Best gaming laptops under $1,500 in 2023

With its comfortable keyboard, diverse connectivity options, and strong graphics performance, the Lenovo Legion 5i is the total package as far as budget gaming laptops go. This rig comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of PCIe SSD storage. In our testing, the Legion 5i churned out a screaming fast 110 frames-per-second when running the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, which is a fantastic result for an RTX 3060 laptop. The keyboard, which manages to squeeze in a number pad on the right hand side of the tray, is impressive as well. Our tester found the spacious layout both “comfortable and easy to use.”

Connectivity is important for gaming laptops because many folks like hooking up to an external monitor, mouse, and so on. Luckily, the Legion 5i “offers a healthy dose of future-proof connectivity.” It’s rocking three USB-A 3.2, two USB-C 3.2, one HDMI, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm audio combo. It also has Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 1.4 support. The ports are mostly rear-facing, which is perfect for cable management when the laptop is sitting on a work desk. You really can’t get much better than that.

If you’re on the hunt for a budget gaming laptop that can really deliver, the Legion 5i might be the one to pick.

The HP Victus 15 is a phenomenal value for casual gamers. The price is more than reasonable and it’s capable of running most games at 30 frames-per-second. The keyboard features an “edge-to-edge design,” which really “makes maximum use of the laptop’s interior.” As for feel, key travel is long because of the deep chassis. Longer travel means less accidental keystrokes, which is what you want in a gaming laptop. A quick peek inside reveals an Intel Core i5-12450H CPU, an Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512 of SSD storage. That’s enough oomph for lightweight gaming. That said, given the specs, the Victus isn’t going to hit 60 FPS in most games. If you can live with this limitation and are strapped for cash, then the HP VIctus 15 is a fantastic pick.

For those who would prefer to buy a laptop and have money left over for awesome peripherals, the Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED is a great option. It comes in at a few hundred dollars cheaper than other picks on this list and it still has good overall performance. It has a Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and a GeForce RTX 3050, which is enough to achieve decent frame rates on your favorite games while accomplishing all of your productivity tasks. But the true highlight of this laptop is the stunning 1080p OLED display with exceptional color performance and accuracy. It might not be the most exciting laptop to look at, but to get this kind of performance and an OLED screen to boot makes the VivoBook Pro 15 a great value.

The Dell G16 is a good option for both work and play. When it came to processor performance, it smashed the competition to smithereens. The Dell G16 nabbed the top spot in the PCMark 10 benchmark, which measures performance based on general use tasks like office productivity and video chatting. It also turned in 131 FPS when running the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. You can thank the hardware for those numbers. It has an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The G16 isn’t the sexiest-looking laptop we’ve ever reviewed, but it gets the essentials right and that’s what really matters. According to our tester, it’s “one of the most powerful RTX 3060-based laptops we’ve tested.”

Gaming laptops aren’t known for having the best battery life due to their power-sucking components. However, that’s not the case with the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition. This thing is packing a massive 90 watt-hour battery, which lasted an incredible 11 hours during our testing. Of course, intensive gaming will reduce this significantly, but you should still expect to get around seven hours of continuous 1080p gaming without having to plug into an AC outlet. That’s way better than most of the competitors on this list. That’s an amazing result considering most gaming laptops will only last between three and six hours. It also has a robust chassis and sturdy overall design, meaning you don’t have to worry about the occasional bump or knock while out and about.

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is no slouch when it comes to performance either. It comes with respectable hardware including a Ryzen 7 processor, AMD Radeon RX 7600S graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It scored very well in our Shadow of the Tomb Raider game benchmark tests, outpacing many more expensive competitor laptops. All of this makes the A16 an excellent option for 1080p gamers—especially those who want to enjoy untethered gaming on the go.

When you think of gaming laptops, Chromebooks might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But Lenovo has done a great job at making gaming accessible to Chromebook users with its IdeaPad 5 Gaming. It comes loaded with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a bright 16-inch 2560×1600 display. Also, in a rarity for any type of laptop, the speakers are surprisingly strong.

If you want to game on a Chromebook, though, you’ll need to do most, if not all, of your it through a cloud gaming service. This is because ChromeOS doesn’t support most modern games. But for the monthly fee of a cloud gaming service, you’re able to stream the very best modern games straight from the cloud to your Chromebook. In our tests we even found that we could stream AAA games at good resolutions and up to 120Hz on the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Gaming Chromebook—that’s not bad for a laptop that costs less then a third of what you’d pay for a stronger Windows gaming rig. See our roundup of the best cloud gaming services to learn about options.