Buying a new gaming laptop often means parting with a lot of cash. There are various reasons for this, whether it’s a powerful processor, high-end graphics or a top-of-the-line display. However, you might be paying more for a brand name or ultra-portable design, features many people can do without.
Indeed, you don’t necessary have to pay top dollar to get a great gaming laptop these days. In this article, we review and rank the best available cheap gaming laptops you can buy.
These affordable models might not be the most eye-catching or portable, but compromises are is necessary. They’ll still deliver the great gaming performance you want, while leaving enough spare cash to buy some games and accessories.
We’re setting our price cap at £1,000/US$1,000 here but some will be available for a lot less than that. Under £500/US$500 is desirable but unlikely as key components such as a proper graphics card are just too expensive. It’s not a hard and fast rule, though: we may include some laptops that are slightly more expensive.
If you really are strapped for cash and looking for the best gaming laptop under £500/US$500 then check out our budget laptop chart. That has the same price limit, but some devices still have the option for discrete graphics cards. They won’t be the most capable, but should be able to run some less demanding games.
All laptops here have been reviewed by our expert team and put through a rigorous set of benchmarks. We also use them as if they were our own to get real-world experience. Find out more about how we test laptops.
Below are the best cheap gaming laptops we’ve reviewed and ranked. See below that for detailed buying advice if you need some more guidance.
1. Asus TUF Gaming A15
- Impressive CPU & GPU performance
- Attractive 1440p display
- Decent battery life
Cons
- Underwhelming build quality
- Poor trackpad
The Asus TUF laptops have been a great go-to for budget gaming for a long time and the new A15 is no exception, despite a slightly higher starting price at the moment.
An AMD Ryzen 7 CPU from the latest 6000 Series combines with powerful Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU to deliver excellent gaming performance. The 15.6in, 1440p display is another highlight, complete with a 165Hz refresh rate.
However, Asus has confirmed that a 300Hz option is on the way, plus configurations using the RTX 3070 and 3070Ti. The latter should make the A15 significantly cheaper than £1,000/$1,000.
You’ll also get a decent keyboard, solid range of ports and even decent battery life when you’re not gaming. If you can live with mediocre build quality and a poor trackpad, the A15 is a great option.
Read our full Asus TUF Gaming A15 (2022) review
2. Dell G5 15 Gaming
- Impressive battery life
- 144Hz refresh rate
- Solid CPU/GPU
Cons
- Chunky design
- Display lacks colour
- Poor keyboard & trackpad
Alienware laptops are too expensive to appear in this list but Dell does have affordable gaming laptops in the rest of its lineup.
The G5 isn’t flawless but makes the most sense for the cheaper models. We tested a Core i7 model with an RTX 2060 but you can get an AMD Ryzen 5 with a Radeon RX 5600M for a very reasonable price.
Like others, the screen is a bit washed out but has a 144Hz refresh rate and other components are solid, too. Plus battery life is decent for a change.
A chunky design is acceptable but we would prefer the keyboard and trackpad to be better.
Read our full Dell G5 15 Gaming 5500 review
3. Acer Nitro 5 (AN515)
.jpg "3. Acer Nitro 5 (AN515)")
- Impressive 1080p gaming
- Solid keyboard
- 144Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Mediocre battery life
- Display lacks colour
The Acer Nitro 5 is one of the most affordable gaming laptops around, and it has great components despite that price.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is a top-notch mainstream graphics card that’ll handle anything at 1080p, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H is a great CPU for multi-tasking and work. The keyboard is comfortable and the laptop is cool and quiet.
Of course, the low price does mean compromise elsewhere. The screen, although 144Hz, is washed-out and the battery life is poor. You don’t get many extra features either. But if you want an affordable gaming laptop with good core performance, this is a good choice.
Read our full Acer Nitro 5 (2021) review
4. Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i
- Attractive design
- Great keyboard
- 120Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Limited ports
- Small SSD
- Display lacks colour
The IdeaPad goes gaming and Lenovo’s cheapest model is the best starting with a GTX 1650 for enough graphics grunt and a Core i5 that’s good enough for daily use.
It’s also impressive how nice the 3i looks and it’s also quiet with a decent keyboard, too.
There’s a lot to like including a 120Hz refresh rate but the usual compromises are found here such as a pallid display, single-channel memory and a small SSD.
Generally, these are acceptable downsides so the IdeaPad Gaming 3i is a good choice if you can’t afford anything more expensive.
Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i review
5. HP Omen 15
- Full-fat GPU
- Large SSD
- Dual-channel memory
Cons
- Display lacks colour
- Soft keyboard
- Mediocre battery life
It’s a tad over our price cap but only just and well worth considering if your budget will stretch.
Apart from its new design, the HP Omen 15 is very powerful with a brilliant AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Nvidia’s GTX 1660 Ti graphics card that not even a cut down Max-Q version.
That’s a lot of performance for your money and, furthermore, you get dual-channel RAM, a huge 1TB SSD and other specs like Wi-Fi 6.
We’d like a better screen as it’s a little bit washed out but does offer a 144Hz refresh rate so the Omen 15 is still a solid choice at this price point.
Read our full HP Omen 15 (2020) review
6. Acer Nitro 5 (A517)
.jpg "6. Acer Nitro 5 (A517)")
- Large 120Hz screen
- Powerful components
Cons
- Display lacks colour
- Small SSD
Just squeezing in under our price limit, the Acer Nitro 5 is a great choice if you want performance and don’t mind so much about portability.
We’ve tested the 17in model here which is something of a desktop replacement, but will fit in a large backpack if you do need to take it somewhere. You can also look out for the 15in A515.
The highlights here are up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 along with a 120Hz refresh rate giving you smooth gaming performance.
Just bear in mind that the screen doesn’t have the best colour performance and there’s only a 256GB SSD to store games.
Read our full Acer Nitro 5 (A517-51) review
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