Gaming laptops like these are phenomenal to behold, and it’s easy to wonder why there aren’t more of them.

Most gaming laptops I test have something in common: They’re unwieldy. Not all of them are built this way, but there's a good reason for it.

Gaming laptops are enormous, a trend in most of the products we test. Unless you’re sporting one of the latest Windows-based handheld gaming devices, like the Asus ROG Ally X, you’re limited to laptops that don’t feel particularly portable.

The cumbrous quality of gaming laptops is often largely due to their display size. While 14-inch gaming laptops are on the market as an alternative to that especially enormous species, the 18-inch gaming laptop, both have additional factors that make them unwieldy, like weight and thickness.

We've reviewed several recent gaming laptops in each weight bracket, including the 14-inch Razer Blade 14 (4.1 pounds, 0.7-inch thickness), the 16-inch Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (5.4 pounds, 0.9-1.1 inches thick), and the 18-inch Acer Predator Helios 18 (7.2 pounds, 1.1 inches thick).

While it may seem like the weight increase depends on size, the 16-inch Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 shattered my expectations for how thin and lightweight a gaming laptop could be. It weighs four pounds and is only 0.6 inches thick, lighter and thinner than the 14-inch Razer Blade 14, even though it’s in a different size bracket.

Its exceptional thinness isn’t just present on paper. When I pulled it out of the box, I was stunned by how slim it felt in my palm. At first, I couldn’t even believe it was a gaming laptop, as it reminded me more of a productivity laptop than anything.

Sure, it’s not quite light and thin enough to rival productivity laptops like the recently reviewed Dell XPS 13 9345 (2.6 pounds, 0.6 inches thick), which is more than a pound lighter. Still, it’s impressive that a gaming laptop could match it in thinness.

Gaming laptops like these are phenomenal to behold, and it’s easy to wonder why there aren’t more of them.

Size is power… for the most part 

We often hear the term “bigger is better,” but that’s not always true. Portability might be important if you want to take a gaming laptop on the go, and that’s an absolutely valid reason to buy a gaming laptop, especially if you’re frequently traveling.

It's the foundation for why I called the Asus ROG Ally my favorite gaming “laptop” last year. There’s so much power in holding a thin and light device and playing your favorite games in the palm of your hand. 

However, in the case of a gaming laptop, portability comes with some serious sacrifices.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is a perfect example. While it is built with an RTX 4070 graphics card, its performance is underwhelming compared to its competitors.

Comparing the Zephyrus G16 to other gaming laptops with the same GPU reveals that it consistently performed worse than all of its competitors to a significant degree. The Zephyrus G16’s performance on Shadow of the Tomb Raider (94 fps), Grand Theft Auto V (89 fps), Cyberpunk 2077 (30 fps), and Red Dead Redemption 2 (60 fps) is not poor by any metric, but it looks pretty dire compared to gaming laptops.

When compared to three other RTX 4070 laptops, with the same games listed respectively, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (109 fps, 98 fps, 37 fps, 71 fps), Lenovo Legion 7i (162 fps, 96 fps, 35 fps, 68 fps), and Razer Blade 14 (121 fps, 103 fps, 42 fps, 73 fps) performed substantially better than the Zephyrus G16.

Most people who want to invest in a gaming laptop will not be OK with reducing gaming performance. To most companies, those sacrifices are not worth making for the sake of portability, which is why products of this kind are less common.

It also expects more money from the consumer for less power. You’ll need to dish out top dollar for a more portable gaming laptop when other laptops easily overpower it at a lower price.

For example, the $1,694 features a far stronger Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and 32GB of RAM. The Zephyrus G16 is $1,999, with the weaker Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and only 16GB of RAM.

The presence of an OLED display slightly boosts that $300 difference, but that alone isn’t fueling such a drastic price gap, especially when the Zephyrus G16 has weaker specs. It’s simply the cost of such an incredible feat of thinness and lightness.

Bottom line

More laptops like the Zephyrus G16 don’t exist because they require feats of engineering magic, and engineering magic doesn’t come cheaply.

More space allows for larger batteries, higher performance, improved thermals, and more. Many modern gaming laptops, like the six-pound MSI Vector 16 HX A14VHG, feature their own thermal shelves. These shelves help the laptop stay cool and often come with additional ports, which is something the Zephyrus G16 lacks.

Most gaming laptop buyers aren’t willing to sacrifice everything that makes this hardware worthwhile, whether it’s the excellent performance, thermals, battery life, or port selection, just for a thinner build.

If you are the type of gamer who is OK with making that sacrifice, laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 are perfect for you. They are worth recommending for a niche audience, but you should always understand what you’re giving up.

We saw incredible battery life scores across the board, from the Dell XPS 14’s 10:58 to Microsoft Surface Laptop 7’s 15:44. However, nothing quite excelled to the heights of the MacBook. The MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) reached 17:16 and the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023) lasted longer than any laptop we’ve tested on the Laptop Mag battery test, with a score of 18:05. Well, until now.

The new XPS 13 locked in the top spot. It dethroned the king. Qualcomm’s battery scores may be all over the place, but this means it’s more than capable of winning this battery life race. Let’s jump into what we saw during our multiple tests in what is now the laptop with best battery life.

The XPS 13 takes the battery life crown

Now, we run laptops through our battery tests three to four times and collect the average of that number. Initially, we received an average of 19 hours and 1 minute. And then after we downloaded the BIOS 1.7.0 update, the XPS 13 averaged 19 hours and 31 minutes.

That’s a total of six tests overall. Here’s what that actually looks like:

• Test #1 — Pre-update: 19:26:24
• Test #2 — Pre-update: 18:42:40
• Test #3 — Pre-update: 18:54:25
• Test #4 — Post-update: 20:51:24
• Test #5 — Post-update: 18:54:25
• Test #6 — Post-update: 18:48:54

Let’s just say our lab testers spent a lot of time with the XPS 13. They haven’t seen their families in days (this is a joke).

Why is this so good? The Snapdragon X Elite chipset is a collection of chips, including the Qualcomm Oryon CPU and Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit). Qualcomm claimed that its chipset is faster than Intel's x86 CPUs. You’d think that if it’s faster, it’d consume more power. Well, no. Faster processes actually consume less power because it takes less effort for the chip to operate. The CPU and NPU both balance the processing speeds and power plans of the laptop as a whole. Thus resulting in the incredible battery life you see above.

Getting a wider spread of results is enlightening, as it showcases that even the XPS 13’s shortest time (18:42) is longer than the previously longest-lasting laptop (18:05). So where do we go from here?

Qualcomm opened the floodgates. This generation is holding AI up on a pedestal, but that’s not why people are buying Copilot+ PCs — it’s because of the battery life. With this challenge posed to the rest of the market, Intel and AMD need to up their game, as they’ve been behind the top spot for quite a bit. Apple, however, is in the best position to respond first, with the M4 MacBooks on the horizon.

Intel’s longest-lasting laptop (that scored well) is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, which hit 15:52. Incredible, but not near the stratosphere Apple and Qualcomm are in. AMD has two unique hits under its belt. There’s its longest, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 (14:38), and then there’s its most impressive, the Razer Blade 14 (8:35). Now, we’ve seen longer-lasting gaming laptops (exclusively from AMD), but none better all-round than the Razer Blade. As far as I’m concerned, AMD has cornered the market for long-lasting gaming laptops. 

It’d be interesting to see if Qualcomm finds its way into proper gaming laptops. I’d love to benefit from 10+ hour battery life. However, as I’ve painfully experienced while gaming on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition, the Snapdragon X chipset does not run Windows games natively, so it must emulate it. What that looks like in action is the full collapse of the PC Game Pass app and any game with an anti-cheat engine. It just doesn't work. In many ways, it becomes like a MacBook.

Qualcomm has a serious edge over the competition. Not just in battery, either. In performance, too, as I've highlighted in my XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air face-off. But where is that lead going to go?

Outlook

Unfortunately, a chipset alone does not make a good laptop, but it can certainly do a lot of heavy lifting. This was incredibly evident in both my XPS 13 and Surface Laptop 7 reviews.

Qualcomm getting into more, quality laptops is the obvious goal. But the ARM of it all is a little disarming. Either Qualcomm needs to rethink its life (unlikely) or developers need to make an effort to support other systems. 

Since both Apple silicone and Qualcomm's chipset are built on ARM architecture, their combined consumer-base could be the push that the industry needs to support a wider range of chipsets.

While looking for a new notebook that’d let me hit a few Counter-Strike or FC24 rounds and could accompany me on work trips, I knew dedicated GPU-equipped gaming laptops and traditional ones like the MacBook were out of the question.

So when I tested Honor's new Intel Arc-powered MagicBook Pro 16 — a laptop that promises to blend the best of both worlds — I was hopeful that it would strike the right balance between work and play.

From the outset, the MagicBook Pro 16 looks far from a typical gaming laptop — because it's not meant to be one. It’s a high-performance machine built to rival the Apple MacBook 16 at half the cost.

Honor, which tech giant Huawei sold off in 2020, first made the MagicBook Pro 16 available in Europe, where it costs 1,300 euros (about $1,400). However, a company spokesperson tells Laptop Mag that the MagicBook Pro 16 will soon arrive in the US.

For that price, it offers more value than most of its competitors. It comes loaded with above-average specs, including a 3K 165Hz screen, an Intel Core Ultra 5 14-core processor (the Core Ultra 5 Processor 125H), an expandable 1TB SSD, 24GB of RAM, and plenty of ports.

It weighs just 3.9 pounds, which is about 17% lighter than Apple’s MacBook Pro 16, which weighs 4.8 pounds.

Of course, I was more interested in how capable the new Intel Arc-integrated graphics is at gaming. After all, no laptop has ground to a halt while I rearrange slide decks. And I’m glad to report I was pleasantly surprised.

First-person shooters like Call of Duty Warzone, Valorant, and Counter-Strike Global Offensive ran at a comfortable 60 frames per second on low-medium settings on the Honor MagicBook Pro 16, even when I had an external monitor connected.

Switching to more resource-intensive titles such as Forza Horizon 5, EA Sports FC 24, and Microsoft Flight Simulator knocks the FPS down to 30-40, where the games are still enjoyable and don’t stutter. Loading times take longer, but the transitions were smooth once I was inside a mission or a game.

On the 3DMark benchmark, the Honor MagicBook Pro 16’s Intel Arc GPU scored a decent 3779 in the Time Spy test and 28,928 in the Night Raid test.

Plus, the MagicBook 16 Pro does well in creative tasks. In Photoshop, for instance, it could render multi-layered projects with relative ease, and tools such as AI Image Filler were snappy in response. Though its performance is nowhere near a dedicated GPU in video editing, it can handle editing software like Davinci Resolve and Premier Pro lag-free, albeit while taking extra time to process exports.

The Honor MagicBook 16 Pro flies in more routine workflows. In the three weeks I spent putting it through its paces, I faced zero stutters, for example, multitasking between Google Chrome tabs, Zoom, and Slack. It wakes you up from sleep instantly, too, and resumes where you left off without any crashes.

What I especially liked about the Honor MagicBook 16 is how well its hardware complements each other to offer a superior overall experience than the competition. Watching movies or playing games on the 16-inch 3K screen is a joy.

Thanks to the 100% DCI-P3 gamut, it's vibrant and accurate and plenty bright for the outdoors. There’s also an e-book mode you can switch to, where the laptop reduces flickers and uses blue light to reduce eye strain.

The six speakers, similarly, produce a rich and loud sound that can feel immersive, courtesy of the built-in subwoofer. The pair of internal mics also make it one of the first Windows notebooks to support spatial audio.

The MagicBook Pro 16’s heat dissipation system, which houses a quiet fan and a three-heat pipe design, keeps the laptop relatively cool and quiet in most scenarios. During gaming, though, its base temperature rises to an uncomfortable level. However, that doesn’t extend to the palm rest, nor does it throttle the performance.

Honor stuck to a functional look for the MagicBook Pro. Its aluminum, stealthy exterior feels and appears sleek and premium. More importantly, its subtle wedge shape raises the keyboard ever so slightly when it’s open to create a more comfortable typing angle.

Speaking of which, it has a large, full-size keyboard with a number pad, and though it is generously tactile at a 1.5mm key travel, it can come off as a bit crowded. The right-side Shift and Enter keys are especially cramped and take a while to get used to. I have no complaints about the spacious touchpad, on the other hand, and the 5-point touch means you’ll have no trouble activating Windows gestures.

Another pet peeve of mine is that both of the MagicBook Pro’s USB-C slots are on the left. I would have preferred at least one of them on the right so that I don’t end up in a cable mess if the power socket is on the right.

It would also have been handier to have face unlock like most Windows laptops, as opposed to the fingerprint reader available on the MacBook Pro, which, though fast, is not as seamless. Apart from that, there are two USB-A and standard HDMI ports on the laptop’s lower back.

Despite the top-end specs, the Honor MagicBook Pro’s 75Wh battery lasts surprisingly long during my hands-on usage — although Laptop Mag hasn't officially tested its battery. In non-gaming day-to-day sessions, such as a mix of document editing, video conferences, and web streaming, it lasted about seven hours between charges.

At $1,400, the Honor MagicBook 16 Pro offers value for those seeking a top-of-the-line business laptop that can also game. Other than a handful of minor complaints I had, such as the crowded keyboard, it’s been hard to fault it.

After years of underwhelming performance, I’m excited about what the next editions of Intel’s integrated graphics can do.

There are many factors to consider when choosing a new laptop, from price to battery life to aesthetics. The HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and Lenovo Slim 7i are both mainstream laptops in the mid-range price bracket, with slim steel gray designs and Intel Core Ultra processors. However, despite those similarities, these two laptops showed significant differences in our benchmark tests. 

I’ve used both laptops, so I have first-hand experience with each one’s everyday performance on top of our test results. Before shelling out over $1000 for either, there are some critical differences between the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 that you need to know about. 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Price and configurations

The HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 each have several customization options, but there are some key differences in terms of price and components. 

We reviewed both laptops with similar specs, making for an interesting comparison:

There are a few important things to point out in those specs. First, notice that these two laptops use different Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU versions. As we’ll explore more below, that makes a significant difference in performance. Additionally, while both of Laptop Mag's review configurations included OLED displays, OLED is a paid upgrade on the HP Envy. In contrast, it is included in the base configuration of the Lenovo Slim 7i. 

If you consider getting either of these laptops in its base configuration, the HP Envy might look like a better deal at first glance. However, you must look closely at what you might be sacrificing when buying a base configuration. They’re not always as much of a bargain as they seem. 

The HP Envy has a lower starting price but also lower starting specs: Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 1920x1200 IPS display. In comparison, the Slim 7i’s base configuration includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 1920x1200 OLED display. 

So, even in its base configuration, the Lenovo Slim 7i includes more powerful components. For about $80 more than the starting price of the HP Envy, the Slim 7i offers more storage, a more powerful version of the Intel Core Ultra 5 (the “H” version), and a more premium OLED display. If you want an OLED panel on the HP Envy, it will cost you $150 extra, and an upgrade to 1TB of storage will cost an additional $150. 

As a result, the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 wins this category because it offers better value for its price. 

Winner: Lenovo Slim 7i

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Design

Design is one of the most significant differences between the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and the Lenovo Slim 7i and one of the most important categories to consider when deciding between the two. 

The HP Envy x360 is a 2-in-1, meaning you can flip the screen around like a tablet. While the Lenovo Slim 7i has a touchscreen, you can’t fold the keyboard deck behind the display. 

If you only plan on using your laptop in a typical laptop form factor with the display perpendicular to the keyboard deck, this design difference might not be a deal breaker. However, if you want to use your laptop as a tablet for tasks like drawing, graphic design, or note-taking, the HP Envy x360 has a significant edge. 

There are also some smaller design differences worth noting. For example, the Lenovo Slim 7i has a camera bump along the top edge of the display, which the HP Envy doesn’t have. Some may not like the look of that camera bump, although it doesn’t impact performance. Both laptops have a built-in webcam shutter. 

Additionally, the port selection varies between the two devices. The HP Envy x360 has two USB Type-A ports, two USB Type-C ports, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack. The Lenovo Slim 7i also has two USB Type-C ports, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack, but only includes one USB Type-A port. 

Beyond that, both laptops feature a similar steel gray design that will blend in at work or school. Each has the same screen size and effectively the same keyboard design (including a dedicated Microsoft Copilot key). So, for many people, this category will simply come down to personal preference. However, the HP Envy x360 wins since its 2-in-1 design gives you the option to use it in tablet mode if you wish. 

Winner: HP Envy x360 2-in-1 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Display

It’s crucial to note that our review configurations for these two laptops included OLED displays, but the base configurations don’t match. The HP Envy x360 includes a 1920x1200 IPS display in its base configuration, while the Lenovo Slim 7i’s base model consists of a 1920x1200 OLED display. If you want an OLED display, you’ll have to pay $150 extra for it on the HP Envy x360. 

Both OLED panels have some differences, as well. The OLED display on the HP Envy has a higher resolution of 2880x1800, which means it has a higher pixel density than the OLED display on the Lenovo Slim 7i. As a result, the HP Envy’s display may look a bit sharper. Both displays performed well in our benchmark tests:

Those results are very close across the board. Most people would likely have difficulty telling the difference between these two displays. While it’s disappointing that HP charges an upgrade fee for an OLED display, the HP Envy has a slight edge in this category since its OLED panel has a higher resolution than the Lenovo Slim 7i’s. 

Winner: HP Envy x360 2-in-1 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Performance

I was shocked by the difference in performance scores between the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and the Lenovo Slim 7i. On paper, these two mainstream laptops seem very similar. However, including differing variants of the Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU appears to make a significant difference in performance. 

Our benchmark tests revealed a significant lead in performance for the Lenovo Slim 7i across the board:

Those results are a bit baffling at first glance – how can the multi-core Geekbench 6 results be so different if both laptops have an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU? The answer lies in the critical differences between the Core Ultra 7 155U and Core Ultra 7 155H. 

The Core Ultra 7 155U, which the HP Envy has, includes 14 threads and 12 total cores (two of which are performance and eight efficiency cores). In comparison, the Core Ultra 7 155H, seen in the Lenovo Slim 7i, includes 22 threads and 16 total cores (six of which are performance and eight efficiency cores). 

Those major spec differences between the two CPUs appear similar at first glance. The Core Ultra 7 155H is a far more capable processor, especially for multitasking. The more significant number of threads and cores explains why the Core Ultra 7 155H in the Lenovo Slim 7i trounced the HP Envy x360 in the multi-core Geekbench 6 test. 

It’s also worth noting that the base configurations of both laptops use the Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, but once again, use different versions of it. The base configuration of the HP Envy x360 includes the Core Ultra 5 125U, which is equipped with 14 threads and 12 cores (two performance cores and eight efficiency cores). The base configuration of the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 includes the Core Ultra 5 125H featuring 18 threads and 14 cores (four performance cores and eight efficiency cores). 

So, even if you were to opt for the base configuration of either laptop, you would still get better performance from the Lenovo Slim 7i. The “H” versions of Intel’s Core Ultra processors include superior specs. As a result, the Core Ultra 5 and Core Ultra 7 versions of the Lenovo Slim 7i offer stronger performance for their prices. 

Winner: Lenovo Slim 7i 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Graphics

Since the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 use integrated graphics, their graphics performance relies on their CPUs. Unfortunately, considering its overall performance scores, this does not bode well for the HP Envy. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor also lagged in our graphics tests: 

Based on these results, the Lenovo Slim 7i handily wins the graphics category by nearly doubling the HP Envy’s scores. This is due to a major difference in the integrated graphics tech in each laptop’s CPU. 

The Core Ultra 7 155H CPU in the Slim 7i includes Intel Arc integrated graphics with a max dynamic frequency of 2.25GHz and eight Xe-cores. In comparison, the Core Ultra 7 155U CPU in the HP Envy includes basic Intel Graphics integrated graphics with a max dynamic frequency of 1.95GHz and four Xe-cores. 

That means the Core Ultra 7 155H in the Slim 7i has double the graphics cores for handling graphics-intensive tasks like games. Considering this spec difference, it’s not surprising it far exceeded the HP Envy in our graphics tests. 

Of course, neither of these laptops is a gaming laptop. I could do a bit of casual gaming on both, although with slightly more success on the Slim 7i. However, if you’re in the market for a laptop for playing video games, you would be better served with one of our expert picks in our guide to the best gaming laptops. 

Winner: Lenovo Slim 7i 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Battery life

Battery life is a deciding factor for many people when choosing a new laptop. However, it may not make a significant difference in this match-up. The HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 displayed similar results in our battery life tests.  

Both laptops lasted roughly 10 hours, but the Slim 7i lasted 14 minutes longer, giving it a slight edge in this category. 

Winner: Lenovo Slim 7i 

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Overall winner

The Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 is the better laptop for most people due to its stronger specs (even in the base configuration) and superior performance. While the base version of the Slim 7i costs about $80 more than the base configuration of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1, you get much higher quality components for the price, resulting in better performance. 

The only significant edge the HP Envy has is its 2-in-1 design. If you have your heart set on a 2-in-1, you would be better served with one of the devices featured in our guide to the best 2-in-1 laptops, such as the HP Spectre x360 14. These laptops are hand-picked by Laptop Mag’s experts, so you’ll get a laptop that offers good value and performance for your money. 

If there’s one vital takeaway from comparing the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 and the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9, it’s the importance of the details in a laptop’s specs. The Lenovo Slim 7i includes a more powerful variant of the Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU than the HP Envy has, which made a monumental difference in its performance.

More from Laptop Mag

• Lenovo Yoga 7i vs Lenovo Slim 7i: Which Gen 9 Lenovo laptop should you buy?
• HP Spectre x360 16 (2024) review: A premium 2-in-1 laptop that does it all
• Copilot+ PCs: Release date, reviews, price — and what Reddit thinks

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the 7th iteration of the Square Enix MMO, though the 1.0 version of the game is no longer playable, and for good reason. However, the revamped 2.0 base game and five subsequent expansions are all still playable. And as the 7.0 iteration begins its post-launch life cycle, we're looking at the hefty graphic update that came alongside the Dawntrail launch.

While I would have loved to test absolutely every possible system I could get my hands on, I decided to stick to the more common configuration options out of deference to you, dear readers. I'm not writing for an audience made up exclusively of my own clones, after all.

So we're pitting the PlayStation 5 graphics against the Nvidia RTX 4080 and the RTX 4060 to see just what platform has the best graphics. To keep things as close to repeatable as possible, I ran the same level 85 dungeon, "The Skydeep Cenote," on the same character, on the same job, with the same party of NPC companions. Outside of a benchmark, this is as close as I could get to scientific evaluation of the game. 

The results may surprise you.

PlayStation 5 graphics

Sony's PlayStation 5 may have older hardware compared to brand new gaming PCs, but the 3.5 GHz AMD Zen 2 processor, 10.3 teraflop RDNA 2 graphics card, and 16GB of memory still manage to provide a seamless gaming experience. Sure, you may be capped at a 120Hz refresh rate, but most games don't manage to push that number that high.

The graphics update for FFXIV: Dawntrail is mainly centered around character hair and face textures, the appearance of skin and hair on characters, the appearance of metallic material on specific gear, the appearance of fog, the appearance of water and waves, the appearance of distant terrain, soft shadows, shadows used in the background of some cutscenes, and changes in lighting due to the passage of time. So, a lot of the tweaks are subtle, but when you take a moment to look at characters in closeups, it becomes obvious how much more detail is captured in the 7.0 graphics update.

The PS5 version of the game has never looked so stunning.

Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics

I used the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) for my RTX 4080 laptop. With an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU, and 32GB of memory the Pro 7i should be more than powerful enough to handle a game that re-launched in 2013. And it is, don't get me wrong. The game plays smoothly even with the graphics settings toggled to Desktop (High) settings, though I primarily played with the Laptop (High) preset enabled on the Legion Pro 7i.

While you still get those nice lighting and texture changes with the 4080-powered laptop running the game, there isn't much here that isn't available in the PS5 version.

Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics

I used the Dell XPS 14 OLED as my RTX 4060 machine. With an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and 32GB of memory, the Dell XPS 14 may not be a gaming laptop, but it can do some basic gaming. One thing I noticed with the XPS 14 was that I had to toggle my graphics settings down to the Laptop (Standard) preset to avoid some stuttering, especially as the laptop got hotter after a lot of use or in high-traffic areas where server connection issues could easily crop up.

The revamped facial animations and textures in the RTX 4060 version are certainly still gorgeous, but they lack a bit of depth compared to the RTX 4080 and PS5 versions.

Bottom line

Everyone is going to game on the platform they like best, whether that's a fully future-proof desktop PC with an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU, a premium laptop with a discrete graphics card like the XPS 14, a high-end gaming laptop with an RTX 4080 like the Legion Pro 7i, a PS5, or even a MacBook Pro. 

But if, like me, you have options, it's always good to know what the best version of a game is. And for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, you can't beat the combination of top-tier graphics and low price-point of the PlayStation 5. After all, a $499 console is a bargain compared to a $3,000+ gaming laptop or custom desktop PC. And despite the extra power of the RTX 4080 in the Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9), there isn't much visible difference between the 4080 and the PS5's RDNA 2 GPU.

To say this laptop didn't fit on my economy seat's tray table would be an understatement. But more than that, fitting this chunky beast of a gaming machine into my small travel suitcase was a hassle and a half. It was too thick to fit in the laptop pocket of my Solo New York backpack, and just barely squeezed into my half-size rollaboard.

This entire experience reminded me of one crucial fact: not all laptops are meant to be travel or lap-friendly.

Consider your travel needs while shopping for a laptop

I've learned this lesson before, courtesy of an older Alienware A51 laptop. While working in the hardware testing lab, I decided to clear through some old systems in our inventory while benchmarking a few laptops on the lab test bench. I didn't have as much space left on the test bench as I would have liked, so I decided to prop the A51 up on my lap.

To this day, I can still feel the creak my femurs made once I set that monster of a machine in my lap. And yet, I still thought I'd be able to get some work done on my 5-hour flight to LA with the Legion Pro 7i despite its meager 4:29 battery life. That dream died almost immediately, probably to the great joy of my fellow passengers as the fans may have sounded like a competing jet engine preparing for takeoff in our row.

Some laptops are not designed to be portable, and that's okay. Most of the best gaming laptops and best workstations fall firmly in that category. They're desktop replacement systems that can be moved, but ideally, they'll only be moving from one sturdy desk to another with an outlet nearby at all times.

Now, some desktop replacement laptops, like the Razer Blade 16, are a bit portable at 5.3 pounds and 0.87 inches thick. That may not sound that different from the Legion Pro 7i, but I assure you that it's noticeable when trying to squeeze them into a bag.

I'm not telling you that you have to invest in one of the best Ultrabooks. Thin and light laptops may not be able to meet your performance needs. But before you make that purchase, think long and hard about whether you need to take your laptop with you when traveling. Your future self will thank you for every ounce and tenth of an inch you can eliminate from your bag by selecting a slightly thinner and lighter laptop.

If you do need to live a high-performance and high-travel lifestyle, consider options like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 or Razer Blade 14. Both are roughly four pounds and offer over eight hours of battery life, while still outperforming the average gaming laptop.

This is the first time we've seen these two powerhouses use a chipset other than Intel. So what does that mean for these competitors? Will we finally see the MacBook dethroned? Or will the XPS 13 falter against the weight of the tech giant's gaudy campus?

Let's see what a Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3 matchup looks like.

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Specs compared

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Price

This laptop comparison is tricky. We all know that you're paying the "Apple tax" when you go with a MacBook. However, Dell also tries to earn a similar premium lure by charging more for less. But which is the better deal?

For $1,299, the XPS 13 offers a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.4-inch, 1920 x 1200, 120Hz display.

For $1,499, the MacBook Air 13 features an M3 chip, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664, 60Hz display.

The specs are somewhat comparable apart from the display. However, the MacBook Air offers a lower starting price of $1,099, which drops you to 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The XPS 13 tops out at $2,499 for a version with 64GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and either a 2560 x 1600, 500-nit display or an OLED, 2880 x 1800, 60Hz, 400-nit display. Meanwhile, the MacBook Air stops at $2,299 with 24GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.

The XPS 13 offers the better deal on RAM, but once these machines get that expensive, they lose their purpose as affordable alternatives to their more premium siblings. This is why I have to side with the MacBook Air 13, as it offers the cheapest option for a premium laptop with a sharp display.

Winner: MacBook Air 13

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Design

Now this section is also incredibly complicated. One looks better, but one feels better. The XPS 13 and MacBook Air fight over form versus function.

Both laptops scream "premium." 

But the MacBook looks like... a MacBook. Picture it in your mind, and it's there. 

However, the XPS 13 adopts a daring new aesthetic. I'm talking about Batmobile-levels of style, from its mesmerizing hood to its futuristic deck that's both minimalist and elegant.

The XPS 13 also comes in lighter, weighing 2.6 pounds versus the MacBook Air's 2.7 pounds. A close race. And while the MacBook Air wins on thinness (11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches), the XPS 13 tightens up the frame all around (11.62 x 7.84 x 0.6 inches).

You might think that the XPS 13 has this in the bag. Wrong. The XPS 13 may look nicer, but it's not practical. The deck is too small, and the keyboard is too jam-packed, making for an uncomfortable tying experience. However, the MacBook 13 retains a light and thin form without sacrificing its function.

Winner: MacBook Air 13 

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Display

The Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air 13 M3 feature completely different displays. The former measures 13.4 inches and has a 1920 x 1200 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, while the latter supports a 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664, 60Hz display.

Right now, the MacBook features the larger and sharper display, but the XPS 13's one advantage is its refresh rate. Let's see how they do on benchmarks.

The XPS 13 covered 66.9% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and averaged 456 nits of brightness, while the MacBook Air 13 covered 77.8% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and averaged 476 nits of brightness.

The XPS 13 may feature a higher refresh rate than the MacBook Air, but it's worse in every other aspect.

Winner: MacBook Air 13

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Performance

This is where dreams are made. The face-off between the Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 is most interesting where the CPU is concerned. 

The new Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 goes head-to-head with Apple's legendary M3 chip.

On the Geekbench 6.3 overall performance test, the Dell XPS 13 hit 14,635, while the MacBook Air hit 12,087. That's not a small difference in performance.

In a more real-world test, the XPS 13 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 4 minutes and 41 seconds on our HandBrake benchmark. The MacBook Air finished in 6 minutes and 32 seconds.

What about storage? The XPS 13's 512GB SSD scored a transfer rate of 3,129/3,782 MBps on the BlackMagic Read/Write test. To my surprise, that beat the MacBook Air's 512GB SSD, which managed a rate of 3,030/3,058 MBps.

Qualcomm jumped back into the laptop industry with a hot few sucker punches. Who knows how Apple will respond, but it better do so before Qualcomm takes its lunch money.

Winner: Dell XPS 13

Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Air 13 M3: Battery life

Now, this is where things get even spicier. Since Apple switched to its own chipset, the battery life has been some of the best in the business. 

And we know Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 is gunning for that battery life crown. But when we unplug the Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air 13 side by side, which dies first?

On the Laptop Mag battery test — which continuously surfs through webpages over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness — the XPS 13 averaged 19 hours and 1 minute (20:51 after we installed the BIOS 1.7.0 update). Where does that leave the MacBook Air? Time of death: Roughly 4 hours earlier (15:13).

To put the XPS 13's battery life into context, the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023) was previously our longest-lasting laptop, coming in at 18:05. The XPS 13 didn't just win this battle of batteries; it won the war.

Winner: Dell XPS 13

Overall winner: MacBook Air 13

The MacBook Air 13 is the victor. Despite the Dell XPS 13's impressive show in performance and battery, Qualcomm did the heavy lifting. Dell couldn't seem to carry its own weight regardless of the laptop's light weight.

Apple offers a better display and a cheaper starting price. But its biggest victory is one that isn't necessarily the most impressive—it's comfortable to use. For folks with larger hands, the XPS 13 is going to take time to get used to, if it's usable at all.

After catching a glimpse of the star ratings above, you probably knew how this fight would go down. The XPS 13 is still a great laptop. In addition to its excellent performance and battery life, it offers a bright display and solid webcam. But it is better for folks with smaller hands.

Unless you need the best of the best battery life, the MacBook Air 13 is the obvious choice.

Winner: MacBook Air 13

While my trusty MacBook Pro could undoubtedly handle the edits, something is exciting about using one of the most potent workstation laptops we’ve tested for some basic Photoshop and Capcut work.

I had about 70 photos of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to edit for exposure and clarity due to the lower visibility in the water, plus videos of White Tip Reef Sharks and Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks to stitch together in a highlight reel of my trip to Cocos Island, Costa Rica. I even brought out some older photos of Sand Tiger Sharks from a trip to North Carolina. Using Photoshop and Capcut for the edits, I cleared my backlog of travel edits in no time. 

And even though I barely scratched the surface of what the ZBook Studio is capable of, there’s something almost absurdly fun about using an overpowered laptop for low-end tasks. This helps solve the question of what to get for the person with everything.

Power overkill: for the person who has everything

OK, so this answer requires that the gift recipient likes high-end laptops. But assuming they do, and they aren’t lifelong gamers, the HP ZBook Studio is a great gift. Who doesn’t love overkill?

The ZBook Studio had no trouble loading 70+ high-res images and 20 video files during my editing power session. However, my editing was so underwhelming to the ZBook’s hardware that the fans didn’t kick on.

Of course, the ZBook Studio is far from a cheap laptop. The sticker price of our review unit was nearly $9,000, at which point you could buy a decent used car. 

But if you can find it on sale, or the price is not a concern for you, it makes a solid gift for the computer enthusiast who has everything. 

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It’s our duty at Laptop Mag to recommend the best hardware in their respective categories, and if you’re looking at gaming laptops, there are epic options available. We could talk about the surprisingly powerful yet sub-$3,000 MSI Vector 16 HX A14VHG for high-end buyers or even the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i for those needing affordable yet still excellent.

Products of this quality make it seem like the perfect time to invest in a gaming laptop, and don’t get me wrong; we absolutely do recommend these laptops (alongside anything on our best gaming laptops list).

However, there’s another way to look at the shifting tides of this industry, and depending on your perspective, it might not actually be a great time to invest in a gaming laptop.

Why you might want to wait on buying a gaming laptop until early 2025 

Gaming laptops are complicated beasts, and we’d recommend one over the other for plenty of reasons. Whether it’s related to its display, processing power, design, battery life, port selection, or whatever other features it knocks out of the park, these aspects are important for what results in a great product.

But ultimately, the most important facet boils down to the graphics card. Video games are why you want a gaming laptop, so ensuring you have the power to support the most demanding games (depending on what you can afford) is vital.

With Nvidia’s latest 40 series laptop graphics cards, you’re getting the best of the best on a mobile device. Whether it’s an RTX 4050 or 4060 for budget consumers, an RTX 4070 for mid-range options, or an RTX 4080 or 4090 at the high-end, each is a good choice, depending on your circumstances.

Yet time leaves all hardware in the dust. What was once the best option available will eventually go out of date. We’re swiftly reaching the point in the RTX 40 series’ lifespan where it will be overtaken by the next best thing. In this case, that’s the RTX 50 series.

The RTX 50 series has not been given an official release date, but we make a substantial prediction based on previous launches:

• RTX 40 series laptops: Launched February 8, 2023, with the 4080 and 4090.
• RTX 30 series laptops: Launched on January 12, 2021, with the 3070 and 3080.
• RTX 20 series laptops: Launched on January 29, 2019, with the 2060, 2070, and 2080.

The consistency of this pattern is clear, and by following the path laid out by prior launches, we will almost certainly see the first RTX 50 series laptops in early 2025, likely within January or February. While there is a chance that the RTX 50 series will be an exception to the pattern for whatever reason, we wouldn’t bet on it.

When you’re on the prowl for a gaming laptop, you have two options: Bite the bullet and invest in one of the 40 series laptops available now, or wait roughly six months until you can get your hands on Nvidia’s new GPUs.

Six months might seem like a long time, but a gaming laptop should last five years or more, and frankly, waiting those extra six months could put an additional two years on how long you keep that gaming laptop. It could be the best choice in the long run. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that RTX 40 series laptops will suddenly belong in the trash or stop being sold in stores. These gaming laptops are still incredible and will remain that way for a long time, but they will become outdated before RTX 50 series laptops.

If you're on a budget, buying a gaming laptop right now could smart. Here's why.

There’s a pretty strong argument against the idea I proposed, and it has everything to do with budget. Graphics cards are at their highest MSRP when launching, excluding specific circumstances like when a GPU is no longer in production and becomes difficult to find or there’s a component shortage. However, assuming neither of those issues springs up, RTX 50 series laptops will be rather expensive when they first launch.

We can prove this by looking at the cost of gaming laptops during the RTX 40 series’ earliest moments of launch. In March 2023, we reviewed the $1,599 MSI Katana 15 built with an RTX 4070. We can compare it to the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i, the latest gaming laptop I reviewed, which is also built with an RTX 4070 and costs $1,694.

For only a hundred dollars more, the Legion Pro 5i features a vastly superior display in brightness and color depth, a lighter chassis, a sturdier design, greater processing power, higher resolution, larger RAM, and better battery life for nearly the same price. 

That’s how much of a difference only a year of waiting makes. And when we look at a laptop like the Origin EON16-S, which we reviewed in April 2023 for its $2,386 price point, the Legion Pro 5i still outpaces it with greater processing power for a significantly lower price.

We expect to see the exact same developments throughout the RTX 50 series. What was once powerful and affordable will look overpriced in a year, which is why companies often discount older models before launching new, better configurations.

To wait or not to wait?

This all boils down to the ultimate question: To wait or not to wait?

Ultimately, we cannot recommend the latest RTX 40 series laptops enough. Still, there’s a point about the importance of future-proofing your gaming laptop to ensure it can last as long as possible before being replaced. If you’re worried about keeping your hardware for as long as possible and want to ensure it stays modern for several years, waiting for the 50 series is fine.

If you’re less concerned with keeping your hardware modern and are more than comfortable investing in something great now, that won’t break your bank and boast a balance of great features beyond just the GPU — there’s no need to wait. Buy wit h confidence.

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I reviewed the Gigabyte G6 KF (2024), a gaming laptop that I despised. It still cost over $1,000, and I could not fathom why. It felt like it was built as cheaply as possible, though it came with an RTX 4060 GPU. But is that really impressive?

I dug around and found that, no, it’s not. Folks who are shopping for a gaming laptop need to think twice about their approach. First and foremost, don’t buy at full price. Second, there are powerful gaming laptops you can get for under $1,000.

Get yourself a powerful gaming laptop for a cheap price

I’ll preface this by saying these gaming laptops won’t be quality machines. However, if the Gigabyte G6 KF taught me anything, it’s that almost nothing could be as wrong. And at the very least, you can get better performance than what the Gigabyte offers on its overpriced label.

The first one I found was the HP Victus 16. Traditionally an entry-level gaming laptop, it’s outfitted with an RTX 4070 GPU and is currently on sale at Best Buy for $899. Mind you, we haven’t reviewed this model. But we loved last year’s version, which offers a colorful display, great audio, and a solid overall design. This model sports an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 16.1-inch, 1080p display.

Then there’s the Lenovo Legion Slim 5. We haven’t reviewed this particular Legion, but the Legions we have reviewed score decent marks. This model is also outfitted with an RTX 4070 GPU for $1,249 at Lenovo ($1,179 if the following coupons are still active: BBYEXTRA10 and BUYMORELENOVO). The difference between the Victus and Legion models is that the latter is typically more premium. This model offers a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 display, whereas the Victus features a 1080p screen. It also sports an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Bump that price up a bit, and you can get the Dell G16 Gaming Laptop for $1,299 at Dell. We didn’t review this Dell G16, but I’ve reviewed many in the past and found them reliable performers. What’s unique about this version, on top of its RTX 4070 GPU, is the Intel Core i9-13900HX processor. That’s a whole lot of power for an affordable price. This machine also comes with a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display. It’s also outfitted with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

Yes, you can get an RTX 4070 gaming laptop for under $1,000, but you can also get an RTX 4080 gaming laptop for under $2,000. Don’t believe me? See the Alienware m16 on sale for $1,899 at Best Buy. We reviewed the latest Alienware m16 R2. The only one on sale is the older model, but that’s still a bangin’ laptop for the price. It has an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, an RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display.

Bottom line

Regardless of whether these gaming laptops are still on sale by the time you read this, the record shows that you should only be spending what you have to. You can get powerful, reasonably-priced gaming laptops if you know where to look.

Of course, check out our best gaming laptop deals page to keep up with the greatest deals. And if you are reading this on or around July 16-17, then check out our curated list of the best Prime Day gaming laptop deals which often includes some of the biggest discounts of the year.