2023 Best Gaming Laptops in India – Top List Ranked & Reviewed
Last Updated September 15, 2024
Our Top 3 Picks (Quick List)
With hundreds of options available in the market, we understand that choosing the best gaming laptops in India can be a daunting task. Here are our top picks for the best gaming laptops, providing you with valuable insights and recommendations to help you make an informed decision and find the perfect gaming laptop to suit your needs.
Top 10 Gaming Laptops List in September 2024
Best Gaming Laptops – Complete Buying Guide for Indian Gamers
While the desktop PC still holds its position as the supreme leader in the gaming world, it may not be the most convenient option for those seeking flexibility or portability. That’s where a Gaming Laptop comes into play. With its powerful components, attractive design, slim form factor, and premium prices, it offers the perfect balance for gamers who want smooth gameplay without breaking the bank.
But with so many options available, choosing the right gaming laptop can be a daunting task. So, what exactly should you look for when purchasing one? In this guide, we will guide you through all the crucial decisions you need to make before buying a gaming laptop.
Before everything, think about your Gaming Requirement
Sure gaming on PC looks cool, but have you wonder to what extent you want to play? Are you looking for something that cranks all the settings to maximum?
Or do you want to play an older eSports title?
This step is very important as it will ultimately define the cost of your gaming laptop. The more powerful the machine, the more the price. A simple trick is to make a list of all the possible games you want to play. Now, go to any online games retailer website and check the minimum and maximum requirements.
This will help you a lot in picking the right components for your gaming laptop. However, keep in mind that Gaming laptops aren’t as compact as Gaming PC. You’ve got not that much freedom as you’ll get with buying a Gaming PC. So, going for the highest gig in town is the best option.
General vs Gaming Laptop
If you’re wondering laptop is a laptop, so why the word “gaming”, it is mainly because of the following reasons.
Gaming Keyboard
A gaming laptop has a simplified built-in gaming keyboard. Depending on your purchase, you can get a mechanical keyboard with RGB support. The distance is perfectly designed to give gamers good feedback.
Appearance
Because of their internal spec-sheet, a gaming laptop design is a bit different. They look tough on the outside while mainly having different colors and a huge bump on the backside.
Heat Consumption
These laptops can withstand high-performance heat consumption thanks to their in-led design and dual cooling fans system. Here you will either get separate air combustion for CPU or GPU or a combined one.
Price
In a gaming laptop, manufacturers have to completely redesign the chassis of the laptop. Because they have to add a discrete graphics card and a reliable cooling system while maintaining a sleek design is challenging. For this purpose, a Gaming laptop costs more than your general laptops.
Upgradability
Depending on the model you buy, you can easily replace the RAM, Storage, and WiFi. Some modern gaming laptop allows you to change the GPU and CPU as well. For this segment, you have to do your own findings.
Who can use a Gaming Laptop?
The word “gaming” doesn’t make this machine strictly for gamers. A gaming laptop means that the machine can handle high performance. Here are some possible reasons why you should use a gaming laptop.
- Professional Gamer
- Animator or Multimedia Artist
- Graphic Designer or Video Editor
- Programmers
- Audio professionals and Musicians
Important Features to Consider when Buying a Gaming Laptop
What Graphics Card do you need?
A graphic card is the single most important component in your gaming laptop. It handles all your gaming rendering and can define how smooth your gameplay will look. To pick a graphic card, there are 2 things that you should consider the manufacturer and the model.
In terms of manufacturers, you’ll find the following names in town.
- Nvidia: The latest card from the Nvidia is the RTX 3000 series.
- Radeon: On the AMD fort front, there’s the RX 5000M series for budget gamers and 57000M for more performance-oriented gamers.
- Iris: An integrated graphic chipset found in Intel processors. This can handle low-spec games at stable FPS
Due to how stressful the processor can get sometimes, it is recommended that you invest in a discrete GPU with its own dedicated video memory (VRAM). The more VRAM in a graphic card, the better the performance.
However, the average gaming enthusiast should be fine with a 4GB of VRAM. Here’s a quick summary of the entry-level and mainstream graphics card that you should look for.
Entry-Level Gaming
For budget gamers, you can go with a GeForce 1650 or an RX5500M graphics card. Both of these cards can handle all the current-gen games at low-medium settings. A GTX 1660 Ti is a bit more powerful than the GTX1650 with 6GB of VRAM.
Mainstream Gaming
To enjoy the full scale of a game, get an RTX graphics card. And in this genre, the lowest you can get is the RTX 2060. This one is like the middle man that lets you play all the current-gen games at medium to high settings. The newest edition from Nvidia RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 are also in the market, but the prices are a bit high. Likewise, on the AMD side, you will get the RX 5600M, but the performance is not as reliable as the RTX 3000 series.
Highest Settings and VR
Although the RTX 2000 series support VR, you can enjoy the full scale of next-gen technology with an RTX 2080 Ti or the RTX 3080. Both of these cards can be mainly found in high-end gaming laptops that can play all games in High settings. Since Nvidia has just launched the RTX 3000 series and is already working on the RTX 4000 series, we will see more performance-oriented graphics cards in the future.
What CPU do you need?
Again, you’ve got 2 competitions on the CPU side as well. While Intel grabs most of the Laptop market share, AMD is slowly gaining its trust with more budget-friendly chipsets. Depending on your budget, you can get anywhere from the latest Tiger lake processor to the last-gen Core i5.
Unlike Gaming Desktops, you don’t have to worry about the bottleneck problem here, because the manufacturers have already done their math. You will get a fine-line comparison of both the GPU and the CPU in each laptop model. Here are some helpful points for buying a CPU
Intel or AMD
As mentioned, most of the CPU laptop market is already owned by Intel, so you won’t find a good match for an AMD CPU.
Core i5 is the bare minimum
When shopping for a CPU, make sure you select Core i5 processor as the bare minimum. Don’t pick core i3 and expect a killer performance.
Clock Speed
Lastly, keep the clock speed in mind when comparing 2 or more CPUs. Take note of the Base and performance clock reading. You can also overclock some newest Intel chipsets, but we don’t recommend this doing so.
What display do you need?
Displays are often overlooked in a gaming laptop. But remember, they are as quite as important as the other components. Here are some of the things you should look for on a laptop screen.
Resolution
The lowest form factor of a gaming laptop screen is a 1920 x 1080 display. Don’t buy anything lower than this. If your laptop comes with a powerful processor and GPU, make sure it’s 1440p or 4K.
Size
Most gaming laptops have a 15 or 17-inch screen. In terms of screen size, it highly depends on the end-user personal preference. Most people want a large screen, while others adore a smaller display. But remember, the higher the screen size, the more price of the gaming laptop.
Refresh Rate
Most gaming laptops with a 1080p resolution run at a 60Hz display. Some high-end gaming laptops support 144Hz, all the way to 360Hz. Of course, you can splurge more and get a beast in this department, but having a 60Hz or a 144Hz display is fine.
G-Sync vs FreeSync
This is an optional feature that some manufacturers offer. Nvidia G-sync and AMD FreeSync technology eliminate ghosting and screen tearing problems.
Touch Screen
As for touch capability, we recommend avoiding this feature. Because you can’t get a higher refresh rate while maintaining a good touch gesture.
Storage Capacity
This is the place where you will store your games and other application. For storage, you’ve got the option to get an SSD or HDD. Although SSD has a higher price tag, they are much faster compared to HDD.
Thankfully, many of the gaming laptop manufacturers give you the freedom to install 2 Storage units. So, you can get both HDD and SSD. Here are some important points to consider when choosing a storage unit.
- Get an SSD for Windows boot up
- If you’re buying an HDD, make sure it runs at 7200rpm
- Get at least 1TB of storage
Keyboard
In most entry-level gaming laptops, you will get standard LED-backlit keys. But there’s much more to consider beyond this.
Macro Keys
A good set of programmable macro keys gives you the freedom to make your own set of key mapping.
Actuation
This determines the force you need to apply to press a key. Most gaming laptops feature 65 and 70 grams of resistance.
Key Travel
This determines the distance you need to travel a certain key. In general, we prefer anywhere ranging from 1.5 millimeters to 2mm.
Backlighting
While budget gaming laptops only have backlit support, you can also get RGB backlighting in more expensive machines.
RAM
Gaming can be often RAM intensive. The bare minimum to run any game requires 8GB of ram. If you can, you should opt for 16GB of ram as it is more reliable for gaming and you will be future-proof a bit.
RAM doesn’t cost much and is relatively simpler to change. So, even if you get a single 8GB stick in your laptop, you can always upgrade it at a later date.
Connectivity
A gaming laptop usually got more ports than your regular everyday use laptops. All of the connectivity ports are used to make your gaming experience more reliable.
- HDMI: Used to connect to external monitors
- Dual-Audio Jack: Used for both Audio-in and out
- USB-A and USB-C: Used for connecting external devices like headphones, mouse, keyboard, etc
- Ethernet: Used to connect the standard RJ45 connector
Battery
This one is not that much important as gaming laptops require you to always plug in the power to enjoy the discrete graphics. If you need your laptop mainly for games, keep it in the plug-in to enjoy the full performance. For regular everyday tasks, a gaming laptop can still last a few hours before draining it all down. Some do last longer than this, but the price tag will be a bit high.
Operating System
We don’t think that this step requires any justification as most of the gaming laptop industry relies on Windows OS. But you do get other options like Linux, Chromebook, and macOS.
The main reason why Windows is at the top is because of the compatibility of the games. A majority of games support Windows OS, but not the other way around. So, if you want to run a separate OS, make sure that the game supports the current OS.
Things to avoid when buying a Gaming Laptop
While many people talk about the performance and what to buy and what not, have you ever wonder what are the things you should avoid as a whole? Or at least make sure they are not present in your future laptop? Here’s a list of all the things that you should avoid buying a Gaming Laptop.
Component Switching
This is the area that most gamers don’t consider. As the name suggests, component switching is an art to replace your old laptop components with new ones. In the market of gaming laptops, manufacturers allow you to change, RAM, Storage, and a WiFi card. Some manufacturers allow you to change CPU and GPU as well, but the price for such a laptop is off the charts.
Buying a laptop without Webcam
In order to achieve a bezel-less design and to rock a 144Hz screen, many manufacturers just remove the webcam completely. Now some gamers think that they will never use a laptop, but it’s a higher chance that you will use it.
So, just double check this is something that you rely on upon without getting blinded by the internal specifications.
AMD vs Intel
AMD processors are getting insanely good and more and more consumer markets are finally analyzing it. Though not quite famous in the gaming world, you can still find a good AMD processor as opposed to an Intel processor in the counterpart. Some of the budget-friendly AMD chipsets are more power-efficient, allowing manufacturers to push the graphical limits of a laptop.
Don’t be afraid to buy last-gen
It’s common knowledge that newer gen processors and graphic cast will always have a higher price point. When new technology enters the market, the last-gen models get a price cut. So if you’re on a budget side, you can buy a good quality laptop that can still outperform many of the newer-gen laptops.
Going for a Higher Refresh rate
Buying a 240Hz or 300Hz laptop looks insane, but have you ever wonder that your game supports this or not? Most of the current-gen titles run on 80-150 FPS on High settings. So, what’s the point of getting a laptop that can’t fully scale the performance?
It’s a valid point if you want a future-proof laptop, but spending this much can ultimately get you a better deal on other products.
Don’t be brand conscious
Let’s say you buy a Razer gaming laptop, you use it for a week or 2 and suddenly it breaks, and now you hate Razer laptops for the rest of your life. The fact is, every manufacturer has faulty laptops that can ruin the reliability. But it doesn’t mean that you hate the brand as a whole. Claim the warranty if you feel like your laptop is acting weird.
Overspending
It’s really easy to overspend on a gaming laptop these days. The cool little features they offer, the design, and the sleek RGB support, it’s like they hypnotize our minds. You will be surprised to know that an $800 gaming laptop can beat a $1000 laptop in terms of performance. If you’re a casual gamer, playing games from time to time then your price bracket should be $1000-$1200.
Wrap Up
When buying a gaming laptop, get one that lasts a few years. If you can’t afford a mid-range laptop, buy something that has low RAM and storage and later on upgrade these components. However, don’t compromise on CPU and GPU as that price segment is way too much important.
Decide if you prefer a high resolution or a faster display hertz and consider the other software you will be using as well. As we mentioned previously, a gaming laptop isn’t just for gamers, it’s a performance-oriented beast that designers and videographers can also use.