We have put hours of research and testing into this gaming laptop buyer guide of the 10 best gaming laptops available in 2018.
Overview
The best money can buy, the worlds thinnest gaming laptop out there equipped with a GTX 1080 and a 120Hz display! The only trade off is the cost. But, the good news is we have found you the cheapest price for the laptop here.
Due to hardware cooling restraints, typically when you have to choose a gaming notebook you have to pick between thin and less powerful or thick and more powerful. Until now, you’d never be able to have the best of both worlds. Asus have smashed this restriction with the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501, a gaming notebook that is both thin and powerful, and boasts to be the worlds thinest gaming laptop with a GTX 1080 GPU. Asus have managed to design a stunningly thin gaming notebook that has bags of power for the latest games, truly an amazing peice of hardware.
All in all, the Asus ROG Zephyrus tends to set a high bar for thin and powerful gaming laptops and is able to deliver a quiet operation with exceptional performance and a design which has been deemed to be truly innovative. If you’re after a powerful thin gaming laptop with an excellent display we highly recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus.
In the race for the thinnest gaming notebook, many contenders are competing for the top spot. But dispite the compition, very few manufacturers have managed to achieve this goal. Asus however, have with the ROG Strix. A laptop which has managed to strike the perfect balance between power and portability. Beyond measurements and parts, this notebook has managed to deliver on all fronts with excellent built in audio, design, and a vivid color display.
The Asus Stix laptop is a full HD gaming machine, thanks to its excellent built in speakers and the vibrant screen (excellent color depth).
Overview
The Alienware 13 R3 is a great portable gaming machine, and a fantastic option if you don't want to lug the Alienware 17 R4 around with you! The laptop looks amazing and boasts an OLED screen, we have found the cheapest price for the Alienware 13 R13 here.
In the past couple of years, gamers all over the world have seen Alienware introduce some truly godlike, high-class gaming laptops with wonderful features and unique designs.
Technical Specifications
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| Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Processor (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost) |
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| 13.3 inch QHD (2560 x 1440) OLED Anti-Glare 400-nits Display with Touch Technology w/ Alienware Head |
| NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 |
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| Alienware TactX Keyboard 4-Zone, multi-color RGB, keyboard with AlienFX lighting controls |
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| Wi-Fi Integrated 802.11 AC (WIDI Support) 10/100/1000 Base T Bluetooth Built-in Bluetooth V4.1 |
| 1 Power/DC-in Jack 1 RJ-45 Killer Networks e2400 Gigabit Ethernet Port 1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-A Port 1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-A Port with PowerShare technology 1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-C Port 1 Thunderbolt™ 3 Port (USB Type-C™ with support for SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps, 40Gbps Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort) 1 Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port 1 HDMI 2.0 Output 1 Mini-Display Port 1.2 (certified) Output 1 Audio Out 1/8" Ports (Compatible with inline mic headset) 1 Headphone 1/8" Port (retaskable for Microphone/Line-In analog audio input) |
| Built-in Stereo W Speakers And Array Microphone Support Windows 10 Cortana with Voice ASUS SonicMaster Premium Technology |
| 4 Cells 64 Whrs Battery Up to 6 Hours web browsing |
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| Height: 22mm (.87inch) Touch, 24mm (.94inch) non-Touch Width: 330mm (13inches) Depth: 269mm (10.6inches) |
| Average weight: 2.6kgs (5.8lbs) |
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PROS
- IMproved hinge-forward design
⦁ Quiet and innovative cooling
- Great performance for it's size
⦁ Quiet and innovative cooling
- Entry level models are a great budget option
⦁ Excellent speakers and display
Therefore, this gaming laptop from Razer could arguably be considered to be one of the best desktop replacement that you would be able to carry around. From the perspective of comfort and power, we have found ourselves to feel right at home from the very beginning. This is because this laptop would be vibrant and roomy for any kind of production work that you would require.
So, if a gorgeous quality, portability, incredible keyboard, and build quality would be some of the main determining factors for your next buy, then the Razer Blade Pro would be absolute value for your money.
Razer Blade
The Best 14" Laptop
Overview
The Razer Blade is a 14 inch highly portable gaming laptop that's built like a tank! If you're after something that resembles a gaming laptop version of the MacBook pro, then have just found it! As usual we have hunted out the best price for you, check it out here.
In the gaming laptop scene, Razer are a go to brand. The previous 14-inch gaming notebooks produced by this company are extremely well made. So it comes as no surprise the latest version seems to have incorporated all the previous features and improved the glitches in order to introduce a far superiour portable gaming machine.
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GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 | | |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
- DESIGN
- PERFORMANCE
- BATTERY LIFE
Even though it now packs a newer processer and an optional ultra HD display, nothing about its design seems to have changed. However, the brushed and all-black aluminum frame gives a solid feel to the laptop. The keyboard is excellent and typing is effortless on this machine.
Even though it now packs a newer processer and an optional ultra HD display, nothing about its design seems to have changed. However, the brushed and all-black aluminum frame would feel cool as a breeze underneath your fingertips – something which could definitely be considered to be a sensational feeling. You would find the typing to still remain excellent, even though it would have been nice to see the trackpad buttons gone.
Asus are breaking new ground with a gaming laptop that is just 1.79cm thick. Not only is that extremely thin for a gaming laptop, but even if you compare the laptop to none gaming notebooks it’s still slimmer than traditional notebooks that are available on the market today. Asus has achieved the thin designed by incorporating a high-air chamber cooling system that gives this ultra-thin gaming laptop the cooling properties of a much thicker machine. In terms of design, Asus has gone for a distinctly squared-off design with a metal chassis. All that being said, it looks like something from the future and we loved the laptops design and performance.
In terms of performance, you could expect things to remain the same as the previous models. However, the incredibly loud fan noise when in game does not seem to have gone away which comes as no surprise for a gaming laptop. Despite the fact that the speakers have undergone a major upgrade, they are still not loud enough to drown out the loud fan noise! So, you'll want your gaming headset when gaming on this laptop.
In terms of performance, you could expect things to remain the same as the previous models. However, the incredibly loud fan noise when you would be playing games does not seem to have gone away which is actually quite annoying. In that case, you should prepare yourself to play with your headphones ones. This is despite the fact that the speakers seem to have undergone a major upgrade. Sadly, it would not be enough to drown out the loud and whirring noise.
When you glance over the specifications of this laptop on paper, you would typically assume that it’s going to be loud and noisy. But, you could not be further from the truth and much to our amazement, despite its thin form factor, it tends to run more quietly than most of the other gaming laptops we reviewed. When you’re not gaming and browsing the web and performing normal desktop tasks the laptop is virtually silent.
The Razer Blade is regarded as one of the most respected gaming notebooks in terms of battery life. We were able to see an increase of 30 minutes, which means the total battery life would last you around 4 hours and 8 minutes, not bad considering we were operating the laptop at a brightness of 50%.
The Razer Blade seems to have come to be regarded as one of the most respected gaming laptops in terms of battery life. Hence, we were able to see an increase of 30 minutes, which means that the total battery life would last you around 4 hours and 8 minutes when you would be operating the laptop at a brightness of 50%.
The only unimpressive part of the Asus laptop is its battery life which is a maximum of 2 hours. No matter how well we tried to optimize the operation system or how few applications we had running, it was impossible to squeeze more than 2 hours battery life out of the laptop, which is pretty poor for a modern laptop, even if it is a gaming laptop. This is definitely something you need to factor in if your often traveling or away from a power point.
Button Response
The buttons are soft and you can get used to the click almost immediately. The tactile response of the buttons are designed in a way to give a feeling of a soft touch while hard enough to prevent them from being pressed accidentally.
Button Position
There are two small buttons situated under the mouse wheel that lets you adjust the CPIs with a single touch and two buttons situated at the left side of the mouse just over the rubber grip for the thumb. The buttons are easily accessible and can be custom programmed for any functionality that one may like.
Technical Specifications
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| Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Processor (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost) |
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| Mobile Intel® HM175 Chipset |
| 16GB Onboard - DDR4, 2400Mhz |
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| NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5 VRAM) |
| 512GB SSD RAID 0 (2x 256GB PCIe M.2) 1TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 512GB PCIe M.2) 2TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 1TB PCIe M.2)
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| Razer Synapse enabled programmable keyboard, backlighting + fan control |
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| Killer™ Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth® 4.1) Killer DoubleShot™ Pro: Killer™ Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth® 4.1) Killer™ E2500 (Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000)
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| Built-in webcam (2.0MP) Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C™) USB 3.0 port x 3 (SuperSpeed) HDMI 2.0 audio and video output Built-in webcam (2.0MP) Multimedia keys with scroll wheel Multi-touch touchpad SDXC card reader Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C™) USB 3.0 port x 3 (SuperSpeed) HDMI 2.0 audio and video output |
| Built-in stereo speakers Built-in array microphone 3.5mm combo audio port Dolby® Digital Plus Home Theater Edition 7.1 Codec support Built-in stereo speakers Built-in array microphone 3.5mm combo audio port Dolby® Digital Plus Home Theater Edition 7.1 Codec support |
| Built-in 70Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery |
| Built in 165W power adapter |
| 0.70” / 17.9mm (Height) x 13.6” / 345mm (Width) x 9.3” / 235mm (Depth) |
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Even though the 2018 version of this notebook seems to be longer lasting and stronger than the previous year’s, it would be nice to see more original features being incorporated. If you want a metal laptop for gaming this laptop is a great choice, if you're on a tighter budget we would check out the Alienware 13 R13 instead.
CONS
- Trackpad buttons are a pain
Best 14" Gaming Laptop
Gigabyte Aero 14
The Best Mid-range
Overview
A gaming laptop that packs a 7th-generation Intel i7 processor and an Nvidia Pascal GPU. The machine manages to remain portable with a reasonable battery life. You can see what others are saying about it here.
When it comes to thin gaming notebooks, Gigabyte are a major contender. That is why with its latest offering, it has promised to deliver ultra-thin and affordable gaming notebook of your dreams. Equipped with Intel’s latest quad-core processor, a 3K screen, massive battery life and a GTX 1060 graphics card from Nvidia – there is not anything more that you could ask for.
Best Midrange Gaming Laptop
Gigabyte Aero 14
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GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | | 11625 |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
- DESIGN
- PERFORMANCE
- BATTERY LIFE
The thing with Gigabyte laptops is that they have always managed to attain that classic and traditional simple look. Due to this reason the Aero 14 has managed to look straight up subtle and stylish. This is thanks to the lid option which is fully orange, along with a lime green version as well. On the other hand, people who would like to maintain a low profile would easily be able to opt for the simple black paint with an orange stripe (our preference).
You would also find the interior of the laptop to be quite different than what would usually be offered by Gigabyte. The keys have been found to be noticeably bigger with more spaces being added between them. The key switches offer firm resistance when typing and also feel slightly bouncy.
The thing with Gigabyte laptops is that they have always managed to attain that classic and traditional simple look. It would be because of this reason that the Aero 14 has managed to look straight up stylish. This is thanks to the lid option which is fully orange, along with a lime green version as well. On the other hand, people who would like to maintain a low profile would easily be able to opt for the simple black paint with an orange stripe.
You would also find the interior of the laptop to be quite different than what would usually be offered by Gigabyte. The keys have been found to be noticeably bigger with more spaces being added between them. The key switches would offer firm resistance when you would be typing and would also feel slightly bouncy.
The biggest claim to fame for this laptop would be all the hardware which has been inserted inside. Despite all this, it has been found to be very light. As a result, this would be a luxury that we would not be able to find in majority of the notebooks. It would also be because of this reason that we really enjoy having the freedom to tilt the screen back as much as we would like.
Asus are breaking new ground with a gaming laptop that is just 1.79cm thick. Not only is that extremely thin for a gaming laptop, but even if you compare the laptop to none gaming notebooks it’s still slimmer than traditional notebooks that are available on the market today. Asus has achieved the thin designed by incorporating a high-air chamber cooling system that gives this ultra-thin gaming laptop the cooling properties of a much thicker machine. In terms of design, Asus has gone for a distinctly squared-off design with a metal chassis. All that being said, it looks like something from the future and we loved the laptops design and performance.
In addition to being more affordable than its slightly overpriced counterparts, the Aero 14 has also managed to fare better than the competition in almost all aspects. These high scores could be attributed to the new quad-core Kaby Lake processor.
In addition to being more affordable than its slightly overpriced counterparts, the Aero 14 has also managed to fare better than them in almost all aspects. These high scores could be attributed to the new quad-core Kaby Lake processor.
When you glance over the specifications of this laptop on paper, you would typically assume that it’s going to be loud and noisy. But, you could not be further from the truth and much to our amazement, despite its thin form factor, it tends to run more quietly than most of the other gaming laptops we reviewed. When you’re not gaming and browsing the web and performing normal desktop tasks the laptop is virtually silent.
Another impressive feature of the Aero 14 would be its long battery life – something which seems to be lacking in most of the gaming laptops. That is why it would come as extremely good news to all the users who would like to use their gaming notebooks for an extended period of time. Even though they have claimed that the laptop would last you the whole day, we have found it to last for only half a day. Even then, we did not find any room to complain as it still out performed many other makes and models.
Another impressive feature of the Aero 14 would be its long battery life – something which seems to be lacking in most of the gaming laptops. That is why it would come as extremely good news to all the users who would like to use their gaming notebooks for an extended period of time. Even though they have claimed that the laptop would last you the whole day, we have found it to last for only half a day. Even then, we would not find any room to complain as it would still be significantly higher than the other makes and models.
The only unimpressive part of the Asus laptop is its battery life which is a maximum of 2 hours. No matter how well we tried to optimize the operation system or how few applications we had running, it was impossible to squeeze more than 2 hours battery life out of the laptop, which is pretty poor for a modern laptop, even if it is a gaming laptop. This is definitely something you need to factor in if your often traveling or away from a power point.
Button Response
The buttons are soft and you can get used to the click almost immediately. The tactile response of the buttons are designed in a way to give a feeling of a soft touch while hard enough to prevent them from being pressed accidentally.
Button Position
There are two small buttons situated under the mouse wheel that lets you adjust the CPIs with a single touch and two buttons situated at the left side of the mouse just over the rubber grip for the thumb. The buttons are easily accessible and can be custom programmed for any functionality that one may like.
Technical Specifications
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| 6th Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ (2.6GHz-3.5GHz) |
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| Mobile Intel® HM170 Express Chipset |
| 16GB Onboard - DDR4, 2400Mhz |
| 14" QHD 2560x1440 IPS Wide Viewing Angle Anti-Glare Display LCD |
| Intel® HD Graphics 530 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB Supports NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology |
| 1 x M.2 SSD slots (Type 2280, supports NVMe PCIe X4 & SATA) 512GB SSD RAID 0 (2x 256GB PCIe M.2) 1TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 512GB PCIe M.2) 2TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 1TB PCIe M.2)
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| Full-sized Island-style Auto-adjusting Backlit Keyboard Individual Macro Keys |
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| Wireless LAN: 802.11 ac (a/b/g/n compatible) Bluetooth: Bluetooth V4.1+ LE Killer DoubleShot™ Pro: Killer™ Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth® 4.1) Killer™ E2500 (Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000)
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| USB 3.0 (Type-A)*3, USB 3.1 Gen 2(Type-C)*1, HDMI 2.0, mini-DP, Headphone-out jack (Audio-in Combo), SD Card Reader, DC-in Jack *Optional: USB-to-LAN Converter Built-in webcam (2.0MP) Multimedia keys with scroll wheel Multi-touch touchpad SDXC card reader Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C™) USB 3.0 port x 3 (SuperSpeed) HDMI 2.0 audio and video output |
| 2 Watt Speaker*2, Microphone, Dolby® Digital Plus™ Home Theater Built-in stereo speakers Built-in array microphone 3.5mm combo audio port Dolby® Digital Plus Home Theater Edition 7.1 Codec support |
| Built-in 70Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery |
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| 335(W) x 250(D) x 19.9(H) mm |
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There is no doubt Gigabyte have always managed to offered superb performance packed in a portable and thin package. That is why it was good to see that Aero 14 was also no different. As a result, it has managed to stand above its counterparts with better numbers in benchmarks, all offered at an affordable price.
CONS
- Bad battery life life
- Bloatware
There is no doubt that gaming laptops from Gigabyte have always managed to offered superb performance which could be packed in a portable and thin package. That is why it was good to see that Aero 14 was also no different. As a result, it has managed to stand above its counterparts with better numbers in benchmarks; that too at an affordable price.
Therefore, if you are on the lookout for a good and stable 17-inch gaming notebook on the market, then this one would undoubtedly be a good buy. That being said, this would seem like a pretty good replacement for a compact desktop. However, it would not be suitable for people who would find themselves to be always on the run.
Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming
As far as aesthetics are concerned, you would find this laptop to be so red that it might even blind you momentarily. However, when you get back to normal, you would also agree that this would be one of its most eye-catching features. The palm rest and keyboard deck has been made black with red color accents on the keyboard. All this would be complete with a red backlight. As for those people who would like to go with a more subtle look, an all-black variant has also been made.
Weighing only six pounds and just being an inch thick, anyone and everyone would be able to tell that you are carrying a Dell laptop in your backpack.
Other than all this, we would also like to point out that the hinge on this laptop would undoubtedly be the best hinge that has been used by us in a while.
Thus, despite everything that Dell has to offer in this notebook, there is no denying the fact that it is in need of a major upgrade. However, it does do an excellent job of the everyday needs of computing while also keeping up with the demands of computer games.
HP Omen 17
Sale
OMEN X by HP 17-inch Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-7820HK, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 16GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, 256GB solid-state drive, Windows 10 (17-ap020nr, Black) - Processor: 7th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7820HK, Quad-Core, 2.9GHz up to 3.9GHz; Powerful performance keeps up with your multitasking demands and enables new ways to interact with your PC.
- Video graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB GDDR5 dedicated); Unleash your gaming dominance with revolutionary graphics that turn your mobile rig into a sleek, powerful gaming weapon, powered by the game-changing NVIDIA Pascal architecture.
- Display: 17.3-inch diagonal FHD (1920x1080) 120 Hz IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit; Reduce lag and image ghosting with a display that combines a 120Hz refresh rate, G-Sync support, and a 1080p resolution for smooth, crisp gameplay.
Overview
A VR Ready gaming laptop that has an impressive display, great keyboard and mouse. The perfect choice for a portable VR gaming notebook, you can see what others are saying about it here.
The HP Omen 17 gaming notebook offers some fantastic features for the price. With G-Sync and 4K display, it's obviously not a budget machine. However, if you're a fan of HP machines and you want a well performing, well priced machine you should check out the HP Omen 17.
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GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 | | |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | |
- DESIGN
- PERFORMANCE
- BATTERY LIFE
In terms of design for gaming notebooks, the machine has been designed in a conservative manner. Even though it looks and feels pretty durable, it does not in nay way feel like a premium laptop, due to the laptop being made from plastic. As for the keyboard, the keys were found to be responsive and fairly tactile.
The other main two drawbacks of the design are its hinges and trackpad. Despite the metallic finish, it was found to be tacky. However, the most impressive thing about all of this was its almost silent operation. Despite the fact that it gets hot, we never felt that it was unbearable.
For the price that is being charged, there is no doubt that HP Omen 17 is an insane computer. In terms of performance, it has been found to really shine.
It would not come as a surprise that the battery life has been found to be quite disappointing. But that is something which you could definitely expect from a large laptop.
Technical Specifications
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| Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz base frequency, up to 3.8 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz base frequency, up to 3.8 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) |
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| 32 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (2 x 16 GB) 32 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (2 x 16 GB) |
| 17.3" diagonal 4K IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 x 2160) 17.3" diagonal 4K IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 x 2160) |
| NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 dedicated) NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 dedicated) |
| 2 TB 5400 rpm SATA 256 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD 256 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD |
| Full-size island-style dragon red backlit keyboard with numeric keypad Full-size island-style dragon red backlit keyboard with numeric keypad |
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| Integrated 10/100/1000 GbE LAN Intel® 802.11b/g/n/ac (2x2) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 Combo
Intel® 802.11b/g/n/ac (2x2) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 Combo |
| 1 Thunderbolt™ 3 (Data up to 40 Gb/s, Power Delivery, DP1.2, HP Sleep and Charge); 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (1 HP Sleep and Charge); 1 Mini DisplayPort™; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo 1 Thunderbolt™ 3 (Data up to 40 Gb/s, Power Delivery, DP1.2, HP Sleep and Charge); 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (1 HP Sleep and Charge); 1 Mini DisplayPort™; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo |
| Bang & Olufsen, dual speakers, HP Audio Boost, DTS Headphone:X support Bang & Olufsen, dual speakers, HP Audio Boost, DTS Headphone:X support |
| 8-cell, 82 Wh Li-ion |
| 230 W AC power adapter |
| 16.65 x 11.97 x 1.3 in |
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| 1 year limited hardware warranty 1 year limited hardware warranty |
This laptop has overcome its shortcomings with its affordable price point and powerful performance. All in all, if you are looking for a large form factor gaming laptop with great specs for the price, the HP Omen 17 is a great choice.
CONS
- The build resembles plasic
- Big laptop
This laptop has overcome its shortcomings with its affordable price point and powerful performance. All in all, this would definitely be a trade that you would be willing to make.
Gigabyte SabrePro 15
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073WCTLTP/?tag=bgc05-20
Feature Packed Bargin Laptop
Overview
A well designed laptop with a RGB keyboard backlight, excellent quality screen (for this price point) and a solid performer at 1080p. You can read more reviews for this laptop here.
The thought of having to pay almost $2,000 for a laptop would make any sane person pause. That is why the Gigabyte SabrePro would come as a refreshing change thanks to its affordable price. Even though it does not have the build quality that you would be able to find in other laptops, the trade off is the performance the machine provides. All that being said, this would be one of the most affordable and powerful gaming notebooks on the market in February 2018.
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GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 | | 9,466 |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | 4,630 |
CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz-3.8GHz) Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Intel Core i7-7700HQ | | 4,224 |
- DESIGN
- PERFORMANCE
- BATTERY LIFE
The laptop has a very busy design, it is quite apparent that the manufacturer is trying too hard in order to keep things lively and interesting.
Aside from the styling, you would find the SabrePro to be quite well-designed in terms of functionality. The front end, which has been extended would also allow for front-facing speakers.
As for the display, a lot of people have complained it to be a bit lifeless with all the colors being very dull and washed out.
Even though this laptop falls under the affordable price range, we were surprised to find that it has outperformed all the other notebooks in this category. We were also impressed with the performance, it was possible to play AAA titles on Ultra while maintaining a gameplay experience of 60 fps.
In terms of performance, the downside is that Gigabyte did not manage to bring down the noise of the fan. The fan sounds like a hairdryer running at full spin!.
The battery life lagged behind other competitors. The laptop offered only 3 hours and 32 minutes of battery life.
However, thanks to Gigabyte, they have managed to break this trend with this SabrePro 15. As its name would suggest, this would be a higher-end version of its budget-friendly version Sabre gaming notebook. In this 15-inch version, you would be able to get better graphics, faster processor, and an RGB keyboard. In addition, thanks to it being reasonably priced, you would also not have to worry about breaking the bank.
Technical Specifications
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| 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz-3.8GHz) 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz-3.8GHz) |
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| Mobile Intel® HM175 Express Chipset Mobile Intel® HM175 Express Chipset |
| 8GB/16GB DDR4 2400 2 slots (Max 32GB) 8GB/16GB DDR4 2400 2 slots (Max 32GB) |
| 15.6" Full HD 1920x1080 IPS Wide Viewing Angle display 15.6" Full HD 1920x1080 IPS Wide Viewing Angle display |
| NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB |
| *Support Triple-Storage System -1x 2.5” HDD -1x M.2 SSD slot (Type 2280, supports SATA) -1x M.2 SSD slot (Type 2280, supports NVMe PCIe X4 & SATA) *Support Triple-Storage System -1x 2.5” HDD -1x M.2 SSD slot (Type 2280, supports SATA) -1x M.2 SSD slot (Type 2280, supports NVMe PCIe X4 & SATA) |
| Isolated RGB Backlit Keyboard Isolated RGB Backlit Keyboard |
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| LAN:10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet Wireless LAN: 802.11 ac (a/b/g/n compatible) Bluetooth: V4.2 LAN:10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet Wireless LAN: 802.11 ac (a/b/g/n compatible) Bluetooth: V4.2 |
| 1x USB3.1 Gen.1 (Type-C), 3x USB3.0, 1x HDMI, 1x mini DP, 1x RJ45, 1x Mic-in / Earphone-out, 1x card reader(SD/SDHC/SDXC), 1x DC-in jack 1x USB3.1 Gen.1 (Type-C), 3x USB3.0, 1x HDMI, 1x mini DP, 1x RJ45, 1x Mic-in / Earphone-out, 1x card reader(SD/SDHC/SDXC), 1x DC-in jack |
| 2x 2W Speaker, 1x 2W Sub-woofer 2x 2W Speaker, 1x 2W Sub-woofer |
| Li-Polymer, 5300WAh 60Wh |
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| 390(W) x 268(D) x 25(H) mm 15.4(W) x 10.5(D) x 0.9(H)inch 390(W) x 268(D) x 25(H) mm 15.4(W) x 10.5(D) x 0.9(H)inch |
| 2.5kg (w/battery) 5.5lb (w/battery) 2.5kg (w/battery) 5.5lb (w/battery) |
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However, thanks to Gigabyte, they have managed to break this trend with this SabrePro 15. As its name would suggest, this would be a higher-end version of its budget-friendly version Sabre gaming notebook. The 15-inch model provides better graphics, a faster processor, and an RGB backlight keyboard.
However, thanks to Gigabyte, they have managed to break this trend with this SabrePro 15. As its name would suggest, this would be a higher-end version of its budget-friendly version Sabre gaming notebook. In this 15-inch version, you would be able to get better graphics, faster processor, and an RGB keyboard. In addition, thanks to it being reasonably priced, you would also not have to worry about breaking the bank.
The thought of having to pay almost $2,000 for a gaming laptop would make any sane person pause. That is why the Gigabyte SabrePro would come as a refreshing change thanks to its affordable price. Even though it does not have the build quality that you would be able to find in other laptops, this definitely will be able to give you a good performance. All that being said, this would be one of the most affordable and powerful gaming notebooks that you would be able to buy today.
CONS
- Less than average battery life performance
- Display and speakers were not on par
Congratulations, you made it the end of the review of the top 10 gaming laptops of 2018! We hope this has helped you make your mind up, and gave you enough information to make a smart and informed purchase decision. But, if you're still on the fence and don't know if a gaming laptop is worth it, check out our buyers guide that will help you understand what to look for in a gaming laptop for 2018.
About the Best Gaming Laptop 2018 Buyers Guide
Why should you trust us?
We are gamers like you, when we buy hardware we do our research - spending hours researching products online, reading countless reviews, forums, Q&A's and FAQ's. We created this site to give back to the community and help gamers make informed purchase decisions.
Where did you get the Data?
When tasked with finding the best gaming laptops for 2018 we performed extensive research using sites we use and trust to provide good honest, well informed detailed hardware reviews. We always cite my sources in articles (usually at the bottom).
Why does this guide exist?
Why have you spent hours upon hours building out truly epic buyers guide resources for gamers. Simple really, we know how it feels to do all hours and hours of research and still not really know what to buy as your stuck within indecisiveness hell.
About the Author: Olivia Huntington
Hey You Guys! (Sorry I can't resist a good Goonies reference), as you may have guessed I'm a child of the 80's. I've grown up playing video games such as Doom, Quake, Quake 2 and Half-life which obviously lead me to a serious Counter Strike addiction.
P.S - everyone says I look like the new 2018 laura croft *not the 1996 lara!*
Thus, that brings us to the end of the review of the top 10 gaming laptops in 2107. Hopefully this would have armed you with enough information to make a smart and rational purchase decision at the end of the day. In addition, it should also have made you aware of the particular features and specifications that you should be keeping an eye out for.
Ever since Nvidia 10-series Pascal GPUs seem to have entered the scene, you would not have been able to find many powerful and affordable gaming notebooks. That being said, that would actually have been quite a bummer because you must have had a very hard time making your choice with the limited range that you had at disposal.
However, thanks to Gigabyte, they have managed to break this trend with this SabrePro 15. As its name would suggest, this would be a higher-end version of its budget-friendly version Sabre gaming notebook. In this 15-inch version, you would be able to get better graphics, faster processor, and an RGB keyboard. In addition, thanks to it being reasonably priced, you would also not have to worry about breaking the bank.