Top 7 Laptops for Streaming Videos in 2023: Expert Reviews

Back in the day, I recall when our day-to-day laptops used to stream videos like a breeze when on-demand video streaming began to take shape. However, the truth is: streaming videos is a graphics-intensive task.

The tricky part about choosing a laptop for streaming is that you want a fine blend of processing power, storage, and, most importantly, a capable and vibrant display.

To fulfil this equation, I’ve ventured into the mindset of having a future-proof machine. In this article, you’ll see my final verdict on the 7 best laptops for streaming videos.

Top Rated Laptops for Streaming

Laptops for Streaming Videos – Reviews

Whether you’re live-streaming on Twitch as an unrivaled champion of your favorite FPS or merely streaming videos and movies, we’re about to get into a boundless realm of graphic endurance.

We based our choices on future-readiness instead of mid-range specs that won’t do you any good regarding the ever-increasing demand for audiovisual power.

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1. Acer Nitro 5 – Best Laptop for Streaming

Top 3 Features

The Acer Nitro 5 tirelessly wipes off the legacy of your painful streaming moments with its blend of powerful components, affordability, and lightning-quick performance. Powered by a 9th Gen Core i7 processor, its hexa-core operation makes background processes as you stream possible.

With a 16 GB DDR4 RAM, you can jump between processes without worrying about any system stutters. RAM hasn’t always been the only determinant of seamless performance since the 256 GB SSD storage here will pick up the pace of boot-up times and data transfer speeds.

The Nitro 5’s lid is home to a vibrant 15.6-inch display, which derives its vibrancy from the NVIDIA RTX 2060 with 6 GB of VRAM. This professional-grade GPU does way more than streaming with its AI graphic processing. Running at a refresh rate of 144 Hz and a mere 3 ms response time, the display grants you more frames per second with virtually no input lag.

Streaming videos requires a pristine pair of stereo speakers, and Acer never missed out on that with the Nitro 5. Acer marries its TrueHarmony technology with DTS:X and delivers two powerful 2W speakers with an immersive soundstage effect.

Your peripherals won’t feel forsaken with an HDMI 2.0 port for display connectivity, 2 high-speed USB Type-A ports, and a USB 3.2 Type-C port for data transfer. I also liked that this laptop features the latest Intel WiFi 6, which analyzes wireless connections and clings onto what’s best for your internet stability.

Although I’m fond of SSD storage drives, the 256 GB capacity here may run insufficient for many video streamers. Also, I wished it featured a Thunderbolt port since streamers would want a multi-monitor setup to keep pace with live chats in streams.

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2. MSI GL65 Leopard – Best for Streaming Movies

Top 3 Features

I’ve had the honor to lay my hands on this laptop and try the 10th Gen Core i7 processor’s relentless horsepower. This processor’s architecture takes the extra edge with a burst frequency of a whopping 5 GHz.

We’re getting here two 8 GB sticks of DDR4 RAM for seamless multitasking. It’s unlikely that you’ll run out of storage with 512 GB of fast SSD storage. I like SSDs when it comes to streaming videos since they provide you with the read and write speeds necessary for faster buffering.

MSI Laptops takes its 15.6-inch FHD display to a whole new level by reinforcing this laptop with the high-end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 housing 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The FHD display covers around 94% of the sRGB color gamut, meaning that the color tones will be produced the way they’re meant to be seen.

Heat is vanquished when it tries to battle the dual-fan cooling system incorporated in the GL65 Leopard. MSI even enhances the cooling procedure with 7 heat pipes distributed between the CPU and GPU.

The GL65 Leopard boasts a revolutionary connectivity suite with two jacks for the mic and headphones if you want to separate these audio channels. Besides, you’ll get a USB Type-C port for data transfer, 3 USB Type-A for peripherals, the glorious Mini DisplayPort for 4K display connectivity, and an HDMI port.

If I had anything to complain about, it’d be the hefty price tag. Also, the cooling fans can become so loud with intensive use, and unfortunately, you won’t be able to control the fan speed as in the Acer Nitro 5.

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3. ASUS ROG G531GT – Best Gaming Laptop for Streaming

Top 3 Features

The ROG series from ASUS rings a bell in the performance department regardless of the downscaled specs compared to the previous laptops. The 9th Gen Core i7 processor still accompanies us on our list with its 12-way processing power aided by the 16 GB worth of RAM.

This laptop stands on top of the hierarchy with its hybrid storage, merging an ultrafast SSD storage with the traditional HDD storage, and the total is an ample 1.5 TB worth of disk space, perfect for kids laptops that can stream Disney, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

Assisted by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, the display is competent for streaming videos and even live streaming to large audiences. It runs at a 120 Hz refresh rate, which, unfortunately, gets capped at 60 Hz when you unplug the charger.

The ROG G531GT houses two side-firing speakers. ASUS implements the Smart Amplifier technology to deliver nearly three times more volume with a calibrated dynamic range to keep the distortion bare minimum. I’d say I admire ASUS’s tweaks with its speakers since they’ve always helped me capture the subtleties and cues while streaming.

I can’t say I’m happy with this laptop’s connectivity since it features no Type-C or DisplayPorts. You only get 3 USB Type-A ports for peripherals and data transfer and an HDMI port. The battery life is on the low end since it hits a maximum of 4 hours.

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4. ASUS TUF FX505DT – Best for Streaming Netflix & Twitch

Top 3 Features

With the ASUS TUF FX505DT, you don’t have to pay a fortune to acquire a reliable video streaming performance. At a competitive price tag, this laptop rocks the AMD Ryzen 5 R5-3550H max clocked at 3.7 GHz with 4 cores and 8 threads for withstanding the tasks you throw at it.

It packs 256 GB of PCIe SSD storage, which achieves more rapid data transfer speeds due to being connected directly to the motherboard instead of SATA cables. You may experience minimal lag while streaming due to the 8 GB worth of RAM.

The 15.6-inch FHD display is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, found in the high-end ROG G531GT laptop. You won’t skip a beat with the snappy refresh rate of 120 Hz.

ASUS joins forces with DTS:X in refining the audio experience in the TUF FX505DT to deliver a theater-grade surround sound from the down-firing stereo speakers. There are even preset audio profiles for video streaming and an audiophile-grade equalizer to adjust sound profiles.

I liked how this laptop hosts the ports within reach on only one side. On the left side, you’ll find a USB 2.0 port, 2 USB 3.2 ports for peripherals, and an HDMI 2.0 port for display connectivity.

I believed that ASUS would be thoughtful to ditch the old USB 2.0 for a USB Type-C port or maybe a Thunderbolt port, but my expectations were a tad high. Also, I think that the 256 GB capacity may be insufficient.

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5. Acer Predator Helios 300 – Another Good Streaming Laptop

Top 3 Features

A predator is a predator, no matter the environment. The Helios 300 from Acer sports the same 9th Gen Core i7 processor as our top choice, clocking at 2.60 GHz for light streaming tasks yet at a boost frequency of 4.50 GHz heavy-duty tasks that demand maximum power. We still get the futureproof 16 GB of RAM and a sufficient 512-GB SSD storage.

Flip that lid, and you’ll be greeted with a 15.6-inch IPS display running at an FHD resolution. The color reproduction is astonishingly accurate with nearly a full coverage of the sRGB color gamut, thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce 1660 Ti that powers it up.

Even more advanced than the Nitro 5, Acer incorporates the DTS:X Ultra in the Helios 300 not only to make the speaker sound more resonant but also to enhance the sound reproduction of any pair of headphones you connect to the laptop with custom EQ controls, bringing your own surround sound speculation to life.

I couldn’t whine about the ports here since they didn’t make me miss the Type-C cables I have on my desk. Aside from that, we get 3 USB Type-A ports so that your peripherals would feel at home and an HDMI 2.0 port for display connectivity.

Unfortunately, we get no SD card reader in the connectivity suite. But yes! We get a Mini DisplayPort with support for a 240 Hz refresh rate for seasoned video streamers who care about multi-monitor setups!

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6. Dell G5 15

Top 3 Features

At first glance, you’ll deem the Dell G5 15 a humble office laptop until you know what’s lying inside! This laptop still packs our ruthless 9th Gen Core i7 processor with its 6 cores that stand unvanquished amid many streaming tasks. Add to the equation the multitasking heaven that the 16 GB RAM capacity provides, and you’re off to seamless performance.

Like the ROG G531GT, this laptop features a hybrid storage setup with a 256 GB SSD drive and a 1 TB SATA drive (which is basically an HDD). I’m afraid the SSD storage here isn’t as snappy as I expected since it connects to the motherboard via cables.

Regarding the display, the IPS panel delivers a sharp contrast ratio with ultrawide viewing angles, and thanks to the NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti GPU here, the laptop is capable of streaming and even editing graphics-intensive content.

The G15 15 boasts a dual-fan cooling system with internal pipes that disperse heat back and forth between the two fan modules until it vanishes into oblivion. This cooling system is basic yet efficient when it comes to long streaming sessions.

This laptop is a portable battalion with ports all over the sides, even behind the chassis. The connectivity suite includes 3 USB Type-A ports for peripherals, an HDMI port for display connectivity, and a glorious Thunderbolt port for data transfer, and 4K display connectivity.

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7. MSI GF65

Top 3 Features

MSI copies nearly the same high-end spec sheet of the GL65 Leopard in the MSI GF65 at a lower price tag. Lies at the heart of this laptop is the 9th Gen Core i7 with its powerful boost frequency to conquer all the tasks you feared before.

Unlike the G5 15, we get a snappy NVMe SSD drive here for faster loading times and boot-ups with an ample capacity of 512 GB. The edge-to-edge display boasts thin bezels. It’s further enriched with the NVIDIA RTX 2060, found in our best overall, and it runs at a 120 Hz refresh rate for smoother playback in video streaming platforms.

The thin bezels reflect the overall slim profile of the GF65 since it’s remarkably thin and weighs merely 4 lbs as opposed to 5+ lbs in the choices mentioned above. MSI brings the GL65 Leopard’s competent cooling system and Nahimic audio calibration to this laptop too, and you can hardly see any compromises between both laptops except for the 8 GB RAM.

The connectivity suite has room for plenty of connectors, including 2 USB Type-A ports for peripherals, 2 USB Type-C ports for rapid data transfer, and an HDMI port with support for 4K display connectivity at 30 Hz.

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Picking A Laptop for Streaming – Buyers Guide

Don’t get tricked into thinking that there are purpose-built laptops for streaming videos. Laptops are ubiquitous in their usage. However, the choices above rely upon a “recipe” that makes the best laptop for streaming videos. After a journey through our laptop reviews, let’s examine the criteria you should consider before committing to your purchase.

Display

Let’s keep it jargon-free in this section. You should thoroughly examine the display before buying a laptop for streaming videos since the panel is what you’ll be looking at.

For streaming videos, we recommend a FHD resolution (1920×1080), which is also the golden standard for laptop gaming and media creation. Most laptops host IPS panels, known for their high contrast ratios and wide viewing angles.

There are other display standards like TN displays, which are high-performing options regarding their refresh rate, yet incompetent when it comes to tone reproduction since colors tend to shift as you move your viewing posture.

Another thing to consider is the display’s coverage of the sRGB color gamut. Color gamuts are basically the spaces that comprise a wide array of color tones. Although most manufacturers don’t release info about color gamut coverage, you’d better check it at benchmark websites. The higher the coverage, the more accurate the color reproduction.

Ports

Since video streaming platforms support multi-display connections, video streamers tend to gravitate toward feature-rich connectivity suites on laptops. So, taking a peek at the connectors will save you lots of trouble, and dongles, too!

Most laptops have room for HDMI ports, which support 4K display connectivity at around a 30 Hz refresh rate. However, video streamers crave DisplayPorts (or Mini DisplayPorts) for multi-display setups for watching content. Unlike HDMI, DisplayPort supports 4K displays at 120 Hz or 8K displays at 30 Hz, quite an improvement!

Apart from DisplayPorts, the do-it-all Thunderbolt 3 ports are the holy grail of connectors since they offer a myriad of uses for laptops, from power delivery (charging via Thunderbolt) to DisplayPort connectivity.

CPU

CPUs are what make the tasks mentioned above possible. Since we’re talking about futureproof machines for streaming videos, you should arm yourself with high-end chipsets. You can evaluate the processor based on 3 criteria: generation, core number, and clock speed.

The higher the generation, the better the overall architecture of the processor. For instance, a 9th generation processor features a smaller architecture with more transistors (measured in nanometers) than an 8th generation one, resulting in low power consumption and faster performance.

You can spot the generation by checking any processor model’s first number. For example, the Intel Core i7-9750H boasts a 9th generation architecture,

There’s a rule of thumb I’ve always followed regarding the clock speed and core number. Generally, the more the cores, the more tasks the processor can handle. But, a low clock speed won’t do you any good if you have more cores since the processor will deal with more tasks at a slow speed, hence a low-performing multi-core operation.

Storage

Streaming videos is a form of data transfer. You either upload content or buffer content to be downloaded for watching. For that, you’ll crave a snappy storage drive capable of achieving high write and read speeds: SSDs.

SSDs, especially PCIe NVMe SSDs, use a built-in interface to connect to the motherboard instead of the old SATA cables that snail-like HDDs use. Moreover, SSDs have no moving mechanical parts, giving a chance for data recovery since they turn into read-only drives when their lifespans hit a roadblock. 

I’d recommend opting for a laptop with an SSD storage or a hybrid storage setup, where you can store top-priority files on the SSD drive and ditch the unimportant directories in the HDD.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What to Look for in a Laptop for Streaming?

When looking for a laptop for streaming videos, you should prioritize the display performance, and thus, double-check the color accuracy, contrast ratio, and resolution. Also, see whether the connectivity options comply with the ports you usually use. DisplayPort or HDMI ports gain prominence in multi-display connectivity.

Can You Live Stream on Microsoft Stream?

Yes, you can share real-time video streaming on Microsoft Stream on stream.microsoft.com. Microsoft Stream also allows you to upload pre-recorded snippets to your team’s channel and attach documents for your audience as you live stream.

Can I Stream a Movie from My Laptop to My TV?

You can wirelessly stream a movie to your TV if it supports Chromecast or if you’re streaming from a video platform like Netflix, which gives you the option to cast the laptop’s screen to the TV. Otherwise, you can stream movies to your TV via a cable connection.

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Conclusion

When I decided to live-stream a walkthrough from my favorite game on my Core i5 laptop, the results were catastrophic. After reviewing the best laptops for streaming videos, you must’ve understood the paramount importance of having a future-ready machine for the days to come.

If I were to choose, I’d go for the Acer Nitro 5. This powerhouse outshines the rest mainly because it delivers higher specs than the price would suggest, unlike the MSI GL65 Leopard, for instance, which carries a hefty price tag.