The 4 Best Budget And Cheap Gaming Laptops - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best budget gaming laptop we've tested in a 14-inch size is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022). It isn't a budget model per se; however, because it was released in 2022 and there's a newer model, it's often on sale for around $1,000 to $1,200 USD, putting it squarely in the budget category. If you missed the sale, it's worth looking around or waiting a bit, as it's a really good deal at its sale price. It has a fast AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU, and you can choose between an AMD Radeon RX 6700S or 6800S GPU. Both configurations provide a smooth gaming experience in AAA titles at 1440p.

The display is a 16:10 QHD+ IPS panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. It has a fast response time to deliver a clear image in fast-moving scenes and supports FreeSync to reduce screen tearing. There's only a single 1TB storage option, which isn't a lot considering the size of modern games, but it's user-replaceable, so you can just swap it for a larger-capacity SSD later on. The battery lasts only around an hour or so when gaming; this is normal, as gaming is a pretty intensive task. The only other complaint is that this laptop gets hot and loud under load.

If you want a gaming laptop with a larger 15-inch screen, go with the Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 15 (2021). It isn't very portable, as it's a little bulky and heavy, but it feels very well-built, especially for a gaming laptop in its price range. You can configure this laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H or Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, and there are multiple GPU options, from an entry-level NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 to an RTX 3070. If you want to play games with ray tracing on, we recommend getting a model with an RTX 3060 or 3070, as the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti can't maintain high frame rates due to ray tracing's high performance cost. Memory and storage max out at 32GB and 1TB, respectively, and both are user-replaceable.

As for the display, you also have multiple options. The 165Hz 1080p or 1440p panel will provide the best visual experience, as they have the fastest response time and support variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing; however, make sure you pair it with a GPU that can take advantage of the high refresh rate, like the RTX 3060 or 3070. The keyboard feels great to type on and won't cause fatigue during those long gaming sessions, and it's backlit, so you can locate your keys when gaming in the dark. Ports include four USB-As, two USB-Cs, an HDMI 2.1, and an Ethernet port. The USB-C port doesn't support Thunderbolt 4 since this is an AMD system.

The best cheap gaming laptop we've tested with a 15-inch screen is the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021). For slightly less than $800 USD, you can get a configuration with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. This CPU and GPU combo can provide a solid 60 fps gaming experience at 1080p in demanding titles, albeit with medium or low settings. 8GB of RAM isn't ideal for gaming; you can upgrade it yourself or spend a little more for this 16GB model. The SSD is user-replaceable, too, if you want more storage since 512GB isn't a lot these days.

This model has a 120Hz display. Its response time is slow, but it supports VRR to reduce screen tearing. Unfortunately, the laptop gets hot and loud under load, and the battery lasts less than an hour when gaming. Other than the port selection and the configuration options, the main difference between this laptop and the Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 15 (2021) above is the lack of a MUX switch, a feature that lets the GPU send information directly to the display without going through the integrated GPU. Without it, it won't perform as well as the Legion 5, even if it has the same configuration. This doesn't affect every game, but the performance loss can be as high as 25% in the games where it matters.

The best gaming Chromebook we've tested is the Acer Chromebook 516 GE (2022). Unlike Windows gaming laptops, this device runs Chrome OS and is designed specifically for cloud gaming services like NVIDIA GeForce NOW. Cloud gaming means that all the processing takes place on NVIDIA's server—or whichever company provides the service—and the image is streamed to your device, like any other video streaming service. The laptop comes with a three-month trial of GeForce NOW. You can play games from the Google Play Store, but know that these titles are made for smartphones and tablets running on an ARM processor, so they might not always run properly. Also, some of them lack keyboard, mouse, and controller support.

The laptop feels well-built, and while it's on the bulkier side, it isn't too heavy. It sports a nice 16-inch QHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It gets bright enough for use in most indoor settings, and its response time is good, resulting in a clear image in fast-moving scenes. The keyboard feels spacious, doesn't get hot under load, and has RGB backlighting. Don't get too excited; it only has a single lighting zone. You get Wi-Fi 6E and an Ethernet port, which is great because cloud gaming performance heavily depends on your internet connection. Battery life is short at around six hours of light use or an hour of gaming, so keep the charger close.