Reddit laptop recommendations 2022

Hello everyone, happy February!

The recommendations below are primarily of laptops that have been on the market a while and have been tried, tested and known to be value for money. There is a category for the new RTX series laptops but I would not recommend rushing to buy one until benchmarks, testing and actual customers have purchased the and know the ins and outs of how they operate

GPU - Without a good graphics card newer and more graphic intensive games such will not run smoothly or will now run at all. However, non-intense titles such as LoL, CS:GO & Sims 4 will run decently on integrated graphics (see this list for more titles that will run well on integrated graphics). This is where you should focus if gaming is your priority.

Here is how the most popular GPUs stack up to each other (RTX GPUs are not on the list)

😔 Vega 3 👉Intel UHD Graphics 620 👉 Vega 8 👉 Vega 10 👉 MX150👉MX250 👉MX350 👉RX 540 👉 GTX 1050 👉 RX 560X 👉 GTX 1050 Ti 👉 1650 👉 1650 Ti 👉 5500M 👉 1660 TI = 2060MQ 👉 GTX 1070 👉 2060 90 W 👉 5600M = 2060 115 W = 2070 MQ 👉 GTX 1080 👉 RTX 2070 👉 👉 2080MQ 👉 2070S MQ 👉 2080S MQ 👉3060 (130W)👉 3070(95W) 2080 👉 2070S 👉 3080 (95W)👉 2080S 👉 RTX 3070 (130W)👉 RTX 3080 (130W)😀

CPU - The second most important thing for your gaming laptop is your processor. While most games tend to be more GPU intensive the processor affects the overall system performance and can bottleneck the GPU. Laptops with more powerful GPU generally have an 8 core processor while mid-range systems 400-800 usually have a quad-core CPU. Dual-core CPUs have the capacity to game but they are not ideal as they are not always able to maintain their boosted clock

Here is how the most popular CPUs stack up to each other

😔Ryzen 3 3200U 👉 i3-8130U 👉 Ryzen 5 2500U 👉 Ryzen 7 2700U 👉 i5-8250U 👉 i7-8550U 👉 i5-7300HQ 👉 i5-10210U👉Ryzen 5 3550H 👉 i5-8300H 👉 9300H 👉 4500U👉 10300H 👉 9750H 👉 4600H = 10750H 👉 4800 HS 👉 10875H 👉 4900HS 👉 4800H 👉 10980HK 👉 4900H👉 5800H 😀

RAM – This is generally the easiest part of the laptop to upgrade, so you can usually buy a laptop with low RAM and upgrade it yourself later if your budget is tight. No need to go overboard on RAM as 8 GB is enough for gaming but you can get 16 GB for future-proofing.

Storage If your budget allows it, get a laptop with an SSD. AN SSD significantly speeds up any laptop with a HDD. The boot time and load times will be much much faster.

Feel free to comment or ask any questions you have pertaining to any of the laptops on this list

Hi everyone,

Although nothing new has come out, there are plenty of solid options available!

You may have already saw my list of general use laptops. This time, I have an updated version of my general list of good gaming options. If you are looking for a general use devices list, please click here to view my list from October 2021!

As a reminder, this list isn't a definitive list to determine what you should get. It should give you an overall idea of what you should be able to expect in a given price range. If you have any questions about anything listed here, let me know, I will assist you!

This category applies to anyone who is on a tight budget, all the way to the most expensive devices. It applies to anyone who want to play lighter games, as well as demanding games. Here are some bullet points to refer to when looking for a good gaming laptop:

Look for a good processor! For gaming, the processor is definitely an important factor. It is more important than in a general use device, since games will benefit from having higher clock speeds and more cores / threads. Most of the U processors are not ideal for gaming, since they often cannot sustain their boost clock speeds. But, they can still make do on a budget. Here is the order of processor strength of the devices I will be presenting: i5-4300M < Ryzen 5 3450U < i5-10300H < Ryzen 5 5500U < Ryzen 5 5600H < Ryzen 7 5800U < i7-10750H < i5-11400H < Ryzen 7 4800H < i7-11800H < Ryzen 7 5800H < i9-11900H < Ryzen 9 5900HS < i9-11980HK < Ryzen 9 5900HX

Look for a good graphics card! This is the most important aspect for gaming! This is the main factor that will be able to fuel gaming capability. Here is the order of weakest to strongest GPUs that are available on this list: Intel HD Graphics 4600 < Vega 8 (Ryzen 3000) < MX450 < GTX 1650 < RTX 3050 < RTX 3050 Ti < GTX 1660 Ti < RTX 3060 < RTX 3070 < AMD Radeon RX 6800M < RTX 3080

Please keep in mind that for this generation of GPUs, wattage matters a lot, often more important than the GPU model. For example, a very high wattage RTX 3060 may outperform a lower wattage RTX 3070 or RTX 3080. I have included all of the wattages that are known for the RTX 3000 laptops on my list. Before purchasing, I would recommend watching reviews on YouTube.

Pay attention to thermals! This has become larger and larger of an issue in recent times. As much as I love the power of the new AMD Ryzen 4000 and 5000 series processors, some manufacturers have decided to skimp out on cooling, meaning that these processors will happily run at 100°C, which really isn't ideal for long term use. So, you should search up reviews on the device you intend on purchasing for an idea about how hot it runs. If you intend on getting an AMD Ryzen 4000 series processor, take a look at my tutorial video on how to disable turbo boost on Ryzen 4000 series laptops. It will decrease temperatures by 20°C to 25°C in games without affecting gaming performance.

This month's list is conveniently organized in a table on laptopsdeals.net.

A lot of these laptops are not necessarily on sale, so keep your eyes peeled for the deals that are regularly posted on the subreddit! If you're looking for a specific laptop recommendation, considering making a request in the pinned weekly request thread.

If you are looking for a general device instead, take a look at my Best General Use Laptop list from October 2021!

I was planning on giving a list of laptop recommendations earlier, but I think it'll be better if I wait until Q1 ends and make a brief summary instead. Visit laptop-pickem for some of the commentaries.

All currencies used below are in USD($).

It's highly recommended that you save at least $500 to buy a laptop. If you can't raise your budget, then you should get a refurbished laptop or a tablet instead. At under $500, you can get some decent tablets, say the latest Ipad or Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, and still have the money to buy a detachable keyboard. I wouldn't suggest getting a second-hand laptop.

Don't be surprised that cheap, low-mid range laptops can out-perform expensive high-end laptops, especially for ultrabooks.

There might be great laptops that I've missed out on, but I'll try my best to include most of the best laptops of each price point.

A ticked checkbox means that the latest (2021) model has been released and is available, and vice-versa.

This recommendation is targeted primarily at people outside of the Chinese market. Some laptops or laptop variants have incredible values and are exclusive to the Chinese market, say the HP Elitebook, Lenovo ThinkBook (Not ThinkPad) series, or Lenovo Yoga Slim series. The Chinese market also refreshes way earlier than do other markets, for example, there are quite a lot of Ryzen 5000U based laptops out in the Chinese market already while they are still unseen everywhere else.

Only Laptops under 1.5kg are considered Ultrabooks.

Laptops above $700 that I have recommended at least have a 1080P IPS 72%NTSC/100%sRGB display.

I'm not recommending any Intel ultrabooks at this price range as most of them are dual-core i3 or i5 that don't support thunderbolt.

[] Acer Swift 3 - 4500U/4700U six/eight-core budget ultrabook laptop

[] Dell Inspiron 14 5000 AMD - 14/15-inch 4500U/4700U six/eight-core budget laptop

[] Lenovo Yoga 6 2-in-1 - 4500U 2-in-1, good aesthetics

[] Lenovo ThinkPad T14 - 4650U hyper-threading, ThinkPad branding, $1000 Discount, dim display

[] HP Envy x360 13 AMD - 4500U/4700U 2-in 1

[x] HP Envy x360 13 Intel - 2-in-1, Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt

[x] Asus Zenbook 14 AMD - 4700U, 67Wh battery, Bezeless display, integrated numpad into trackpad

[x] Asus Zenbook 14 Intel - Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt, 67Wh battery, Bezeless display, integrated numpad into trackpad

[x] Dell Inspiron 14 7000 - Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt, 2K bezel-less display

[x] HP Spectre x360 13 - 2-in-1, 16:9 OLED display, Aesthetically pleasing, Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt, 4K display option

[x] HP Spectre x360 14 - 2-in-1, 3:2 OLED display, Aesthetically pleasing, Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt, 4k display option

[x] Dell XPS 13 - 16:10 bezel-less 500nits bright display, Aesthetically pleasing, Intel Iris Xe graphics, Thunderbolt

[x] Asus Zenbook Duo 14 - Unique dual display set up, stylus support, Aesthetically pleasing, Has a MX450 option

[x] MacBook Air/Pro M1 - MacOS, Insane battery life, Insane performance and power efficiency, Great build quality

Only look for these laptops if you have a high budget or have a niche need.

[x] Asus Flow X13 - Ryzen 5000 series chip, The only 13-inch convertible laptop with dedicated GTX graphics, insane performance

[x] LG gram 16/17 - The Only 16/17 Ultrabook, Huge 2K display, Huge battery

[x] Razer Book 13 - Razer's XPS 13

[x] Razer Blade Stealth 13 - The only Intel gaming ultrabook

[x] Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Gen9 - The iconic business laptop

I'll make a gaming laptop/ all-rounder/ workstation guide in the future if people are finding this post helpful. You may also checkout laptop-pickem to read commentaries of laptops that you're interested in.