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5 Best Gaming Laptops Under $1500 Reviews in 2023 | Top Picks Which Don’t Break the Bank

5 Top Picks

2 Reviewers

27 Hours of Research

22 Options Considered

I've been playing computer games for the past 17 years of my life and have spent over fifteen grand on equipment - Sager, Acer, Eluktronics, Razer, Alienware and Dell - I've tried all the major brands. I've also researched and tested 14 laptops to help you come up with the 5 best so that you can get the best gaming laptop under $1500 without having to go through the headache of trial and error.

If you're looking for real recommendations from a real gamer than check out these reviews. Myself and my team have put dozens of hours researching, testing (testing equipment for video games is always fun), and writing to get you this list of 5. So you can waste your time and money not following our recommendations, or you can actually get the best option out there that we recommend. Check out our favorite laptops for video games under $1500 below:

3 Top Gaming Laptops Under $1500

Razer Blade 15 Gaming Laptop

 

1. [Best Overall]

 Razer Blade 15

5/5

Launched earlier this year, the Razer Blade 15 has finally caught up with the competition for what makes the best gaming laptop under 1500. Some outstanding criteria are the solid structure, slim body, elegant design. Besides, the upgrades on the screen, such as thin bezels and 144Hz screen put the cherry on top for this option.

  • Uncompromising finishing quality
  • Great gaming performance
  • Strength in Blade benchmark performance

Dell G5587-7866BLK-PUS

2. [Best For The Money] Dell G5 15 5587

4.9/5

The Dell G5 15 5587 is the successor to the Dell Inspiron 15 in the 7000 series. For the case, Dell believes in what has been tested, which means that the G5 15 uses the same design languages as the Inspiron 15. 7000. Among them, the most outstanding is the smooth outer shell that leaves fingerprints and the front edges quite sharp.

  • Stable design, widescreen opening angle
  • IPS screen with wide viewing angle
  • Excellent performance, enough for current games

Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop

3. [Best For The Great Gaming Performance]

Acer Predator Helios 300 (2019)

4.8/5

Compared to previous years’ versions, Helios 300 2019 has had a lot of design changes. It inherits some details and characteristics from high-end models such as color, beveled corner, etc. Helios 300 2019 has been upgraded by Acer and positioned the product to a higher level.

  • Great gaming performance

  • Solid design
  • Good port selection

Best Gaming Laptops Under $1500

[Best Overall]

5/5

Launched earlier this year, the Razer Blade 15 has finally caught up with the competition for what makes the best gaming laptop under 1500. Some outstanding criteria are the solid structure, slim body, elegant design. Besides, the upgrades on the screen, such as thin bezels and 144Hz screen, are also appreciated by critic, though this laptop is closer to under $2500 than $1500.

The Intel Core i7-8750H processor paired with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU has created an excellent performance suitable for gamers. Also, you can choose the Nvidia GTX 1060 Max-Q to optimize for the thin and light mobile of this laptop.

Razer has shown its strength in Blade benchmark performance. Despite having a thickness of 17.2mm compared to the width of 17.7mm of MSI GS65, this Core i7 laptop is still a bit better in gaming performance benchmarks.

It scored an average of 92 fps in three test sections on Rise of the Tomb Raider, namely 144 fps with Mountain Pass, 83 fps in Syria, and 78 fps in Geothermal Valley, compared to 80 fps for MSI GS65 and Gigabyte Aero 15X. In the tests of Total War: Warhammer II and Ghost Recon: Wildlands, the Blade 15 achieved an average test score of 59 and 44 fps, which is slightly or slightly better than the GS65 and Aero 15X.

Razer Blade 15 Gaming Laptop

Pros

  • Uncompromising finishing quality
  • Great gaming performance

Cons

  • There is no Ethernet port

[Best For The Money]

4.9/5

The Dell G5 15 5587 is the successor to the Dell Inspiron 15 in the 7000 series. For the case, Dell believes in what has been tested, which means that the G5 15 uses the same design languages as the Inspiron 15. 7000. Among them, the most outstanding is the smooth outer shell that leaves fingerprints and the front edges quite sharp.

In terms of stability, the Dell G5 15 leaves an excellent impression. Due to the hinge placed in the center, the screen becomes very solid. You can open the screen with one hand without problems, and the maximum opening angle is 140 degrees. The screen is kept in a perfect position, no matter during our use.

The all-new Intel Core i5-8300H processor, under the current Coffee Lake product line. Quad-core processor clocked at 2.3 GHz - 4.0 GHz with 45-watt TDP. SoC also provides Hyper-Threading, which means that the Intel Core i5-8300H can run eight threads at the same time, allowing it to even run some virtual reality on lower settings.

However, thanks to the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q, the gaming performance of the Dell G5 15 5587 is sufficient. Not all games can be played at high resolution without problems, but malfunctions rarely occur.

The Witcher 3 game clearly shows the limits of the device. However, in Rise of the Tomb Raider, the game can even be played smoothly at high resolutions. One thing is clear: Configuration with Intel Core i5-8300H and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q is usually suitable for full HD and high resolution with stable speed .

Dell G5587-7866BLK-PUS

Pros

  • Stable design, widescreen opening angle
  • IPS screen with wide viewing angle
  • Excellent performance, enough for current games
  • Reasonable keyboard layout, trackpad
  • Thunderbolt 3 port support
  • Support M.2 standard NVMe
  • Ability to upgrade easily
  • Long battery life

Cons

  • The screen has a low brightness
  • Operating temperatures under heavy loads

[Best For The Great Gaming Performance]

4.8/5

Looking at the picture above, we guess you will wonder: "Is this the Helios 500 / Triton 500? Is there a mistake?", "Why is it like Helios 500 / Triton 500?". Or cry out in surprise: "Is this Helios 300 ?! It is completely different from the previous year's version!".

Compared to previous years’ versions, Helios 300 2019 has had a lot of design changes. It inherits some details and characteristics from high-end models such as color, beveled corner, etc. Helios 300 2019 has been upgraded by Acer and positioned the product to a higher level.

As for the screen, it is still the parameters that were available on the previous generation: 15.6-inch screen, IPS panel for wide viewing angles, anti-glare coating, Full HD resolution, high-frequency 144Hz (on The 2018 version, depending on the option, the screen does not have this parameter) brings a little advantage and better support for FPS gamers.

When playing the game, I tried the power of Helios 300 2019 with three current heavy titles: Battlefield 5, Far Cry New Dawn, and Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

With the graphics settings from High to Ultra High, the machine works well, and the FPS level is stable: over 35 to 60 FPS, providing a comfortable gaming experience. If you want higher FPS, you can adjust it to Medium, turn off some unnecessary settings.

Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop

Pros

  • Great gaming performance
  • Affordable price
  • Solid design
  • 144Hz screen
  • Good port selection.

Cons

  • Limited storage with 256GB

Are you looking for a thin and lightweight gaming laptop that still meets all your gaming needs? Eluktronics MECH-15 G2Rx is the answer. It is well worth staying on your table for a price not too expensive.

Gaming laptops with ultrabook designs are a new trend in the design of brands. The Mech 15 is thin and light with a thickness of nearly 0.86 inches and weighs 4.5 pounds. Despite its ergonomic design, Eluktronics Mech-15 G2 still makes gamers appreciate its modern gadgets.

Besides meeting gaming needs, Eluktronics Mech-15 G2 can also perform other tasks smoothly thanks to the 4.5GHz Intel Core i7-9750H processor along with 16 GB RAM. The storage of the machine uses a 512GB SSD hard drive.

Eluktronics Mech-15 G2 can handle most games today easily. When we switched to the Ultra setting, it always showed a stable 102 FPS which is quite nice. Besides, 89 FPS at Ultra setting on Battlefield V is an impressive score.

Eluktronics MECH-15 G2Rx

Pros

  • Lightweight and slim design
  • The distance between the keys is reasonable
  • Strong performance
  • Affordable price

Cons

  • The battery is a bit weak

4.6/5

Sager Gaming is a powerful giant with an Intel Core i7-9750 processor. The maximum clock speed of 4.5 GHz is the speed this high-performance processor can achieve. Besides, it also provides a 12MB cache, a very demanding component in the gaming community.

In addition to excellent performance, the Sager NP8957 features a stylish design that's just 0.78 thin, and it's nice to touch. Besides, it is also quite light with a weight of 4.6 pounds. You can easily carry it with you wherever you go. It is the convenience that the best gaming laptop under 1500 brings.

With its Core i7-9750H processor and RTX 2070 graphics card, this giant can work very well to play demanding games. Besides, Sager NP8957 can also provide Optane ready memory under extreme conditions to ensure perfect performance and fast response.

Sager NP8957 0.78 Inches Thin and Light Gaming Laptop

Pros

  • Great gaming performance ability
  • Customizable keyboard
  • Attractive design
  • A better thermal cooling system
  • Wide variety of ports
  • Affordable gaming laptop

Cons

  • Slightly heavy

How to Choose A Good Gaming Laptop under 1500?

For $1500 you'll be able to get a high performing gaming laptop that can handle all types of games with great settings. Rest assured that you won't be limited to specific games like you might with cheaper options such as gaming laptops around $300 which can only play a handful of games that require little processing.

Take Care of the CPU and Graphics Card

When buying a gaming laptop, you should pay attention to the CPU first because it is the "heart" of a machine. And to play the game, these CPU models must have the HQ character behind (this HQ character indicates that this is a high-performance chip line), such as 7700HQ.

Also, the chip samples ending in H or HK are okay. The remaining dilemma is whether you choose the i5 laptop or i7 to suit your financial conditions because the same model of an i7 CPU will be 2 to 3 million more expensive than the i5.

You do not need to worry because, at present, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti cards are available on our gaming laptop models. This card is capable of playing GTA V at a high graphics setting.

graphic card


RAM and Hard Drive: As Much as Possible

Sure, the higher the RAM capacity, the better it will be for multitasking. In other words, it helps laptops open many applications, tabs without fear of lag or shock.

And 4 GB is just enough for light office applications and games. Therefore, laptops that want to play the game must have RAM from 8 GB or more. We should upgrade to 16 GB RAM to make the game more comfortable.

Hard drives with gaming laptops are usually available with 1 TB or more HDD, but if possible, you should choose a machine with an SSD because the SSD will help the machine boot faster.

Screen: Pay Attention to Size and Resolution

Gaming laptops are usually available in 15-inch, 17-inch, and 21-inch sizes - anything smaller such as a 13-inch laptop or 14-inch laptop is usually too small. But the large screen size will affect the portability, so a screen size of about 15.6 inches would be most reasonable. It just ensures a good image experience without making the device too bulky or difficult to carry around you don't need the best 4k laptop to play games.

As for resolution, the higher they are, the better the displayed image. But for gaming laptops, the decision should be Full HD for the best experience. Gaming laptops with 2K or more top screen will have to compensate for a lot of gaming performance.

If you are more careful, you may consider the frequency of scanning. The higher the scan frequency, the smoother when playing games, especially for high-speed games such as racing, FPS shooting, and equipped with a high-frequency screen that will support gamers.

Playing Cyberpunk on a laptop


Don't Forget the Keyboard, Ignore the Mouse Pad

The question about gaming consoles quite a lot is the keyboard. With a unique nature for gaming, the keyboard support for these laptops must be Full-Size (full keys and number keys) and essential travel (bouncing) convenient functional operation and avoid mistaken clicks. Besides, large keys and tunnel backlight also increase the "cool" platform for the machine.

Mainly, it is required to have lights for use in low light conditions. Primarily a laptop with colorful backlit keyboard is very popular with gamers, maybe because it looks cooler.

As for the mouse pad, almost no one plays the game with the mouse pad at all. We all have to use an external mouse for gaming so that you can skip this part.

Heat Dissipation Capability

Gamers often play games for a few hours or all day. Using high-performance CPUs means consuming more power and overheating.

So when buying a gaming laptop, you should ask more about the heat dissipation ability of the machine, such as whether our laptop is equipped with any cooling technology, how many cooling fans, where to place it, etc. For example, the dinosaur Acer PREDATOR 21X has five fans, located in the back of the heater that is pushed back to help users not feel tired when used for a long time.

Which Laptop Brand is Best for Gaming?

Headphones on a laptop


Many years ago, Min-Liang Tan (Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of Razer) was still a young boy. Razer is one of the pioneering manufacturers in the gaming gear industry. They created the trend of specialized peripherals for Gaming, exploring the gaming gear market, and changing the world's perception forever.

If you pay a little attention, you will see the appearance of the Razer 3-head solid logo everywhere from devices such as mice - keys - headsets (gaming gear), laptops, tablets, and smartphones, etc. They are famous for the slogan that has been with Razer since its inception: "For Gamers, By Gamers." 

According to LV, the Razer Blade 15 is a perfect Gaming Laptop to own. Owning a well-refined Razer design as well as a robust internal configuration will make it difficult for gamers to ignore it.

Final Thoughts

The above are our suggestions for you when choosing to buy the best gaming laptop under 1500. With our experience of consulting and selling, we hope to help you in finding a quality and affordable product so you can play your favorite game genres.

About Dusan Stanar

I'm the founder of VSS Monitoring. I have been both writing and working in technology in a number of roles for dozens of years and wanted to bring my experience online to make it publicly available. Visit https://www.vssmonitoring.com/about-us/ to read more about myself and the rest of the team.