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W, you’d instantly know it’s a gaming laptop, through and through. MSI’s dragon shield emblem in teal with a subtle reflective finish graces the laptop’s matte lid, adding a pop of color to the black notebook. I love the aluminum chassis too, which feels and looks premium.

The Crosshair 16 HX E14W is fitted with a 16-inch (2560 x 1600) non-touch screen and the laptop itself measures 14.29 x 10.62 x 1.01 inches — ever-so slightly bigger than the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora ($2,499) and the Dell XPS 16 ($1,749). It fits easily into most regular-sized laptop backpacks, and I’ve had no issues carrying it to and from work. It weighs 5.07 pounds, so while it isn’t as light as the MacBook Pro M5 (3.4 pounds, $1,599), it isn’t as bulky as the 5.66lbs Alienware 16X Aurora.

I’ve tested many MSI monitors and I’ve come to expect great build quality from the Taiwanese company — this applies to the Crosshair 16 HX too, from the overall construction to its keyboard and trackpad. The low-profile keyboard is a sheer delight to type on, with each key’s total travel distance of 1.7mm making typing fatigue-free. It also features four-zone RGB which can be customized via pre-installed software — and it further reaffirms that this is a Gaming laptop, with a capital G. I found the trackpad responsive and comfortable in my testing too.

The Crosshair 16 HX doesn’t give you much to complain about in the I/O and ports department, either. The laptop’s left edge sports the power and two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort and 100W Power Delivery), while the right edge houses the 3.5mm audio jack as well as two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. The RJ45 Ethernet, HDMI 2.1 (8K at 60Hz or 4K at 120Hz) and another USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port are located on the rear. That should be plenty for connecting keyboards, mice, monitors and headsets.

Stunning, bright display

The MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W packs a beautiful QHD+ panel that’s truly a sight to behold. Having used the laptop for gaming, productivity, and even testing monitors, I can confidently say its screen won’t give you much to complain about. The 2.5K panel packs plenty of resolution to make games feel immersive, and it’s enough for enjoying movies and YouTube videos, too.

Speaking of gaming, the Crosshair 16 HX has a refresh rate of 240Hz — same as the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora — and this ensures silky smooth performance in a range of games, including but not limited to Forza Horizon 5 and Counter-Strike 2. I’ll discuss gaming performance in detail shortly, but let’s talk about colors and brightness first.

I’ve been extremely impressed with the Crosshair 16 HX’s bright and vivid display. The World Wildlife 4K YouTube video, which I always watch when testing laptops, looked nothing short of stunning. Vivid colors, rich blues and greens, inky blacks, and controlled highlights all contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience.

I put the Crosshair 16 HX through its paces in my lab testing, and the results confirmed what I saw on screen. The laptop covers 157.5% of the sRGB color space and 111.6% of the wider DCI P3 gamut. 100% is the most accurate while anything above that has more saturation, and the Crosshair 16 HX goes above and beyond, delivering the entire color spectrum for your eyes to feast on. It blows its competitors out of the water, as you can see in the table above.

Alongside color coverage, the Crosshair 16 HX’s color accuracy is phenomenal, too. In my lab testing, it achieved a Delta-E score of 0.2, besting the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora and the Razer Blade 16 ($2,999), and being on level playing field with the MacBook Pro M5. The closer the Delta-E score to zero, the better, so 0.2 is great and what we usually see when testing the best laptops.

In terms of brightness, the Crosshair 16 HX achieved 447 nits in my testing, and it’s beaten by a hair's breadth only by the MacBook Pro M5. Other Windows laptops in the same price range or just over fail to upstage it, as you can see above. In real-world usage, I had no issues seeing the Crosshair 16 HX’s screen, regardless of the lighting conditions.

Great performance across the board

Regardless of the task I did, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W performed formidably, and I was impressed with its performance across the board. You can get the laptop in a few configurations (full details here), and my review unit, also the top-line configuration, came fitted with the Intel Core i7 14650HX chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card.

I conducted my benchmark tests, as I do with every other laptop I test, and I was satisfied with the results. On Geekbench 6, which tests and measures overall CPU performance, the 16X Aurora pulled in a solid multi-core score of 15,982, outclassing the Alienware x16 R2 ($2,099). The MacBook Pro M5, the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora and the Razer Blade 16 perform better than the Crosshair 16 HX E14W, but not by much.

What impressed me most, though, was how the Crosshair 16 HX outperformed the MacBook Pro M5 and nearly every other laptop in our HandBrake video editing test (transcoding a 4K video to 1080p). The Crosshair 16 HX is outdone by the Razer Blade 16 but only by a narrow margin.

Last but not least, I measured the Crosshair 16 HX’s read and write speeds using the BlackMagic Disk Speed test, and the laptop performed well. As you can see from the table above, the Crosshair 16 HX achieved 4,575 write and 5,055 read speeds, trumping the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora.

Having used both the Crosshair 16 HX and Alienware 16X Aurora extensively for productivity-oriented tasks, like working in Google Docs, browsing the web, and even editing photos, I can confirm that both laptops perform well. The MacBook Pro M5 does better, though, but for everyday use, the Crosshair 16 HX is more than enough.

Excellent gaming performance

As I’ve said a few times now, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is first and foremost a gaming laptop — and a great one at that. My review unit came packed with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card, and the entry-level configuration features a 5060 card. At its native resolution of 2560 x 1600 and refresh rate of 240Hz, the Crosshair 16 HX performs formidably, running even intensive Steam games without breaking a sweat.

I ran in-game benchmark tests, and you can see the results in the table above. With Extreme graphics enabled, Forza Horizon 5 achieved an average frame rate of 102fps, which is excellent for a system-hungry game. With features like Ray-Traced Lighting set to Ultra in Cyberpunk 2077, the laptop achieved an average FPS of 55fps — about 8fps less than the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora. F1 25 was the standout, as even with graphics set to Ultra High, the game ran at a silky smooth 143fps. In Counter-Strike 2, a game not as intensive as the others, the maximum FPS achieved was a whopping 228.

So, the benchmark results are great, and the laptop sounds fantastic on paper, and the best part is, it’s even better in real-world use. The visuals are nothing short of sublime. The screen delivers rich, punchy colors without looking overly saturated, which I especially enjoyed when roaming the neon-laden streets of Cyberpunk 2077. For an IPS panel, the contrast is good too, though naturally, blacks don’t appear as deep as on an OLED display.

In Forza Horizon 5 and F1 25, I appreciated the smooth motion and how well the games ran, as I didn’t experience any ghosting or lag. The 240Hz panel shone in Counter-Strike 2. Tracking targets felt effortless as they remained clear throughout, and rapidly flicking between enemies felt controlled rather than blurry. Overall, the Crosshair 16 HX delivers a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive gaming experience. You shouldn’t have any qualms with its performance.

Powerful cooling system

Unlike the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora, which can get very hot, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W remained cool throughout my testing. Whether I was playing games or had 40 tabs open at once, the laptop didn’t get too hot, and that’s thanks to its excellent cooling system. It utilizes MSI’s Cooler Boost technology, which optimizes airflow and heat transfer, and packs large cooling fans as well as four exhaust vents to quickly push heat out of the chassis.

MSI says that this generation features 51.1% more airflow compared to the previous, and its cooling system enables up to 17.6% higher performance “while maintaining the same noise level.” I’ll talk more about the noise in the following section, but for the time being, I can confirm that the Crosshair 16 HX stays as cool as a cucumber.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: The downs

There isn’t much wrong with the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W, but its fans get really loud, and battery life is nothing to write home about.

Fans get very loud

One of the first things I noticed after powering on the MSI Crosshair 16 HX was just how ridiculously loud its fans were. As soon as I booted up Steam, it sounded like the laptop was about to take off. As I mentioned earlier, the Crosshair 16 HX’s cooling fans and system are extremely effective, but it’s still jarring just how loud the fans are. My colleague had a very concerned look on his face when he heard jet engine noises coming from my desk.

This isn’t a dealbreaker but just something to keep in mind. I’d recommend using one of the best gaming headsets — preferably one with active noise cancelation — to ensure the fans’ loudness doesn’t break your immersion.

Poor battery life

Unfortunately, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W’s battery life seriously lets it down, and I wouldn’t recommend using the laptop for intensive gaming if you aren’t close to a plug socket.

I used UL Procyon’s battery benchmark test and calibrated the Crosshair 16 HX’s brightness to 150 nits, then turned off the keyboard’s RGB lighting. I then let it play videos on loop until it ran out of charge. It took two hours and 44 minutes for the Crosshair 16 HX to shut down… and that’s terrible.

When I benchmarked the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora, I thought three hours and one minute was awful, but this is even worse. And while the Razer Blade 16 and the Alienware x16 R2 also have poor battery lives, they aren’t this bad. The MacBook Pro M5, on the other hand, is a titan when it comes to battery life, and the others simply don’t compare. That comparison, however, is a little unfair as MacBooks are built for efficiency, whereas gaming laptops generally don’t prioritize battery life.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W review: Verdict

If you want a gaming laptop that doesn’t skimp on performance, the MSI Crosshair 16 HX E14W is one of the best you can buy today. Covering more than 100% of both the sRGB and DCI P3 gamuts and boasting incredible color accuracy, it’s a fantastic choice for both gaming and work. Its 240Hz refresh rate and vivid display don’t give you much to complain about, and its cooling system is highly effective.

But the Crosshair 16 HX isn’t perfect. I love that, in my testing, I didn’t experience any overheating, but I hate how loud and jarring its fans are. They’re immersion-breaking, really. The laptop’s battery life of just under three hours isn’t great either, so it isn’t the best choice for gaming or working on the go.

As long as you don’t mind those compromises, I can’t think of any other reasons to not recommend the Crosshair 16 HX. It’s premium-looking. It’s powerful. Its screen is a joy to look at. While the fan noise may turn heads, everything else deserves your attention.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is often one of our favorite gaming laptops, though the 2025 model lost us with its expensive price tag, sub-par keyboard, and abysmal battery life.

While the 2026 model does have better battery life to go along with its powerful CPU and GPU performance, lightweight design, and vibrant display, it still suffers from a hefty price tag and disappointing legacy features like the same chiclet keyboard and heavy proprietary power brick.But can the new Zephyrus G16’s premium features make up for its high price tag to become one of our best gaming laptops?

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026): Cheat sheet

• What is it?: The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is a premium, light and thin gaming laptop.
• Who is it for?: Gamers on the go, students, and professionals who need a laptop with a powerful GPU while still being able to commute to and from work or school.
• What does it cost?: Pricing for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 starts at $3,699
• What do we like?: The Zephyrus G16 is a portable powerhouse with strong CPU and GPU performance, impressive battery life, a sleek design, and vibrant display.
• What don’t we like?: The Zephyrus G16, like all gaming hardware in 2026, has been hit with the same memory shortage price increase which makes it far less affordable for students and gamers. The power brick is also a bit heavy for a commuter laptop.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026): Specs

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026): The ups

The Zephyrus laptop line has always been premium with the build quality and features to match. The 2026 model is no different, with a sleek design, robust audio, vivid display, strong CPU and GPU performance, and good battery life.

A sleek gaming machine

Asus hasn’t changed much on the Zephyrus G16’s chassis this generation. So it’s still a slim, easily portable aluminum chassis with a shiny chrome stripe that runs on an angle across the top panel lid. The Asus Republic of Gamers logo is subtly embossed on the lower left-hand corner of the panel, leaving the rest of the design on the more understated side.

Combined with slim display bezels, a smooth keyboard deck, and an edge-to-edge touchpad that takes the entire vertical space between the keyboard and the edge of the palm rest, the inside deck of the laptop is as sleek as the outside panels, maintaining the Zephyrus’ modern aesthetic.

The top-firing quad-speaker audio system features Dolby Atmos tuning and achieves impressive volume with crisp clarity, so you can go without a pair of headphones. The built-in audio is loud enough to be heard over the Zephyrus’ cooling fans, so you don’t need to worry about losing audio entirely while gaming.

The 16-inch OLED display is also on the vibrant side, boasting Pantone validation for color accuracy. While our own testing validated an 80% accuracy for the display, we do expect some variation on OLED panels based on our testing methods compared to the methods used to measure display accuracy used by manufacturers like Asus.

The Zephyrus’s display is also bright, hitting an average SDR brightness of 469 nits, with a peak HDR brightness of 1,052 nits. Whether you’re using the Zephyrus G16 for a Netflix binge or for a visually immersive gaming session, it’s going to be an enjoyable experience.

Stronger CPU and GPU performance

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025) wasn’t exactly a slouch when it came to performance, it just wasn’t quite powerful enough to justify its price tag.Compared to last year’s Zephyrus G16, the 2026 Zephyrus packs a more powerful punch in CPU multicore performance on Geekbench 6 and Handbrake, which is helpful since the 2025 Zephyrus was a bit underwhelming in terms of raw power.

The Zephyrus also gets stronger multicore performance than the MSI Stealth 16 AI+, despite having the same Intel chipset. Even when put against our best premium gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 16 (2026), the Zephyrus comes out with a slight edge on multithreaded performance.

As for the Zephyrus’ GPU performance, things get a bit more complicated. The 2026 Zephyrus scraped together a few more FPS on Cyberpunk 2077 at 1600p compared to the 2025 Zephyrus (which was running at 1440p resolution). The 2026 Zephyrus G16 also benchmarked well when compared to other RTX 5080 gaming laptops like the Razer and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10.

The Zephyrus G16 trailed only a few FPS behind the to the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i on games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Black Myth: Wukong and Cyberpunk at Ultra 1080p settings, though the Razer Blade 16 outperformed both the Legion and Zephyrus G16.

I was easily able to achieve framerates of 200fps or higher on games like Doom: The Dark Ages on Ultra settings at 1600p resolution with DLSS enabled, while native performance without DLSS was around 60fps.

Highly optimized titles like Baldur’s Gate III and Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail also performed well above 100fps even without super sampling. So you are getting proper gaming performance even if the Razer Blade 16 might be just a bit more powerful.

All-day battery life

Gaming laptops are rarely known for having great battery life, but there have been a few notable exceptions over the years. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026) is one of those rare gaming laptops that gets over 10 hours of web surfing battery life.

At 150-nits of brightness, the Zephyrus G16 lasted over 13 hours and 45 minutes. That’s an hour longer than the Razer Blade 16 (2026), about 3 hours more battery life than the MSI Stealth 16 AI+, and more than 3x the battery life of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i.

Things do take a bit of a downturn when it comes to gaming battery life, however. The Zephyrus has just 55 minutes of gaming battery life on the PCMark 10 Gaming battery test, while the MSI Stealth and Razer Blade 16 both have nearly two hours of gaming battery time.

However, you’re unlikely to game on a laptop when running on battery power, so that’s less of a detriment than it could be otherwise. Just make sure to pack your charger, especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of GPU-heavy work.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026): The downs

While the ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026) has plenty to recommend it, all those positives do come with a few downsides. The biggest one is the price-tag. But the new Zephyrus shares a chassis with the 2025 model, which means it has the same lackluster keyboard and hefty proprietary power brick.

Beyond expensive

All tech hardware has become nigh unaffordable, but some laptops have gotten hit by the supply chain price hike worse than others. The ROG Zephyrus was always a pricey, premium gaming laptop that fit into the working professional to STEM student venn diagram. But with a starting price of $3,699 for the RTX 5070 Ti version, it’s hard to see how the 2026 Zephyrus G16 could ever function as a student laptop.

Last year’s Zephyrus G16 at least had a starting configuration that was priced at $2,799. That’s still steep for your average college student but it’s still more affordable than this year’s model which is at least $900 more expensive and comes with less storage capacity than last year’s entry level configuration.

While some of this price hike is due to supply chain issues, the Zephyrus G16 has been steadily increasing in price over the past few years which is beyond the realm of the AI Data Center memory shortage. And that makes the hefty price tag of the 2026 Zephyrus even harder to justify.

Portability stops at the power brick

I’ve always appreciated the svelte design of the Zephyrus G16 and G14 laptops. They’re slim, they’re lightweight, and yet they pack a powerful punch that’s more than enough to do some high-power gaming even when on the road. Thin, portable gaming laptops are among my personal favorites.

But there’s one aspect of the Zephyrus G16 that feels stuck in the past. Between the proprietary AC-port and the heavy 250W charge brick, the Zephyrus G16 is a bit less portable than it appears. While the laptop itself weighs just 4.3 pounds, the power supply itself weighs an additional 1.3 pounds. And that brings the total carry weight of the Zephyrus G16 to 5.6 pounds.

Sure, it gets 13 hours of web-surfing battery life. But if I’m doing anything that will turn on the discrete Nvidia GPU, that battery life expectancy drops through the floor. The gaming battery life of the G16 is only 55 minutes, so the power brick isn’t an optional accessory.

It’d be one thing if Asus used a Thunderbolt 4 port for the G16. But the RTX 5080 is too power hungry for that. And thus we’re still stuck in the dark ages with a hefty external power supply that makes this ultraportable laptop just a little less comfortable to carry on a long commute.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026): Verdict

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is often one of our favorite gaming laptops, however we were rather disappointed by the 2025 model thanks to its high price tag, sub-par keyboard, and grim battery life.

The 2026 model does fix the battery life issue, but it still suffers from the same lackluster keyboard and heavy proprietary power brick as last year’s model. And it’s even more expensive.

But if you’re looking for a highly commutable, powerful gaming laptop or STEM machine, the Zephyrus G16 is still a solid choice. As long as you’ve got the cash.

Nvidia has stormed Computex 2026 with the official announcement we all knew was coming: the company's first all-in-one laptop silicon called the RTX Spark Super Chip family.

Analysts are calling this Nvidia's most disruptive move in a decade, and my colleague Jason England likens it to the moment Apple unveiled its own M1 chip back in 2020. By moving beyond GPUs into integrated processors, Nvidia is throwing the gauntlet down to Qualcomm, Intel and AMD.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed RTX Spark during his keynote in Taipei, and the first laptops powered by the new chip should arrive in the fall. Beyond that, we can expect to see the RTX Spark appearing in mini PCs and small form-factor desktops from the likes of Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, MSI, Acer and Gigabyte.

Huang noted that Nvidia and Microsoft have been working away on this for the last three years to "reinvent the PC for the first time in 40 years," aiming to move towards a responsive, proactive AI experience. Microsoft itself is coming out of the gate with an RTX Spark-powered Surface Laptop Ultra that could be a MacBook Pro killer.

Here's the list of the first eight RTX Spark-equipped laptops, along with a few details we know about them.

Microsoft Surface Ultra

Microsoft hasn't confirmed many details about its upcoming RTX Spark-powered Surface Laptop Ultra, but we know it'll have a 15-inch mini-LED touchscreen with 2,000 nits of peak brightness.

It will benefit from a large haptic touchpad and all the required ports: HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, SD card and a headphone jack.

Microsoft claims this will be “the most powerful Surface Laptop ever built” when it arrives later this year. Microsoft also claims it can run AI models locally and that the chip delivers power comparable to a mobile RTX 5070 GPU.

Asus ProArt

Asus is planning to launch two RTX Spark-powered ProArt laptops later this year: the ProArt P16 and the ProArt P14. Both laptops will feature 120Hz OLED touch panels in the 16:10 format (one will be 16-inch, one 14-inch) and be geared towards creative professionals.

Memory will be up to 128GB LPDDR5X 9400, while storage can be configured up to 2TB on the P16 and 1TB on the P14. Regardless of which model you choose, you'll get a full suite of ports: 3x USB-C, 1x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x headphone jack and 1x standard SD.

MSI Prestige N16

MSI is set to launch the 2-in-1 Prestige N16 Flip AI Plus, which, it says, will represent "a new generation of premium thin-and-light PCs.”

Sadly, we've got no further information on the specs, dimensions, or — crucially — the price. All we can say is that this will be a 16-inch laptop with a 3,840 x 2,160 OLED panel and a peak brightness of over 1,000 nits.

Dell XPS 16

Dell will launch an RTX Spark-equipped version of the XPS 16, which likely won't deviate much from the current model in terms of outward design. We can expect an aluminum 16.3-inch workhorse with three USB-C ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack.

Price and specifications haven't been revealed yet.

HP OmniBook and Ultra 16

HP has confirmed two forthcoming RTX Spark laptops, the OmniBook X 14 and Ultra 16, but stopped short of announcing any specific details. The company says it will create "the world’s thinnest RTX Spark, built for powerful performance" and has confirmed it will follow up on the laptops with a compact desktop in the future.

“Our expanded portfolio pairs compact, powerful hardware with pre-configured environments and open-source toolchains to eliminate setup friction and accelerate the path from idea to execution," said Samuel Chang, senior vice president and division president, Consumer Personal Systems at HP.

Lenovo Yoga Pro 9n

Lenovo's flagship 16-inch laptop will also be getting the RTX Spark treatment, but we haven't had any details about exactly what changes to expect. Like the other laptops on this list, Lenovo's creator-focused 16-inch machine boasts a durable aluminum chassis and configurable specs tailored to your needs.

One area ripe for improvement would be battery life, and we'd hope that the RTX Spark-equipped Yoga Pro 9n can surpass the 9.45-hour battery life we recorded on the Intel-powered Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i.

Bottom line

In addition to announcing that over 30 laptops will come with the RTX Spark chip, Nvidia also revealed that Adobe is rebuilding Photoshop and Premiere Pro from the ground up for compatibility.

Suffice it to say, the above laptops will kick off a silicon war in the fall that could be good news for consumers. Especially for gamers and creative video editors. The Spark's Blackwell-architecture GPU, with 6,144 CUDA cores, brings Windows-on-Arm compatibility with Nvidia's gaming suite, including DLSS 4.5. You're going to get thin, light laptops capable of running triple-A games at 100 FPS with real-time ray tracing.

Finally, these laptops will be positioned to move Windows into a truly agentic AI future, with RTX Spark delivering 1 Petaflop of local AI performance. In a nutshell, it'll have the power and efficiency to work on the user's behalf across various apps to achieve the desired outcome.

So we're potentially looking at laptops with a thin-and-light form factor, elite battery life, and the power to crush desktop-class AI development, heavy creative production, or cutting-edge gaming. The only question is: how much will these devices cost when they arrive?

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• I just tested the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ — Intel Arc G3 is a breakthrough for handheld gaming, but at what cost?
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Alienware's notebooks are among the best gaming laptops available, but they can be pricey for most folks. This is especially true now, thanks to RAMageddon. Thankfully, the company isn’t ignoring the current reality and has just launched a more affordable gaming laptop for PC gamers. Meet the new Alienware 15 (2026) gaming laptop.

Starting at $1,299, this 15-inch laptop packs up to an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and up to an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU. Couple with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage, and you have the basics for playing the best PC games at 1080p resolution and medium to high graphics. While the asking price is still above $1,000, it’s not terrible given current conditions.

I tested a pre-production model of the Alienware 15 gaming laptop and found it delivers a solid experience for those who don’t want to break the bank. Given its price, you’re not getting a premium display or chassis, but if you just want to play your PC games on something reliable, you won’t go wrong here.

Alienware 15 (2026) hands-on: Specs

Alienware 15 (2026) hands-on: Design

At first glance, the Alienware 15 certainly has the iconic look of the company’s laptops, with its all-black shell and Alienware logo on the lid. However, picking it up instantly makes it clear this isn’t just any Alienware product.

The polycarbonate resin lid and bottom have a plastic-like feel that’s a departure from the aluminum casings of higher-end Alienware laptops. While that’s jarring at first, the smooth, contoured lines and overall sleek design help offset that.

Unlike the Alienware 16 Area-51, the Alienware 15 has a full keyboard, which should make number pad users very happy. I don’t fall into that camp, so having the keys I actually mostly located on the left-hand side made it tricky to find my stride when typing. That said, the thick keys and their satisfying travel distance do make this a good laptop for writing.

The lion’s share of the ports is on the left-hand side. This includes two USB-A ports, an Ethernet port, a USB-C port, and an HDMI port. On the left are a lone USB-C port and a headphone jack. Port placement is generally fine if that’s the side you prefer to connect peripherals to, but it could be burdensome if you would have preferred them on the right side or on the back.

Alienware 15 (2026) hands-on: Display

The 15-inch display isn’t terrible, but after testing so many laptops with OLED panels, it’s certainly a step down in both picture quality and overall brightness.

Since this was a pre-production model, we didn’t run our usual suite of display benchmarks. To my eyes, however, the screen is noticeably dimmer and less vibrant than a more premium display.

That’s not to say things don’t appear clearly defined, because they certainly do. The 1200p resolution lets you see everything on the screen in fine detail. However, the muted colors and low brightness make everything look duller than you’d like.

Again, things don’t look terrible on the Alienware 15, but don’t expect a top-end viewing experience when playing games or watching videos.

Alienware 15 (2026) hands-on: Performance and battery life

I tested a pre-production model with entry-level specs. It includes an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, an Nvidia RTX 4050 mobile GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. These aren’t the latest and greatest components, but they’re good enough for playing even demanding games at smooth frame rates.

At default graphical settings and native resolution, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at around 45 to 50 frames per second during my testing. Mind you, that’s without the frame-boosting DLSS upscaler enabled. With this feature turned on, the fps jumped to the low 60s, so it’s definitely worth it for a system like this.

Given its prowess as a gaming machine, the Alienware 15 had no problems handling my average workflow, which usually consists of dozens of open Chrome tabs and the occasional YouTube video running in the background. If you need to get work done, this laptop won’t let you down.

Lastly, let’s talk about battery life. We didn’t run our usual battery test on this machine, but during my testing, I was able to play for close to 90 minutes before the battery life warning appeared. That’s typical for a gaming laptop, so I wasn’t surprised. Naturally, you’ll want to keep this laptop connected while gaming so it keeps running and maintains optimal performance.

Alienware 15 (2026) hands-on: Outlook

Given how expensive gaming devices are nowadays, I applaud Alienware for keeping the average gamer in mind. Both the Alienware 15 gaming laptop and the $349 Alienware AW2726DM gaming monitor exemplify this philosophy.

While I wouldn’t call a $1,299 starting price cheap, it’s still affordable given the current state of things. I’ll have a full review for you once I get to test a final model, but for now, I like what Alienware is cooking up.

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The Razer Blade 16 (2026) is a gaming laptop that makes no compromises. It has an ultraportable design, yet a monstrous gaming beast is packed inside. Though you’ll pay top dollar for Razer’s latest, you’ll get a superlative gaming experience.

Inside, it packs the latest Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU, along with either an AMD Ryzen 9 or an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU. That, along with up to 64GB of RAM, means you’ll have little trouble running the best PC games with graphics and resolution cranked to the max. No matter what I threw at it, the Razer Blade ran buttery smooth.

Like last year’s model, the new Blade 16 has a gorgeous OLED panel that delivers deep contrast and vivid colors. It also delivers excellent HDR brightness for an OLED gaming laptop. Whether it’s your favorite game or a streaming show, everything on the display will look its best.

Design-wise, the Razer Blade 16 impresses with its sturdy, CNC-milled aluminum all-black chassis. Without the green Razer logo on the lid, you might not even recognize it as a gaming laptop. Though not exactly light at nearly five pounds, its thin profile makes it easy to slip into your backpack.

While the Razer Blade 16 (2026) demands a steep asking price and can run very hot during demanding games, it’s undeniably one of the best gaming laptops I’ve reviewed. If you’re in the market for a slim gaming laptop with power to spare, this is the machine to get. Find out why in my full review.

Razer Blade 16 review (2026): Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Razer Blade 16 is a thin and powerful gaming laptop featuring the latest high-end components.
• Who is it for? For anyone who wants a premium gaming laptop and is willing to pay top dollar for it.
• What does it cost? The Razer Blade 16 (2026) starts at $2,399 on Razer’s website. As configured, our review unit is valued at $4,899.
• What do we like? We like the slim design, incredible gaming performance, and vivid OLED panel.
• What don’t we like? We don’t like the steep asking price, and that it runs too hot and loud under heavy load.

Razer Blade 16 review (2026): Specs

Razer Blade 16 review (2026): The ups

The Razer Blade 16 (2026) is an absolute powerhouse thanks to its beefy specs, but its elegant design and superb display also add to its allure.

Thin and light design

The Razer Blade 16 is one of the loveliest-looking gaming laptops I’ve ever reviewed. Its slim profile, rounded edges, and sturdy aluminum frame could make you mistake it for a high-end work notebook rather than a gaming machine. Not only does it look great, but its smooth surface also makes it a pleasure to hold.

Measuring 13.9 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighing 4.7 pounds, the Razer Blade 16 makes for an unobtrusive travel partner. Sure, you’ll feel its weight in your backpack, but it won’t exactly break your back. It’s rare for a gaming laptop to be this thin and light, which is a major selling point.

Despite its thin profile, the Razer Blade 16 doesn’t skimp on ports. It packs nearly all the ports you need, including three USB-A, two USB-C, one HDMI, and a microSD reader. You don’t get an Ethernet port, which is a bit of a bummer, but you still get more than enough ports to make this your primary work PC at home.

The keyboard is another highlight, thanks to its thick, responsive keys. Travel distance isn’t shallow, which makes for a delightful typing experience. I’m also a fan of the touchpad, since its large size makes it easy to make gestures and swipes. While not as good as a proper mechanical keyboard, the board here is quite great for a gaming laptop.

Vivid OLED panel

The OLED panel on the Razer Blade 16 is one of its biggest selling points. Whether it was the neon-drenched streets of Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City or the vast open expanses of Red Dead Redemption 2, everything looked bright and colorful to my eyes. You want games to look as good as they run, and you certainly get that here.

As shown in the table above, the Razer Blade 16 delivers strong SDR and HDR brightness. It also features excellent color reproduction (sRGB and DCI-P3) and color accuracy (Delta-E). These values are comparable to those of other gaming laptops we recently tested, such as the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo and Alienware 16 Area-51.

The only minor downside is that the display is very glossy and easily picks up reflections and glare. You can mitigate this by playing in a darker room, but it’s something to keep in mind before you settle in to play games or watch videos.

Powerful gaming performance

The Razer Blade 16 I tested is a true gaming beast, thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, RTX 5090 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. Those specs also give it plenty of power for video and photo editing. Whether it's demanding tasks in everyday work, the Razer Blade is up to the job.

At 1080p with graphics set to max, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at around 60-70 frames per second during my testing. This is a very demanding game, so having it run so smoothly is impressive. With DLSS 4 enabled, I saw the fps climb to the mid-70s even when I bumped the resolution to 1440p.

In our lab tests, where we run a game’s benchmarking tool with the display set to native resolution and graphics maxed out, the Razer Blade 16 also performed well compared to its competitors. Sure, you’re not seeing the desired minimum 60 fps, but the laptop can still play titles at acceptable frame rates even with everything cranked up.

I should note that while the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo has the same specs as the Blade 16, it didn’t perform nearly as well because of different TDP and thermals—not to mention a different form factor. However, the Alienware 16, with its RTX 5080 GPU and a stronger Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU variant, was about on par with Razer’s beastly laptop.

Strong battery life

It’s usually not worth discussing a gaming laptop’s battery life, since most users keep these demanding machines plugged in for optimal performance. While you won’t get all-day gaming from the Razer Blade 16, it lasts surprisingly long for productivity.

In our battery life test, which involves continuous Wi-Fi web surfing with the display set to 150 nits, the Razer Blade 16 (2026) lasted nearly 13 hours. That’s almost as long as the Dell XPS 16 (13 hours 6 minutes), which is extremely impressive. However, its gaming battery life was just under two hours, which is typical for a gaming laptop.

Razer Blade 16 review (2026): The downs

The Razer Blade 16 is a phenomenal gaming laptop, but it has its shortcomings.

Very expensive

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way — the Razer Blade 16 ain’t cheap! While the starting price of $2,399 might not sound bad for a gaming laptop, you’re settling for a lower-end Nvidia RTX 5060 and less RAM. To get the most from this machine, you’ll want beefier components, which means paying a whole lot more.

If you want to upgrade to a configuration with an RTX 5080 GPU, an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, 1TB of storage, and 32GB of RAM, you’ll need to fork over a meaty $3,999. If you want to go all out with an RTX 5090, the same Intel processor, 2TB of storage, and 64GB of RAM, prepare your bank account for a $5,599 hit.

Though gaming laptops are notoriously expensive, the Razer Blade 16 demands a very steep price indeed.

Runs loud and hot

Thanks to the Razer Blade 16’s relatively lightweight design, it’s comfortable to keep on your lap while you work. However, if you plan to do anything intensive, like gaming or video editing, you won’t exactly have a “cool” experience.

On its underside, the Razer Blade reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit in our heat test. Since we consider anything above 95 degrees uncomfortable, that’s decidedly too hot.

This is par for the course with gaming laptops, but the Razer Blade 16 also gets very loud when you’re gaming. Because of that, you’ll want to wear a pair of the best headsets to cancel out the constant noise.

Razer Blade 16 review (2026): Verdict

The Razer Blade 16 (2026) is a fantastic gaming laptop that delivers a truly premium experience. Not only can it run even the most demanding games, but it does so in a sleek form factor that fits anywhere. I’ve tested many incredible gaming laptops over the years, and this one is now easily in my top 10. It’s that good.

Of course, the main drawback is the steep asking price. That’s likely due to RAMageddon, which is a shame. However, if money is no object and you need the best of the best, you won’t be disappointed with the Razer Blade 16 (2026). Right now, it’s my favorite gaming laptop of the year.

Thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, finding a solid gaming laptop for a good price is becoming harder each day. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t fantastic deals out there. To that end, I’ve found an excellent mid-range laptop for a drastically reduced price.

Right now, the Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10 with RTX 5070 is on sale at B&H Photo for $1,499. That’s $500 in savings on a gaming laptop that earned our editor’s choice badge. If you’re looking for a dependable mid-range laptop for gaming and work, this is one to check out. Here’s why.

As we said in our Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10 review, this machine leads a double life as a gaming laptop and productivity powerhouse. The unit I’m spotlighting today actually has better specs than the unit we tested, as it features an RTX 5070 GPU over an RTX 5060 and 32GB of RAM instead of 16GB. Thanks to those specs, you get all-around great performance and zippy frame rates.

Besides the impressive specs, you also get a mesmerizing 15.1-inch OLED display that makes games and videos look their absolute best. The screen also gets bright, up to 500 nits, and the sharp 2560 x 1600 resolution and fast 165Hz refresh rate ensure everything is crystal clear and smooth.

You’re not sacrificing build quality, as this is a sleek system from every angle. Yes, it’s not exactly thin and light, but with an aluminum lid and a durable plastic chassis, it’s a refined, utilitarian design that doesn’t immediately scream “gaming laptop.” That last point matters if you want to use this laptop in public without drawing too many stares.

Of course, if you do use this notebook on the go, keep in mind that it is a gaming laptop and doesn’t have the best battery life. For gaming, you’ll be lucky if the Legion 5i lasts an hour. Thankfully, it does last a bit longer for general productivity. Still, make sure you don’t forget to bring its charger with you when you’re out and about.

This Lenovo Legion 5i deal is so good that I don’t expect it to last much longer. If you’re looking for your next gaming laptop, don’t hesitate to snatch up this beauty while you can.

The MSI Stealth has a whole new look for 2026. No longer is the Stealth an ultrathin shiny black box, but rather it features a more robust thermal system and a new modern design with subtle pinstriping and MSI branding on the charcoal aluminum cover.

I’ve been a fan of MSI’s Stealth line for years, since I love a good thin and light gaming laptop. Unfortunately, the Stealth models have had their ups and downs over the last decade, and the last few years have been the most volatile as MSI has pivoted from targeting hardcore gamers on the go to a more content creator-focused audience. The pricing on the Stealth has also vacillated from being a premium, ultraslim gaming laptop to a thicker, more reasonably priced option, though this year’s model is returning to that slim, premium aesthetic.While I can appreciate the subtle touches of the new Stealth and the increased thermal capacity, and thus better performance, I find myself a bit torn on the new design. The revamped Stealth may be more powerful and fit in better as a professional or student laptop, but it's lost some of its charm and portability in the bargain.

My MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026) review will help you decide if this is the best gaming laptop for you and whether or not the benefits of the new design are worth the sacrifice.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026): Cheat sheet

• What is it? The MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026) ditches the classic gaming aesthetic of previous years in favor of a new, sleek chassis with better thermals.
• Who is it for? Gamers or content creators who need a portable laptop with powerful Nvidia discrete graphics performance.
• What does it cost? The starting configuration costs $2,099 and is available at Best Buy.
• What do we like? The redesigned chassis has a more premium feel than prior models, the Intel Panther Lake CPU provides great general performance and solid battery life, with a vivid OLED display for fantastic visuals.
• What don’t we like: The Stealth lost some of its portability with the more powerful cooling system, and the RTX 5060 model is very expensive for a base configuration.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026): Specs

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026): The Ups

The Stealth 16 AI+ gets plenty right as a premium, portable, 16-inch gaming laptop. It’s got a streamlined, understated modern design, powerful CPU and GPU performance, great general use battery life, and a stunning OLED display.

Slick, modern design

The Stealth has a sturdy, all-aluminum chassis. While the new aluminum coating still picks up fingerprints, it’s not quite as much of a fingerprint magnet as previous Stealth models. However, you will probably want to keep a cleaning cloth on hand for smudges.

Ultimately, the new chassis not only feels like a premium laptop, it also looks like one with rounded corners, subtle detailing, and an almost MacBook-like clean keyboard deck.

The Stealth’s keyboard is a 4-zone RGB keyboard that can be controlled in MSI center to fit your personal vibe. The typing experience on the Stealth is pretty fantastic for a slim gaming laptop, offering decent key travel without any mushy-membrane feel. Paired with the oversized in Enlarge Touchpad and plenty of IO ports, it's hard to find fault with the overall user experience of the Stealth.

Vivid display and powerful audio

The display has gotten a glossy OLED overhaul, offering vivid color and over 350-nits of brightness, which makes up for one of the main drawbacks of last year’s Stealth model which offered an underwhelming amount of vibrancy, particularly while gaming. This year’s Stealth 16 AI+ not only offers an OLED panel’s near-infinite contrast ratio, but features super-saturated color that makes gaming or streaming video on the Stealth a proper delight.

The sound system has also been upgraded to a 2x2W speaker and 2x2W woofer setup which offers crisp, clean audio that’s powerful enough to be heard even while gaming under heavy load.

Respectable CPU and GPU performance

The Stealth is also no slouch when it comes to performance, thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 9 386H Panther Lake CPU. The Stealth isn’t just great at multitasking but can handle some serious photo and video editing too thanks to its discrete Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU.

Not only does the Stealth hit a respectable 15,170 multicore average on Geekbench 6.7, it also encoded the 4K edition of Tears of Steel into a 1080p format in just 3 minutes and 31 seconds. While not breaking any records for performance, it does pack a solid punch even when compared to some of our favorite gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025).

As for gaming performance, the Stealth is pretty comparable to other RTX 5060 gaming laptops, offering fantastic performance at 1080p, while it can struggle at higher resolutions on more graphically intense games like Black Myth: Wukong or Cyberpunk 2077 where the Stealth struggles to scrape past 30fps. But for older or well-optimized titles like Borderlands 3 or Far Cry 6, the RTX 5060’s raw performance is more than sufficient without even accounting for all of Nvidia’s GPU software optimization tools.

And, as an Nvidia RTX 50-series laptop, the Stealth gets the benefits of Nvidia’s DLSS 4.5, meaning you can enable up to 6x frame generation for smoother performance at higher resolutions. And that means you can run Doom: The Dark Ages on High or even Nightmare level at 1600p without dropping frames or getting fragged by the hordes of darkness. As long as you’re willing to accept that some of your pixels are AI pixels.

Surprisingly good battery life

While the Stealth’s battery life wouldn’t hold a candle to your average consumer laptop, as far as gaming laptops go, getting 10 hours and 49 minutes of web surfing battery life on our battery benchmark is pretty impressive.

Of course, that battery life does deplete pretty quickly when gaming, as the Stealth lasted just 1 hour and 55 minutes on the PCMark 10 gaming battery life benchmark. However, that’s still enough to beat the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026): The Downs

The MSI Stealth 16 AI+ isn’t the perfect laptop, however. It lost a bit of its identity as a gaming laptop in the redesign, and it isn’t quite as thin as MSI claims. However, its biggest problem is one facing all computer hardware these days: its price tag.

A high starting price and steep upgrade costs

The Stealth’s biggest drawback isn’t even entirely MSI’s fault. Thanks to the current memory and storage shortages due to the supply chain demands of AI data centers, all gaming hardware is significantly more expensive than it used to be. And at least for the starting configuration of the Stealth, the $2,099 price tag feels properly earned. The slick, modern design, improved build quality, vivid OLED display, upgraded audio system, and powerful components help take some of the sting out of the sticker shock.

However, upgrades get even more expensive as you add GPU power. Though, interestingly enough, the RTX 5070 model ($2,849) isn't that much more expensive than the RTX 5070Ti version ($2,999). Which basically makes the RTX 5070 Stealth a poor deal. The top-line RTX 5080 model retails for $3,299, and that increased cost is entirely down to the GPU.

All of the Stealth models come with the same 32GB DDR5 7200MHz memory, 1TB NVMe SSD Gen 4 storage, and 16-inch, 240Hz OLED display. And that really does make the RTX 5060 version the best bargain, with the RTX 5070Ti coming in as the best balance of performance to price, if you need more GPU power than the RTX 5060 can offer.

Is it really the “slimmest” Stealth ever?

MSI touts the Stealth 16 AI+ as the “thinnest Stealth ever” at its thinnest point. And that is technically correct. At just 0.65 inches at its thinnest, the new Stealth is definitely one of the slimmer gaming laptops on the market.

However, that Z-height takes a big jump to 0.79 near the back hinge. While this offers improved airflow for better thermals and thus smoother performance, it does make the new stealth feel a bit chunkier than even last year’s model which was actually thicker (0.85 inches) by a good margin.

And, while this may be dredging up ancient history, MSI has had thinner Stealth models overall than the new Stealth 16 AI+. My old MSI Stealth GS63VR from 2016 was 0.69 inches thick all around. The GS63VR was also just 4.2 pounds, so a hair or two lighter than the current model.

So MSI is technically kind of correct with the new Stealth branding, but the statement has a big asterisk for a reason. However, the Stealth 16 AI+ is far less flimsy than my old GS63 model, and that alone makes the change worth it. Add on all the performance benefits of that improved airflow, and it's hard to argue with MSI’s design choices this time around.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ (2026): Verdict

For all of my complaints about the Stealth’s design being a tiny bit chunkier than my museum piece of a GTX 1060 model, the benefits of that elevated hinge can be felt in the gaming and multitasking performance offered by the RTX 5060 model. So the change is definitely worth it from a pure numbers standpoint, and the build quality on the new Stealth 16 AI+ is absolutely worth the thicker Z-height.

Ultimately, the Stealth 16 AI+ is one of the better thin gaming laptops, offering a nearly complete package as far as performance, battery life, build quality, design, display, and audio are concerned. The only thing holding the Stealth back from perfection is its steep price tag and pricey upgrades, which aren’t entirely in MSI’s control. So if you need a gaming laptop to take with you on business trips, to class, or perhaps to take into the office, the MSI Stealth 16 AI+ is a fantastic choice. Assuming you can afford it.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is one of the wildest gaming laptops I’ve tested. That’s because it takes the Asus ZenBook Duo’s basic dual-hinge design and crams in powerful components to make it a true gaming beast. I’m still not sure whether a dual-screen gaming laptop is necessary, but hot damn, is this thing impressive.

The main question is: Does a gaming laptop really need two displays? Probably not, but I applaud Asus for creating this magnificent machine. Granted, it costs a pretty penny, with a starting price of $4,500, but that’s expected given its raw computing power and premium design. This gaming laptop is built to turn heads.

Here are my thoughts on the Asus Zephyrus Duo and what happened when we ran two games on it simultaneously.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo: Specs

Dual-screen design

The ROG Zephyrus Duo is generally chunkier than the best gaming laptops of the modern day. This makes sense given how it has two displays and a detachable Bluetooth keyboard. That said, it’s not unreasonably thick or large, though you’ll certainly feel its weight if you’re carrying it around.

The displays are connected by a hinge that can bend back a full 320 degrees. This allows for several modes. Dual Screen places one screen on top of the other in a horizontal orientation, while Laptop mode places the included keyboard on top of the bottom display. Book mode orients the displays vertically, while Tent places the displays on either side. Lastly, Sharing mode is where you lay the laptop open and flat on a desk.

Thanks to the CNC-milled aluminum chassis, the ROG Zephyrus Duo feels durable, which you want from a premium product like this. The wide kickstand on the laptop’s bottom lets you achieve your preferred viewing angle. It also keeps the laptop stable on whatever surface you place it on.

Lovely displays

The ROG Zephyrus Duo’s 16-inch OLED displays deliver bright and colorful images. When playing Cyberpunk 2077, I was impressed by the contrast between shadowy alleys and bright neon signs. While colors aren’t generally oversaturated, their naturalistic hues make games appear more realistic.

Both displays are identical, so you won’t have to worry about one looking better than the other. Each offers sharp 3K resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. And as I’ll detail further below, this setup is also fantastic for productivity, as it’s simple to move items across the two screens to place wherever you want.

Productivity beast

The ROG Zephyrus Duo is a gaming laptop, but I was really impressed by how well it functions as a productivity machine. If you’re used to working with a dual-screen setup like I am, you’ll feel right at home here.

My favorite mode is Dual Screen, with the kickstand keeping the Zephyrus Duo in place. With this setup, I keep websites and apps on the top display and Slack and email on the bottom display. This way, I have access to everything I need without constantly switching tabs in the same window. Thanks to those 16-inch canvases, I have more than enough space to work.

Speaking of the keyboard, it’s generally good to type on because it’s spacious and has thick key caps. Travel distance is somewhat shallow, and the whole thing tends to slide around if you move your hands too much. The touchpad is smooth, responsive, and large enough to accurately capture your gestures.

Overall, it’s a good keyboard peripheral, but you might want to pair it with a wireless keyboard if you’re not happy with how it performs.

Powerful gaming performance

The ROG Zephyrus Duo I received is an absolute monster, thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 9 386H CPU, Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. With specs like that, you won’t be surprised to know that games run like an absolute dream.

I tested Cyberpunk 2077 on default settings without DLSS 4 enabled, and the game generally ran around 60 frames per second, only dipping down into the mid-50s during heavy action scenes. That’s impressive considering how demanding this game can be on systems, which says a lot about the Zephyrus Duo’s gaming prowess.

In our gaming benchmark test, which involves running a title’s in-game benchmark tool with graphics set to max and resolution set to 1080p, every game we tested ran at buttery-smooth frame rates.

The most noticeable example is the graphically demanding Cyberpunk 2077, which averaged 50 frames per second at those settings. This is even more impressive when you consider that we didn’t have the frame-boosting DLSS 4 enabled.

If it wasn’t clear already, this machine can game!

Can it run two games?

Since this is a dual-screen gaming laptop, we tried running two games simultaneously to see if it was possible. The short answer is yes, but there are several caveats. The games in question were Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and Cyberpunk 2077. We ran each title’s respective in-game benchmark tool at the aforementioned settings.

As our lead tester described to me, unlike single-game benchmarks, the frame rates for both games change dramatically depending on what the benchmark is running. Performance in the games increases or drops based on what’s happening on the screen.

To get this setup to work, you have to start each game, move one to the other screen in windowed mode, make one game full screen, select a monitor in each game’s settings, and finally tap the screen or game you want to control.

We saw the numbers above at the full 1800p resolution, with AC Shadows on the top screen and Cyberpunk 2077 on the bottom. Since you can’t play both games on the same controller, we used an Xbox controller for one screen and a keyboard for the other.

I wanted to detail this entire process to show that, while technically possible, it’s more trouble than it’s worth—especially when the frame rates are so low. I can only imagine what the results would be like with a less powerful GPU.

Bottom line

The best part of my job is testing unusual tech, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo certainly fits that bill. Thanks to its dual hinge design and powerful specs, there are few gaming laptops like it. Of course, that uniqueness comes with a steep price.

But if you have the cash for it, you’ll find an excellent gaming machine that’s also fantastic for everyday work. If nothing else, the ROG Zephyrus Duo is one of the most distinctive gaming laptops of the year. That alone makes it worthwhile.

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Nvidia has officially announced the GeForce RTX 5070 laptop GPU with 12GB of GDDR7 memory. We’ve heard rumors about this GPU for a while, but now it’s the real deal.

While the company isn’t discontinuing the 8GB model, this spruced-up 12GB variant should give vendors and customers more options. This is especially important as we’re still in the middle of RAMageddon.

Here’s what we know about the 12GB Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop GPU and why it could potentially be the most important “mid-range” laptop GPU out there.

From 8GB to 12GB of RAM

As VideoCardz and Wccftech report, Nvidia originally planned to stick with 8GB of VRAM for the 5070. Thankfully, the company reconsidered. By moving to a 192-bit memory bus and providing 12GB of VRAM, Nvidia is giving laptops with this GPU more breathing room to better run games at 1440p with high-res textures and ray tracing.

Moving from 8GB to 12GB is a wise move, since 8GB can impose serious constraints. Now, laptop manufacturers won’t be as restricted.

GDDR7

More memory is nice, but it’s the fact that we have faster memory that’s really noteworthy. GDDR7 offers higher bandwidth, which means the GPU can swap data in and out of that 12GB buffer much faster than before.

For the average gamer, this means smoother frame rates in demanding titles and a better experience with AI-driven features like DLSS 4.5. With AI now seeping into everything, that 12GB of GDDR7 should be useful for anyone seeking to run local LLMs on a laptop.

Nvidia is listening

It’s easy to be cynical about Nvidia, especially after Jensen Huang’s comment about how RAM scarcity is “fantastic” for the company. However, the RTX 5070 spec sheet suggests that the company realizes it can’t push premium prices on what are otherwise budget laptops.

By giving the 5070 12GB of VRAM, Nvidia is creating a better value for laptops in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. Hopefully, notebooks with this GPU will remain in that price range and not go up much higher.

Outlook

The GeForce RTX 5070 with 12GB of RAM should be available to manufacturers this year, so expect a fresh batch of laptops packing this mobile GPU. If they can remain relatively affordable, this could offer some welcome relief from all the price hikes we’ve had to suffer since late last year. Stay tuned for more!

More from Tom's Guide

• I played Saros for a week and it still didn’t make me a roguelike convert
• Why 720Hz gaming monitors might be overkill
• I'm a lifelong gamer, and I can't wait to try the Steam Controller — 3 reasons why

It’s no secret that Dell makes good laptops, and the storied brand has done it once again with the Alienware 16X Aurora. A powerful gaming laptop with bags of performance under the hood, the 16X Aurora is an excellent mid-range option. With its 240Hz refresh rate, bright screen, wide color coverage and accuracy, there’s a lot to love about it. Gaming performance is nothing short of exceptional, and it's perfect for everyday work too.

Graphics are beautiful thanks to NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series too. The 16X Aurora also sports a premium, good-looking design with plenty of ports for hooking up several peripherals. But it’s worth noting that its battery life can be described as mediocre at best, and the top level configuration will cost you an arm and a leg.

Is this the best gaming laptop for you? Read my full Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review to find out.

Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review: Specs

Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A (slightly bulky) gaming laptop boasting outstanding performance in gaming and productivity
• Who is it for? Gamers who want a high-performing laptops
• How much does it cost? The Dell Alienware 16X Aurora starts at $2,499 / £2,199 and goes all the way up to $4,299 / £3,299
• What do we like? The premium design, excellent gaming and productivity performance, and great color coverage and accuracy
• What don’t we like? The mediocre battery life and premium price point

Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review: The ups

From its fantastic design and numerous ports, to its excellent gaming performance and wide color coverage, the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora is a superb machine.

Fantastic design and connectivity

Ever since I first heard about Alienware laptops back when I was 12, I’ve always loved the design — the alien logo is a treat. The Alienware 16X Aurora is, then, a rather good-looking laptop, wrapped in dark blue and purple-ish colors, officially called “Interstellar Indigo.” Its smooth aluminum chassis feels premium, and the matte finish lends the 16X Aurora a classy look.

The 16X Aurora packs a 16-inch (2560 x 1600) non-touch screen, so it measures 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.92 inches, making it a little bigger than the Dell XPS 16 ($1,749). While not exactly compact, it still fits into most regular-sized backpacks with ease — although its weight (5.66lbs) might put you off from traveling with it for long.

I’ve really enjoyed using the 16X Aurora’s keyboard and trackpad too. The keys on the keyboard have enough space between them that you don’t accidentally hit an unintended key, but they’re also close enough that you don’t have to spread your fingers too much to type. The keyboard features single-zone RGB lighting only, which I don’t personally mind — and you can change the colors and effects via Alienware’s Command Center software. The touchpad also feels highly responsive and pans smoothly. No complaints there.

Ports-wise, the 16X Aurora is packed, and features basically everything you’d need to hook up a plethora of peripherals to it. Alongside the laptop’s left edge, you’ll find a USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, an ethernet jack, as well as a 3.5mm jack for plugging in gaming headsets.

There are no ports on the right edge; instead, the others are located on the rear. There’s another of the same USB-A port, two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one of which supports Thunderbolt 4), the port for the power adapter, and an HDMI port.

A vivid display

I’ve used the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora extensively and for a number of tasks: gaming, testing gaming keyboards and mice, conducting lab testing on the best monitors, and everyday work-centric tasks too. And there’s plenty of performance here to enjoy.

The 16-inch screen, first of all, has a refresh rate of 240Hz, which ensures silky smooth performance in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5. The 2.5K panel is plenty of resolution that makes games feel immersive, and there’s also an OLED configuration if that’s more your speed.

In addition to gaming, which I’ll get into in the next section, the 16X Aurora delivers bright, vivid colors across the board. I was stunned at how rich all the different shades and hues looked in the World Wildlife 4K YouTube video. Lush, green meadows appeared highly detailed, as did darker scenes filmed at night.

My lab testing confirmed what my eyes saw, as you can see in the table above. The 16X Aurora covers 98.3% of the sRGB spectrum and 99% of the wider DCI P3 color gamut. While both values are just a touch off 100%, the difference is barely noticeable, and you get an enjoyable viewing experience.

A Delta-E score of 0.6 is good too. It basically determines color accuracy, and the closer the score to zero, the better. 0.6, in this regard, is great, and I found the colors to be accurate in real-world use too.

The Razer Blade 16 ($2,999) and the Alienware x16 R2 ($2,099) boast better color accuracy making either a slightly better option than the 16X Aurora for those who do, say, color-intensive work, like photo and video editing. However, the 16X Aurora is much brighter than both with a measured brightness of 450.8 nits, so you shouldn’t have any issues seeing the screen in lit-up rooms. The MacBook Pro M5 ($1,599) upstages them all, though, with its 558 nits of brightness.

Performance aplenty

In addition to excellent color coverage and accuracy, the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora packs a powerful chip too. Depending on the configuration you go for, there are a few processing chips you can go for. My review unit came fitted with the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Regardless of the task I did, the 16X Aurora performed admirably. Having multiple applications and browsers with 20 tabs open wasn’t an issue for the 16X Aurora. I didn’t experience any noticeable lag or unresponsiveness. Though there were a few instances where the laptop sounded like it was going to take off — particularly while playing the CPU-intensive Cyberpunk 2077 — I didn’t find it too jarring.

On Geekbench 6, which tests overall CPU performance, the 16X Aurora pulled in an excellent multi-core score of 18,697, outclassing both the Razer Blade 16 (2024) and the Alienware x16 R2. The MacBook Pro M5 performs slightly better than the 16X Aurora in our HandBrake video editing test (transcoding a 4K video to 1080p), but only by a very small margin.

On the BlackMagic Disk Speed test which measures the write and read speed in MBps, the 16X Aurora performed stupendously, with 4,233 write and 5,045 read speeds. The MacBook Pro M5 outperforms the 16X Aurora here with its fast 6,068 write and 6,323 read speeds, but in everyday use, Dell’s offering is more than enough.

Great for gaming

The Dell Alienware 16X Aurora is a beast for gaming. The model I tested packs an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card, with the top level configuration featuring an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti card.

At a native resolution of 2560 x 1600, this laptop can run the best Steam games without breaking a sweat. Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve used the 16X Aurora extensively to test the best gaming monitors, and the laptop has always performed admirably.

I played Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5 and F1 25 with the highest graphics settings enabled. In Cyberpunk 2077 with features like Ray-Traced Lighting set to Ultra, the benchmark results showed an average of 63fps. Meanwhile, in Forza Horizon 5, I hit 150fps in Extreme mode, while F1 25 ran at a silky smooth 109fps in Ultra High graphics mode. Counter-Strike 2 achieved a maximum FPS of 235, so close to the screen’s 240Hz refresh rate, and it ensured ultra smooth performance.

Benchmark results are great on paper and can tell you a lot about the laptop’s performance, but how do the games really run? Well, really well. The user experience is sublime, with stunning visuals, vivid colors, and non-existent lag or ghosting. When the driver in front of me hit the brakes in F1 25, I could see the sparks flying from underneath the tyres in great detail — just like you would while watching a race on TV. In Cyberpunk 2077, the neon lights appeared saturated enough that they made me feel immersed in the streets of Night City.

Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review: The downs

The Dell Alienware 16X Aurora is a highly competent laptop, but there are a couple of flaws, namely its high price point and mediocre battery life.

Can get very expensive

The rule of thumb when buying a laptop is that the more things you add to its internal hardware, the more expensive it becomes — and the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora can get very pricey, especially when you deck it up with the best graphic card available and fit the biggest SSD possible.

The standard configuration I tested, at the time of writing, costs $2,499 / £2,199. If you go for the top level configuration with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 card, a 4TB SSD, and an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, you’re looking at an expenditure of $4,299 / £3,299. That’s a lot. I also say “at the time of writing” as prices may vary and fluctuate with the ongoing RAM crisis. It’s also worth noting that neither of these configurations feature an OLED panel.

For the OLED model, you’ll need to settle for 32GB RAM, 1TB storage and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HZ process, and this model costs $2,919. It’s also not available in the U.K., at the time of writing.

Mediocre battery life

One of the first things I noticed during my early testing time with the Dell Alienware 16X Aurora was that its battery life seemed very short. I was having to constantly recharge the laptop while playing games. Having conducted a benchmark battery test, I can now confirm that the 16X Aurora’s battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

Due to lab testing limitations, I wasn’t able to conduct our specialized in-house battery testing, so I used UL Procyon’s battery benchmark test instead. I calibrated the 16X Aurora’s brightness to 150 nits and let the software play videos until the laptop ran out of charge, and that took three hours and one minute, which is awful.

This is poor but it isn’t exclusive to the 16X Aurora. As you can see in the table above, the Razer Blade 16 and the Alienware x16 R2 gaming laptops also have subpar battery lives, especially when compared to the behemoth MacBook Pro M5.

Chances are, your gaming laptop will be plugged in while you play anyway, and the 16X Aurora isn’t really a portable laptop either, so does the suboptimal battery matter that much? I don’t believe so.

Dell Alienware 16X Aurora review: Verdict

The Dell Alienware 16X Aurora is a very capable gaming laptop, and one of the best you can buy today. The laptop boasts a lovely, premium design, and it’s built well too. There are plenty of ports for connecting the laptop to a monitor or plugging your favorite peripherals into it.

Performance-wise, the 16X Aurora features a vivid display with great color coverage and accuracy, and its 240Hz refresh rate makes it ideal for gaming. It’s perfect for general productivity as well. While its battery life isn’t industry-leading, and the laptop can get very expensive depending on the configuration, neither drawback should stop you from picking up the 16X Aurora. It looks good and performs even better.

With the price of electronics rising thanks to RAMageddon, it’s more important than ever to look for the best possible deals. To that end, I’ve found an awesome deal for a gaming laptop that can save you hundreds of dollars.

Right now, the Asus ROG Strix G16 w/ RTX 5070 Ti is on sale for $1,649 at Best Buy. Not only are you saving a boatload of cash, but you’re getting a fantastic mid-range gaming device that’s also great for everyday work. Here’s why the Asus ROG Strix G16 is a solid option for your gaming needs.

So, what do you get for your money? Inside, the ROG Strix G16 packs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, which is a GPU that can punch above its weight when you enable the DLSS 4.5 upscaler for smoother gameplay. The AMD Ryzen 9 HX CPU ensures that everything runs fast and smoothly, as does the 16GB of RAM. You even get a 1TB SSD, which gives you plenty of space to keep your favorite games.

And everything will look good on that 16-inch (1900 x 1200) IPS display. Sure, it’s not an OLED, but you get plenty of screen space to see everything clearly. Performance-wise, the 165Hz refresh rate ensures that games run buttery smooth.

The design is fairly typical for a gaming laptop, with its bulky chassis and RGB lighting. If you’re out in public, no one will mistake this for a normal notebook. However, the design is large enough to accommodate a generous number of ports, including two USB-A, two USB-C, an HDMI, an Ethernet, and a headphone jack. With so many ports, you can turn this into your main work PC at home.

This Asus ROG Strix G16 deal is pretty sweet, so I don’t expect it to last for too long. If you’re looking for a new gaming laptop but don’t want to destroy your bank account, then don’t miss out on this sale.

Oh, Asus TUF Gaming A14. Why do you hurt me so? You started so strong two years ago and even managed to be my personal favorite gaming laptop I’d tried over the past few years. Then there was a modest upgrade to RTX 5060 with a price bump — I let it slide mostly. But now, we’re through the looking glass with the 2026 model. It’s a classic situation of “appearances can be deceiving.”

Because after correctly predicting the rise of integrated graphics in laptops, this year’s A14 got my mind spinning with the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 chipset: the mid-ranger to the chip you find in the ROG Flow Z13 that still packs that same massive 40-core GPU. The benefits of this, of course, are lofty levels of performance paired with the power efficiency of not having to run an entire separate dedicated graphics card.

The stage was set and I was ready to have my mind changed with this Strix Halo glow up. And did it happen? …No. Asus is outside of my window with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” and I’m hiding beneath the window sill.

Now let me be clear, that’s not because this is a terrible laptop. For all intents and purposes, it’s a decent machine. The switch to this all-in-one monster chip has done wonders for its prosumer productivity side of things. But I can’t ignore that $2,199 price tag — a massive $500 bump over last year’s model, which just so happens to play games better, handle high temperatures better, and have a longer battery life.

It’s the right laptop at the wrong price, and definitely at the wrong time as RAMageddon has made me feel pretty confident about my break up. When the going gets TUF, save yourself some cash and go for last year’s model.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a mid-range 14-inch gaming laptop
• Who is it for? It’s ideal for portable PC gamers who want a solid 1080p/1440p system that isn’t awkward to carry around.
• What does it cost? You can pick one up for $2,199.
• What’s good about it? The switch to Strix Halo has vastly improved productivity speeds (especially in content creation), and you’re getting that same sleek body, QHD+ panel and ergonomics.
• What’s not so good? Gaming, battery life and heat management fall behind its older (cheaper) sibling, price has increased by a massive $500, and AMD’s still making it awkward to actually have the GPU perform well out the box.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: Specs

Asus TUF Gaming A14: The ups

Let’s start with the positives. Because to Asus’ credit, Strix Halo is a productivity speed boost and even though the hardware remains unchanged, it’s still pretty top notch in the gaming laptop space.

Same great display and design with some tweaks

Credit to Asus — they’ve kept the things I like about this system in the looks and works. Build quality feels familiarly premium to the touch with a metallic top and bottom, the keyboard feels great to type on and that re-engineered ventilation is there to take air in through the top deck and out the bottom.

Then there’s the QHD+ panel that is decently bright and respectably color accurate with some vividity for those key flash floods of color like speeding through Mexico in “Forza Horizon 5.”

Would I have loved OLED? Absolutely. Is this more than good enough for the task at hand? For sure.

Productivity boosts

If there’s one big good thing that can be said about the new Strix Halo internals, it’s that it does nicely equalize the general performance with gaming prowess. You can seriously get some stuff done quickly here.

Whether it's the snappiness of opening up a web browser, stretching the multitasking of many tabs, or processing advanced photo edits, this didn’t hang one iota. And with that massive GPU, local AI processing is also a breeze too — comfortably holding a 14-billion parameter model without any hitches or slowdown in its processing time. Nice!

Asus TUF Gaming A14: The downs

Value for money’s out the window and AMD’s hiding the main reason you’d buy this laptop behind a few settings screens. It’s gutting to someone who really wanted this to succeed.

Price-to-performance is way off

So you’ve felt just how fast this can be in your day-to-day creativity. Let’s move over to gaming and…well…I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

I’ll forgive it for ray tracing, as the RDNA 3.5 architecture was never really at its strongest in this crucible, and on a laptop screen, it’s not necessarily the biggest deal breaker to miss out on some shinier objects and reflections.

But when you take the $2,199 price of this “mid-range” gaming system and face it with last year’s A14 and the cheaper Lenovo LOQ 15, you start to see you get a bit short changed — both when you’ve got VRAM set to default (0.5 GB) and when you max it out (24 GB as tested here).

But it gets worse, as thermal management and battery life have taken a dip here too.

Now I know some of these pricing woes come down to the RAM price crisis, and there’s no two ways around how much that sucks. But if anything, that should make us more aware of better value for money in gaming laptops, and honestly? Even the more premium ROG Zephyrus G14 is better value.

Just AMD things

And speaking of the video memory thing, why on Earth is it that after over a year into the Strix Halo era, we’re still being left with the default slither of memory dedicated to the GPU? I know that most of us know this already, and dip into the AMD settings to tinker.

But for an experiment, I gave this to my non-techie friend and told him to play games for a day. The report the next day was simple: he went back to his PS5 after an hour because the TUF A14 was so choppy.

If he didn't know that VRAM allocation is set to 512MB (that’s megabytes…with an M) by default, then what does that say for anyone else who buys it? Change this for Strix Halo gaming laptops now — it’s a difference of literally 20-30% in performance as I found.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: Verdict

The Asus TUF Gaming A14 has a serious identity crisis that makes it hard to trust. On the face of it, it’s a good laptop. But I can’t look past that huge price tag and the subsequent downgrade in gaming performance and battery life that you get.

It’s like charging you more for less — the laptop equivalent of Chili’s shrinkflation. I hope that in the future, we remember this laptop is supposed to be the affordable arm of the ROG Zephyrus G14. The hatchback you walk out the dealership with when you’re lured in by the supercar.

But at the moment, it’s in no man’s land.

Thanks to the Amazon Big Spring Sale, now is the best time to buy one of the best gaming laptops. This is especially true given how the RAM crisis has driven up the cost of gaming hardware. To that end, I’ve searched Amazon for some RTX gaming laptop sales that can save you a decent amount of cash on your next gaming rig.

This includes the Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025) for $140, and the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i for $150 off. Appropriately enough, one of the biggest discounts is for the 18-inch ASUS ROG Strix G18 for $305 off!

I’ll update this page with more deals as we approach the big event, and also during it, so be sure to check back for the latest. Now, here are 5 Amazon Big Spring Sale deals worth your hard-earned money.

Quick links

• Acer Nitro V15 (RTX 5050): was $1,049 now $909 @ Newegg
• ASUS ROG Strix G16 (RTX 5060): was $1,399 now $1,259 @ Amazon
• ASUS ROG Strix G18 (RTX 5050): was $1,699 now $1,394 @ Amazon
• MSI Katana 15 HX (RTX 5070): was $1,679 now $1,599 @ Amazon
• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (RTX 5070 Ti): was $2,399 now $2,249 @ Amazon

5 gaming laptop deals right now

Gaming laptops weren’t exactly cheap, but now, thanks to RAMageddon, finding a solid rig at an affordable price has made things worse. Thankfully, there are still great deals out there, and I just found one that can save you nearly $500 on a killer machine.

Right now, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI is on sale for $450 off at B&H Photo. At $1,399, it’s just $100 more than a 15-inch MacBook Air M5; only this laptop can play the majority of the best PC games. This is one of the better deals for a gaming laptop, so you’d do well to give it serious consideration. Here’s why.

This Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI features many high-end components to deliver an awesome gaming experience with few compromises. It packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Then there’s the 16-inch 2560 x 1600 panel, with its smooth 240Hz refresh rate. While it’s an LED screen and not an OLED, everything should appear sharp and vivid.

At 14.05 x 10.85 x 0.53 inches and 5.9 pounds, this is one big and chunky laptop. That said, it has an attractive design that hits a middle ground between a gaming laptop and an average work notebook. This laptop’s size also means it has multiple ports, including three USB-A, three USB-C, one HDMI, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

Thanks to its RTX 5070 graphics card, you have access to DLSS 4.5, which you’ll want to enable to help your games look better and run smoother. Nvidia’s frame-boosting and upscaling tech is made for GPUs in this category, so you have little reason not to enable it unless you’re playing a multiplayer game and don’t want the slight input lag that comes with DLSS.

This Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI deal would have been great even before the current RAM crisis. Now, it’s an even better overall value. If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop that won’t break the bank (and that hasn’t been marked up!), do yourself a favor and get this one. You won’t be disappointed.

Acer's own literature claims its Nitro line of gaming laptops is "known for offering gamers the 'best bang for your buck,'" and they're not wrong. While it's always nice to drool over the most powerful new laptops and desktops, reality dictates that most of us need to be more selective in our purchases to get the best value for the dwindling money in our bank accounts. If you're not one of those who need to play every game at SuperMegaMaxOHWOW details settings, modest gaming systems become more attractive.

Everyone will still have their own definition for what kind of performance is "good enough" for them, so there's still no one-size-fits-all gaming laptop or desktop. To that end, Acer offers many configurations in its Nitro line from low-end basics to high-performance desktop replacements.

At around $849, the Acer Nitro V 16 AI represents one of the least expensive variants of the Nitro V line. And given that price point, it acquits itself quite well.

Acer Nitro V 16 AI review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The Nitro is a cost-effective line of gaming laptops intended to maximize performance value by focusing on "good enough" gaming performance instead of fancy cases, lighting, and other frills.
• Who is it for? Those who want entry- to mid-level gaming performance on a laptop that doesn't require a second mortgage.
• What does it cost? This review unit is one of the least expensive in the current Nitro line, with an MSRP of only $849. Many other models are available in varying performance levels for up to $2000.
• What do we like? The Nitro provides excellent gaming value, has a 16:10 display, superb battery life, and is user-upgradeable for storage, RAM, and wireless networking.
• What don't we like? Only 512GB of storage is low for a gaming computer; it comes with plenty of bloatware pre-installed, and the display has mediocre color gamut coverage and no VRR.

Acer Nitro V 16 AI review: Specs

Acer Nitro V 16 AI: The ups

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI has a lot to offer at its price range, including decent performance, strong battery life, and upgradeable storage and RAM.

Design

Acer's focus on reasonable cost-cutting for the Nitro V is obvious at first glance. The chassis is plain black plastic with no lighting or decoration, save for a single inset metallic N logo on the lid. If you want a flashy-looking laptop, the Nitro series is certainly not for you. Cooling vents and heatsink fin stacks are visible from the sides and back. Much of the bottom is vented for cooling intake with additional intakes above the keyboard near the hinge.

The Nitro has a full keyboard, black keys with orange printing, and all keys are backlit. The WASD and cursor keys have white rings on the edges, which outline the keys brightly with the backlighting on. As this isn't a mechanical keyboard, the keystrokes aren't as nice and crisp as those of more expensive laptops. However, it's certainly not bad for a normal laptop keyboard. The switch feel is overall mushy, of course, but it has a consistent firmness to it. The touchpad is spacious with a nice feel and a satisfying click.

Connectivity ports are on three sides of the Nitro, not just two as with most laptops. On the back is the power connector, HDMI 2.1 port, and USB-C port that can also be used for charging the laptop. Three more USB ports are available (two on the right side, one on the left), all 3.2 type-A ports. Apart from the USB ports, the left side also features a fold-down Ethernet jack, microSD slot, 3.5 mm headset jack, and Kensington security lock.

Performance

The short of it is that the Nitro V 16 AI serves its purpose quite well, given its price and intended market segment.

As mentioned before, this isn't a system meant to push intense graphics at ridiculous framerates. But that doesn't mean it won't serve up an enjoyable gaming experience. Playing through games such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is perfectly satisfactory when using an optimized mix of med-high graphic settings.

Looking through our benchmarks, we can compare it to the Lenovo LOQ 15 and Asus TUF Gaming A14. It's important to note that both these systems are significantly more expensive than the Nitro V 16, notably in the GPU department. Again, the RTX 5050 in the Nitro is meant for modest 1080p gaming, while the RTX 5060 in both the LOQ and A14 is significantly more powerful. Despite that disparity, the Nitro still holds its own in a few titles.

In some games like Assassin's Creed: Shadows, the difference in GPUs is quite obvious as both the LOQ and A14 nearly double the Nitro's framerate. In Total War: Warhammer III and Metro Exodus, again, the RTX 5060-powered laptops hold a big advantage over the Nitro. But in other titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption 2, the gap shrinks significantly, or even disappears.

Lest you think it's only older games where the RTX 5050 compares favorably, look at Black Myth: Wukong. At 1080p Medium details, all three laptops stay above 60 fps.

In other performance metrics, the Nitro delivers expected results. The A14 has the strongest CPU of the three with its Ryzen AI 7 350. The LOQ and Nitro both use a Ryzen 200 series processor, but the LOQ has two extra cores. While the A14 has an insurmountable lead over the other two, the Nitro keeps it close with the LOQ in many tests despite fewer cores.

For storage, the Nitro seems to match the LOQ. Admittedly, one of the runs for a 25GB file copy on the Nitro took an alarming 132 seconds to complete, while the other two were between 16 and 20 seconds. However, as this was the last run, this was likely due to a solid-state cache overrun, and not something you'll encounter in real-world use (unless you regularly write dozens of GB to your system drive every hour ).

So, while on paper it may appear the Nitro takes a beating from the other two notebooks, consider also that it costs hundreds of dollars less than either. From that perspective, the Nitro is certainly holding its own.

Battery life

Thanks in part to the lower power draw of the "weaker" components, battery life on the Nitro is significantly higher than that of many similar laptops.

In our battery test, which involves continuous web-surfing over Wi-Fi with the display set to 150 nits of brightness, the Nitro lasted nearly 13 hours. That’s fantastic for web browsing and productivity work. However, gaming battery life is capped at around 2 hours.

Excellent connectivity

We've been told for years that type-C is going to replace everything, but that's still nowhere near the case. And since everyone still has keyboards, mice, and USB drives that use the type-A connector, having three of those ports on a laptop is a welcome addition.

The microSD slot is also great for someone who uses a digital camera (whether a GoPro, aerial drone, or otherwise) and doesn't want to carry a card reader adapter with them.

Upgradeability

Being able to upgrade laptop components isn't a given as it is with desktops, so being able to easily pop the case and swap out some parts is a valuable feature. No, you won't be upgrading your CPU or motherboard, but increasing RAM or storage, or switching to an upgraded Wi-Fi card as new standards come out, greatly increases a laptop's usable lifespan.

The Nitro has two M.2 slots for storage. Rather than needing to clone the stock drive and replace it, you can just add a second drive to increase capacity. It's similar to RAM. The Nitro ships with a single 16 GB SO-DIMM, leaving the second slot available. Instead of requiring you to purchase a whole new RAM kit, you can simply buy a matching module to double your system memory.

Acer Nitro V 16 AI review: The downs

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI offers a good enough experience for the price, but this is still a budget laptop with some of the expected setbacks.

Gaming Performance, Pt II

As said before, the RTX 5050 is not intended for higher than 1920 x 1200 resolution. It simply doesn't have the VRAM or processing oomph to handle the 60% increase in pixels to 1440p. So if you have ideas of connecting the Nitro to a higher resolution external monitor, you'll likely be disappointed in the gaming results.

The caveat here is DLSS and AI frame generation, which Nvidia is pushing heavily. In games that implement these features well, the improvement in visual quality and framerate smoothness is amazing. However, that's on a game-by-game basis. And, as AC: Shadows shows us, there are games already released that tax the RTX 5050 to its limit even on lower fidelity settings, and it's not going to get any better.

Storage

The biggest complaint I had about the Nitro while testing it was the storage capacity. Every day that passes, games require more and more storage. Having a drive under 1TB in a gaming machine is a significant limitation.

Yes, it's easy to upgrade the Nitro with a second drive, but the thing only has 350GB available out of the box. That can easily be eaten up by two or three games these days.

Display

The 1920 x 1200 ISP screen uses a 180Hz refresh rate and has a matte finish, which helps reduce glare and reflections. While a 1200p display may not sound like much in a day when 1440p and 4K have all the intention, it's perfectly fitting on this laptop.

However, the Nitro's display has two sizeable shortcomings. First, the color gamut coverage is pretty low at only 64.6% of the sRGB gamut. Compared to the over 100% coverage of the LOQ and A14, it looks particularly bad. But to the gaming crowd, the lack of any variable refresh rate is the bigger blow.

The Nitro, and specifically the RTX 5050, can easily deliver 1080p gaming at medium-to-high detail settings in the 40 – 50 fps range, which is exactly where VRR shines the best.

Bloat

Acer, I need to pick this bone with you, and really, all computer manufacturers.

If I buy a gaming laptop, I want it to play games like Doom, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, Baldur's Gate, Forza Horizon, or MechWarrior. I don't need pre-loaded shortcuts to install things like Elvenar or Forge of Empires in my start menu. I don't want SweetLabs, AppExplorer, and other adware pre-installed. Okay? Thanks.

Acer Nitro V 16 AI review: Verdict

The secret to a low-cost gaming laptop is quite similar to a low-budget productivity one: don't let the customer notice where the cost-saving trade-offs were made. As long as there are no obvious pain points, the consumer will usually be satisfied with the product. So, did Acer succeed?

Not entirely. Yes, in terms of sheer framerate per dollar, the Nitro V 16 AI posts high marks. Excellent battery life and connectivity add to the overall value, as does the serviceable keyboard and generous touchpad. Moreover, the end user can upgrade the storage, RAM, and wireless networking. That's a winning combination that's hard to beat for the money.

However, the small stock storage drive is a pinch that the consumer will feel sooner or later. But while that can be remedied, the limitations of the built-in display cannot. The limited color gamut is disappointing, but not earth-shattering for a low-cost laptop. At worst, it eliminates the Nitro from any form of serious image or video work, but it was never really a contender there anyway. But had Acer included some form of VRR, the Nitro would be a gaming laptop on a very different level.

With VRR, you can select a detail preset and let VRR pick up the slack to get buttery smooth framerates with no tears or judder. Without, you have to experiment with individual detail settings to find the combo that keeps the game locked above a target minimum framerate, so V-Sync. That's a constant reminder of the laptop's limitations rather than its features and value.

But despite all this, it's hard to hate the Nitro. It's wrong to fault a sirloin for not being a filet mignon when the sirloin costs half as much. Is it wrong to complain about no VRR at this price point? Perhaps. Considering the Nitro can often be found well under its MSRP, that complaint becomes smaller and smaller. At $849, it warrants serious consideration at least.

RAMaggedon continues to inflate the price of consumer tech. Laptops are especially vulnerable as the shortage in RAM has caused laptop prices to soar. However, there are some laptop deals to be had — if you know where to look.

I've been vetting deals on the best gaming laptops around — and I've found excellent deals at Best Buy, Dell, and Newegg, to name a few. Here are the best ones I've found so far on everything from casual rigs to hardcore machines.

Quick Links

• shop all gaming laptops at Dell
• shop all gaming laptops at Best Buy
• shop all gaming laptops at Newegg
• Alienware 16 Aurora : was $1,419 now $999 @ Dell
• MSI Cyborg 15: was $1,299 now $1,149 @ Newegg
• Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S: was $1,899 now $1,549 @ Best Buy
• HP Omen Max: was $3,299 now $2,099 @ Target
• Alienware 16X Aurora: was $3,999 now $2,999 @ Dell
• Thunderobot Zero 18 Pro: was $5,333 now $3,199 @ Target
• Alienware 16 Area-51: was $4,699 now $3,749 @ Dell

Best Gaming Laptop Deals

Nvidia RTX 60-series graphics cards won’t be making an appearance this year but Team Green is returning to its PC hardware roots, just not in the way you’d expect.

At a time when the ongoing memory and storage crisis or RAMageddon has made PC building just as or even more expensive than it was during the crypto mining craze, there now appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. While we aren’t getting new GPUs anytime soon and building a PC still costs a small fortune, Nvidia is giving PC gamers another option: vastly improved integrated graphics.

Just like we saw with the release of Intel’s new Panther Lake chips, Team Green is also planning to give integrated graphics a major boost while simultaneously giving the best gaming laptops a run for their money. The company’s upcoming N1 and N1X chips may be Arm-based but if the latest rumors are to be believed, they could pack the same CUDA core count as an RTX 5070 GPU.

If you’ve been following our Panther Lake coverage, you’ll know that the days of integrated graphics being a joke compared to a discrete GPU are over. Sure, you’re not getting dedicated graphics level performance but being able to play Cyberpunk 2077 at close 60 fps at 1080p on a device like the new Dell XPS 14 (2026) is incredibly impressive. Now imagine that same experience but on a chip designed by Nvidia.

We already know that laptops featuring Nvidia’s new N1 and N1X chips are in the works from both Lenovo and Dell. However, could this mean you might soon be able to leave your bulky gaming laptop at home and get some serious playtime in with a device that’s significantly lighter and much easier to slip into a bag?

Personally, I’m optimistic but first Nvidia will have to overcome the hurdles that come with gaming on an Arm-based CPU. Here’s how Team Green might just be able to pull off this impressive feat.

No VRAM, no problem

Even with a top-of-the-line gaming laptop, there’s one obstacle that will always hold back its performance and that’s VRAM. Dedicated laptop graphics chips like those found on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and the Razer Blade 16 will always be limited by the amount of VRAM they have. Fortunately with the N1X though, Nvidia may have found an answer to this problem.

Just like Apple’s M-series chips in the best MacBooks, the N1X won’t use separate RAM and VRAM for memory. Instead, it will use a unified memory pool where memory is shared between the CPU, GPU and NPU. Not having dedicated memory just for graphics might seem like a downside at first but in this scenario, it’s actually an advantage.

In my time testing the best mini PCs, I’ve reviewed gaming-focused ones with dedicated graphics like the AtomMan G7 Ti but more recently, I had a chance to check out the Framework Desktop. It too uses unified memory and while my review unit came with 64GB of LPDDR5x, I wasn’t stuck just using all that memory for the CPU. When it was time to play games, I allocated a full 32GB of RAM just to its built-in Radeon 8060S graphics which really made a difference while playing through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Based on leaks and die shots, we know that Nvidia’s N1X chip is a consumer-tuned version of its GB10 Superchip which powers its DGX Spark AI workstations. With 6,144 CUDA cores on board, this is identical to the core count of a desktop RTX 5070.

More importantly, the N1X reportedly features a massive 256-bit memory bus — the kind of "firehose" bandwidth usually reserved for high-end dedicated cards — allowing those thousands of cores to pull data from the system RAM at over 300 GB/s. Now combine that with the fact that like the GB10 Superchip, Nvidia’s upcoming N1X chip will also have unified memory and you’ve got a perfect recipe for supercharged integrated graphics.

Like on my Framework Desktop, you’ll be able to allocate a certain amount of its unified memory just to playing games. If RAM prices do come down — we’ve seen signs they might be starting to — and you get a new laptop with an Nvidia chip on board and 32GB of RAM, you could then set aside up to 16GB of memory for gaming.

This is due to the fact that by default, Windows 11 on Arm usually allows an integrated GPU to access up to 50% of system memory on its own with no intervention on your part. With a 256-bit bus, that 16GB of memory doesn't just sit there; it acts with the speed and responsiveness of a dedicated card.

Speaking of Arm, that’s the final piece of the puzzle Nvidia will need to crack if it wants to make thin and light laptops that can also deliver significantly improved gaming performance.

From emulated to native graphics

As it stands now, when you want to play the best PC games on a Windows laptop running an Arm-based chip, you need to do so using Prism. The reason for this is that most games are written for x86 (which Intel and AMD both use) and first need to be translated so that they can run on Arm.

Back in December, Microsoft updated Prism and this is what allows demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 to run on Arm-based devices. However, since your device is translating the game from x86, you lose about 10 to 20% of the power from your laptop’s CPU.

With its new N1X chips, Nvidia will reportedly bypass Prism altogether with a full ARM64 version of its GeForce Game Ready Driver. This driver works hand-in-hand with the new Windows 11 version 26H1 (codenamed "Bromine"), which launched earlier this month.

Unlike the standard version of Windows, 26H1 features a specialized "Arm-first" scheduler designed specifically to help chips like the N1X prioritize gaming performance without the usual emulation stutters.

Nvidia is taking things a step further by utilizing the N1X’s NPU (or Neural Processing Unit) to add its DLSS frame-gen tech to the mix. DLSS 5.0 will run entirely on the N1X’s NPU and if you’ve tried frame-gen tech on a less capable device before, you know how much of a difference it can make. In this case though, when games running on Arm are slowed down because they need to be translated first, DLSS can help make up for that performance loss and bring their frame rates back up.

While you’ll still be able to use Prism for older games, when playing newer titles on N1X laptops, you won’t have to thanks to the combination of Nvidia’s ARM64 driver and Microsoft’s new Windows architecture. Of course, we’ll have to test this out for ourselves once laptops with N1X chips are released but what I’ve heard so far is almost enough to convert me from an Arm skeptic into a believer, especially when it comes to gaming.

Hurry up and wait for your next laptop

Between the ongoing RAM crisis and a slew of newer, powerful laptops on the horizon, playing the waiting game is likely your best move right now. If you can hold off on upgrading from your current laptop, then you’ll likely be in for a big surprise when you do so later this year.

Imagine being someone who bought a new Intel-based Mac right before Apple released its M1 chip. With Nvidia entering the laptop market in a big way with its own chips, I think we could be in a similar situation right now.

Based on a leak from Lenovo’s own online store — which briefly listed a Legion 7 "N1X Edition" — we could see laptops sporting Nvidia’s new silicon as early as the second quarter of this year.

By playing the waiting game just a bit longer, you could get a whole lot more bang for your buck. In fact, instead of getting a laptop for work and one of the best handheld gaming PCs to satisfy that gaming on the go itch, you could effectively get both devices in one.

There are even whispers that some of these N1X laptops will feature "detachable" designs similar to the ROG Flow, allowing them to transform from a productivity machine into a high-powered gaming tablet.

Although Intel got a head start with its new Panther Lake chips, the future of integrated graphics has never looked more promising now that Nvidia has thrown its hat into the ring. If the N1X can truly deliver RTX 5070-level performance without the bulk of a dedicated GPU, the "gaming laptop" as we know it is about to change forever.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple's rumored new MacBook sounds like a nightmare for budget Windows laptops — here's why
• The RAM crisis is out of control: Here's the most alarming tech products affected (so far)
• Lenovo is planning another PC price hike in March — and I’m all out of patience with this AI bubble

Gaming laptop deals are getting harder and harder to come by — probably because of the RAM price crisis we find ourselves in.

But I’ve just found huge savings on my two favorite OLED gaming notebooks that are the perfect high-performance upgrades for any players out there. Right now, you can get the 2025 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with RTX 5070 Ti for $500 off, and the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI with the same GPU for $350 off at Best Buy.

Make no mistake about it. These are massive savings, and after spending months testing these laptops (and loving them a lot), I can’t recommend them enough for gaming on-the-go.

The ultraportable monster

Every year, the Asus Zephyrus G14 just gets better and better. I almost missed my flight back from Barcelona because I turned my Starbucks table into the ultimate gaming station because of it!

From the outside, you wouldn’t really think this is a gaming laptop — if anything, its premium aluminum body screams “MacBook Pro.” In fact, it’s the only gaming notebook that my fiancée has looked at and said, “Nice laptop.” Every single other model, she rolls her eyes at the blazing RGB.

Asus has also paid real attention to sound ergonomics here, with a top-notch keyboard and massive touchpad. But of course, you’re here for the games, and that RTX 5070 Ti absolutely shines. DLSS 4.5 is the AI trick up the sleeve to bring unmatched smoothness.

Cyberpunk 2077 at full-res ray-tracing ultra with all the DLSS trickery on (ray reconstruction, multi-frame gen) can take full advantage of that mesmerizing OLED panel at a buttery smooth 120 FPS.

And whatever game you’re playing, be it blasting through the colorful streets of Mexico in Forza Horizon 5, or the deep, dark depths of the isolated Romanian village in Resident Evil Village, the stunning color and contrast ratio of this Pantone-validated display shines.

Throw in AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, a spacious 32GB of RAM (in this economy!?), and a 1TB SSD, and you’re onto a winner that’s not just good for gaming but a serious workhorse for power user productivity too.

The big one

But what if a small size doesn’t matter to you? What if you want a big-screen gaming experience? That’s where I introduce the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI — another go-to daily driver that I got addicted to fast in the months I tested it.

The S stands for slim, and while this is indeed a bigger laptop, that doesn’t compromise the thinness. This is a slender system in the hands, and with that extra space, Acer’s able to run this at a higher wattage.

That’s super ideal for running DLSS 4.5 and really ramping up that frame rate to make the most of that 240Hz refresh rate (double that of the Zephyrus G14, though the resolution is slightly lower at 2560 x 1600).

And as every frame matters in competitive multiplayer (plus a bigger panel too), I’d recommend this one to anyone who wants to be at their best in online shooters. Aside from the RTX 5070 Ti, you’ll find an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD — pretty similar to Asus’ offering.

If ergonomics are your thing, I’d point you to the G14, as the keyboard does feel better. However, if you can get over the ever-so-slight sponginess of the keys, you get a bigger board with a number pad here, and a far bigger touchpad that comes in clutch for creative work.

Buy now because prices will go up

Yes, both of these have 32GB of RAM. Yes, we are in a RAM price crisis. These deals exist because of the available stock, but once Best Buy sells through them, you can expect these prices to slowly but surely creep up.

The likes of Acer and Asus do have plans to bypass the rising prices by going to smaller RAM manufacturers, as I found out when talking to an Acer exec. But this will take time, and the best advice I can give anyone on the fence about buying a gaming laptop is to buy now before things get worse.

And out of all the deals I’ve seen, these two offer the best bang for your buck.

More from Tom's Guide

• I tested Intel XeSS 3 vs Nvidia DLSS 4: my laptop tests made me rethink the future of integrated graphics
• Nvidia says all RTX 50-series GPUs will 'continue to ship,' but stock and supply tell a different story
• ‘Chaotic’ RAM pricing won’t kill PC gaming, a CEO told me — and history backs him up

If the RAM crisis that’s causing the price of electronics to skyrocket is giving you the blues, then you’ll be happy to know that President’s Day sales are here to ease the pain. Thanks to these deals, you can save big on your next gaming laptop.

One of the best deals I found is the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i with an RTX 5070 Ti and 32GB of RAM for $650 off at Best Buy. If you’re looking for something in a relatively modest price range, you can get an Acer Nitro V for $899 at Best Buy. Regardless of what kind of gaming rig you’re looking for, there’s a deal worth taking advantage of.

Here are 5 of the best Presidents’ Day gaming laptop deals happening right now.

Quick Links

• Acer Nitro V16 (RTX 5050): was $1,284 now $899 @ Best Buy
• HP Victus 15 (RTX 5060): was $1,369 now $999 @ Best Buy
• Alienware 16 Aurora (RTX 5050): was $1,249 now $1,030 @ Amazon
• HP Omen 16 (RTX 5060): was $1,579 now $1,249 now @ Best Buy
• MSI Katana 15 (RTX 5070): was $1,679 now $1,599 @ Amazon
• Legion Pro 5i (RTX 5070 Ti): was $2,549 now @ $1,899 @ Best Buy
• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5070 Ti): was $2,399 now $1,899 @ Best Buy

Presidents Day gaming laptop deals

In the face of the RAM crisis, laptops are one of the many devices that are set to see major price hikes, driven by AI data centers causing a severe memory shortage. Now, HP is offering an alternative buying option: rent your laptop.

Recently, HP launched a laptop subscription service that lets you pay a monthly fee for an AI-powered PC for productivity or a gaming machine, with prices starting at $34.99 per month. Plus, it comes with the option to upgrade to the latest laptop after one year, along with 24/7 live support, add-on accessories and replacements if there are issues.

However, unlike finance plans, no matter how long you use the service to pay for your PC of choice, there's no option to own the laptop. In light of the memory shortage, it echoes the expectation of AI forcing you to rent your PC, and HP is among the first to take the plunge.

The beginning of the end of ownership?

HP's subscription service for laptops covers a range of PCs to suit different needs and price points, including an HP OmniBook X Flip 14 with Windows Copilot and an HP Omen Max 16 sporting an RTX 5080.

For the lowest price, you can grab an HP Pavilion 16 for $34.99, which comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. For the most costly option, the HP Omen Max 16 will set you back $129.99 per month, which is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.

Many of these options are among the best laptops around, and depending on what you use them for, they make for reliable machines. But all things considered, these are high monthly prices to pay, even if it is for an all-new machine.

Here's a breakdown of the monthly price of each laptop offered in the subscription service, and how much they cost in full (some that currently have discounts):

The monthly fee certainly looks attractive compared to the full price of many of these laptops, and for some, it's a more immediately affordable way to grab a new laptop sporting the latest specs. Plus, the addition of being able to upgrade after 12 months is a perk, especially for gamers after the latest specs.

However, keep in mind that there is no option to own the laptop, even if you end up paying for the laptop in full after a certain number of months.

For example, the HP Pavilion 16 currently costs $769 for the exact laptop you get in the subscription service. It would take around 21 months to pay that off, so just under two years. That's without a deal, mind you, and you'll find the Pavilion 16 for less. If you hold on to the Pavilion for 3 years, the total price you pay balloons to $1,259, and if you keep it 5 years it goes up to $2,099. That's an increase of 173%.

For the HP Omen Max 16 at its discounted price of $2,499, this would take around 19 months. But if you kept paying the monthly rental fee for 5 years, the cost of the laptop would go up to $4,679. And you would pay more than three times the retail price if you wound up renting for 5 years.

With just under two years of full use and the ability to upgrade, this could be a viable option for many. But as soon as you no longer want to pay, you'll no longer have a laptop to use.

HP does offer a 30-day trial period, where you can get a full refund after trying out the subscription service. But after this, there's a cancellation fee that applies, with up to $1,429 if you cancel a subscription on the Omen Max 16 in the second month. The cost of the cancelation fee goes down after each month of use, and after 12 months, you won't have to pay anything.

The PC peripheral add-ons, including a mouse, headset, USB-C hub and even a 24-inch HP Omen monitor for just $5.99 per month, are also nice options to have. But again, as HP states, "there is no option to own the gaming laptop you receive as part of your subscription," and that includes the accessories.

Yet another subscription

As HP notes in its FAQ section: "The ability to trade in your gaming laptop every 12 months for the newest model makes the OMEN Gaming Subscription an attractive option for gamers looking to escape the headaches of an upgrade cycle and stay ahead of the curve." This line of thought also applies to the productivity lineup of HP laptops.

With the memory shortage driving up prices, it's only natural that a subscription service for laptops and accessories becomes an option. We already have subscription services like Netflix that have taken over how we watch shows, and cloud gaming services, including Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Nvidia GeForce Now and Amazon Luna.

But renting a whole machine that you'll never own is a new level of subscribing to a service, and as James Bentley of PC Gamer rightfully notes, when there are 0% financing contracts available that will eventually let you keep a device after monthly installments, renting a laptop loses its appeal. I mean, laptops these days have more than enough performance power to last for years to come, and a yearly upgrade may not be worth it.

As RAMageddon continues to change the landscape of consumer tech, with manufacturers like Micron believing it will last until 2028, we're now seeing subscription services for laptops become a reality, and the higher costs of PC hardware may force us to resort to renting.

More from Tom's Guide

• 'We're not going to create an AI device that plays the game for you': Logitech G on AI taking over tech, 'it needs to make the product better'
• DDR4 in 2026? These kits can help you beat the RAM crisis
• 'Buy it as soon as you can': Lenovo issues urgent warning on RAM crisis spiking prices

DLSS 4.5 is officially here, and I’ve been testing it for a while now. Simply put, it’s Nvidia’s top piece of AI trickery that extracts better performance from your games by rendering the game at a lower resolution using the GPU and upscaling it with a neural network trained on the game itself.

It’s almost shocking how effective it is — watching it upscale a game from looking like a pixelated potato to something actually playable is insanely cool, and a real demonstration of how impressive DLSS 4.5’s Performance (Model M) and Ultra Performance (Model L) are in piecing together details.

But while I’ve been testing DLSS 4.5 on desktops mostly, I wanted to see what it does for the best gaming laptops. So I fired up my Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI and put it to the test. Spoiler alert: it’s an absolute beast.

By the numbers

Deep Learning Super Sampling can come with a compromise to the visuals, such as telltale ghosting (faint outlines around fast moving objects), jagged edges to surfaces and shimmering (brightly lit objects being a little blown out).

And while that is the case when blown up to a big screen for a desktop (though DLSS 4.5 does reduce it significantly), on the 16-inch OLED panel of the Helios Neo 16S AI, you’d be hard pressed to spot any of it.

Then when you turn to the numbers, it starts to feel like you’ve unlocked secret performance with a cheat code.

That is a near 50% jump across the board for all of these, while maintaining that detail you’d see in more quality-driven modes of DLSS!

Make sure you use DLSS 4.5 right

Quick PSA on DLSS 4.5. Nvidia itself has provided a handy guide on when to use these models you can pick between in the app.

• Model K: This is DLSS 4 and much better-built for quality and balanced DLSS modes
• Model M: This is DLSS 4.5 with a model tuned for performance mode
• Model L: This is an offshoot of DLSS 4.5, which is meant for ultra performance mode

Using DLSS 4.5 in quality or balanced DLSS modes can be a little more taxing on the GPU, and result in reduced performance, as I found out when putting it to the test across both desktop and laptop systems.

But if you make sure you pick the right model for the right purpose, you can extract the highest possible performance from your games. Smoother-running multiplayer titles are the difference between winning and losing critical battles after all.

Bottom line

So what did I learn from this experiment? Well, DLSS 4.5 is showing its strength in desktops for sure, but it really comes into its own in gaming laptops like the Helios Neo 16S AI.

The performance jump is significant, while you don’t lose any noticeable fidelity or detail thanks to that 16-inch OLED display. Blown up to a massive gaming monitor, you may spot the imperfections, but in something like this, your eyes won’t catch it.

And the point stands — this is near-esports levels of frame rates in a portable system with great ergonomics and all the I/O you’d need. Team Green just introduced a turbocharger to its V8 engine.

More from Tom's Guide

• I ditched my regular 'Pro' laptop for a gaming laptop for work — and my productivity just doubled
• The best laptops tested and rated
• I use the ‘pacer’ prompt with ChatGPT every day — here’s how it helps me finish things

The best gaming laptops do exactly what they're supposed to do — game. When it comes to monstrous performance to play the latest AAA PC titles on the move, there's no finer machine.

But aside from jumping into Steam, GOG or your platform of choice to kick up a storm in competitive multiplayer shooters or dive into a single-player epic, these laptops are far more capable than their moniker may let on. In fact, it's because of "gaming" that these machines are primed for, well, just about anything you throw at them.

In the not-too-distant past, it was largely considered that gaming laptops simply wouldn't fit into the world of work, whether that be in an office, while writing up documents in a coffee shop or hammering in numbers on a spreadsheet while traveling abroad. "They're too clunky," or "they just don't last without being plugged in," have been fair assessments, and even "they don't have that office appeal."

Today, however, the memo has changed. Faster, sleeker and more battery efficient than ever, gaming laptops have become a fine fit for work and, of course, play.

To put that to the test, I used an Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI as my main laptop for work, and as I type out this piece on the very machine, I can say it more than does the job — and then some.

Unmatched performance

An ideal laptop geared towards professionals needs to have the performance to handle a multitude of websites, apps and tools needed to get through the working day. All without that ever-annoying lag when multitasking, mind you, as a stall when switching tabs, video editing, punching in numbers and the like takes away from finishing work on time.

For me, that includes opening up dozens of tabs on Google Chrome, working through documents, light photo editing, transferring video and, yes, testing (and playing) games for benchmarking. Oh, and watching shows like "Wonder Man" in my downtime.

As you might have guessed, it's a given that gaming laptops will be able to handle these tasks without breaking a sweat. Their specs under the hood have to put up with highly demanding graphics in PC titles, after all. But it's how much performance they can offer when compared to your average laptop for work.

So, I put the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI through its paces, and it powered through everything without a hitch. It seamlessly jumped between the 30-plus Chrome tabs I had open, edited images without slowing down and did it all while being whisper-quiet.

By how much, though? Well, after benchmarking the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI, the results speak for themselves.

Even when compared to the latest Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro and MacBook Pro M5, laptops that are made for professionals in a variety of fields, Acer's gaming machine came out with flying colors. That's thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX chip, 64GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, which my unit comes with under the hood. The Acer did particularly well in the Handbrake video transcoding test, finishing over a minute faster than the MacBook Pro M5.

With these impressive numbers, it shows just how well a gaming laptop of this caliber delivers the performance needed to tackle all kinds of work, whether that be for accounting, creative work, coding and more. For my daily tasks (and nightly gaming routines), it's a laptop that fits the mold.

Still as portable

But it's all for naught if I can't carry around a laptop to and from the office, take it out in a café or, quite simply, I'm not confident enough to work on it without it screaming "this, right here, is a gaming laptop!"

Recently, though, many laptops made for gaming have steered towards a more universal, subtle look; one that doesn't blare RGB lights or proclaim "made to game" on their lid. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI finds that balance, with its sleek and stylish black metal chassis and subtle Predator logo etched on the lid.

No, it's not the thinnest or lightest laptop around, but given its 16-inch design that comes in at just 19.9mm thin and 5.9 pounds, it makes this machine fairly portable for carrying around.

Like most, I often stuff my laptop backpack with all the essentials my usual working day needs: lunch, a water bottle, chargers, a notebook and, of course, the laptop itself — and most likely whatever device I'm reviewing for the week. The Predator Helios Neo 16 AI fit in without taking up so much space, and it didn't give me backaches when heading to the office, either.

There is some heft, of course, but not nearly enough to make me ditch it for purely at-home office use. Besides, the majority of the time, I'd have this laptop sit on a desk rather than trek it around everywhere. However, if need be, it wouldn't be a hindrance during the plentiful walking I do during events or trips abroad.

Now, battery life is another key factor. While a laptop that takes me through the whole workday is ideal, especially one I don't need to plug in for at least 10 hours, when I'm at a desk or coffee shop with a power outlet, I make sure it's charged to full more often than not.

With this in mind, the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI doesn't have the longest endurance. While working on it, the laptop lasted just over five hours before needing some juice. It's certainly not the longest, but that's still half a day of work before a charge is needed. Considering I'd have my work laptop charged up anyway, especially when at a desk, that still gets me plenty of time to get work done.

The tools to work

I'll say it: not all laptops for work come with the tools needed to complete a comfortable work setup. Minimal port selection, cramped keyboards that are agonizing to type on, dimly lit displays that make it hard to see text — it's a shame having to resort to extra PC peripherals like USB-C hubs, keyboards or monitors to make the most of them, even if they are excellent products.

Gaming laptops like the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI, though? That's not the case, as they're focused on making sure they have the features needed to play PC titles comfortably. In parallel, that works for productivity, too.

Take the 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response rate and 16:10 aspect ratio. Yes, games look stunning with deep blacks, excellent colors and smooth frames, but this impressive visual clarity also translates to clear, bright images when scrolling through websites and editing photos, and it shows off the true video quality of what you've shot, too. Plus, having 16 inches for screen real estate means having enough room to split windows comfortably.

Speaking of comfort, typing on the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI is also a treat. Keyboards on gaming laptops need to be precise and responsive, and as someone who easily types over 1,000 words every day, that's a boon to have. Each key offers a snappy, tactile feel, making it a breeze to write out pages without feeling like I'm straining my fingers. Oh, and it's an extra perk to have a full-sized keyboard with a number pad included — something all the number crunchers out there appreciate.

I'm always a fan when a laptop comes with the ports I need (not just a measly two USB-C ports, like some machines I know...), and the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI fits the bill. With a USB-A 3.2, Ethernet, microSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left, another two USB-A ports on the right, along with two USB-C (one Thunderbolt 4, the other USB 3.2 Gen 2) and an HDMI 2.1, there's a generous amount of ports to plug in one of the best monitors, best keyboards and even a high-speed wired internet connection.

A 'working' laptop

After using the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI as my main work driver, it's hard to deny how far gaming laptops have come from their stance a decade ago. These aren't the same chunky machines that sound like a jet engine when doing the simplest tasks anymore (well, most of them), as they can easily fit into the work life of a professional.

Even in my line of work, the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI more than handles my workload, and being able to game when its quittin' time makes these machines all the sweeter. That is, if you game. But even if you don't, and require the performance to power through video edits, creative projects, spreadsheets, coding and the like, a gaming laptop has it — and the portability, too.

Of course, it all depends on what you require for work, which is why slimmer, lighter laptops that still burst with power and long battery life are always a good option. But for an all-encompassing laptop, you may want to start keeping a gaming laptop in mind.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just tested the Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro — and it’s an early contender for my favorite Windows laptop of 2026
• I tested Intel XeSS 3 vs Nvidia DLSS 4: my laptop tests made me rethink the future of integrated graphics
• Daily driving the Asus Zenbook Duo with Intel Core Ultra X9 has ruined normal laptops for me — 3 things I love about it (and 1 I don’t)

Just when I thought Intel Core Ultra Series 3 couldn’t get any better, Team Blue just dropped XeSS 3 multi-frame generation in a new graphics driver. And after testing it on my Asus Zenbook Duo with Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, my mind is blown.

While Nvidia maintains a comfortable lead in terms of performance and fidelity with DLSS 4.5, Intel's adopted the same AI trickery to scale the resolution and fill the space between rendered frames with AI-generated frames. And that leads seriously impressive gaming on ultraportable notebooks.

Of course, raw horsepower-wise, Team Green keeps a commanding lead — it has a dedicated GPU after all. But for most players, what you’re getting here is more than enough, and you get that additional benefit of vastly improved battery life, too!

So rather than rant on, I’ll answer the questions you have about it: how good are the frame rates now? Any latency worries? Any telltale signs of AI at work (like jagged edges and ghosting around objects)?

I decided to do this by putting it in one helluva mismatch of a competition — facing it off against the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI with RTX 5070. And the results? Well, there’s a lot here for Nvidia to get nervous about. Let’s get into it.

What is XeSS 3?

Think DLSS, but Intel’s version. XeSS (Xe Super Sampling) 3 brings frame generation and resolution scaling together to make games run a lot smoother than you could’ve done on just the GPU itself.

Nvidia, AMD and Intel all learned a while ago that instead of stuffing graphics cards with more and more transistors to work harder in rendering computer graphics directly on the card, they could work smarter and introduce AI into the mix to bring more efficient generational performance gains.

In Intel’s case, two things are at play here:

• Multi-frame generation: For every one frame of gameplay rendered by the GPU, AI can generate up to an extra three.
• Super Resolution: Your GPU will render the game at a lower resolution to save power, and then use AI to upscale that image to the resolution you want to play at.

XeSS 3 vs DLSS 4: Features

Intel's worked hard to bring backward compatibility to XeSS 3 with previous XeSS 2-supported games. But the list of supported games is completely dwarfed by Nvidia's DLSS.

On top of that, Team Green's been busy building out the capabilities of DLSS 4/4.5 around that new Transformer-based AI tech — with new features coming down the line like dynamic frame generation.

By the numbers

Running around Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 was already decent enough at our initial results of 67.1 FPS with XeSS 2. To watch that number increase to 217 FPS with one flick of a switch in Intel’s Graphics software is frankly mind-bending.

And don’t get it twisted — this is on an Asus Zenbook Duo running at a total power of 45 watts. There is a “burst” option that can go up to 80 watts for short durations, but for gaming, it stays largely at 45.

For context, the Nvidia gaming laptop I’m running these comparisons against (the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI with Intel Core Ultra 9 288V and RTX 5070) goes up to a combined power of 140W. So with that in mind, here’s what I was getting out-of-the-box with no tweaks to power settings.

Testing conditions and one thing to note: These games were set to the same in-game settings (1080p High), and DLSS/XeSS settings matched on parity. In some situations, this could cause potential CPU bottlenecks (the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V is more limited in performance than the Ultra X9 388H). Once we have Intel Core Ultra Series 3 gaming laptops with RTX 50-series GPUs, then the testing will be more on an even level. Consider these results a frame of reference.

As you can see, the Predator Triton 14 AI takes a clear lead here — turning on multi-frame generation brings the integrated GPU a lot closer to RTX 50-series than I expected. And at these high levels of frames, only the most enthusiastic of esports competitors need to really worry about that higher number.

Of course, I anticipate this gap between an RTX 50-series gaming laptop and an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H system would widen once you start to raise the resolution (think 1440p). In all the gaming tests Team Blue has shown me at CES 2026, they've all been at 1080p. That is for another test in the future, though!

But ultimately, this is the key to jumping ahead of AMD, but that’s an unfair comparison given the Ryzen AI Max silicon is definitely stronger than Intel. That being said, though, this does put AMD way on the back foot, and given the rumors that Team Red could be stuck on RDNA 3.5 iGPU architecture until 2029, it could stay that way for years… Yikes.

Visual impressions

OK, so the frames are good. Let’s pixel peep it (of course, these images are compressed a bit — you've gotta love the internet for that). Let me put some comparisons up with no names:

Now, for a question for my fellow gamers.

Got your answer locked in? You best not have been peeping at the answer!

…answered? OK, click to reveal the truth below.

That’s right — the first of all the images is the Predator Triton 14 AI with RTX 5070, and the second is the Zenbook Duo. Could you tell the difference?

So to my eyes, the answer is “yes.” XeSS 3 is still a step behind DLSS 4. There’s noticeable ghosting around fast-moving objects, small details like chain fences can warp the image behind it a little, and there’s some jagged edges.

But in the midst of gameplay, it doesn’t discount what Intel has done here. For the ultimate fidelity, a gaming laptop packing an Nvidia GPU is still the way to go. But with what Intel's managed to do, it’s clear that integrated graphics have taken a monster leap forward.

What about latency?

Multi-frame generation may be a bit of a breakthrough to many reading this, but it’s not all rosy. Fitting additional AI-generated frames in between rendered frames can introduce latency. And if your GPU is already chugging along at a slow frame rate, you’ll feel that latency more when the gameplay is smoother.

That’s why I’d always recommend tweaking your game’s graphics settings to ensure you’re getting 45-60 FPS before fiddling with multi-frame generation. With this base level, your latency should be low enough that you won’t feel it impact your gameplay — particularly in single player titles. In competitive multiplayer, where every frame counts, I’d keep it turned off.

That being said, though, Nvidia has improved DLSS quite a lot in this area, and Intel’s just rocked up with something mighty impressive. On average, you’re getting about 2ms more latency than you’d find compared to DLSS 4 MFG’s 42ms (4X mode).

So 44ms on average, and at these levels of latency, the vast majority of you are going to have a perfectly fine gaming experience on this system — which I should remind you is INTEGRATED GRAPHICS.

The future

So the present is looking incredibly bright for Intel’s XeSS 3. Without this tech already in there, the Zenbook Duo I’ve been testing has been a marvel for iGPU gaming, while bringing a huge battery life increase over your standard gaming laptop.

And now, this mini breakthrough just made things a whole lot more intriguing. With gaming laptops furnishing those who are chasing the absolute best performance and nothing else, Intel Core Ultra X series chips now pose a better balance for most players.

But where does it go in the future? Well, as Tony Polanco confirmed, Intel has told Tom’s Guide that multi-frame generation is coming to the Intel Arc B580 desktop GPU. And with that, my favorite budget GPU just became the one I’d recommend to everyone, given the RAM price crisis has just made all Nvidia GPUs skyrocket in cost.

Next, if I could make a quick wish, it would be to take a couple of learnings from Nvidia. Dynamic frame generation would be significant not just on-laptop performance, but also plugging into monitors and TVs.

And finally, there’s one area that Team Green has had the lead for years that Intel needs to catch up on — game compatibility. Don’t get me wrong, they’re working on it and all 50+ XeSS 2 titles support XeSS 3. But we need more titles on this list!

More from Tom's Guide

• I’m benchmarking an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H laptop right now — what would you like me to test?
• Samsung just confirmed 20% higher prices for Galaxy Book 6 with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 — here's what this means for you
• ‘Chaotic’ RAM pricing won’t kill PC gaming, a CEO told me — and history backs him up

If you’re a gamer like me, then you no doubt have a visceral reaction whenever you hear the words “integrated graphics.” And that’s not without reason; for years, laptops featuring integrated graphics couldn’t do much more than edit a spreadsheet or stream Netflix. If you wanted to play anything more demanding than Stardew Valley on a laptop, you were out of luck.

However, as we head into 2026, the dream of 1080p AAA gaming on an ultraportable is finally becoming a reality.

So, why am I making such a bold claim? It’s because things have rapidly changed since 2021, especially as handhelds like the Steam Deck OLED and Asus ROG Ally forced AMD and (eventually Intel) to make silicon that was powerful enough to play AAA games but battery-efficient enough to last for a decent amount of time.

This shift in focus has trickled down to the best laptops, first with battery life — such as with machines packing Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips — and now with gaming performance, as we’ve seen with Panther Lake.

Thanks to AMD’s Strix Halo and Intel’s Panther Lake architectures, I think we’re on the verge of a revolution. High-speed LPDDR5X RAM and AI-driven upscaling like AMD’s FSR 4 and Intel’s XeSS 3 will also play a part in delivering 1080p gaming in graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077. This year, your new “work” laptop could secretly be a gaming powerhouse. That’s pretty exciting stuff!

Here’s why I think integrated graphics are the future of gaming laptops.

A quick history

Before diving into the meat of this article, I want to provide a brief overview of how we got here. Back in 2021, Intel Iris Xe was the effective king of integrated graphics. However, playing games meant dropping the resolution to 720p (or lower, if possible) and using Low graphical settings. If you tried to play something like Cyberpunk 2077, you’d be treated to a slideshow. For actual gaming, you needed one of the best gaming laptops.

Things changed in 2023 thanks to AMD’s Radeon 780M. This was the chip that powered high-end handhelds like the original ROG Ally. It proved that the RDNA architecture could be scaled down and deliver satisfying performance with integrated graphics. In 2024, Intel responded with its Arc-powered Meteor Lake chip, which was a fine effort but left a lot to be desired in terms of performance and battery life.

Now in 2026, with the likes of Strix Halo and Panther Lake, we’re getting chips powerful enough to run games at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. If you had told me this would happen five years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you — but here we are. What a difference five years can make!

Intel Panther Lake

I was on the floor at CES 2026 when Intel demoed Panther Lake (Core Ultra Series 3), and it changed my outlook on integrated graphics. Built on the Intel 18A process, these chips promise a monumental leap in efficiency and performance.

In live benchmarks, I saw the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H deliver a massive performance uplift over the previous generation. The secret sauce is the AI. By using the onboard NPU 5 (Neural Processing Unit) to power XeSS 3, Intel has tripled frame rates in Cyberpunk 2077 without cranking the fans to 100%.

By offloading the heavy lifting of AI upscaling and frame generation to the NPU, the GPU can focus entirely on graphics. In turn, this promises to deliver better battery life than you’d get from standard gaming laptops that often run out of juice in less than two hours.

I’m going off Intel’s claims and our own hands-on experience, but right now, I expect to see impressive results when we get Panther Lake laptops into our testing lab.

The end of "budget" gaming laptops

This next bit could be controversial, but given the developments we’ve seen with integrated graphics, I can see a future where “budget” gaming laptops with dedicated GPUs are no longer a thing. Processors like AMD’s Ryzen AI Max 300 (Strix Halo) could make that happen.

One of the things that makes Strix Halo different is its memory architecture. Traditionally, iGPUs were throttled by a 128-bit memory bus shared with the CPU. Strix Halo solves this problem by featuring a huge 256-bit memory bus, which provides up to 500 GB/s of bandwidth — matching high-end dedicated cards.

Based on early performance data and our own testing, Strix Halo-powered AMD Ryzen chips match or beat mobile GPUs like the RTX 4050 and even the RTX 4060.

Our Asus ROG Flow Z13 review really nails the point home. In our testing, we found that Asus’ 2-in-1 laptop is the epitome of balance. As our own Jason England said in that review, it’s hard to recommend a heavy plastic brick when a sleek professional machine like this can deliver the same frames per second and last twice as long.

Gaming handhelds

I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing and testing the best handheld gaming consoles for the last three years, and they’re the ultimate proof that iGPUs can deliver fantastic gaming experiences. Devices like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 (with its gorgeous 8.8-inch OLED), Asus ROG Ally X, and MSI Claw A8 that run on the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip are a testament to that.

Thanks to "Dynamic TDP" managed by the NPU, these machines are hitting a level of consistency that I couldn’t imagine back in 2022. While these systems can be as pricey as a gaming laptop—thanks to “RAMageddon,” or the skyrocketing cost of the high-speed LPDDR5X these chips require—their performance can be top-notch with the right settings.

If a 7-inch device can run Starfield at 1080p on High settings, the argument for a dedicated entry-level GPU in a 15-inch laptop starts to fall apart.

Outlook

Panther Lake and Strix Halo chips heavily rely on frame generation to deliver better performance and sharper graphics, which I know can be a sore spot for some gamers. While I understand the sentiment, it’s not a stance I take. The way I see it, as long as I can get consistently smooth frame rates and sharp visuals, I don’t care how I get there.

2026 could be the year when the line between gaming and work laptops effectively gets erased. As someone who appreciates thin and light laptops but also wants the power to run AAA games, not having to decide between design and performance is a huge game-changer.

Dedicated GPUs aren’t going anywhere, but they might just be for hardcore enthusiasts. The rest of us can play our games on sleek laptops with powerful iGPUs instead.

More from Tom's Guide

• Intel Panther Lake could power the future of handheld gaming
• Leaker compares Intel's Panther Lake with rumored AMD 'Canis' chips
• AMD claims its Ryzen AI CPUs beat Intel Panther Lake for gaming and AI

In a surprising twist, a new leak regarding Lenovo's next gaming laptops may have come from the company itself. And the leak appears to reveal the first true Windows 11 on ARM gaming laptop based on the upcoming Nvidia N1X chip.

The new laptops were spotted by dataminer Huang514613, who tweeted out a series of product codes for upcoming Lenovo devices.

Here's what we know about Lenovo product codes to help us understand what these actually mean. Typically, the first number you see in the code is the screen size. So for the Legion Pro 7, found on the Lenovo site, the product code is 16IAX10H.

So, that device has a 16-inch display. The first letter in the code refers to its platform: A= AMD, I= Intel, N= Nvidia and Q= Qualcomm. Other information includes the chip number.

On the Lenovo Legion Space support page under the supported devices section, a surprising code makes an appearance; the Legion 7 15N1X11, which means its a 15-inch gaming laptop powered by the Nvidia N1X chipset.

Here are other devices that Huang spotted that will likely be powered by Nvidia N1X and N1 CPUs.

• Ideapad Slim 5 14N1V11
• Ideapad Slim 5 16N1V11
• Legion 7 15N1X11
• Yoga Pro 7 15N1V11
• Yoga Pro 7 15N1X11
• Yoga 9 2-in-1 16N1X11

What makes this leak stand out is that it hasn't yet been revealed when Nvidia's consumer N1-series would actually debut in gaming laptops. It was suspected that we would have to wait at least a year before anything would actually debut.

This means Lenovo will ship a Legion gaming laptop powered by the N1 chip as a direct competitor with AMD and even Qualcomm, which makes ARM systems. However, laptops and mini PCs that use Qualcomm's systems aren't gaming machines.

This could be one of the first true Windows 11 on ARM gaming laptops. However, the dataminer didn't provide more information beyond the code existing.

The question is whether or not Lenovo's Nvidia laptop will debut before Dell's version. Earlier this week, our colleagues at Tom's Hardware reported that a Dell laptop featuring an N1X chip is will debut in the "first quarter of 2026" and will likely be under the company's Alienware brand.

What's so special about the Nvidia N1-series?

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has previously confirmed that the N1-series is based on the company's DGX Spark AI systems and is powered by a GB10 superchip based on N1 silicon.

The GB10 features a 20-core ARM CPU, but is paired with an RTX 5070 GPU. It could have up to 128GB of LPDDR5X memory, though how much it actually ships with may get altered by the ongoing RAM crisis.

Meanwhile, Nvidia may already be developing a second-generation N2 chip that will debut in 2027.

Stay tuned to Tom's Guide for the latest and we can't wait to get one of these new Windows 11 on ARM gaming laptops in to test out for ourselves.

More from Tom's Guide

• Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU production reportedly 'paused,' but insists it will 'continue to ship' all cards
• ‘RTX 5070 is the sweet spot’: Scan CEO reveals what Nvidia GPU PC gamers actually want
• 'Basically a photograph interacting with you at 500 frames per second': Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shares his vision of the future of PC gaming, and how the company plans to tackle GPU pricing crisis

With gaming laptops getting more expensive due to the RAM crisis, finding deals is more important than ever. To that end, I’ve just found a gaming laptop deal that will save you almost $1000.

Right now, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is $850 off at B&H Photo. Though $2,099 isn’t exactly cheap, saving nearly $1,000 isn’t too bad. This is especially true given this gaming laptop’s fantastic specs. If you’re looking for a portable rig to weather the RAMageddon storm, this is the machine for you. (For more discounts, check out our guide to the best laptop deals this week).

This Lenovo Legion Pro 7i has everything you’d want in a gaming laptop. It packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti GPU, a generous 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of SSD storage. As this is an RTX 50-series laptop, you can get better gaming performance by enabling DLSS, which has been updated to DLSS 4.5. A relatively mid-range gaming laptop like this greatly benefits from Nvidia’s frame-boosting and upscaling tech, so you definitely want to utilize DLSS.

Then we have the 16-inch 2560 x 1600 OLED panel, which will help the games you play look their best. They’ll also run buttery smooth thanks to the 240Hz refresh rate. I haven’t tested the OLED on this specific unit, but as someone who will always champion OLED screens, I can tell you that having one on this laptop is a huge bonus.

One potential downside is that at 14.3 x 10.8 x 1.05 inches and 5.9 pounds, this is one large and heavy gaming laptop to carry around comfortably. Thankfully, this is offset by the great port selection, which includes a pair of USB-C ports, three USB-A ports, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

At $850 off for a gaming laptop with specs like these, it’s one of the best deals I’ve seen this week. Considering how prices for electronics and components will likely continue going higher for the foreseeable future, you should seriously consider getting this Lenovo Legion Pro 7i while it’s at this reduced price.

Thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, finding a gaming laptop featuring a good amount of memory and that’s relatively inexpensive can be tough. I’m always seeking the best deals for you all, and today, I found one that ticks two major checkboxes.

Right now, the HP Omen 16 is on sale at Best Buy for $1,149. That’s a cool $430 off a gaming laptop packing a sizeable 32GB of RAM! I haven’t reviewed this specific unit, but I can vouch for the quality of HP Omen laptops and can guarantee you’ll have a good time using this notebook for gaming and everyday tasks.

Let’s start with the thing you’ll be staring at the most — the display. At 16 inches, you get plenty of space to comfortably view whatever game you’re playing. That’s especially true thanks to the sharp 1920 x 1200 resolution. The 144Hz refresh rate also ensures everything runs smoothly.

Inside, this HP Omen 16 packs an AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX CPU, which is a high-end flagship mobile CPU. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 isn’t high-end, but enabling the frame and resolution-boosting DLSS 4 can substantially improve frame rates and visuals. And of course, I have to remind you that you get 32GB of DDR5 RAM here. Given the current state of things, that’s a great amount for the price you’re paying.

All of that comes in an elegant machine that doesn’t look like a typical gaming laptop. The Shadow Black color is quite lovely. At 14 x 10.5 x 5.4 inches and 5.4 pounds, this is a decidedly big and heavy laptop, so keep that in mind when you plan to take it on the road. Thankfully, you get plenty of ports, including three USB-A, one USB-C (with power delivery), an HDMI 2.1 port, and an Ethernet port.

For its low price and generous amount of RAM, this HP Omen 16 deal is hard to pass up. Act now before you miss your chance!

Now that we're a few weeks into 2026 I expect to see more and more deals and sales on laptops and PCs as new models hit stores and retailers discount old stock. I know because I cover laptops for a living here at Tom's Guide, and while prices are expected to be high this year you can still find some killer laptop deals if you know where to look.

For example, the Lenovo Legion 5 is $1,399 at Best Buy, which is $600 off the usual $1,999 asking price. That's a pretty sweet deal on this OLED gaming laptop packing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 GPU.

Now it's still not exactly cheap even with over a thousand bucks shaved off the price, but it's one of the best gaming laptop deals I've seen since Black Friday and I don't think you'll see this machine at a cheaper price anytime soon.

And frankly, given how expensive memory is going to get in the year ahead now that RAM prices are exploding, it's not a bad idea to buy a cutting-edge gaming laptop like this one now rather than risk waiting and watching the price climb higher in 2026.

If you or someone on your list loves PC gaming I think it's highly unlikely you'll regret buying this laptop. I say that because I wrote our Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review earlier this year, and you can read it to see why it was the most fun I've ever had doing my job.

For starters, we put this laptop through our testing lab and discovered this beastly gaming machine delivers great performance in even the best Steam games (like Apex Legends, Cyberpunk 2077 or Red Dead Redemption 2) without breaking a sweat.

That's not terribly surprising given it comes packing an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU inside the Legion Pro 7i's slim black chassis. They work together with the 32GB of RAM to let you run as many games as you can fit on the 2TB of SSD storage at great framerates on the 16-inch (2560 x 1600) 240Hz OLED display.

I'm a big fan of a quality OLED display because it gives you more saturated colors, deeper blacks and more striking contrasts than a non-OLED display. And since the 16" OLED on the Legion Pro 7i supports HDR and Nvidia G-Sync you can count on great gaming experiences that are buttery-smooth at up to 240 frames per second.

You get a versatile port array on this beast to boot, including USB-A and USB-C as well as HDMI 2.1 for gaming on a big screen and an RJ-45 Ethernet jack for plugging it into one of the best gaming routers. Even if you can't plug in you can take advantage of the Wi-Fi 7 support for wireless gaming on the go. Just be sure to pack the charger if you take this beast out for a jaunt, because (like most gaming laptops) it doesn't last long on battery power—roughly 90 minutes while gaming or 4-5 hours while browsing the web.

While this machine was a couple hundred bucks cheaper on Black Friday proper, the current discounted price is lower than it was before Thanksgiving and I expect it will go up come 2026, so I suggest snagging one now if you want one!

It’s a new year, so I’m hunting down the best laptop deals out there. This is especially true given how RAMaggedon is driving up the cost of computers and components. With that said, here’s a sale I just found for one of my favorite gaming laptops of last year.

Right now, you can get the Omen Max 16 for $1,599 at HP. (Click the "customize and buy" button to see the model on sale). While this doesn’t have the same specs as the unit I reviewed, it has all the components necessary for mid to high-end gaming. Given how expensive electronics are becoming, it would be wise to snag this gaming laptop before it returns to its original price (or higher).

This HP Omen Max 16 is a reliable all-arounder for work and play. It packs an AMD Ryzen AI 7 CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti GPU and 16GB of RAM. Since this is an RTX 50-series laptop, you can get better gaming performance by enabling DLSS, which has just been updated to DLSS 4.5. For mid-range systems like this, Nvidia’s frame-boosting and upscaling technology gets you more bang for your buck.

The 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS display helps make every game you’re playing look great. This is the same panel as my review unit, so I can tell you that you’ll enjoy bright and colorful images. Everything also runs smoothly and fast thanks to the 165Hz refresh rate and low 3ms response time (respectively).

The only downside of the HP Omen Max 16 is that it’s not easy to carry around. At 14.04 x 10.59 x 0.9 inches and 6.1 pounds, you’re going to feel it in your backpack. However, the laptop’s size allows for lots of ports, including two USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a pair of USB-C ports, an Ethernet port, and a DisplayPort.

For $500 off, you won’t go wrong with this HP Omen Max 16. Again, the price of this system likely won’t stay this low for long, so act fast to save hundreds of dollars on a quality gaming machine. You can thank me later!

I review laptops and desktops for a living here at Tom's Guide, which can be a pretty fun gig. I was just getting ready for work this week when I noticed one of the gaming laptops I enjoyed reviewing most in the last year is on sale for nearly $1,000 off, so I figured I ought to give you a heads-up.

For a limited time you can get the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i for $2,549 @ B&H, which is $950 off the usual asking price. That's a pretty sweet deal on this portable PC gaming powerhouse packing a 16" OLED display and an RTX 5080 laptop GPU. I know because I wrote our Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review, and I had a blast doing it.

You can read my review to see why I said it was "the most fun I've ever had reviewing a PC," but you don't have to — a quick look at the specs sheet should give you a good idea. The killer combo of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU and the 240Hz OLED display ensure you can play the best Steam games at good to great framerates — especially if you take advantage of Nvidia's DLSS upscaling tech.

That powerful foundation is backed up by 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, which gives you enough memory and storage for serious multi-tasking and basic audio/video editing.

Plus, you get more than enough ports for all your gaming accessories and professional paraphernalia. I'm talking both USB-A and USB-C jacks as well as HDMI out, a headphone jack and a physical RJ-45 Ethernet port for fast wired Internet connections. There's Wi-Fi 7 support too, if you prefer your Internet wireless—just be prepared for no more than a few hours of battery life, because big beefy gaming laptops like this one tend to chew through power quick.

Now that all the major sales events of the year are in the rearview I have no clue how long this deal will last, so I'd snag one quick if you want one!

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• Switch games: from $17 @ Best Buy
• YETI: up to 20% off @ Amazon

Asus pulled out all the stops with its lineup of next-gen gaming laptops at CES 2026, with its bonkers dual-screen Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo and a Death Stranding-inspired ROG Flow Z13. But one key device surprisingly didn't make an appearance: the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with Panther Lake.

In many ways, this is Asus' flagship machine that's one of the best laptops around, and while there were updated machines with RTX 50-series, the leaked integrated model was canned. Well, sort of, as we got a chance to see the ROG Zephyrus G14 with an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chip during a hands-on demo in December, and there was no discrete GPU in sight.

Sporting an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with integrated Intel Arc B390 graphics, this would be the first Zephyrus G14 without a GPU. As with the current Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025), these laptops usually come with graphics cards now up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080. However, with the power to game on an Intel Panther Lake chip, Asus was looking to shift gears.

For now, though, this wasn't meant to be. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chip mysteriously vanished despite an upcoming reveal, but we now have some insight behind its apparent cancellation.

What happened?

During the lead-up to CES 2026, we got a preview of the ROG Zephyrus G14 with Intel Arc B390 power during an Asus hands-on event in December. Because of this, we were anticipating its big reveal during the CES showcase.

However, at the last-minute, Asus pulled the laptop from the show. It was briefly seen at Intel's demo booth, but was reportedly later removed from the area and wasn't seen again (as told by French outlet Les Numériques).

Many believe the ROG Zephyrus G14 was cancelled or at least postponed due to supply chain issues, with Asus later confirming a "change in strategy" for the laptop. Due to this, it is now looking to be cancelled.

After hearing about the Intel Core Ultra X9 G14's cancellation, we started asking around and found other companies confirming a struggle to nail down supply. So our own Jason England put the question to Intel themselves in an interview that will be published soon.

"A perfect combination of industry-level component shortages, significantly increased demand because of how good the chips are and also ramping up production, you're getting mixed signals depending on where the different partners are," Nish Neelalojanan, Senior Director of Product Management at Intel, commented.

"Good news is there are plenty of X9 designs available. So as a gamer, you will be able to go buy an X9 system from your favorite retailers. There will be availability."

While we will see laptops equipped with an Intel Core Ultra X9 chip for integrated graphics gaming performance, it won't be from the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 right now. But perhaps this wouldn't have been the best fit after all.

Not the right fit?

During an interview with Asus, I asked whether we'd see integrated graphics on laptops, with Asus' Director of Technical Marketing Sascha Krohn stating: "I would say we're definitely getting into the territory where that becomes a possibility." However, the timing may not be right for the ROG Zephyrus G14.

It's clear that gaming on an Intel Core Ultra Series X9 or X7 processor has seen significant improvements in integrated graphics, being able to play the likes of Battlefield 6 at over 140 FPS at max settings without a discrete GPU. However, it still doesn't reach the heights of an RTX 50-series GPU, and the ROG Zephyrus G14 is known for its top-level performance in a compact design.

Asus may have changed plans to make sure its flagship gaming laptop still offered plenty of power to run the latest PC games at a high level of settings, but as Intel states, demand for the chip would mean a very limited supply for the G14, too.

However, this doesn't take away from the perks of an Intel Panther Lake chip being used in a laptop that isn't just made for gaming, but also for productivity, too. After testing Intel Panther Lake, we've seen major gains in power efficiency, and this should result in machines with gaming performance that have a much longer battery life.

At the very least, we will be seeing an Asus TUF Gaming A14 with an AMD Strix Halo chip, giving us powerful integrated graphics in the company's more budget lineup of laptops.

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Gaming has been a massive talking point at CES 2026, and Asus is one of the laptop giants at the forefront of it all. Not just because it's revealed it's bonkers dual-screen Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo or gamer-ready ROG Xreal R1 AR glasses, but also due to it's selection of devices boasting the latest CPUs.

In case you missed it, Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors have finally been announced, with the Core Ultra X9 and X7 chips in laptops offering incredible gaming performance. As in, playing Battlefield 6 at over 140 FPS with onboard multi-frame generation on Asus' new redesigned Zenbook Duo. That's without a discrete GPU, but Intel isn't the only company giving it's CPUs a significant upgrade to its graphics.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme will give laptops the ability to play the latest PC games closer to 100 FPS, while the AMD Strix Halo in the newly announced Asus TUF Gaming A14 and ProArt PX13 offering near-RTX 4070 levels of gaming performance. It's clear integrated graphics is becoming key in 2026, and Asus is incorporating all these chips in its latest lineup of devices.

The question is, will integrated graphics takeover gaming laptops? I decided to ask Sascha Krohn, Asus' Director of Technical Marketing, and even he says, "being able to play Cyberpunk on integrated graphics and it actually looks like Cyberpunk and not Lego Cyberpunk, is really impressive."

But it goes deeper than that, and I even got Asus' take on the RAM crisis and whether we'll see an Asus ROG VR headset after all (since Meta essentially canceled the once-confirmed headset).

Integrated graphics on laptops the future of PC gaming?

"I would say we're definitely getting into the territory where that becomes a possibility. I think that's something that, in the past, you couldn't really do, but I think now we're getting to the point where, and just the fact that you're asking the question — you're not the only one — it shows that if you follow this trend, it is probably going to happen. And it's just a matter of time.

"Are we there right now? I'm not sure if we're already there right now. It's going to be very interesting in the end how the market reacts, like how end users react to this.

"We have a lot of laptops that don't have a dedicated GPU that are not gaming laptops, but people are playing games on them. We don't have any specific data like survey data on how much time do people spend playing games on those devices, but I would guess that people spend more and more time playing games on devices that aren't actually specific gaming devices. Especially with integrated GPUs improving gen-on-gen for the last couple of years.

"We have 120Hz OLED displays on consumer laptops now, which are amazing for playing games. And so if you're looking at casual games, I think that's something that's very feasible today already.

"The latest integrated graphics here are really impressive. I mean, being able to play Cyberpunk 2077 on integrated graphics and it actually looks like Cyberpunk and not Lego Cyberpunk is really impressive. And I think that's definitely making some people consider, 'hey, is that actually not good enough to to play?'

"And I think it really depends on who you ask, right? I think there's a lot of people who will say yes, this is good enough for me, this is totally fine. I don't need more. But calling that a dedicated gaming device is a whole other story, right?

"I think the expectations, once you call it gaming laptop, are probably higher. Gaming laptops are not going to go away anytime soon, even in the long term. And dedicated GPUs are going to still be around for many years. How many people are going to go for dedicated GPUs and how many people are going to go for integrated GPUs, that's something that everybody has a different take on.

"It also depends how you define it, right? Like AMD Strix Halo is really impressive, but at the same time, it feels a little weird calling it an integrated GPU because, um, it isn't... How do you define integrated GPU?

"Historically it was it's built into the die itself. Now if you have a separate die on the same package and you basically just take a discrete GPU and just put it on the same package as the CPU, does that count as integrated GPU? But I think ultimately yes, there's going to be chiplet designs where you have the CPU and the GPU on the same package, and I think that's that's the trend, that's the direction."

Do you think Asus will struggle with the ongoing RAM crisis?

"That is a very big concern I think for everyone in the industry. And especially for our customers as well. Everything that worries our customers obviously worries us as well.

"Luckily enough, even though there's a big trend from the silicon vendors to use LPDDR memory because of the power savings and the increased battery life, so there's a big push there to use on-board memory, we do have still a lot of devices where we have SO-DIMM slots where you can upgrade the memory.

"So our Vivobook series, for example, and our gaming series, the ones that are not focusing on super slim and light, they do still have SO-DIMM slots so you can still upgrade the memory. I think that's something that, in this economy, is going to be very interesting for a lot of people. There's going to be a bigger focus on that, being able to upgrade the memory so you can buy it with maybe 8GB single channel only, and you just upgrade to a second 8GB, have 16GB dual channel, or you replace it.

"And depending on what the memory situation is going to be in the future, you can then adjust based on that. So I think that kind of flexibility is going to be more interesting in 2026. People will focus more on having memory slots; that's going to be a more important spec when they buy a new laptop than it was in 2025, I think.

"I think something that a lot of people aren't aware of — like end users and I think also media — is the amount of time it takes, if the day price changes drastically, for that shockwave to travel through the supply chain until it actually affects the price of devices that you see in Best Buy or Walmart or somewhere else.

"So it takes a couple of months. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they see that, "Oh memory prices went up, but oh, laptop prices and phone prices and and also gaming console prices didn't really go up yet." But I think that is still going to happen. It just takes more time until that travels down the supply chain until it reaches the retail stores and e-tail stores.

"So, yeah, just a heads up for everybody who's reading this, that is something that is still going to happen. But on the plus side, the way that we allocate memory and plan for memory, it helps to even it out a little bit. So it's not like going to be a sudden shock, but it's going to be a bit more steady. I do expect memory prices to go up and that is definitely something that nobody's really looking forward to."

Is Asus still looking into VR headsets after Meta apparently canceled Asus' third-party headset?

"I think that was made by our phone division, so I'm not too familiar with that to be honest. I did have it on my radar, I did know about it.

"Yeah, I'm disappointed as well. I'm a big AR/VR enthusiast, so yeah, sad to hear. I hope that it's something that we're still going to pursue, even if that's not going to happen in how it was originally meant to happen apparently.

"We are definitely still pursuing AR and VR in the sense that we have new AR glasses that we're launching here in a partnership with Xreal.

"What I like what Valve have said is that they made [the Steam Frame] a very modular design and they want to create this kind of like infrastructure around it. So third-party enablement is something that Valve has been really good at in the past. And that's something that I'm really excited about.

"And I hope that's something that we can also work together with Valve on. But I haven't heard anything about when it comes to us doing a VR headset, like coming to market in 2026. We're not showing anything or announcing anything here at CES. I do hope that we are going to do a VR device as well, absolutely."

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My own world of PC gaming feels a little inconsistent. While I have the impressive Lenovo Legion 5 for playing on-the-go, my home setup benefits from a glorious 32:9 ultrawide OLED panel.

Those extra degrees in my field of view really add to the immersion and gameplay — to the point that anything else I play on just feels constrained.

Well, that’s where the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable concept comes in, which packs a (yep, you guessed it) rollable OLED display that can extend from 16 inches all the way up to 24 with an ultrawide 24:9 aspect ratio.

And after testing it for a while, anytime I return to a traditional gaming laptop, it just feels so constricting. This is a breakthrough that I wish was a real thing I could buy.

Ultrawide wherever you are

Of course I could go into the tech specs here — RTX 5090, Intel Core Ultra 9, all the LPDDR5X RAM and a massive SSD. But the main focus is that display, so let’s talk about it.

It starts as a 16-inch OLED panel running at 240Hz, and the top lid looks pretty damn thick, almost as if its hiding something special here. In particular, a 3-step ultrawide panel that you can adjust to the requirements of the game you’re playing.

So for example, something like a simple card game or titles only, you can keep to that 16:9 aspect ratio. Stage two takes you to 21:9, and then you can go all the way to 24:9 for that uber immersive gameplay.

Say you’ve got a sim racing rig (shout-out to my racers) and you don’t have your tower near you. This is an ideal replacement with that wide screen. Plus, if you really want to establish dominance at a table in a cafe, you can just stretch that panel.

And this is all done with a mechanism that’s been tested for 25,000 expands and contracts to deliver top reliability too.

Outlook

Of course, this is just a concept, but that doesn’t make it any less heart breaking. I want to use this thing in my day-to-day. The gaming and productivity potential is huge for that massive panel.

But alas, it’s only a prototype, and all I can do is sit here and setup a prayer circle that this becomes a real thing. It’s so OP in the best way.

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I wanted to love the 2025 Asus TUF Gaming A14, but it’s complicated. For the small uplift in performance courtesy of that RTX 5060, there was a significant price hike and power efficiency took a hit because of it. What was my personal favorite gaming laptop had become a let down, and I moved onto the Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10.

But at CES 2026, Asus pulled out a boombox outside my window and serenaded me with a new generation Tuf A14 that ditches the Nvidia altogether and gives me AMD Strix Halo. You know the one — that chip that blew my mind in the Asus ROG Flow Z13.

Can it win back my heart? I can’t say for sure until we’ve got it in the lab, but I’m ready to open my bedroom window and listen to what this system has to say… OK this “Say Anything” metaphor has gone on for too long! Let’s just get into it.

Asus TUF Gaming A14 (2026) specs

When the going gets TUF, the TUF goes integrated

At first glance, you’re getting the same great-looking system — with the same sleek lightweight chassis that feels durable and premium to the touch, the same 14-inch 2.5K IPS panel with 165Hz refresh rate, and the same great keyboard and glass trackpad. All-in-all, the same notebook that captured my heart back in 2024.

But the real glow-up is happening on the inside, courtesy of new AMD Ryzen AI Max+ chips. With these, Team Red wanted to bring that same beefy 40-core GPU you find in the AI Max+ 395 to mid-range laptops like this. That means one of two chips available to you:

• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392: 12 cores/24 threads on the CPU
• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388: 8 cores/16 threads on the CPU

Both are still capable of that 60 Teraflops of RDNA 3.5 GPU performance, which as I’ve seen in testing the 395 is near-RTX 4070 levels of gaming performance (1.6x faster gaming performance than M5 MacBook Pro in Cyberpunk 2077) — all on integrated graphics consuming a lot less power than a dedicated Nvidia card.

That is an insane premise for a system that is (hopefully) kept at the mid-range prices Asus has in mind for the machine.

Outlook

Integrated graphics are key to 2026 being the year of the laptop. Here I was thinking I’d moved on — the TUF Gaming A14 had its time in the sun as my significant other, but I was doing better with the Legion.

But Asus is back with flowers, saying “I’ve changed,” and I’m so stoked to give the new A14 a proper test when it launches soon.

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The Alienware 16 Area-51 has returned to invade Earth in 2026. Unlike the new Dell XPS laptops, Dell’s main gaming division isn’t messing with success, as the new Alienware laptop is a whole lot like the previous model I reviewed. While the Alienware 16 Area-51 might not be an astronomical upgrade, it has something many have asked for — an OLED display!

During a CES 2026 preview event where I also saw the brand-new Dell XPS 14, I briefly went hands-on with this year’s Alienware 16 Area-51. This laptop didn’t have to do much to win me over since the original Alienware 16 Area-51 was my favorite gaming laptop of 2025. However, with the inclusion of a 240Hz OLED panel, lower latency, and improved cooling, it has a strong shot at being one of the best gaming laptops full stop.

Here’s everything we know about the new Alienware 16 Area-51, along with my hands-on impressions of the Alienware 16 Area-51.

Alienware 16 Area-51 (2026) hands-on review: Specs

Alienware 16 Area-51 hands-on review: Price & availability

We don’t yet have a concrete release date for the Alienware 16 Area-51 (2026), but expect it sometime in the first quarter of this year.

Alienware says it will share pricing for this upcoming gaming laptop close to launch.

Alienware 16 Area-51 hands-on review: Display

The biggest upgrade for the Alienware 16 Area-51 is its new OLED panel. Though I didn’t get to test any games, I was impressed by how the desktop background image appeared. There’s a deep contrast between dark and light elements, which serves to make colors appear bolder.

Performance-wise, we get the same fast 240Hz refresh rate as before. However, the response time has gone from 3ms all the way down to 0.2ms. You and I probably won’t feel the difference there, but I’m sure a professional gamer will. Regardless, games should run as smoothly as possible on this display.

We’ll have a better sense of the display once we’ve tested it, but I expect said results to floor me.

Alienware 16 Area-51 hands-on review: Specs and performance

The Alienware 16 Area-51 will pack up to an RTX 5090 laptop GPU, up to an Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPU, up to 64GB of RAM and up to 12TB of storage. In other words, there’s not much new on the component front.

That said, we could see better benchmark results since Alienware says it has upgraded the laptop’s Cryo-Chamber cooling tech, which reportedly results in up to 35% improved airflow and 15% lower acoustics (i.e. less noise).

As with the display, we’ll see what the new Alienware 16 Area-51 can do when we put it through our benchmark tests.

Alienware 16 Area-51 hands-on review: Design

I’m a fan of the Alienware 16 Area-51’s otherworldly design, so I’m glad the team decided not to mess with this aspect. The Liquid Teal finish and curved edges provide a distinct look that’s unlike other gaming laptops. The chassis’ color shifts under different lighting conditions, and the RGB lighting on the back mimics the motions of the aurora borealis.

Like with the unit I reviewed, you can equip this laptop with a Cherry MX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard. If you’re a mechanical keyboard fan like me, then you’ll love the clicky keys and short travel distance. The touchpad still isn’t all that large, but it has RGB lighting, which kind of makes up for that.

One of my complaints with the original was that it was very heavy, and the same is true since the new Alienware 16 Area-51 also weighs 7.49 pounds. You might want to mostly use this laptop at home since traveling with it could be a pain.

Alienware 16 Area-51 hands-on review: Outlook

While the Alienware 16 Area-51 isn’t receiving a major overhaul, the inclusion of an OLED panel could be enough to win people over.

We’ll have to see if this otherworldly gaming laptop has what it takes when it releases later this year.

Alienware has plenty to show off at CES 2026, including all-new gaming laptops boasting OLED displays and more. Now, it's just introduced one of its slimmest machine to date — and it comes close to a MacBook Air.

Later this year, we can now expect an Alienware ultra-slim gaming laptop, coming in at just 0.66 inches (17mm) thin, while aiming to deliver the performance we expect from Alienware's lineup of laptops. Compared to the sturdy Alienware 16 Area-51 at 1.12 inches, the new model is set to be 50% smaller. I've seen it up close, and it's just the laptop gamers and creators after a portable machine will want (me included).

The ultra-slim gaming laptop is set to arrive in both 14- and 16-inch sizes, all while keeping the design aesthetic of its premium Area-51 counterparts, including a light-up RGB touchpad. Alienware notes that the compact design means ths model won't reach the heights of its flagship laptops, but it will still offer high-performance CPUs. (Think Intel Core Ultra 300, and Nvidia discrete GPUs (RTX 50-series is surely in the cards.)

"We set out to build a laptop that delivers features that appeal to gamers first and foremost, but also excels for people who need a powerful device for creative projects, productivity and everything in between," Alienware states.

Compared to Apple's MacBook Air M4, which comes in at 0.44 inches, the all-new ultra-slim is still slightly thicker. However, you can expect the Alienware model to be around the same size as the portable Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 at 0.6 inches — and that's one of the best gaming laptops you can grab for portability.

As for how it looks? It's not like your usual Alienware Aurora or Area-51 models. Expect a sleek, minimalist design with a subtle Alienware logo right on the back. It's a laptop that fits into an office setting or at a coffee shop, as well as on any gaming desk.

The official release date, pricing and specs are still up in the air, but the ultra-slim will make its debut later on in 2026 at the earliest.

A more affordable option

Along with the ultra-slim model, Alienware also announced an entry-level gaming laptop that it will add to its lineup this year.

It's slim pickings for details for now, as we have yet to know the official price of this model and its specs, but expect a step down from the Alienware 16 Aurora laptops at a more affordable price point. So, think an RTX 5050 and possibly an RTX 5060.

At the very least, Alienware promises "strong gaming performance at our most accessible price point yet." That will be a big win considering RAM price hikes.

It may be a while before we see these laptops on the market, but in the meantime, check out what else is in store in our CES 2026 live blog.

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Alienware's goal for CES 2026 is to "push the boundaries of what’s possible in PC gaming." And it's certainly looking to do so with its entry-to-mid-level gaming laptop that now packs an OLED display.

As announced at the world's biggest tech event today (January 5), the Alienware 16X Aurora will come equipped with an OLED display, being one of the first (along with its mighty Alienware 16 Area-51 sibling) to feature a 16-inch premium anti-glare OLED panel.

Not only will this panel reduce gloss by 32%, which keeps glare and reflections to a minimum, but you can also expect a wicked-fast 0.2ms response time for fast-paced gameplay, 620 nits peak HDR brightness and HDR True Black 500 support.

Otherwise, this is the same laptop that stole the show in many sales events, boasting Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5070 GPUs for the latest in gaming performance (DLSS 4 included). What's more, we can expect more Intel Core Ultra 200HX CPU options, although current models are also available with Core Ultra 7 255HX and Core Ultra 9 275HX on Dell's store.

When I tested the Alienware 16X Aurora, I was impressed by the performance it offered (especially at a discount) and its sizeable 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate. With the all-new anti-glare OLED panel it's getting, it moves the needle into becoming a proper mid-range machine.

Deeper blacks, brighter colors and getting rid of reflections boost visuals to make those stunning single-player titles shine. We'll have to see it in action, as we have yet to see if this laptop will still deliver its high 240Hz refresh rate with OLED now onboard. But it's a welcome upgrade nevertheless.

For a taste of the performance you can expect in this laptop, check out the benchmarks I tested below (equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU, an RTX 5060 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD).

The Alienware 16X Aurora with OLED will be available in the first three months of 2026, with pricing yet to be announced. I was already impressed with this laptop last year, and the anti-glare OLED upgrade is sure to see this machine push more affordable gaming even further (we'll see about that price first).

For more of the latest announcements from Las Vegas, we've got it all in our CES 2026 live blog.

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The Asus ROG Flow Z13 didn’t need a glow up. It is already a Tom’s Guide Award winner for its sleek design and mighty gaming performance. But Kojima Productions gave it one anyway, and it’s one of the most striking 2-in-1s I’ve ever seen.

Every angle tells a new story, while giving away clues to that awesome performance inside, courtesy of that AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chipset. Not only that, but the collab extends to a whole suite of peripherals and accessories, too, giving your desk a real “Death Stranding” makeover.

Nothing quite like it visually

Combining the Ludens of Kojima with the gaming motif of Asus ROG, this is a bold, challenging design that comes along once in a while in a sea of aluminum shells. The dynamic edges paired with the bold colors and use of angularity across this CNC-milled chassis paired with carbon fiber gives it a unique aesthetic on any desk.

“I wanted to create a gadget that belongs to Ludens, and I integrated that into this PC design,” artist Yoji Shinkawa commented. “Parts and designs are inspired by Ludens and has its essence.”

This leads to cheeky nods to Kojima Productions and “Death Stranding” over the ROG Flow Z13 — making it look like something you’d see Sam Porter-Bridges deliver across many hundreds of miles.

A bold digitized typeface identifying several key elements across the system like the battery and heat vent, and the keyboard keys reading both English and Japanese letters with WASD keys that are designed to stand out.

There’s nothing quite like this, not just because of those monstrous integrated graphics of AMD’s Strix Halo chip that could hang with the likes of the RTX 4070 dedicated GPU, but also the looks that are sure to catch your gaze.

Not just a new laptop

But this extends into a headset, gaming pad and mouse, too — all of which pack these same concept art sketches from Shinkawa and bring together the worlds of ROG and Kojima nicely.

There may be some times when you look at a Kojima game and think “wait…what’s going on?” but the beautiful artistry really makes sense on physical devices like these. Now if we could get something similar on the ROG Zephyrus G14…please!

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Asus has come into CES 2026 swinging with the (frankly) bonkers ROG Zephyrus Duo — the world’s first dual-screen 16-inch gaming laptop that gives you a wall of OLED for all your gaming.

The Duos of old focused on offering a letterbox display on the keyboard deck that could be used as a secondary panel for Spotify playlists and a web browser showing a gameplay tutorial. But clearly copying the Zenbook Duo’s homework, Asus has taken the concept and turned it up to 11. Let’s look closer.

A premium build

Yes, that headline is a little provocative, but…I mean just look at it. Those two 16-inch 3K OLED displays are drop-dead gorgeous, running at a buttery smooth 120Hz and sporting HDR support.

Both displays are attached onto a hinge that can bend back a full 320-degrees too, and are protected by that CNC-milled aluminum chassis with a strong, wide kickstand to keep it all stable. The keyboard and touchpad feels good (no more squished touchpad because of the second panel), and it feels premium and powerful to the touch.

And yes, I checked: that super versatile hinge does unlock several gameplay modes, including (most importantly) tent mode. While that does make the idea of local multiplayer on a laptop an interesting possibility (especially if playing sports titles like EA Sports FC), split-screen games cannot be split across panels. It’s a small frustration that Asus will have to sort out with developers.

A monstrous spec list

For this to be a Zephyrus laptop, this machine needs the crazy good spec list. It should come as absolutely no surprise that Asus delivers on that front, with an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPU, up to RTX 5090 laptop GPU, 64GB LPDDR5X RAM and a 2TB SSD — pumping 135W through that GPU. You also get plenty of I/O including Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity to boot.

Cooling is maintained with a vapor chamber, graphite sheet and Liquid Metal to maintain optimal temperatures for sustained performance and reduced fan noise. And those ROG Nebula HDR OLED displays? They’re Pantone-verified and come packed with Nvidia G-Sync.

Everything has been considered here. Asus has taken the dual-screen laptop concept and thrown the kitchen sink at it to make the next-gen ROG Zephyrus Duo. And while I’m sure the price will be truly ludicrous, I can’t help but hold a soft spot for this as one of the coolest laptops I’ve seen so far this decade.

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• I think 2026 will be a breakout year for laptops and a brutal one for buyers

MSI’s addressing the subtlety of a premium gaming laptop with the Stealth 16, but what about for those who don’t care about stealthiness? What if you just want the most powerful system on the planet?

That’s where the new MSI Raider 16 Max HX comes in — just announced at CES 2026. I got an early look at the laptop, and yes, it is very “in your face” about its gaming looks, but with a massive 300 watts of total system power pumping through its veins, a tasty display upgrade to OLED, a beefy cooling tune-up and a 10% smaller build, this could very the beefiest system you see in 2026.

MSI Raider 16 Max MX specs

Sleeker than you’d expect

• 10% smaller in size than the previous Raider, while being 25% more power efficient.
• Huge cooling system with triple fans and a five-exhaust heatsink design allows for insane wattage.
• RGB everywhere, increased I/O in all the right places, and fast access to upgrading your SSD and RAM.

The re-engineered Raider 16 Max HX is all about the small details coming together to provide serious speed boosts where it matters. In these tweaks, MSI has been able to make it 10% smaller in size while providing more bang for your buck in the performance and ergonomics department.

For example, there’s much more flare courtesy of a strip of RGB across the bottom lip, and per-key RGB provided by Steelseries on the keyboard, which feels great to use. Throw in a tasty improvement in I/O with an SD card reader, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, all the USB-A you’d need, and HDMI 2.1 placed tactically on the back for better cable management and you’re onto a winner here.

Then there’s what’s happening on the inside. First off, you’ve got super easy upgradeability of RAM and SSD storage (provided the prices aren’t too crazy in the future) with a two-screw door to get to all the slots you need for it.

And second, there’s a monstrous cooling system here — consisting of an all-new Cooler Boost Trinity with Intra Flow thermal system to be specific. Put simply, take the back off and you’ll find three fans, six heat pipes, five exhaust vents and a phase-change thermal compound (safer to use than liquid metal), which allows for much more power to be pumped through the system.

The number? Up to 300 watts of total system power. That is insane for a gaming laptop and ensures this is the most powerful system in the world right now, while also quietening the fans from the jumbo jets you found in the last generation model.

Insane horsepower

• Refreshed Intel Core Ultra 200HX CPU with up to RTX 5090 GPU.
• Gorgeous 240Hz OLED display, up to 128GB DDR5 RAM and 2x NVMe SSD slots.

And with all that power potential, you need the chips that will take full advantage of it. Here, MSI has (obviously) gone for the top of the range RTX 5090 (other options are available) alongside the refreshed Intel Core Ultra 200HX chipset or AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX.

Power efficiency is not the biggest concern here, so focusing on the CPU that has the highest performance potential is critical. No need for Panther Lake's slow sipping of power here.

Alongside that, you can spec it out with up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM and you’ve got two PCIe SSD slots (one Gen 4 and the other Gen 5) for zippy SSD loading speeds.

All of this together will surely lead to monstrous gaming performance that pushes the max 240Hz of that mesmerizing 16-inch QHD+ OLED display (available in the Intel model only).

Outlook

This is part of MSI’s revived efforts in the gaming laptop space — simplifying the product lineup and listening to what customers want here. That involves more I/O, better displays, a slimmer chassis and an improved portable experience all around.

I didn’t even get to mention the loud-yet-clear Nahimic 3-enhanced speakers with surprisingly good bass from the woofers, or the great tactility from that keyboard and touchpad. But as it all came together in my hands, it began to make sense.

Up until this point, every super pricey MSI gaming system like the Titan 18 HX I tested last year always went hard on the performance, but also fell shy on the usability portion of it. Now, the team’s elevating all the elements, and while it will be expensive (the company’s not mentioned a price yet), you’re much more likely to feel that value on the day-to-day.

More from Tom's Guide

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• I just switched to a 2-in-1 laptop with real aura — here's how the Lenovo Yoga 9i Aura Edition gave my workflow a glow up
• The Framework Laptop 16 is my favorite laptop of the year — here's why

Over the years, I’ve really wanted to love the MSI Stealth 16 — it’s the premium notebook packed with power that doesn't ignore the utilitarian check boxes that make for a good laptop.

Only one problem: it was never really stealthy. It still screamed gaming laptop from afar and never really fit the bill as something you concealed its true performance.

Well, MSI’s gone back to the drawing board and announced a fully redesigned Stealth 16 AI+ at CES 2026. And after going hands-on with the system, well, it looks awfully MacBook Pro-ish.

But it’s a lot more than just a facelift, as it checks off a lot of the things I noted in saying 2026 will be the year of the laptop, and with its impressive horsepower concealed, it has a solid chance of gunning for Apple’s top spot. Let me explain.

MSI Stealth 16 AI+ specs

Fresh looks

• Full aluminum chassis in a deep gray finish that looks (and feels) super premium.
• Great-feeling keyboard, huge touchpad, plenty of well-placed I/O.

So where do you begin in making a laptop stealthy? Well you go for a stealthy construction, which the 16 AI+ delivers on with its full-aluminum chassis that comes in at just 16.6mm thin and weighs just under 4.4 pounds. Yes, that sounds hefty when you think about ultraportables, but this is a fully-featured gaming system — through that lens this is super lightweight.

The dynamic lines on the lid give it a subtle edginess, and the slim, sharp side profile gives a serious professional vibe while only whispering “gamer” with that subtle RGB keyboard. Speaking of the board, those keys feel seriously good here for working with a nice tactility and a comfortable landing for each press.

Then further south, you’ll find that ocean of a touchpad — a properly massive canvas to make huge sweeping multitouch gestures across your work, with a satisfying mechanical click to it too. Then along the sides, you’ll find all the I/O you could ever need for work and play, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, HDMI 2.1 and Gigabit Ethernet.

Boosted internals

• Gorgeous 16-inch QHD+ OLED display up top, running at 240Hz refresh rate.
• Specs up to Intel Core Ultra 9 386H CPU and RTX 5090 laptop GPU.
• Up to 128GB RAM and two SSD slots — both easily accessible for upgradeability.
• Massive 90Wh battery and upgraded cooling gives you massive wattage potential.

Then we turn our attention to the horsepower inside. To step up to the MacBook Pro, you need some facemelting speeds, while also providing strong power efficiency. And while I can’t guarantee the latter, there’s definitely going to be that peak prosumer performance with the combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 386H CPU (Panther Lake) and RTX 5090 GPU.

This is a dynamite gaming duo, which will make any titles flow beautifully on that mesmerizing QHD+ OLED panel’s 240Hz refresh rate. Laying my eyes on the screen, I was immediately hypnotized by the flash flood of color.

But what’s also important here is the 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and SGS Eye Care. That means it’s not just a display you can game on, it’s one you can get stuff done on too — like advanced 4K video edits and RAW Photoshop grading.

Now, one common trap a lot of these premium gaming laptops (think Asus ROG Zephyrus G14) fall into is in its mission to keep everything luxurious, thermal management is often demoted and we’re left with powerful components not getting enough watts pumped through them.

Well, flip over the Stealth 16 AI+, there’s a hint that MSI’s not playing around with that huge vent across the back. This is part of the upgraded Cooler Boost with more fans and a multi-directional exhaust design — including these subtle vents above the keyboard. That increases the power pumped through that GPU by 20W to 125W if you have an RTX 5090/5080/5070Ti, or 115W if you have anything lower than that.

Top it off with a 90Wh battery that is sure to give you decent stamina in day-to-day productivity, and you’ve got a mighty system here!

Outlook

MSI came in with one mission with the Stealth 16 AI+ — give us a gaming laptop that doesn’t scream “gaming laptop,” and the team nailed it with this seriously sleek-looking system that feels premium to the touch, great to work on, but just so happens to pack a whole lot of horsepower and a delicious display to boot.

I’m really excited to get this into Tom’s Guide’s testing lab to really put it through its paces, and see whether the promise does live up to the expectations. But from early impressions of my time with it, there’s a lot to be excited about.

More from Tom's Guide

• I tested MSI’s redesigned Prestige laptops and they’re dangerously close to being my default recommendation
• I just switched to a 2-in-1 laptop with real aura — here's how the Lenovo Yoga 9i Aura Edition gave my workflow a glow up
• The Framework Laptop 16 is my favorite laptop of the year — here's why

It's been a monumental year for laptops. First, Nvidia kicked off the year by releasing its next-gen GeForce RTX 50-series mobile GPUs, then we got an all-new range of Intel Core Ultra series 2 CPUs and just recently, AMD launched FSR Redstone for AI-powered resolution scaling, ray tracing and frame generation.

What does that all translate to? Many of the fastest and most powerful gaming laptops that the Tom's Guide team and I have tested. It's been eye-opening watching numbers skyrocket in the suite of benchmarks and real-world tests we've been putting the latest systems of 2025 through, so trust me when I say we're at the peak of gaming on laptops right now.

But just how far has the bar been raised in PC gaming on portable systems? Well, it comes down to three gaming laptops we've tested this year: the Razer Blade 18 (2025), Alienware 18 Area-51 (2025) and MSI Titan 18 HX.

As tested, these are among the most powerful mobile machines on the market, but that doesn't necessarily mean these are the best gaming laptops for everyone. It isn't just about performance, after all, as other key factors such as their display, design, battery life and, most importantly right now, price play a vital role in our testing.

Right now, though, this is all about raw power, and 2025 has seen some monstrous systems to play the demanding, AAA titles with settings cranked up to max and power through productivity apps for video editing, 3D modeling and more.

For today's cutting-edge performance in a laptop, these are the finest examples of the most powerful laptops we've tested. So, let's get into the numbers.

Specs

For context, here's a look at the top-grade components under the hood of each of the laptops. Each follows a familiar pattern: Intel Core Ultra 9 processors, top-of-the-line RTX 5090 GPUs, 64GB of DDR5 RAM and massive 18-inch displays. With the power they hold, you bet these don't come cheap — they're all over $5,000.

These are the specs we tested them with, but of course, you can configure them to keep the price down.

I've also added our top pick from 2024, the Alienware M18 R2, which rocks the same type of premium specs but just from the previous generation. That includes an Intel Core i9 14900HX CPU, RTX 4090 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. This is to show the gap between today's gaming laptops and some of the best high-end performance from the previous year.

Gaming performance

As you can imagine, all of these laptops come packed with the latest specs, including Intel Core Ultra 9 CPUs and RTX 5090 GPUs. So, no matter the machine, expect high frame rates at maximum settings across the board.

That said, you'll find a couple that eke out more performance to deliver even stronger results. In our lab tests, we perform benchmarks in a number of popular PC titles, including Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth: Wukong and Assassin's Creed Shadows. These are heavy hitters on systems, and give us a good idea of the power a gaming laptop can dish out.

Using a baseline resolution of 1920 x 1080 and turning off Nvidia's DLSS 4 to get raw performance benchmarks over AI-enhanced frame generation, here are the results.

Take note, the games here are at max settings, so they're being pushed to the limit at 1080p resolution. Coming out on top, the Razer Blade 18 and Alienware 18 Area-51 are nearly neck-and-neck, depending on the title, while the MSI Titan 18 HX falls a tad behind, despite still bringing powerful results.

In pretty much all games, though, you can expect each laptop to be near or surpass 60 FPS, which is an incredibly mighty benchmark to achieve. That's especially true when comparing it to the Alienware m18 R2, which just manages 60 FPS but can reach the heights of the 70+ FPS the rest of this year's laptops deliver in Cyberpunk 2077.

Now, when turning on DLSS 4, expect frame rates to jump to well over 200 FPS, and that even includes when using the incredibly demanding path tracing in games like Cyberpunk 2077. Of course, frame rates will drop the higher the resolution is, but you can still expect ridiculously high numbers at 1440p, 1600p and 4K resolution (if the laptop allows it).

I mean, there's a reason why the Razer Blade 18 with its dual-resolution 18-inch display hits 240Hz at 4K. Either way, no matter what game you throw at these beasts, they'll run remarkably smoothly.

General performance

It isn't just the RTX 5090 GPUs pulling the weight, as these laptops also come with premium specs like the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 HX series CPUs, an incredible 64GB of DDR5 RAM and up to a whopping 6TB for storage. The standard is high, and the numbers reflect this.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor in the MSI Titan 18 HX is Team Blue's fastest mobile chip, but the Core Ultra 9 275HX is still one of the top dogs. Interestingly, according to Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the 285HX slightly falls behind the 275HX silicon. Still, MSI's fittingly named Titan gaming laptop has an edge.

From the multicore performance to our Handbrake test, which measures how long a laptop takes to transcode a specific 4K video file to 1080p resolution, the MSI Titan 18 HX offers some of the highest numbers we've seen. CPUs have clearly seen a boost in performance over the past generation, as you can see with the Intel Core i9-14900HX chip in the Alienware m18 R2, leading to faster multitasking and handling demanding apps.

All that said, the Razer Blade 18 takes the crown as being the laptop with the most potential to handle AI tasks. Despite each machine holding the same mobile graphics card, the Geekbench AI GPU benchmark that measures AI performance shows the RTX 5090 in the Blade 18 wins.

These are no doubt powerful results, but you know what laptop offers similar benchmarks? MacBooks. Specifically, the MacBook Pro M5 and MacBook Pro M4 Pro. These aren't made for gaming (although they can), but thanks to Apple's mighty M-series silicon, these chips are already catching up or surpassing the results on these gaming laptops. Take a look at our MacBook Pro M5 benchmarks, and you'll find the M5 offers a Geekbench single-core score of 4288 and a multicore result of 17926, while the M4 Pro delivers 3910 and 22822, respectively.

Regardless, this also shows just how far gaming laptops have come, and we'll soon see even higher results in 2026 once we get our hands on Intel Panther Lake and Snapdragon X2 Elite CPUs in laptops.

Editor's pick

For the ultimate gaming experience (and productivity performance) a laptop can offer right now, each of these laptops we tested in 2025 will do the trick. They offer more than enough performance for power users, and thanks to their premium internals, it's safe to say these machines will keep up with the latest tech for years to come.

But if I had to choose one out of them all, it would have to be the Razer Blade 18 (2025). Yes, it's big and chunky, but its gaming performance is through the roof even compared to its competition, it boasts a dual-resolution 18-inch display with 4K at 240Hz and 1200p at 440Hz, it's uniquely upgradeable for RAM and storage (not that you'll need it at its highest configuration) and it's actually quite compact considering its size-class.

Now, this is all for top-end performance, and you'll be paying an absolute premium for it. At 5,199, this gaming laptop will be putting a massive dent in anyone's wallet. This one is for the power users who require the highest power in a desktop replacement-like laptop, and not everyone needs that kind of performance to play the latest PC games at high frame rates.

That's why we rate other laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) and Lenovo Legion 5i among the best laptops to get, as they're far more affordable while still bringing high-end performance. At the very least, you can get the Razer Blade 18 for a whole lot less if you opt for more affordable specs.

More from Tom's Guide

• We tested hundreds of gadgets in 2025 — these are the 5 best of the year
• We tested over 100 laptops this year — and these 10 have the best battery life
• I just tested my favorite new gaming laptop, and it’s not from Alienware, Asus or MSI

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I penned my first article for Tom’s Guide entitled ‘I’ve been building PCs for 20 years — now I’d just buy a gaming laptop instead’. Though it may not have quite set the interwebs fully on fire, it certainly got certain folks hot enough to burn their eyebrows off.

That was two-and-a-half years ago. A lifetime, I know. My current opinion on the ‘desktop vs laptop’ debate? They both massively have their merits depending on your budget/gaming habits/how much space you have in your home to commit to your hobby.

In terms of my favorite PC product/device/piece of tech in 2025 for the purposes of this article, I find myself very much in one camp. And it’s not one fans of the best gaming PCs will be overly smitten with. Enter the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025). What. A. Laptop. Actually, screw that. What. A. Piece of Technology. Full stop.

I paid an eye-watering sum for what we currently consider to be the best gaming laptop money can buy right now. Well, I say ‘paid’. What I actually mean is ‘bought on interest-free finance'… providing you pay said wallet-obliterating amount off within 12 months. Pray for my battered bank balance come May 2026.

Forget my perilous financial situation in spring of next year, though. All I know is that Current Me has derived more joy out of the latest Zephyrus G14 than pretty much any gaming device of the past five years.

Don’t get me wrong: I absolutely adore the fact I built the coolest gaming PC ever. Still, there’s no getting around the fact my RTX 5090-powered rig weighs roughly that of a svelte sumo wrestler. If I want to lug this mid-tower monster into my living room to enjoy playing my favorite Steam titles on one of the best TVs for gaming, I risk shattering my 40-year-old knees.

Pretty and performant

By contrast, the latest Zephyrus G14 is the perfect companion to my inner couch potato gamer. Weighing in at just 3.5 pounds, this gorgeous gaming laptop is perfect for… well, plunking directly on your lap for hours at a time.

The amount of great gaming memories I’ve amassed thanks to the G14 this year are borderline head-spinning. A spectacular third playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077 at the Zephyrus’ native 2.8K pixel count (2880 x 1800) with full path-tracing at frame rates that usually dovetail around 90 FPS. Hot. Damn. Thank you very much, Nvidia DLSS.

Team Green’s DLSS frame-gen tech has proven to be — and apologies for the cliché — an actual game-changer. Though my G14 sports a mighty respectable mobile RTX 5080, if it wasn’t for Nvidia's latest form of AI-bolstered super sampling, there’s no way I could play Doom: The Dark Ages or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with path-tracing at comfortably PS5 Pro-beating frame rates if I was relying purely on my Zephyrus’ hardware grunt.

It’s also a fabulous looking laptop. That brazed metallic aesthetic is straight from a certain cyborg Arnie action franchise. Appropriate, seeing as I’m currently running and gunning my way through old school 16-bit throwback Terminator 2D: No Fate on Asus’ top-tier laptop.

Though it’s undeniably a head-turner, its carb-free 12.2 x 8.7 x 0.6 inch form factor inevitably leads to a couple of big old downsides.

Howdy does it get loud and toasty.

A gaming goliath

Boot up Alan Wake 2 on this puppy, and unless you’re wearing some of the best gaming headsets, your eardrums may well implode. And as for temperatures under heavy load, the area under the 2025’s Zephyrus’ sumptuous OLED screen gets so hot, you could comfortably cook an omelette on it.

Still, such downsides/sacrifices that come with high-end gaming laptops are hardly unique to the Zephyrus G14 2014. I can easily look past heat/fan noise issues when I sit my beloved 14-inch gaming device on a laptop tray with the excellent Sony Inzone H5 wrapped around my cranium.

Such is the quality of that pin-sharp 2.8K OLED screen, some of the best experiences I’ve actually had with the G14 don’t involve gaming at all. Thanks to its effortlessly inky black levels and surprisingly robust speakers, Asus’ stunning laptop also proves to be an astounding Netflix machine... or if you’re not a fan of the Big N, insert Disney Plus, Amazon Prime TV, Apple TV Plus at your pleasure.

Even though I own one of the best OLED TVs around — a 77-inch LG G3 — there always comes a lazy Sunday where I’d rather not drag my carcass out of bed. Under those circumstances, the Zephyrus G14 (2025) and its immaculately calibrated OLED display is the perfect tonic for my ‘doesn’t want to get out of bed’ soul.

Stream machine

Whether watching the best Netflix shows amped up to eye-arousing degrees thanks to the peerless black levels OLED brings to the table, or savoring every last second of Vince ‘Mr Breaking Bad’ Gilligan’s latest show ‘Pluribus’, the G14 is an incredible device to watch both silver and small screen content on.

And yes, I’m sure silver screen obsessive Quentin Tarantino will now file me in the same category as Paul “weak sauce” Dano. Myself and The Riddler can live with the scorn once you have the pleasure of watching the superbly creepy actor in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ on the G14’s sensational screen.

Circling back to gaming, it’s really the previously mentioned Nvidia DLSS 4 that makes the Asus ROG G14 (2025) such a compelling device for fans of the best Steam games. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was a mess when it first launched on PC, but thanks to diligent patches, it’s now a web-spinning wonder. With Nvidia frame-gen enabled, it’s easy to lock to around the Zephyrus G14’s max refresh rate of 120Hz with minimal graphical sacrifices.

The biggest compliment I can pay the greatest gaming laptop Asus has ever made? I’ve had precisely zero crashes since the day it arrived on my doorstep. Not a single Blue Screen of Death. Zero weird technical glitches. And not a single case of overheating that has stopped this elite laptop from functioning as its best.

Considering my RTX 5090-powered desktop gives me technical headaches at least once a month, there’s so much to be said for the latest Zephyrus G14’s near unflappable consistency.

With all of those gushing words out of the way, it’s no wonder the Asus Zephyrus G14 is my favorite PC product of the year. Brilliant to game, binge watch and type on (thanks to its superbly tactile keyboard), this laptop has made this dyed in the wool desktop acolyte do a complete 180°.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best PC games in 2025 — our top 15 picks
• I finally bought my first gaming laptop — why the hell did I wait so long?
• I tested my fave new gaming laptop, and it’s not from Alienware, Asus or MSI

I tested many of the best gaming laptops in 2025. These machines were equipped with the latest CPUs and GPUs, providing them with sufficient power to run the best PC games. Such machines include the sleek Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and enormous Alienware 18 Area-51. Choosing a favorite was difficult, but there was one that’s still on my mind.

That gaming laptop is the Alienware 16 Area-51. As I said in my Alienware 16 Area-51 review, this laptop makes a bold statement thanks to its (inter)stellar design, powerful RTX 50-series performance and vibrant 16-inch display. Though it’s expensive and heavy to carry, it delivers an out-of-this-world gaming experience.

Read on to find out why the Alienware 16 Area-51 is my favorite gaming laptop of 2025 and why I think you should consider checking it out if you’re looking for a premium gaming experience.

Otherworldly design

Alienware resurrected the “Area-51” moniker for its gaming laptops, which is appropriate given this notebook’s otherworldly design. The Liquid Teal finish and curved edges provide a distinct look that’s unlike other gaming laptops. The chassis’ color shifts under different lighting conditions, and the RGB lighting on the back mimics the motions of the aurora borealis. It all makes for a machine that commands attention.

The unit I reviewed was configured with a Cherry MX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard that is a dream to type on. I’m a mechanical keyboard enthusiast (to say the least), so I enjoy the clicky keys and short travel distance. I wish the touchpad was a tad larger, but it works well enough and is very smooth and responsive.

My only complaint is that the Alienware 16 Area-51 is big and heavy at 14.37 x 11.41 x 1.12 inches and 7.92 pounds. Since the laptop is so bulky, you might want to mostly use it at home. This could be a potential deal-breaker, depending on whether you’re looking for a desktop replacement or a portable PC.

Strong gaming performance

The Alienware 16 Area-51 I reviewed packed an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an RTX 5080 GPU and 32GB of RAM. Thanks to those components, I enjoyed a superlative gaming experience.

I got Doom: The Dark Ages to run at 108-120 frames per second with DLSS 4 disabled on Ultra Nightmare graphical settings. With the frame-boosting DLSS, the game ran at 240 fps, which matches the display’s refresh rate. The graphically demanding Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 70fps with DLSS off and a blistering 240 fps with DLSS on.

The Alienware 16 Area-51 also performed well in our lab tests, where we run games through their respective built-in benchmarking tools with graphics and resolution cranked to the max. You likely won't be running every game at ultra settings, so you'll certainly get better results than what you see above, even with DLSS off.

As configured, the Alienware 16 Area-51 I reviewed could run games at buttery smooth frame rates with graphical settings cranked to max and with DLSS 4 enabled. That’s a testament to this rig’s power. However, if you get a configuration with an RTX 5070 Ti or lower, DLSS 4 will be crucial for getting higher frame rates.

Vivid 16-inch display

Games look as great as they run, thanks to the Alienware 16 Area-51’s 16-inch display. While there’s no OLED option, the sharp 1600p resolution, aforementioned 240Hz refresh rate, and overall vibrant image quality help draw you into whatever game you’re playing.

As you can see from our display benchmark results above, the Alienware 16 Area-51 doesn’t have oversaturated color reproduction (sRGB and DCI-P3). Color accuracy (Delta-E) is slightly better than on competing laptops like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i and HP Omen Max 16. The latter two produce bolder colors, but Alienware’s colors are more naturalistic.

I should note that the 3ms response time isn’t as low as on other gaming laptops or gaming monitors I’ve tested. However, unless you’re a professional gamer, you’re probably not going to notice any input lag. I certainly didn’t!

Bottom line

2025 was a very good year for gaming laptops, thanks to the introduction of Nvidia’s 50-series GPUs and Intel’s second-generation Core Ultra CPUs. With CES 2026 happening soon, I’m eager to see the laptops we have in store for next year. Will any of them match or beat the Alienware 16 Area-51? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

More from Tom's Guide

• Here are 3 gaming laptops I recommend and would buy
• I might ditch my gaming PC for the Steam Machine — here's why
• The ROG Xbox Ally X is not an Xbox

Walmart's holiday shipping deadline isn't till December 24th at 5 p.m. That means you still have time to score some excellent holiday deals. Walmart's laptop deals are particularly noteworthy right now.

As part of its holiday sale, Walmart is slashing the price of select laptops with prices from $129. It's one of the biggest laptop sales I've seen from Walmart all year with a handful of of great laptop deals. Below I've picked out 5 of my favorite deals at various price points. (For more ways to save, check out our guide to the best Walmart promo codes).

Quick Links

• shop all last-minute holiday deals at Walmart
• Acer Nitro V A16 w/ RTX 5050: was $899 now $599
• Asus TUF A16 w/ RTX 4050: was $849 now $599
• Alienware 16" Aurora w/ RTX 5050: was $1,249 now $899
• Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: was $1,099 now $899
• Lenovo Legion 5i w/ RTX 5060: was $1,499 now $1,199

Best Walmart Laptop Deals

Since I get to work with such a talented bunch of nerds who have the opportunity to test dozens of devices every year, I thought it might be fun to check in with the Tom's Guide computing team and ask: what's your favorite gadget of 2025?

The responses I got were intriguing and I think they're all great devices, so I figured I'd share these suggestions from the team. If you have your own suggestions for the best gadget of 2025, why not shout it out in the comment section below?

Asus ROG Flow Z13

Something changed in PC gaming in 2025. Up until this year, the only real way to play was with a power-hungry dedicated GPU strapped to your system. But integrated graphics took a huge step forward this year (something I predicted right at the beginning of this year), and the perfect embodiment of this is the Asus ROG Flow Z13.

Packed with AMD’s Strix Halo, you’re getting up to RTX 4070 levels of performance without the power drain of dedicated graphics — all in a slim, sleek 2-in-1. It’s basically a Surface Pro if you gave it steroids, and it brings serious versatility to AAA gaming wherever you are.

The Flow Z13 is the starting pistol being shot on integrated graphics beginning to creep more and more into the gaming laptop space. I’ve seen this first hand in AMD’s chips, Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake, and even the Snapdragon X2 Elite is seeing some solid gaming performance. We’re now at a time where you can get an ultra thin-and-light notebook that can just so happen to play games really well too.

Even Realities G2

I know. Despite Mark Zuckerberg making a grand reveal of the Meta Ray-Ban Display this year (with an on-stage hiccup), pushing the future of smart glasses to new heights, those weren’t the specs that really blew me away. Actually, it was the ones that don’t look like smart glasses at all: the Even Realities G2.

No cameras, no speakers and no high-detail Micro-OLED displays offering 150-inch virtual screens here. So what makes them the only pair of smart glasses I’d wear on a daily basis? Well, just that. Stripping down all the latest features this category of devices has to offer has not only jump-started a new era of wearable smart tech, but also one that’s a necessity for those who wear glasses in their everyday lives. To me, that's what makes the G2 one of the best smart glasses around today.

That, and they boast advanced Even AI and features that are actually useful, including the cheat sheet-like Conversate that offers context to conversations in real time, along with a wickedly sharp dot matrix green display (for both lenses) with a layered effect that makes navigating menus and reading text a breeze.

All that wrapped up in a subtle, stylish-looking pair of specs? The Even Realities G2 are the day-to-day smart specs done right, and that’s not even mentioning the Even R1 smart ring that takes these glasses even further.

Amazon's new Kindle Scribe

This could be recency bias since it’s one of the last products I reviewed this year, but my favorite product of 2025 is the new Kindle Scribe. I’ve been an avid Kindle user for years, and credit Amazon’s e-reader for helping me read more books in the past seven years than I have in the decade prior. I’m very familiar with the Kindle experience, but the Kindle Scribe just provided me with a new way to enjoy my favorite line of e-readers.

While the main draw (no pun intended) of the Kindle Scribe is that you can take notes or write on its display, this feature is all but superfluous to me since I don’t like writing by hand. The real magic of the Kindle Scribe is its 11-inch e-paper display that makes me feel like I’m reading a real paperback book. Unlike with the basic Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite, I don’t have to adjust the font or margins to get a comfortable reading experience. It’s practically perfect out of the box! The tablet’s lightweight design and auto-brightness are also highlights.

It will be hard going back to the Kindle Paperwhite after experiencing the Kindle Scribe. I predict I’ll be doing a lot more reading thanks to this device. And not just novels, as the new Scribe is also excellent for black and white comics and manga. If you’re a bookworm with an extensive collection of digital books from Amazon like I am, then you should consider checking out the new Kindle Scribe. It’s my favorite product of the year, and I think it could become your fave as well.

Bambu Lab A1 Combo

I’ve been on the outside looking in at the exciting world of 3D printers since the first models hit the market. Sure, I wanted to try one, but it just didn’t seem like a necessary purchase. Now, I’ve finally got my hands on the Bambu Labs A1 Combo, and I can’t stop making stuff and things. Functional, useless, pretty, ugly — I’m printing it all.

Not only am I having fun printing Minecraft characters and other fun doohickeys for my step-son, but I’ve printed a couple of useful items for my favorite hobby: golf. I have a full golf simulator setup in my living room from Carl’s Place, and I printed a ball dispenser that tees up the balls for you and a tee holder that keeps the simulator’s tees right where you need them (with the help of some cheap elastics). It felt great to print these instead of ordering a more expensive version from someone else who probably would just use their own 3D printer to make them.

The main reason I like the Bambu Labs A1 Combo is the value proposition. It’s a competent printer once you add the Multi-Color Printing that comes with the Combo. Its 256x256x256 build volume is enough to print all kinds of projects, and the $559 price tag is highly competitive in the 3D printer space (it’s usually on sale for less, and it’s $399 right now).

At the end of the day, choosing a 3D printer is no easy task, and our best 3D printer guide will help, but if you’re just getting started like I was, the Bambu Labs A1 Combo is my go-to recommendation as it’ll grow with you even as you turn into a 3D printing expert.

Framework Laptop 16

We reviewed over 100 laptops in 2025, but for my money there's one that stands head and shoulders above the others. It wasn't the lightest, the fastest or the longest-lasting, but if I had to buy one laptop this year it would be the new Framework Laptop 16.

If you missed my original Framework Laptop 16 (2025) review, just know that the 2025 edition updates the ultra-configurable Framework Laptop 16 with optional Nvidia GeForce RTX 50-series laptop graphics cards. It's the first time this Framework has been available with an Nvidia GPU, and the upgrade to RTX 50-series power (not to mention access to Nvidia's DLSS upscaling tech) unlocks new heights of power for the Framework Laptop 16.

I love that because the Framework Laptop 16 was already the most customizable gaming laptop you can buy, and now it has the muscle to compete with the best gaming laptops toe-for-toe. And while I wish the screen got a little brighter, the fact that you can open up the laptop to upgrade the RAM or swap in a new CPU when you need to is an unbeatable value. Factor in the fact that the six-slot Expansion Card system gives you plenty of room to mix and match your favorite ports as you need to, and you start to appreciate why the Framework Laptop 16 is my favorite laptop of 2025.

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Christmas is this week, but there’s still time to get a new gaming laptop at a discounted price. To that end, I just found a deal on a great mid-range notebook that’s perfect for playing modern games. However, this sale is only for a limited time!

Right now, you can buy the Acer Nitro V 16S at B&H Photo for $1,099. That’s a nice $300 savings off this 16-inch Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 laptop. This deal is only available for less than 14 hours (at time of writing), so you should act fast before this Acer laptop goes back to its standard price. Here’s why you should get the Acer Nitro V 16S. Also, check out our holiday gift guide and best Christmas deals roundup for more deals!

The Acer Nitro V 16S is a nice mid-range gaming laptop. It packs an Intel Core 7 240H CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Those specs will let you generally run games well at 1440p resolution and medium graphical settings. As this is an RTX 50-series laptop, you can get even better performance by enabling the frame-boosting DLSS 4 in games that support the feature.

That 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display should help every game look its best. The 180Hz refresh rate ensures games will run smoothly. Though you don’t get an OLED panel with this laptop, the screen’s size and resolution will let you see every single detail in a game’s environment.

You get a decent number of ports here. This includes three USB-A ports, a USB-C port, a headphone jack, an HDMI port and an Ethernet port. Wireless connectivity options include support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Additionally, this laptop features a full keyboard, which is beneficial if you frequently use the number pad.

This deal is live until 12 am ET, so you have less than 14 hours to get this Acer Nitro V 16S gaming laptop. So if you’re looking for a solid gaming laptop at a discount, don’t miss out on this one!

As CES 2025 approaches, we're preparing for the expected launch of next-gen Intel Panther Lake-equipped laptops. And so are brands like HP and MSI, as the first Core Ultra series 3 machines have now appeared at retailers — including their prices.

The first laptops with Intel Panther Lake CPUs are now listed at multiple stores, including Walmart. As spotted by tipster @momomo_us on X, there's now an HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, and it's priced at $999.

Since Intel has yet to officially launch its upcoming chips, the laptop isn't available to purchase yet. This is just a placeholder as the retailer prepares a new lineup of next-gen notebooks, but for now, it gives us an idea of the cost we can expect. And, as it turns out, it's not the major price bump we'd expect.

With every new generation of laptops sporting the latest specs, prices are always expected to be set at a premium, especially over last-gen products. Plus, the RAM crisis will only see costs soar higher. According to this listing, though, this Intel Panther Lake laptop is at the same price as the previous-gen model.

You can find the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V CPU priced at $999 over on the HP Store, even though it's currently reduced to $649 thanks to a sale. Arguably, the latest OmniBook with a Core Ultra 7 processor is the better deal at full price.

Along with its Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, the next-gen model of HP's OmniBook X Flip 16 also comes with Intel integrated graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 512GB of storage and a 16-inch (1920 x 1200) LED touchscreen (not the 2K the listing mentions).

Since this is a listing that's published before the official launch of the laptop, pricing may change. But it's a good indication of costs to come, especially on machines sporting the upgraded Intel Core Ultra 300 processors.

Gaming laptops with Intel are a little high...

It's not unheard of to see MSI laptops set at premium prices, with the monstrous MSI Titan 18 HX priced from a whopping $5,000. But these new Intel Panther Lake laptops appearing on EU retailer sites (via Wccftech) seem a tad overpriced. Or at least, hopefully.

For example, there's an MSI 16I with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 (same as the HP OmniBook) priced at €2,611 at French retailer PC21, so around $3,061. Despite it also boasting a 2.8K resolution OLED display and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, that seems awfully expensive.

There's also an MSI 16I with a much stronger Intel Core Ultra X9 388H CPU for €3,006 at PC21, making it around $3,524. There's no GPU in sight here, with this chip coming with Xe3 graphics architecture to deliver onboard graphics performance for gaming, albeit not to the level of a discrete RTX 50-series GPU.

Those prices seem strangely high for these kinds of laptops, even with next-gen Intel CPUs inside. These could be random placeholder numbers for these retailers, as again, these laptops aren't available to purchase yet.

We've seen how Intel Panther Lake has the gaming chops to power the future of handheld gaming, and that's also a good sign for thin, lightweight laptops to play the latest AAA games with just an Intel chip. The question is, how pricey will these machines be? For now, if Walmart's listing price on the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 is accurate, it may not be at such a high price.

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With the holidays right around the corner, there's never been a more compelling time to upgrade your laptop and right now I've found an epic laptop deal on a budget gaming rig that can help you get RTX 50-series gaming power for cheaper than ever.

For a limited time, you can get the Acer Nitro V 15 Gaming Laptop with RTX 5050 for just $549 at Walmart, which is $380 off the usual $929 asking price.

Although we love this deal, it's worth remembering that this is still a budget gaming rig, so you should keep your expectations in check when playing the best PC games. You can expect most games will run very well at 1080p, but you will likely have to rely on Nvidia's performance-enhancing DLSS tech in order to achieve high framerates in modern games.

But thanks to the Core i5-13420H CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 laptop GPU, and 16GB of RAM you can count on great performance in many games, though you won't be able to store many on the 512GB SSD.

That said, let me remind you that you're getting components in this gaming laptop that are generally as good or better than what you get in the Xbox Series X or PS5. You also get three free months of Xbox Game Pass when you buy this laptop, which means you get three months of access to a service full of free games you can try on your new laptop to see what you like best.

And not only do you get the far broader PC game catalog to play on this laptop via Steam, Xbox Game Pass and other PC game platforms, you also get a fully functional Windows 11 laptop that can handle whatever work you need to do as well as light photo/video editing.

Just don't expect great battery life. While we haven't had a chance to test this specific model of Acer Nitro V 15, the other Acer Nitro V gaming laptops we've tested in the past have (like almost all gaming laptops) reliably only lasted a few hours while surfing the web on battery and 1-2 hours while gaming without being plugged in. That's why I recommend you pack the charger if you take this thing on the go with you.

This is probably the lowest price I've ever seen a gaming laptop go for with a modern Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU inside, so if you want a taste of the next generation of PC gaming this might be one of the most affordable ways to get started.