8 Best Gaming Laptops (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Alienware has lost some focus with its gaming laptops recently, but its latest refresh feels like a return to form. The Alienware 16X Aurora (7/10, WIRED Recommends) sits in the middle of the lineup, attempting to offer the right balance of performance, premium features, and price. At its current price, it nails that walk across the tightrope. Though it isn't flashy, the design is understated yet refined. And while there are cheaper ways to get RTX 5060-level performance, the bright, color-accurate IPS display is a great upgrade, as is the premium touchpad. All in all, the Alienware 16X Aurora ended up being my favorite Alienware gaming laptop in years.

The Nvidia RTX 5050 graphics card is nothing to get too excited about. If you can avoid it, I'd recommend upgrading to an RTX 5060 at least, which is around a 23 percent bump in performance. But if you're on a budget, the Acer Nitro V 16 AI (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best gaming laptop under $1,000—and it's even been discounted to under $700, which is incredible.

With the RTX 5050 onboard, you'll likely need to play games at Medium settings to get decent frame rates, whether that's Cyberpunk 2077 or Marvel Rivals. You can always lean on upscaling and frame generation if you need to, but I was happy with the native experience at Medium settings for this price. The display is easily the weakest aspect of the laptop. The resolution and refresh rate are fine (1920 x 1200 at 180-Hz), but the sickly green tint of the panel is off-putting. There's no getting around that, unfortunately.

The only other caveat is that Acer provides a woefully limited 135-watt charger, which can actually drain the battery even when you're plugged in, specifically in the laptop's Performance or Turbo modes. You can avoid this problem but sticking to the Balanced mode, which isn't a big sacrifice in performance, but it's something to be aware of.