HardwareGaming LaptopsBest 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these handsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

HardwareGaming LaptopsBest 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these handsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Asus)

Asus Zephyrus G14 and TUF A14 gaming laptops

Jump to:Quick list1. Best overall2. Best budget3. Most powerfulAlso testedWhere to buyFAQ

Jump to:Quick list1. Best overall2. Best budget3. Most powerfulAlso testedWhere to buyFAQ

The best 14-inch gaming laptops represent the pinnacle of mobile gaming. Sure, yourSteam DeckandROG Ally Xare great for certain games, and certain spaces, but if you truly want to take a gaming PC on the road then a gaming laptop is where it’s at. And the absolute S Tier of the gaming laptop is the 14-inch form factor. Fight me.

You can get more cooling, beefier GPUs, and broader screen real estate in a 15- to 18-inch notebook, but the higher up the scale you go the less wieldy, the less portable they become as actual mobile devices. And you can, of course, get smaller laptops in the 13-inch scale, but as soon as you start down that road you’re really limiting what you can do with your machine.

Okay, in ourbest gaming laptopguide we have a 16-inch machine as the top pick, but that’s for PC gamersin general. You and I, we know better, right? We know that 14-inch is where it’s at. The 14-inch gaming laptop, then, is the perfect fulcrum point for portability and performance. They will support proper discrete graphics chips, retain enough chassis space for a quality screen, and still have capacity enough for the sort of cooling a modern GPU requires to game successfully. And you will still have a laptop you can take around with you, use for office/school work on the go, and still have the gaming chops to play the latest titles with ease.

If I’m buying a new gaming laptop, then it’s going to be a 14-inch notebook. We’ve been testing new machines for years, and these are our absolute favorite 14-inch gaming laptops and the ones we’d recommend to you.

It’s worth noting that, whilst these laptops are the absolute best in the business right now, CES 2025 is upcoming and we’re anticipating the announcement of new Nvidia graphics cards. This means 2025 should see a whole new range of gaming laptops worth paying attention to.

Dave James

The Quick List

Best overall1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at WalmartThe best overallThe Asus Zephyrus G14 is hands-down the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy today. The new chassis is premium, and simply gorgeous, pushing it ahead of the Blade 14 (our previous favorite), and making it the most desirable machine around.Read more belowBest budget2. Asus TUF A14 (2024)View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonlineThe best budgetAsus has been working hard to make its gaming laptops more grown up in this generation, and the TUF A14—a machine from the more affordable end of the market—now looks far more premium than its price suggests.Read more belowMost powerful3. Razer Blade 14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyThe most powerfulIf you want the most powerful, fastest 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 is certainly that. It might be slightly chunkier than the rest, but that gives it the cooling to cope with high-performance PC hardware.Read more below

Best overall1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at WalmartThe best overallThe Asus Zephyrus G14 is hands-down the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy today. The new chassis is premium, and simply gorgeous, pushing it ahead of the Blade 14 (our previous favorite), and making it the most desirable machine around.Read more below

Best overall

Best overall

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop

  1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at WalmartThe best overallThe Asus Zephyrus G14 is hands-down the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy today. The new chassis is premium, and simply gorgeous, pushing it ahead of the Blade 14 (our previous favorite), and making it the most desirable machine around.Read more below

  2. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

  3. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at WalmartThe best overallThe Asus Zephyrus G14 is hands-down the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy today. The new chassis is premium, and simply gorgeous, pushing it ahead of the Blade 14 (our previous favorite), and making it the most desirable machine around.Read more below

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

View at Amazon

View at Amazon

View at Best Buy

View at Best Buy

View at Walmart

View at Walmart

The best overall

The Asus Zephyrus G14 is hands-down the best 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy today. The new chassis is premium, and simply gorgeous, pushing it ahead of the Blade 14 (our previous favorite), and making it the most desirable machine around.

Read more below

Best budget2. Asus TUF A14 (2024)View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonlineThe best budgetAsus has been working hard to make its gaming laptops more grown up in this generation, and the TUF A14—a machine from the more affordable end of the market—now looks far more premium than its price suggests.Read more below

Best budget

Best budget

Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

  1. Asus TUF A14 (2024)View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonlineThe best budgetAsus has been working hard to make its gaming laptops more grown up in this generation, and the TUF A14—a machine from the more affordable end of the market—now looks far more premium than its price suggests.Read more below

  2. Asus TUF A14 (2024)

  3. Asus TUF A14 (2024)

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonlineThe best budgetAsus has been working hard to make its gaming laptops more grown up in this generation, and the TUF A14—a machine from the more affordable end of the market—now looks far more premium than its price suggests.Read more below

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

View at Walmart

View at Walmart

View at Target

View at Target

View at antonline

View at antonline

The best budget

Asus has been working hard to make its gaming laptops more grown up in this generation, and the TUF A14—a machine from the more affordable end of the market—now looks far more premium than its price suggests.

Read more below

Most powerful3. Razer Blade 14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyThe most powerfulIf you want the most powerful, fastest 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 is certainly that. It might be slightly chunkier than the rest, but that gives it the cooling to cope with high-performance PC hardware.Read more below

Most powerful

Most powerful

Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop

  1. Razer Blade 14 (2024)View at AmazonView at Best BuyThe most powerfulIf you want the most powerful, fastest 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 is certainly that. It might be slightly chunkier than the rest, but that gives it the cooling to cope with high-performance PC hardware.Read more below

  2. Razer Blade 14 (2024)

  3. Razer Blade 14 (2024)

View at AmazonView at Best BuyThe most powerfulIf you want the most powerful, fastest 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 is certainly that. It might be slightly chunkier than the rest, but that gives it the cooling to cope with high-performance PC hardware.Read more below

View at AmazonView at Best Buy

View at AmazonView at Best Buy

View at AmazonView at Best Buy

View at AmazonView at Best Buy

View at Amazon

View at Amazon

View at Best Buy

View at Best Buy

The most powerful

If you want the most powerful, fastest 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 is certainly that. It might be slightly chunkier than the rest, but that gives it the cooling to cope with high-performance PC hardware.

Read more below

Recent updatesUpdated 12 December 2024to mention the new line of graphics cards on the way, as well as going over all of our information to make sure we are recommending the best 14-inch laptop (we are).

Recent updatesUpdated 12 December 2024to mention the new line of graphics cards on the way, as well as going over all of our information to make sure we are recommending the best 14-inch laptop (we are).

Recent updates

Updated 12 December 2024to mention the new line of graphics cards on the way, as well as going over all of our information to make sure we are recommending the best 14-inch laptop (we are).

The best 14-inch gaming laptop

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The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

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The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

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The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

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The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

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The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Zephyrus G14 on a desk with Metro: Exodus benchmark running on-screen.

  1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)The best 14-inch gaming laptop.Our expert review:SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB LPDDR5X-6400Screen:14-inch 1800p @ 120 Hz | OLEDStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.0 x 1.63 cm / 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64-inchesWeight:1.50 kg / 3.3 lbsToday’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyView at WalmartReasons to buy+Stunning, all-metal chassis+Glorious OLED screen+Portable+Decent gaming performanceReasons to avoid-Entirely soldered memory-Just a single SSD slot inside

  2. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

The best 14-inch gaming laptop.

Our expert review:

Our expert review:

Our expert review:

SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB LPDDR5X-6400Screen:14-inch 1800p @ 120 Hz | OLEDStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.0 x 1.63 cm / 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64-inchesWeight:1.50 kg / 3.3 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB LPDDR5X-6400Screen:14-inch 1800p @ 120 Hz | OLEDStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.0 x 1.63 cm / 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64-inchesWeight:1.50 kg / 3.3 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS

GPU:Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

RAM:32 GB LPDDR5X-6400

Screen:14-inch 1800p @ 120 Hz | OLED

Storage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0

Battery:73 Wh

Dimensions:31.1 x 22.0 x 1.63 cm / 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64-inches

Weight:1.50 kg / 3.3 lbs

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

Today’s Best Deals

View at AmazonView at Best BuyView at Walmart

View at Amazon

View at Amazon

View at Best Buy

View at Best Buy

View at Walmart

View at Walmart

Reasons to buy+Stunning, all-metal chassis+Glorious OLED screen+Portable+Decent gaming performance

+Stunning, all-metal chassis+Glorious OLED screen+Portable+Decent gaming performance

Stunning, all-metal chassis

Glorious OLED screen

Portable

Decent gaming performance

Reasons to avoid-Entirely soldered memory-Just a single SSD slot inside

-Entirely soldered memory-Just a single SSD slot inside

Entirely soldered memory

Just a single SSD slot inside

Our favorite config:

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.View Deal

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.View Deal

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.View Deal

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSD

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB LPDDR5X | 1 TB SSDThe RTX 4070 version our Jacob reviewed is the pinnacle of 14-inch gaming laptops, offering enough GPU power to deliver excellent frame rates in the latest games, and with effective cooling to keep it running at its 90 W power levels. You’re also getting that gorgeous OLED panel, and a ton of fast memory, too.

View Deal

View Deal

View Deal

Buy if…✅ You’re after a machine that can be a workhorse as well as a gaming device:The stylish design and eminently portable nature of the new G14 means that it’s just as at home in the office as in your gaming space.✅You want a great screen:The high-resolution OLED panel on the G14 is a beautiful example of how good laptop displays can be.

Buy if…

✅ You’re after a machine that can be a workhorse as well as a gaming device:The stylish design and eminently portable nature of the new G14 means that it’s just as at home in the office as in your gaming space.✅You want a great screen:The high-resolution OLED panel on the G14 is a beautiful example of how good laptop displays can be.

✅ You’re after a machine that can be a workhorse as well as a gaming device:The stylish design and eminently portable nature of the new G14 means that it’s just as at home in the office as in your gaming space.✅You want a great screen:The high-resolution OLED panel on the G14 is a beautiful example of how good laptop displays can be.

Don’t buy if…❌ You after an upgradeable machine:The memory is completely soldered LPDDR5x, and that means what you get is what you’re stuck with. You also only have a solitary SSD slot, which makes replacing the relatively small 1 TB drive a trickier upgrade down the line.

Don’t buy if…

❌ You after an upgradeable machine:The memory is completely soldered LPDDR5x, and that means what you get is what you’re stuck with. You also only have a solitary SSD slot, which makes replacing the relatively small 1 TB drive a trickier upgrade down the line.

❌ You after an upgradeable machine:The memory is completely soldered LPDDR5x, and that means what you get is what you’re stuck with. You also only have a solitary SSD slot, which makes replacing the relatively small 1 TB drive a trickier upgrade down the line.

The bottom line💻 TheAsus ROG Zephyrus G14has finally overtaken Razer’s Blade 14 as the most desirable, and absolute best 14-inch gaming laptop around. It’s gorgeous and handles its gaming business with aplomb.

The bottom line

💻 TheAsus ROG Zephyrus G14has finally overtaken Razer’s Blade 14 as the most desirable, and absolute best 14-inch gaming laptop around. It’s gorgeous and handles its gaming business with aplomb.

💻 TheAsus ROG Zephyrus G14has finally overtaken Razer’s Blade 14 as the most desirable, and absolute best 14-inch gaming laptop around. It’s gorgeous and handles its gaming business with aplomb.

Asus' ROG Zephyrus G14 has been one of the best compact gaming laptops since the company brought its 14-inch machine to the world back in 2020. But it’s not beenthebest 14-inch gaming laptop… until now. With the current 2024 generation of Zephyrus G14 Asus has really dialled into what people want from a premium compact laptop, and that has pushed it beyond Razer’s Blade 14 for the best overall crown.

That’s all changed now, with Asus creating a full unibody chassis for the latest 2024 version… and it’s gorgeous. It feels every inch the premium laptop now, and is really stealing the Blade 14’s thunder as the PC notebook giving that proper gaming-MacBook aesthetic. It’s slim, it feels great in the hands, and has just the right amount of flair without being overly ‘gamery’.

Which might come as a surprise for people who haven’t seen a recent Asus gaming laptop. Gone are the aggressive angles and extreme gamer text and RGB LEDs plastered all over the chassis.

The Zephyrus G14 has always been one of Asus' key AMD-based gaming laptops and that has played right into the 14-inch notebook’s hands given that the recent Ryzen chips have been fantastic mobile CPUs. The Ryzen 9 8945HS chip at its heart is a great eight-core, 16-thread chip, with the best of the last-gen iGPUs inside it. That’s the integrated graphics powering the best handheld gaming PCs around right now, and means you can save some battery, leave the discrete GPU off, and still get impressive 1080p gaming frame rates.

But with the option to have up to a discrete RTX 4070 GPU inside it means you can still get proper gaming performance at higher resolutions, too. There are RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 versions also available, which gives you some scope to pick up more affordable versions of this premium machine.

It’s worth noting that the RTX 4070 is limited to 90 W TGP, where the Blade 14 is given 140 W to play with, which does make that the most performant of the 14-inch gaming laptops. But for overall experience, the new Zephyrus G14 is absolutely the one for me. The design makes it far more portable—the latest Blade 14 chassis has put on a bit of weight in its old age—and it comes with a glorious OLED screen no matter which GPU you pair it with.

The 2880 x 1800 OLED screen sports a 120 Hz refresh rate and looks stunning. The colors are vibrant and the contrast is effectively limitless. As an OLED panel, it has the tell-tale inky blacks, but also has enough brightness to really make its gaming visuals pop. It really does make it stand out from the more standard IPS in the Blade 14. Usually, in a list like this, we’d have a dedicated spot for the best screen but the G14 would just take that too so consider this not only the best laptop overall for its size but also the best screen.

Given the slimline chassis, I can see why we’re getting fully soldered memory here, and the 32 GB of LPDDR5x pairs beautifully with the eight-core Zen 4 CPU, but it does put some limits on its upgradeability. As does the solitary M.2 SSD slot, which means if you want more than 1 TB of storage you need to do some technical gymnastics to get a fresh Windows install onto your larger drive.

But those are all relatively minor niggles for what is an absolutely stunning gaming laptop all told. And not just a stunning compact gaming laptop, either. If I’ve got the money to spend on a new machine, then you best believe I’m spending it on a ROG Zephyrus G14—it’s my current object of desire, and Razer is going to have to do some serious work to get back on top.

Read our fullAsus ROG Zephyrus G14 review.

The best budget 14-inch gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

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Asus TUF A14 gaming laptop

  1. Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)The best budget 14-inch gaming laptop.Our expert review:SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370GPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060RAM:Up to 32 GB LPDDR5x-7500Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 165 HzStorage:Up to 2 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.7 x 1.69 ~ 1.99 cm / 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.78-inchesWeight:1.46 kg / 3.22 lbsToday’s Best DealsView at WalmartView at TargetView at antonlineReasons to buy+AMD Strix Point insides+Great new chassis design+Stay cool and quiet for a gaming PC+Good battery life+Extra M.2 slot insideReasons to avoid-Can’t upgrade the memory after purchase-That Asus ‘gamer’ keyboard font is a gross giveaway

  2. Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)

2. Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)

The best budget 14-inch gaming laptop.

Our expert review:

Our expert review:

Our expert review:

SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370GPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060RAM:Up to 32 GB LPDDR5x-7500Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 165 HzStorage:Up to 2 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.7 x 1.69 ~ 1.99 cm / 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.78-inchesWeight:1.46 kg / 3.22 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370GPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060RAM:Up to 32 GB LPDDR5x-7500Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 165 HzStorage:Up to 2 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:73 WhDimensions:31.1 x 22.7 x 1.69 ~ 1.99 cm / 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.78-inchesWeight:1.46 kg / 3.22 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370

GPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060

RAM:Up to 32 GB LPDDR5x-7500

Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 165 Hz

Storage:Up to 2 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0

Battery:73 Wh

Dimensions:31.1 x 22.7 x 1.69 ~ 1.99 cm / 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.78-inches

Weight:1.46 kg / 3.22 lbs

Today’s Best DealsView at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

Today’s Best DealsView at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

Today’s Best DealsView at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

Today’s Best DealsView at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

Today’s Best Deals

View at WalmartView at TargetView at antonline

View at Walmart

View at Walmart

View at Target

View at Target

View at antonline

View at antonline

Reasons to buy+AMD Strix Point insides+Great new chassis design+Stay cool and quiet for a gaming PC+Good battery life+Extra M.2 slot inside

+AMD Strix Point insides+Great new chassis design+Stay cool and quiet for a gaming PC+Good battery life+Extra M.2 slot inside

AMD Strix Point insides

Great new chassis design

Stay cool and quiet for a gaming PC

Good battery life

Extra M.2 slot inside

Reasons to avoid-Can’t upgrade the memory after purchase-That Asus ‘gamer’ keyboard font is a gross giveaway

-Can’t upgrade the memory after purchase-That Asus ‘gamer’ keyboard font is a gross giveaway

Can’t upgrade the memory after purchase

That Asus ‘gamer’ keyboard font is a gross giveaway

Our favorite config:

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.View Deal

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.View Deal

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.View Deal

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSD

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.

Asus TUF A14 | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | RTX 4060 | 16 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 1 TB SSDThis base spec for the TUF A14 is honestly all the laptop I feel like I need for a mobile gaming machine. And realistically, the only other option is the more expensive 32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD edition, which is a lot extra to pay for an otherwise great affordable pick.

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Buy if…✅ You want a premium-looking little laptop without the premium:Yes, 14-inch machines are still relatively expensive, but the TUF range is generally cheaper than the Zephyrus, so I expect this machine to be regularly discounted, though it looks anything but the cheap alternative.✅You want something to drop into a bag:This is an even more portable machine than the Transcend 14, and easily able to follow you around.✅You want good battery life:Even with the RTX 4060 being used you get great battery life from the TUF A14, but switch over to the Strix Point iGPU and you’ll get long-time 1080p gaming on the road.

Buy if…

✅ You want a premium-looking little laptop without the premium:Yes, 14-inch machines are still relatively expensive, but the TUF range is generally cheaper than the Zephyrus, so I expect this machine to be regularly discounted, though it looks anything but the cheap alternative.✅You want something to drop into a bag:This is an even more portable machine than the Transcend 14, and easily able to follow you around.✅You want good battery life:Even with the RTX 4060 being used you get great battery life from the TUF A14, but switch over to the Strix Point iGPU and you’ll get long-time 1080p gaming on the road.

✅ You want a premium-looking little laptop without the premium:Yes, 14-inch machines are still relatively expensive, but the TUF range is generally cheaper than the Zephyrus, so I expect this machine to be regularly discounted, though it looks anything but the cheap alternative.✅You want something to drop into a bag:This is an even more portable machine than the Transcend 14, and easily able to follow you around.✅You want good battery life:Even with the RTX 4060 being used you get great battery life from the TUF A14, but switch over to the Strix Point iGPU and you’ll get long-time 1080p gaming on the road.

Don’t buy if…

The bottom line

The Zephyrus G14 is the prettier one, for sure, but there are absolutely the same familial traits on show with the TUF A14. Gone are the more aggressive, more ‘gamer’ lines of the chassis, and instead we’ve got a much more restrained, much sleeker vibe, that feels far more grown up.

Honestly, it’s the sort of laptop I could take anywhere with me and not feel embarrassed whenever I flip open the lid and fear a rainbow unicorn vomit of RGB gushing out to greet me. Asus, in its wisdom, and from a desire to keep costs down, has just gone with plain white LEDs for the keyboard backlighting, adding to the restrained feel of this laptop.

That chip also comes with the Radeon 890M iGPU, which is essentially the fastest integrated graphics chip you will find. That means you can disable the more power-hungry Nvidia RTX 4060 discrete GPU when you’re on battery power, extend that already impressive battery life even further, and still be able to game happily at medium 1080p settings in even the latest games.

And with the 100 W RTX 4060, you’re getting high-end 1080p gaming performance and even passable 1600p frame rates to match your higher resolution screen. The 2560 x 1600 panel isn’t the most exciting I’ve used, but it’s got a 165 Hz refresh rate, is crisp and clear, and bright enough for me. It doesn’t necessarilypopbut I’d prioritise price over this part of the build right now.

An added bonus I wasn’t expecting is the extra M.2 slot inside the machine, which means you can add a secondary SSD without having to mess around cloning your OS or reinstalling Windows to get some extra storage space. Unfortunately, that is the only thing you can upgrade as the RAM is soldered onto the board. That means you’re going to have to pick your starting RAM point carefully when it comes to the 16 GB or 32 GB options, as you can’t change your mind down the line. Not without a lot of engineering experience and some solder.

Read our fullAsus TUF A14 review.

The most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

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Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop on a desk.

  1. Razer Blade 14 (2024)The fastest 14-inch gaming laptop around.Our expert review:Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB DDR5-5600Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 240 Hz | IPSStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:68.1 WhDimensions:31.07 x 22.8 x 1.79 cm / 12.23 x 8.97 x 0.70-inchesWeight:1.84 kg / 4.05 lbsToday’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best BuyReasons to buy+Stellar gaming performance+Huge trackpad+Solid battery lifeReasons to avoid-Limited storage-Comparatively basic screen vs. OLEDs-Pricey

  2. Razer Blade 14 (2024)

3. Razer Blade 14 (2024)

The fastest 14-inch gaming laptop around.

Our expert review:Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

Our expert review:

Our expert review:

Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

Average Amazon review:☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆

SpecificationsCPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB DDR5-5600Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 240 Hz | IPSStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:68.1 WhDimensions:31.07 x 22.8 x 1.79 cm / 12.23 x 8.97 x 0.70-inchesWeight:1.84 kg / 4.05 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HSGPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070RAM:32 GB DDR5-5600Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 240 Hz | IPSStorage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0Battery:68.1 WhDimensions:31.07 x 22.8 x 1.79 cm / 12.23 x 8.97 x 0.70-inchesWeight:1.84 kg / 4.05 lbs

CPU:AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS

GPU:Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

RAM:32 GB DDR5-5600

Screen:14-inch 1600p @ 240 Hz | IPS

Storage:1 TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0

Battery:68.1 Wh

Dimensions:31.07 x 22.8 x 1.79 cm / 12.23 x 8.97 x 0.70-inches

Weight:1.84 kg / 4.05 lbs

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best Buy

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best Buy

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best Buy

Today’s Best DealsView at AmazonView at Best Buy

Today’s Best Deals

View at AmazonView at Best Buy

View at Amazon

View at Amazon

View at Best Buy

View at Best Buy

Reasons to buy+Stellar gaming performance+Huge trackpad+Solid battery life

+Stellar gaming performance+Huge trackpad+Solid battery life

Stellar gaming performance

Huge trackpad

Solid battery life

Reasons to avoid-Limited storage-Comparatively basic screen vs. OLEDs-Pricey

-Limited storage-Comparatively basic screen vs. OLEDs-Pricey

Limited storage

Comparatively basic screen vs. OLEDs

Pricey

Our favorite config:

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.View Deal

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.View Deal

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.View Deal

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSD

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.

Razer Blade 14 | Ryzen 9 8945HS | RTX 4070 | 32 GB DDR5-5600 | 1 TB SSDAfter offering high-end GPUs for the last generation of Blade 14s, Razer has been more sensible this time around, and the RTX 4070, with its full-fat 140 W TGP is the best option for a smol laptop.

View Deal

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View Deal

Buy if…✅ You aren’t one to compromise on performance:The 140 W RTX 4070 at the heart of the Blade 14 is what pushes it ahead of the competition, but you are absolutely paying a premium for the extra frames per second.✅You’re after good gaming battery life:Despite having a nominally smaller battery, the Blade 14 gets the most out of it and offers the highest gaming uptime of all the laptops we’ve tested in this category.

Buy if…

✅ You aren’t one to compromise on performance:The 140 W RTX 4070 at the heart of the Blade 14 is what pushes it ahead of the competition, but you are absolutely paying a premium for the extra frames per second.✅You’re after good gaming battery life:Despite having a nominally smaller battery, the Blade 14 gets the most out of it and offers the highest gaming uptime of all the laptops we’ve tested in this category.

✅ You aren’t one to compromise on performance:The 140 W RTX 4070 at the heart of the Blade 14 is what pushes it ahead of the competition, but you are absolutely paying a premium for the extra frames per second.✅You’re after good gaming battery life:Despite having a nominally smaller battery, the Blade 14 gets the most out of it and offers the highest gaming uptime of all the laptops we’ve tested in this category.

Don’t buy if…❌ You’re focused on the best value proposition:Razer’s machines always command a price premium and that is certainly the case with the Blade 14. It’s a fantastic laptop, especially in terms of gaming performance, but it will cost you.

Don’t buy if…

❌ You’re focused on the best value proposition:Razer’s machines always command a price premium and that is certainly the case with the Blade 14. It’s a fantastic laptop, especially in terms of gaming performance, but it will cost you.

❌ You’re focused on the best value proposition:Razer’s machines always command a price premium and that is certainly the case with the Blade 14. It’s a fantastic laptop, especially in terms of gaming performance, but it will cost you.

The bottom line💻 If you’re after the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop then theRazer Blade 14is absolutely that. It may be a little chonkier than the others, but it’s faster and has a superior battery life, too.

The bottom line

💻 If you’re after the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop then theRazer Blade 14is absolutely that. It may be a little chonkier than the others, but it’s faster and has a superior battery life, too.

💻 If you’re after the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop then theRazer Blade 14is absolutely that. It may be a little chonkier than the others, but it’s faster and has a superior battery life, too.

Razer’s only AMD-powered machine may not be my absolute favorite compact gaming laptop anymore, but the Blade 14 is still the outright fastest 14-inch gaming laptop you can buy. It delivers the highest frame rates of any of these wee notebooks, and if that’s all you care about then—so long as you have the cash—the Blade 14 is the best place to be spending your money.

But you will have to make sure you’re happy to spend that much, because this brushed all-aluminum chassis, improved cooling, high-performance GPU, and that Razer premium tax all add up to a big ol' price tag.

For the money-no-object crowd maybe that’s going to be worth it for the gaming performance the 140 W RTX 4070 can deliver. On the 1600p screen—still blessedly 16:10 even if it’s not quite as high res as the panels on the Omen Transcend 14 or ROG Zephyrus G14—that is what allows it to maintain its performance lead over the rest of the compact laptops we’ve tested.

And once upon a time that higher gaming performance and the classic Razer chassis would have been enough for me to declare a resounding overall win for the company, but Asus has been laser-focused on breaking Razer’s hold on this market with its new Zephyrus G14 and the glorious unibody chassis it’s wrapped its laptop in.

The Asus ROG laptop is thinner, lighter, and performs really, really well, even if it can’t quite match the Blade 14’s overall performance. With the last two generations of Nvidia GPUs Razer has bulked up its laptop, too, meaning the current Blade is thicker than it was and heavier. We could cope with the extra thickness, but the extra weight is certainly noticeable if you hold either the HP or Asus ones.

Though that thickness and improved cooling has certainly helped from a gaming perspective. The cooling allows you to run the GPU at a lower temperature than the competition, but you can also brave the Synapse software and let it run hotter, but crucially quieter, too. That’s one of the benefits of that extra laptop girth.

It also has a surprisingly healthy battery life, comparatively speaking. From a standard notebook perspective, no gaming laptop has agoodbattery life, but you get nearly an hour and 40 minutes worth of discrete GPU gaming time with the Blade 14. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and HP Omen Transcend 14, on the other hand, are lucky if they get to 60 minutes total.

That’s impressive given the smaller battery capacity.

Where the performance maybe isn’t on par with the others here is in the screen Razer has dropped into its 14-incher. In the Blade 16 Razer has opted for a glorious 240 Hz OLED panel, and for me, it’s the absolute best laptop screen you’ll see. The Blade 14, however, is rocking a more standard IPS panel, and while it is still a very, very good display, with a 1600p resolution and 240 Hz refresh—it’s not got the wow factor of the OLEDs in either the Zephyrus G14 or Transcend 14.

In the end, if you have the money, and its power and performance that you prize above all else, then the Blade 14 is the best-performing 14-inch gaming laptop around today.

Read our fullRazer Blade 14 review.

Also tested

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDPC Gamer score: 55%

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

Acer Nitro 14 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | RTX 4050 | 16 GB LPDDR5x | 500 GB SSDA well-engineered device with far too many compromises. Even at almost half its retail price, I’d probably advise buying up and getting something with a better card.PC Gamer score: 55%

Read our fullAcer Nitro 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDPC Gamer score: 83%

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

HP Omen Transcend | Core Ultra 7 155H | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 1 TB SSDHP has made a really lovely little 14-inch gaming laptop and one that doesn’t cost the earth, either. The OLED screen, the build quality, and the specs had me expecting a much higher price. But its specs and design also had me expecting more out of its battery, too.PC Gamer score: 83%

Read the fullHP Omen Transcend 14 review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDPC Gamer score: 75%

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Asus ZenBook Duo OLED (2024) | Core Ultra 9 185H | Arc graphics | 32 GB LPDDR5x | 2 TB SSDWith twin OLED displays the ZenBook Duo is quite something, but with that unreliable Arc integrated GPU inside it, you’re going to struggle to get consistent gaming performance even at medium 1080p levels.PC Gamer score: 75%

Read the fullAsus ZenBook Duo OLED review.

Where to find the best gaming laptop deals

We regularly curate thebest gaming laptop dealseach week, so check out our updated deals hub for the latest offers. But here are also the places that we would generally be looking to find those deals for ourselves:

FAQ

What’s the most important gaming laptop component?

When it comes to gaming, the obvious answer is the graphics card, but that’s where things have gotten a little more complicated recently. With GPU performance now so dependent on cooling, you have to pay attention to what wattage a graphics card is limited to and what chassis it’s squeezed into.

As we said at the top, an RTX 4080 confined in an 18 mm chassis will perform markedly slower than one in a far chunkier case with room for higher-performance cooling.

Should I worry about what the CPU in a gaming laptop is?

That really depends on what you want to do with your laptop. An 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen chip will allow you to do a whole load of productivity on the road, but honestly, it will have little benefit in gaming. As long as the CPU has at least six cores and 12 threads, and they’re clocked high enough, it will be more than enough to deliver high-end gaming performance when paired with something like the RTX 4070.

Are high refresh rate panels worth it for laptops?

We love high refresh rate screens here, and while you cannot guarantee your RTX 4060 will deliver 300 fps in the latest games, you’ll still see a benefit in general look and feel running a 300 Hz display.

Should I get a 4K screen in my laptop?

Nah. 4K gaming laptops are overkill; they’re fine for video editing if you’re dealing with 4K content, but it’s not the optimal choice for games. The standard 1080p resolution means that the generally slower mobile GPUs are all but guaranteed high frame rates, while companies are slowly drip-feeding 1440p panels into their laptop ranges.

A 1440p screen offers the perfect compromise between high resolution and decent gaming performance. At the same time, a 4K notebook will overstress your GPU and tax your eyeballs as you squint at your 14-inch display.

Round up of today’s best deals

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)$1,899$1,499ViewSee all pricesAsus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)$1,799.99$1,399.98ViewSee all pricesRazer Blade 14 (2024)$2,699.99ViewSee all prices

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)$1,899$1,499ViewSee all prices

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)$1,899$1,499ViewSee all prices

HIDevolution [2024] ASUS ROG…

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

Amazon

$1,899$1,499View

$1,899$1,499

$1,499

See all prices

Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)$1,799.99$1,399.98ViewSee all prices

Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)$1,799.99$1,399.98ViewSee all prices

ASUS TUF A14 14" 2.5K WQXGA…

Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)

Asus TUF A14 ( FA401WV)

Walmart

$1,799.99$1,399.98View

$1,799.99$1,399.98

$1,399.98

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Razer Blade 14 (2024)$2,699.99ViewSee all prices

Razer Blade 14 (2024)$2,699.99ViewSee all prices

Razer Blade 14 (2024) Gaming…

Razer Blade 14 (2024)

Razer Blade 14 (2024)

Amazon

$2,699.99View

$2,699.99

$2,699.99

See all prices

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More about gaming laptopsIf you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 now looks like a dazzler of a gaming laptop, even if it’s still a bit of a paving slabLatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►

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If you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 now looks like a dazzler of a gaming laptop, even if it’s still a bit of a paving slab

A promotional image of an Asus TUF Gaming F17 laptop against a teal background with a white border

If you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

If you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

M’colleague Jacob Ridley holding up an Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 at CES 2025, showing the LED underlighting and outer case effects.

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 now looks like a dazzler of a gaming laptop, even if it’s still a bit of a paving slab

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 now looks like a dazzler of a gaming laptop, even if it’s still a bit of a paving slab

LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►

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Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12

Wordle today being played on a phone

Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12

Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12

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HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

1

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

2

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

3

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

4

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

5

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

1

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

2

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

3

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

4

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

5

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review