These are the top 5 best gaming laptops that I’ve tested in 2022 so far!
Starting out with number 5 and working our way down to the best, we’ve got the ASUS Zephyrus G14.
This portable 14” gaming laptop offers far better value compared to other small laptops like
Razer’s far more expensive Blade 14, while also offering a number of better features.
Just to name a few, the G14 is lighter, has a better screen,
better battery life and better CPU performance all while being cheaper than the Blade.
Generally speaking though, going up just a little in size to 15 inches gets you more performance and
more screen to look at, and that’s where the 4th best laptops that I’ve tested this year come in.
And I said laptops because there’s two of them. I can’t easily pick
between the ASUS Zephyrus G15 and Zephyrus M16.
They both have their positives and negatives depending on what you need out of a laptop.
If you just want the best battery life and gaming performance, then from my testing the
ASUS Zephyrus G15 is the way to go. But if you want better CPU performance and a
larger 16:10 screen that looks brighter and just looks better while also getting better
performance in content creator workloads, then the Zephyrus M16 is probably a better pick.
I’ll compare both of these in a dedicated video very soon, so make sure that you’re subscribed!
Now I admit that my third place pick isn’t really a good option for
most people out there, as most people don’t want a bigger gaming laptop.
But for those that do, MSI’s new Titan GT77 has you covered
with the most upgradeability I’ve seen this year.
We’re talking 4 memory slots for up to 128 gigs of DDR5 memory,
4 M.2 slots for up to 32TB of storage, not to mention fast PCIe Gen 5 support, and up
to Nvidia’s full powered RTX 3080 Ti graphics and Intel’s top end 16 core 24 thread HX processor.
With specs like this it’s no surprise to see that the GT77 is the best performer in games
out of any laptop tested so far. I’m using the term laptop fairly loosely here,
I don’t think I’d want it on my legs for too long!
Although it’s big, it’s nowhere near as thick and heavy compared to previous
desktop replacement style machines, which is exactly what this is. And it’s
got great extras like a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches.
Basically if you want more portability compared to a full blown desktop PC but you still want more
power and upgrade options compared to most other laptops, then the GT77 is worth checking out.
There are very powerful machines with those new Intel HX processors that aren’t quite as big as
the Titan, like the ASUS Scar 17 Special Edition. We haven’t quite finished testing this just yet,
the review is coming soon, but it doesn’t have as many extras compared to the bigger GT77.
Coming in at second place I’ve got the Legion 5i Pro from Lenovo, which
I think I’ve just rudely woken up from a nap…
The Legion series offered some of the best gaming laptops last year,
and this year things only continue to get better.
The CPU performance was the best I’ve seen so far from an Intel 12th gen laptop, out of the regular
H series chips at least, as the just released HX series with more cores can do even better.
Along with high power limits which means good performance we’re also
getting nice modern features like Nvidia’s advanced optimus.
But unfortunately there’s still no fan control, but that’s possible with third party software.
The biggest issue that I had with the 5i Pro when it launched was the absurd price tag.
It was $1800 USD for a 3050 Ti configuration, which is beyond a joke regardless of how great
the laptop is, because you could get a 3070 Ti machine for that money that will destroy
it in games. Right now it’s not even in stock at Lenovo’s website, so things may not have improved.
This will change over time as hopefully availability improves,
and you can check out current prices and deals with those links below the video.
You definitely don’t need to wait to spend more money on the brand
new 2022 models though - more on that in a moment.
But first, the best laptop that I’ve tested so far that year XMG
Neo 15. At least that’s what it’s sold as in the European market.
It’s also known as the Mech-15 G3R from Eluktronics in the US, same thing.
What makes this laptop unique is the extra metal pipe inside. You just
connect this little box to the back and you’ve instantly added water cooling to the laptop!
Not only does this increase FPS in games, but I’d argue more importantly it significantly cuts down
on the fan noise. Even when under full load with the liquid cooler attached this laptop
doesn’t get anywhere near as loud compared to any other gaming laptop. It’s seriously impressive.
The liquid cooler isn’t even that expensive compared to the laptop either, at around
less than 10% of the cost or so. But you don’t even have to buy the liquid cooler,
and the great thing is you can upgrade to it any time you like because that extra
pipe inside for the water to go through is there on all models. And even without the
liquid cooling this is still a great laptop overall, as I’ve shown in previous reviews.
It’s pretty straightforward to disconnect the liquid cooler and doesn’t take that long,
you’ve just got to be careful and do it properly.
Like the 5i Pro just before it, the Neo 15 also has high power limits and a MUX switch
but the software gives you far more customization in terms of things like
power levels and all that tuning that you would expect.
Not to mention a mechanical keyboard and perhaps most important of all,
it’s actually in stock and you can buy it!
Now these are all cool laptops, but where are the budget friendly options?
None of these are particularly cheap. Honestly I’d love to include some, but the simple fact is
no companies have sent me any this year. Every single laptop that I’ve been sent to review so
far has a minimum of 3070 Ti graphics this year. I did manage to cover one RTX 3060
model and that was the TUF A15, but I only got my hands on that because I bought it with my own
money. I still don’t have any new 3050 or 3050 options. It’s really annoying but I’m going to
try harder to get more of these in the second half of the year, even if I have to buy them.
This list is obviously incomplete, because I haven’t been able to test every single laptop
that currently exists halfway through 2022. So this top 5 list has only been based on the
models that I’ve actually been able to get my hands on in the first half of the year.
For example I don’t even have popular models from last year like the Legion 5 or Legion 7,
and I would definitely expect those to be in this list. The problem is they’re
just not available in most regions yet. We’ve still got another 5 to 6
months left in the year so there are plenty more reviews for me to get to.
It’s also worth mentioning that gaming laptops from just last year are still great options.
Gaming laptops from 2021 still have Nvidia’s RTX 30 series graphics inside, and when it comes to
gaming the difference between Intel 11th gen and 12th gen CPUs or AMD Ryzen 5000 and 6000 CPUs just
isn’t going to be that big. Unless you’re playing like eSports games or something that hits high
frame rates. So for most people there is still some serious value to be had looking at last
year’s 2021 options. They might even be cheaper and easier to get ahold of in the current market.
You can check out the top 5 best and worst gaming laptops from last year over in this video next.
Or this one if you want absolutely all the details about all 34 laptops that I tested
last year. I’ve ranked them all from best to worst, so I’ll see you in one of those next!