Best Gaming Laptop Under $1500 2022

Are you looking for the best gaming laptop under $1500?

Buying a gaming laptop on a budget can be quite tricky due to the various cost-saving measures that manufacturers can employ.

However, $1500 is a great sweet spot in which you can find the perfect balance of gaming performance as well as value.

Of course, the laptop also has to be good for other tasks besides gaming. Fortunately, most gaming laptops are quite versatile in the modern market.

We have curated a list of the very best gaming laptops you can buy on a budget of $1500. Let’s jump right in.

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The Best Gaming Laptop Under $1500 – Compared

How We Choose the Best Gaming Laptop Under $1500

Buying a gaming laptop is already a tricky process since you have to consider multiple key elements in the purchase decision before you even throw the budget into the mix.

First of all, our primary focus was the GPU, or the graphics processing unit which is the heart of a gaming laptop.

Not only does the GPU handle all the graphical processing in games, but it is also necessary for streaming and video editing should you need to do so.

Of course, the CPU is also important to complement the GPU. Therefore, we prioritized the processor as well since it handles all the computational work in gaming as well as in general productivity.

The display is a key factor of a gaming laptop since it basically handles all the visual output of your games. High refresh rate displays were made a priority, while the color reproduction and dynamic range of the panels were also considered.

We also laid a priority on the weight and size of the laptop. Gaming laptops are typically bulky, but we prioritized laptops that had a little less heft to them.

Battery life is a key component of any laptop, and the same is the case with a gaming laptop. We selected laptops with a respectable battery life that can give you a few hours of continuous gaming, at least.

Another point is that we avoided gaming notebooks since most gaming notebooks are not powerful enough.

Finally, the value proposition is the ultimate deciding factor, especially when purchasing a laptop on a budget. We selected laptops that maximized the bang-for-the-buck factor while staying under the $1500 price tag.

Keeping these factors in mind, we have selected the very best gaming laptops under $1500. Let’s dive right in.

1. MSI GL66 – Editor’s Choice

Size: 15.6 inch | CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 3 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 144Hz

The GL66 from MSI is definitely the very best new gaming laptop you can buy for under $1500, thanks to its option of the GeForce RTX 3070 in this price range. It earns the award of Editor’s Choice for this roundup.

MSI has paired the 11th Gen Core i7-11800H processor with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 in the GL66 to make it one of the best options in this price category. The Intel CPU can clock as high as 4.6 GHz which is ideal for high-end modern gaming.

Furthermore, the RTX 3070 is one of the most powerful gaming GPUs currently available, so that is an incredible feat in itself.

With this combination, you should be able to play all the modern AAA and eSports titles without any problems. Even 1440p 144Hz and 4K 60Hz gaming are not out of reach for the RTX 3070 if you tweak with some settings, although the GL66 is limited to 1080p 144Hz gaming due to its panel. top notch gaming performance

Speaking of the display, MSI has provided a standard 1080p 144Hz display which is pretty much the bare minimum for a great gaming machine. The high refresh rate will allow you to gain a competitive advantage in many multiplayer games such as COD, PUBG, Fortnite, Rocket League, CS: GO, etc.

Some people may prefer other laptops in this category such as the MSI Stealth 15M. It is a competing option that offers a lower price point, but the performance of the GL66 is more important for gaming purposes.

The Razer Blade 15 can also be found in this category, but it has a much weaker GPU for a similar price.

As far as battery life goes, the GL66 is not an impressive performer. The rated battery life is only 3 hours on a full charge, which is abysmal in the modern world. It is safe to say you will always need your charger with you for this laptop.

The GL66 also weighs around 4.63 pounds which is quite heavy, even for a gaming laptop. The bulky nature of the laptop combined with its poor battery life means that most users will not carry this laptop around with them.

All in all, the MSI GL66 trumps the other options in this price category thanks to its impressive specs, especially due to the RTX 3070. It does have some flaws, but the price-to-performance ratio overpowers most of the deficiencies and earns our recommendation.

RATINGS:

• Performance: 9/10
• Battery: 5.5/10
• Display: 8/10
• Value for Money: 7/10
• Overall Rating: 8.5/10

2. Acer Predator Helios 300 – Best Designed Gaming Laptop Under $1500 – BEST SELLER

Size: 15.6 inch | CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 6 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 144Hz

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is the definitive gaming laptop thanks to its combination of high-end performance and reasonable value proposition. This gaming laptop features an incredible design, therefore, it earns the title of the best designed gaming laptop under $1500.

Kicking things off with the performance, the Helios 300 certainly does not disappoint in this regard. Acer has equipped the Helios 300 with the 10th Gen Core i7-10750H processor which is a 6-Core overclockable CPU.

You can try your hand at overclocking if you really want to, however, this is not a good idea since laptops generally do not have the extra thermal headroom for this activity. Still, it is a really powerful CPU for modern gaming.

Paired with the Core i7 is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 which is an excellent choice for modern high-end gaming, especially in laptops. It hits the sweet spot of performance and efficiency when it comes to the RTX 3000 series.

You can play all your favorite modern titles at high-ultra settings while getting excellent framerates with this combination. The RTX 3060 should be able to handle big-budget AAA titles from 2021 and 2022 as well since the GPU is well-suited to these games.

The 1080p 144Hz screen of the Helios 300 is the ideal pairing with this CPU and GPU as you can actually saturate its capabilities in most games. The display itself is impressive in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles as well.

On the gaming laptop market, the Helios 300 has The ASUS ROG Strix G15 and the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 as alternate options that you might consider, but the Helios 300 comes out on top due to its better performance.

Acer rates the battery life of this laptop at around 6 hours on a full charge, which is average for a gaming laptop.

The Helios 300 is very bulky, thanks to its weight of 5.5 pounds, which means that you will not be able to take this laptop around with you very easily.

Although the Predator Helios 300 maximizes our budget of $1500, the performance and quality it offers in that price bracket are quite impressive and certainly warrant consideration if you are looking for the perfect gaming laptop under $1500.

RATINGS:

• Performance: 8.5/10
• Battery: 7/10
• Display: 8/10
• Value for Money: 6.5/10
• Overall Rating: 8.5/10

3. ASUS TUF Dash 15 – Mil-STD-810H Certified Gaming Laptop Under $1500

Size: 15.6 inch | CPU: Intel Core i7-11370H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 12 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 144Hz

If you’re someone who is always on the go then the Asus TUF Dash 15 can be the perfect choice for you as it can take a tough beating because of its Mil-STD-810H certification. The laptop chassis is built with rigorous materials that keeps the device protected in tough environments.

Secondly, proving that you don’t need to break the bank to get a decent gaming experience, ASUS has provided an 11th Gen Core i7 processor clocked at 4.4 GHz in this laptop. The 8 threads of this CPU are enough for handling most modern demanding games even at high framerates.

The processor has been paired with the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card. Now, the 3050 Ti is certainly not the latest and greatest when it comes to the RTX 3000 series, but it is still a very competent performer.

Equipped with 4GB of VRAM, it should be able to handle most modern games at 60-100 FPS with some graphical tweaks.

The TUF Dash 15 is more suited to competitive eSports gaming and multiplayer games that are a little easier to run as compared to full-budget AAA titles.

This is reflected in the screen choice, which is a standard 1080p 144Hz panel. The specs are good for modern gaming, but the panel itself is a little underwhelming. The color reproduction and dynamic range leave something to be desired.

Others may prefer the Acer Aspire 7 and the MSI GF65 which are very similar mid range gaming laptops. However, the TUF Dash 15 offers a better GPU and an overall superior package.

One of the better features of the TUF Dash 15 is its battery life, which is rated at around 12 hours. This is quite an impressive figure for a gaming laptop and does give you some peace of mind if you ever want to take this laptop with you somewhere.

The TUF Dash 15 has some impressive other features like the addition of the Thunderbolt 4 USB type C port. However, it lacks a full RGB keyboard which balances things out a little.

Conclusively, there are not a lot of options on the market in this price range that can compete with the ASUS TUF Dash 15 and come out on top. The combination of performance and value is quite impressive and earns it a solid recommendation from us in this roundup.

RATINGS:

• Performance: 7.5/10
• Battery: 8/10
• Display: 7/10
• Value for Money: 9/10
• Overall Rating: 8.5/10

4. ASUS ROG Strix G15 – Best Built Gaming Laptop Under $1500

Size: 15.6 inch | CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 12 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 144Hz

Our second consecutive pick from ASUS is the ROG Strix G15 gaming laptop. The G15 separates itself from other options thanks to its use of the flagship Ryzen 9 processor from AMD.

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX is one of the very best mobile CPUs currently available in gaming laptops. It is a premium 8-Core CPU that can handle any gaming or productivity task you can throw at it.

You can also expect flawless multitasking and streaming from this processor if you plan to you the CPU encoding for it. It is pretty power-hungry, however, so that is a bit of a concern as far as thermals go.

ASUS has paired the 5900HX with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, which is a high-end combination in modern gaming laptops.

The RTX 3060 will be able to match the 5900HX step-for-step and can deliver an excellent gaming experience in modern AAA as well as multiplayer games on 1080p and 1440p.

The display of the ROG Strix G15 is limited to 1080p 144Hz, however, so the RTX 3060 seems to be the perfect GPU for it. Speaking of the display, it is quite impressive regardless of the specs when it comes to the viewing angles and dynamic range.

There is no webcam in the ROG Strix G15, however, which is quite an odd decision.

MSI’s Stealth 15M and GL66 laptops compete with the ROG Strix G15 in terms of pricing and specs, however, the G15 comes out on top thanks to its premium processor and impressive build quality.

The battery life of the G15 is rated to be around 12 hours on a full charge, which is quite decent for a gaming laptop. However, the laptop weighs around 5.1 pounds making it one of the heavier laptops on the market. The portability factor is not strong with the ROG Strix G15.

All in all, this offering from ASUS is a perfectly good choice if you are looking for a gaming laptop under $1500. Its excellent build quality separates it from the bunch and earns it the title of the best built gaming laptop under $1500.

RATINGS:

• Performance: 8.5/10
• Battery: 8/10
• Display: 7.5/10
• Value for Money: 7/10
• Overall Rating: 8/10

5. HP OMEN – Best 17 Inch Gaming Laptop Under $1500

Size: 17.3 inch | CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 3 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 144Hz

The HP Omen is the very best 17-inch gaming laptop in this price range on the market, thanks to its impressive specs and impeccable build quality.

Under the hood, HP has combined the powers of the Intel Core i7-11800H and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060. The former is an overclockable octa-core CPU that can boost up to 4.6GHz on stock settings.

You can even try your hand at manual overclocking to improve that, but you may run into thermal restraints.

Even at stock settings, the Core i7-11800H is a very powerful mobile gaming CPU. Combined with the RTX 3060 from Nvidia, it can provide a high-end gaming experience capable of playing games at 1080p from 60-144Hz depending on the graphical settings.

HP has provided a standard 1080p 144Hz display with the OMEN, but it is a 17-inch screen instead of the 15.6-inch panels we see on competing gaming machines under $1500. The extra real estate might prove beneficial if you are a fan of graphically complex AAA titles.

There are some other options from Lenovo and Dell that you may consider instead of the OMEN in this price bracket. The Lenovo Legion 5 and Dell G15 are competing offerings, but the HP OMEN offers the better value proposition in this category.

HP claims a battery life of around 3 hours on a full charge, which is quite simply unacceptable in a modern laptop. The OMEN is also ridiculously heavy since it weighs over 6.1 pounds, which can make portability almost impossible.

Apart from these drawbacks, the overall package offered by HP with the OMEN is still quite impressive. It also earns the title of the best 17-inch gaming laptop under $1500 thanks to its high-end performance and decent build quality.

RATINGS:

• Performance: 8.5/10
• Battery: 6/10
• Display: 7/10
• Value for Money: 7.5/10
• Overall Rating: 8/10

6. Gigabyte AORUS 15P – Best 240Hz Gaming Laptop Under $1500

Size: 15.6 inch | CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | RAM: 16GB | Storage: 512GB SSD| Battery: 9 Hours| Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh Rate: 240Hz

The Gigabyte AORUS 15P presents itself as a very competitive option for gaming under $1500. It has a great design, impressive internal specs, a decent battery life, and a palatable price tag as well.

Perhaps the most important feature of the Gigabyte AORUS 15P is its display. The 15-inch 1080p panel is capable of refreshing up to 240 times in one second, which is rare for a laptop in this price category.

The 240Hz panel is also surprisingly well-rounded in terms of color reproduction and dynamic range.

You will need plenty of performance to saturate that 240Hz refresh rate, and thankfully the AORUS 15P provides that.

The 11th Gen intel Core i7 CPU paired with the GeForce RTX 3060 is enough to play all high end games at more than 60 FPS, provided you are open to minor tweaks to the graphics settings.

The AORUS 15P also competes with the MSI GP66 and the Gigabyte AERO 15 in this pri