I'm Matt Smith, and I live breath and sleep tech, especially the latest devices such as tablets and laptops. Here are my tips and tricks about what to look for when buying your next tablet or laptop.
If you’re looking to buy a new gaming laptop for less than $1500, then you’ve come to the right place. We have tested and reviewed over 30 models in this price range so that we can help you find the one that suits your needs.
Gaming laptops have come a long way from being bulky, overpriced machines to portable, affordable gaming machines that are just as powerful.
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I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect gaming laptop under $1500 and came across some hidden gems – budget gaming laptops with few compromises.
We’ve tested and reviewed all of these models to help you make an informed decision. Our reviews are based on real-world performance, not just specs. So, if you want a sub-$1500 gaming laptop that can play games at high settings without breaking your budget, this is the place to be!
We have compiled a list of the best gaming laptops under $1500. These are affordable, portable and powerful enough to run your favorite games without breaking a sweat.
You won’t have to worry about getting stuck with a low-quality model in order to save some money. All of our recommended laptops are built by reputable brands and offer great value for their price tags.
Having a portable gaming station opens up new possibilities for enjoying your games, as you no longer have to be glued to your desk. Moreover, you can make use of the gaming laptop’s horsepower to double as a workstation and get professional work done on the go, especially if you opt for a model with a stealthy, minimalist design.
Top 3 Gaming Laptops You Can Buy For Under $1500
Premium Pick
Razer Blade 15 Base Gaming Laptop
Premium build quality with an all-metal aluminum chassis
High-end performance
Open SSD slot for a user-friendly storage upgradability
7 Battle-Tested Gaming Laptops Under $1500 – Reviews
In this section, we compiled a comprehensive list of some of the best budget gaming laptops that we enjoyed using. We were impressed by how each laptop manufacturer has their take on delivering a budget-friendly machine. Let’s dive into the in-depth reviews, and we’re sure you’ll find the right model just for you.
Intel’s latest 10th Gen Core-i7 processor operates hand in hand with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU to deliver a high-fidelity, smooth gaming experience.
The variety of ports, together with WiFi 6 support, give you different ways to connect your devices, both wirelessly and via a physical connection. The laptop comes with USB Type-A and Type-C ports, a Thunderbolt port, HDMI, and Ethernet.
Razer’s anti-bloatware launcher gives you an exceptional transparency layer on what apps use your laptop’s processor, RAM, or storage. Such a level of control lets you maximize the performance of the apps and games you use the most and shut down any useless background software.
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The main takeaway from our experience with the Razer Blade 15 is how impressive the performance is. The laptop is powered by Intel’s latest 10th Gen Core i7 laptop processor, capable of turbo boosting to up to 5GHz. Aside from the jargon, what you need to know is that the laptop can run all the latest, most demanding games without breaking a sweat.
Moreover, the aluminum, unibody housing delivers a stylish look coupled with a durable, compact form factor sitting at just 0.78 inches of thickness. The green Razer logo at the back and the signature neon green keyboard backlights complete the iconic Razer design that gets gamers returning time and time again.
In terms of storage, the gaming laptop ships with a base SSD of 256GB, which is not a lot by today’s standards as the massive modern games can eat up your storage really quickly. Nevertheless, you can easily upgrade your SSD down the line as the laptop comes with an accessible extra SSD slot.
We don’t see many 144Hz monitors on laptops at this price point (even the Razer Pro 17), so it’s worth highlighting that Razer Blade 15 doesn’t compromise on that front. Competitive gamers will appreciate how fluid the gameplay experience is, giving them room to show off their skills online.
Pros
Premium build quality with an all-metal aluminum chassis
High-end performance
Open SSD slot for a user-friendly storage upgradability
15.6 inches FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS display, 144Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, 300nit brightness
Operating System
64-Bit Windows 10 Home
Battery Life
1 hour and 30 minutes
Weight
5.29 lbs
UPC
191114710944
Top 3 Features
PerformanceCooling SystemConnectivity
The powerful CPU and GPU together with 16GB of fast DDR4 RAM share in delivering excellent performance in a budget-friendly gaming laptop.
The laptop comes with Acer’s fourth iteration on its iconic Aeroblade 3D fan. It delivers the world’s thinnest metal plates in a cooling fan, allowing more blades for better airflow.
Such an innovative cooling system reduces heat throttling and maintains high performance even while running the most demanding games.
The Predator Helios 300 comes with WiFi 6 wireless technology, which can truly transform your online gaming experience.
You can get higher speeds with noticeably less latency, giving you the edge in competitive online games.
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Acer’s Predator Lineup has always nailed the look and feel of a gaming laptop while delivering the exceptional performance you’d expect, and Helios 300 is no different. Powered by the 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA’s dedicated gaming graphics card, the laptop offers excellent performance.
The display is an integral part of the gaming experience, and Acer delivered on that front. The 15.6 FHD monitor offers high image fidelity and crispness. The IPS panel also comes with a 144Hz refresh rate while keeping the response time as low as 3ms, which translates into responsive gameplay with virtually no input lag or distracting screen tears.
Acer Predator Helios 300 took some innovative leaps on the audio front. It implemented MAXXAudio technology, which is capable of delivering a surround audio experience. This can be a game-changer, especially in competitive shooters, as you will be able to pinpoint exactly where your enemies’ footsteps are coming from in a 360 degrees field.
During our testing, we really enjoyed the ergonomic feel of the keyboard. The keys are responsive and come with RGB customizable backlighting. Moreover, the directional WASD keys are concave-shaped for a better grip, which shows the level of Acer’s attention to detail.
Our only complaint is the poor battery performance. You can squeeze around an hour and a half of gameplay out of the laptop before the battery dies. This can be a deal-breaker to some folks; however, if you game mostly at home, you can keep your laptop plugged during extended gaming sessions.
Pros
Ergonomic keyboard with concave directional buttons
Asus strikes the right balance between high-end performance and portability. AMD’s Ryzen processor, with its efficient thermal architecture, makes it possible to realize a slim, compact laptop design.
The laptop’s anti-dust cooling system functions through two dedicated tunnels to expel dust and other particles out of your machine. This makes a huge difference to the thermal performance, especially in the long run.
Asus TUF comes with three USB ports, Ethernet, HDMI, and a headphone jack port. The versatile port selection allows you to connect different accessories without having to search for the right dongle.
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If you’re looking for the most portable gaming laptop, you’ll be happy with what Asus TUF brings to the table. At just under five pounds, the laptop packs tons of features while retaining a lightweight footprint that can go with you anywhere with no hassles.
In terms of performance, Asus TUF departs from Intel’s processor in favor of AMD Ryzen CPU. With its well-optimized battery usage, this power-efficient processor allows you to get up to four hours of gameplay on one charge. It also doesn’t get too hot thanks to its smart SenseMI controller, which balances the CPU’s variable clock speed according to the software running.
Moreover, the 15.6 inches display deserves some spotlight. It stretches to the laptop’s very edges, minimizing the side bezels to deliver a more immersive gaming experience. The IPS display technology also provides true-tone color representation with plenty of viewing angles.
If you were wondering whether your gaming laptop can double as a powerful workstation, Asus cuts right to the chase with a big YES for an answer. The elegant metallic finish and the slim form factor make a perfect professional looking device.
Also, the GeForce GPU comes with dedicated Gaming and Creator drivers, allowing you to allocate the graphics power for an optimized software experience when running video-editing, 3D modeling, or other graphically demanding apps.
Acer Predator Helios 300 comes with a high-quality 15.6 inches IPS panel, which supports a wide color gamut to make your games pop.
Moreover, the supercharged 144Hz refresh rate will transform your gaming experience, and you won’t imagine switching back to a slower display
The laptop uses Acer’s TrueHarmony and Dolby Audio Premium technologies to deliver an immersive audio experience with unmatched clarity.
The ergonomic keyboard with its striking red backlighting nails both the looks and functionality.
The directional WASD keys have a distinctive lighting pattern that contrasts well with the surrounding keys.
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We’ve got yet another entry from Acer’s Predator Helios 300 lineup. This time around, the PH315-51-78NP model solves the previous entry’s most noticeable shortcoming: battery life. This laptop offers up to seven hours of battery usage compared to the one and a half hours delivered by its PH315-52-710B counterpart.
Another key distinguishing feature between the two models is the processor. The power-efficient model uses an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, as opposed to the newer, more powerful 9th Gen processor we’ve seen in the previous entry.
It’s worth mentioning that the base storage takes a hit as well in the power-efficient model. It ships with a 256GB SSD instead of 512GB found in its counterpart. However, the storage is easily upgradable, so it shouldn’t influence your purchase decision.
Other than that, the two models are basically identical, which brings us to the question of how to pick one of them over the other. It all boils down to performance vs. battery life. If you’re a gamer who wants to squeeze as much performance from their machine, stick to the PH315-52-710B model and be prepared to keep it plugged in during long gaming sessions.
On the other hand, if battery life is the laptop’s biggest selling point in your eyes, you’d appreciate the seven hours you can get out of the PH315-51-78NP model before it requires recharging.
We were impressed by the battery performance on this gaming beast. With light usage, you can get 15 hours of on-screen time, which makes it an excellent gaming and work station while traveling.
An efficient thermal architecture is key when it comes to making the most out of your laptop’s powerful processor. MSI Laptops implemented a dedicated cooling system for both the CPU and GPU with a total of seven thermal pipes.
Most of the gaming laptops compromise on the webcam’s quality. However, MSI GP65 Leopard ships with a 720p front-facing camera, which is a welcome addition, especially if you do tons of gameplay streaming, unlike the MSI GL65 .
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We’ve got another manufacturer on our list following Razer’s footsteps and implementing Intel’s 10th Gen Core i7 processors in their budget-friendly gaming laptops. MSI GP65 Leopard is a true performance beast with its 6-Core powerful CPU.
When it comes to graphics horsepower, the laptop delivers what you expect from an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 powered machine. It supports real-time Ray Tracing technology, which simulates how light bounces off objects to create more realistic in-game environments.
When it comes to RAM, the laptop comes with 16GB of DDR4 memory, which meets most modern games recommended configurations. If you want to upgrade down the line, it’s possible to pump the RAM to a whopping 64GB, which significantly boosts your laptop’s life span.
MSI GP65 Leopard is the perfect example of when power meets style. With its per-key RGB backlighting customization, the laptop offers an unparalleled adjustability level for a more personal look.
Dell Laptops have been at the top of their game for years now, and all its expertise cumulates to create a laptop that fits seamlessly as a professional and an entertainment machine.The eye-catching, elegant black design with the blue accents is easily among the best looking budget gaming laptops we’ve tested.
The laptop comes with an efficient thermal design that minimizes overheating and throttling issues. This is possible thanks to its dual-fan setup.
Dell G5 15 comes with a 15.6 inches display with minimal bezels for more immersive gaming experiences. The IPS panel also makes it possible to enjoy your games at a wide variety of viewing angles without worrying about the annoying screen glares.
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If you’re looking for a gaming laptop with plenty of storage without hurting your wallet, Dell G5 15 is the perfect choice for you. The laptop comes with dual storage drivers; a 256GB fast SSD, and a 1TB massive HDD.
This is a smart move on Dell’s part, as the laptop gives you the freedom to organize your files, so you get the speed and minimal game loading times of SSDs while having a cheaper storage alternative in the form of an HDD for all your other files.
When it comes to performance, Dell G5 15 delivers what you’d expect from a gaming laptop under $1500. The CPU and dedicated GPU go hand in hand to run your graphically demanding games smoothly. You can get seven hours of gameplay time on a single charge, thanks to the laptop’s power-efficient performance.
However, we were let down by the screen’s refresh rate. At 60Hz, the panel doesn’t give you the smoothness and responsiveness you’d expect from faster displays. This can be a major disadvantage, especially in competitive games and shooters. If you mostly play single-player, story-driven games, the low refresh rate shouldn’t be a big issue.
The smart integration of both SSD and HDD technologies gets you the best of both worlds. An SSD operates without moving parts, making it faster, quieter, and more power-efficient while an HDD is cheaper, allowing you to have more storage without driving the laptop’s price up.
The 16GB DDR4 offers enough memory to run the latest games releasing. It also makes the laptop a real powerhouse when it comes to multitasking.
Surprisingly, the keyboard offers a decent typing experience with satisfying key travel and excellent responsiveness. It also comes with the now-standard RGB backlighting we’ve seen in other gaming laptops.
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If you like the storage versatility we’ve seen in Dell G5 15, but the 60Hz display is a deal-breaker to you, Asus heard you loud and clear. Asus ROG 15 delivers a similar dual-storage driver setup, but this time around, the laptop comes with double the screen’s refresh rate compared to Dell G5 15.
The 120Hz display eliminates screen tearing and other image artifacts for a smoother, more responsive gameplay experience. Moreover, the 15.6 inches screen delivers a crisp, color-accurate, high-resolution gaming experience.
During our experience with the laptop, we noticed that out of the box, it puts a cap on performance to conserve battery life. However, you can dig into the settings and change this default configuration, or keep your laptop plugged to a wall outlet to get the most out of the 9th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU and GeForce GTX GPU combo.
It’s worth noting that Asus ROG 15 doesn’t come with a built-in webcam, which can be a bummer for gamers who are into streaming or want to use their laptop for video conference calls. However, Asus delivers on the performance, display, storage fronts making this laptop a compelling overall gaming device. You can use a Bluetooth or USB webcam as a way around.
Pros
Dual-storage drivers
A high refresh rate 120Hz display
Excellent performance for gaming and everyday usage
What To Look For When Buying A Gaming Laptop for under $1500 – Buyers Guide
CPU and GPU
The processing and graphics performance are probably the first things that gamers check on a laptop’s spec sheet and for a good reason. Laptops with high processing horsepower can run more demanding games without any hiccups. Moreover, a dedicated gaming GPU can help boost the game’s visual-fidelity and render environments at a higher resolution.
RAM
The type of RAM is as important as its capacity. Most of the gaming laptops ship with DDR4 variants, capable of achieving high speeds of 2666MHz. At the end of the day, you want to get a laptop with decent RAM for a smoother gameplay experience and more efficient multitasking performance. This can also be useful in a working environment, say if you are a coder or need a laptop for web design capable of handling anything you throw at it.
Refresh Rate
This is a measure of the different number of frames that the screen is capable of displaying in one second. Gaming laptops with higher refresh rates of 120Hz or 144Hz are capable of rendering more frames back to back without image chopping, which makes your games more responsive.
Storage
The bigger and more detailed game worlds come with a hefty install size to match. We recommend picking a laptop with upgradeable storage, giving you room for expansion as your games’ library grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Gaming Laptop Be Used for Work?
Yes! You can now tell that gaming laptops under $600 come with top-notch specs, which can be put into great use to run your demanding professional software. However, they are usually bulkier and deliver worse battery performance compared to lighter notebooks on the market.
What is the Most Important Part of a Gaming Laptop?
If we have to pick only one part, we’d go with the GPU. The graphics card is responsible for calculating all the physics-based actions you see on screen, in addition to impacting your game’s textures’ quality and overall resolution.
Should I Buy a Gaming Laptop or PC?
A gaming laptop still finds its appeal among hardcore gamers for its portability. You trade off some of the horsepower and upgradability for a sleeker, compact machine that can go with you anywhere.
Do Gaming Laptops Overheat?
We touched on how gaming laptops have limited space available inside when compared to their PC big brothers. This can pose a challenge for laptop manufacturers to find an efficient way of cooling the GPU and CPU. The graphics card is the one more liable to overeating on playing intensive games.
The market for budget gaming laptops has matured over the years, making it easy to find a compelling package at under $1500. We hope our guide streamlined your purchase decision, and we’re confident that no matter which model you end up with, you will get the most bang for your buck.
In this round up review, we’ve provided you with a list of the best gaming laptops for under $1500. Each laptop has its own advantages and disadvantages so it is up to you to decide which one matches your needs. We hope that after going through our reviews, you can make an informed decision about which laptop is right for you.
We began with a look at 7 of the best gaming laptops for under $1500 before narrowing that list down to three top picks. We looked at a number of variables including screen size, CPU speed, SSD and RAM as well as other features such as touchscreens and backlit keyboards.
We spent over 60 hours researching and testing all these products in order to bring you this guide. Hopefully, this will help you choose one of the amazing laptops above that fits your needs! The top 3 picks are as follows:
You’ve made it to the end! Thank you for reading our review. Hopefully, we have helped you find a laptop that fits your budget gaming needs. If there is any particular model that we haven’t covered in this post, feel free to contact us and leave a comment!