Everyone who plays video games dreams of getting a best gaming laptops under $1200 that not only looks good but also works well and doesn’t break the bank. Mobile gaming has become very popular in recent years, making the search for the perfect gaming laptop stronger than ever.
There are a lot of different kinds of gaming laptops out there, so there is something for everyone’s tastes and budget. Going on adventures in this world can be a lot of fun and exciting. The search for the best gaming laptop is an adventure that you should start, whether you’re looking for something cheap or are willing to spend more.
In order to save money for the brand-new gaming laptop you want to purchase, you took on a few summer jobs, part-time paper routes, and who knows how many other odd jobs. You’ve been daydreaming about your brand-new gadget for months, and you’ve already made a list of the games you intend to play. And when that time finally arrives and you begin looking for your ideal laptop, you discover that you lack the funds to buy it.
We are here to provide you with some useful, current information so that your shopping experience will be better than before. Nowadays, choosing the best gaming laptops under $1200 is not that difficult because your budget is reasonable enough to buy the desired hardware. So you’ve been putting money away for a while.
Here is the list of 10 Best Gaming Laptops Under $1200
ASUS ROG Strix G15
The Asus ROG Strix G15 is one of the best mid-range gaming laptops you can buy with impressive performance alongside a great 300Hz display, solid keyboard and a cool, quiet chassis. It’s no secret that Asus has an extensive range of gaming laptops – and that they’re usually pretty good.
There are no surprises when it comes to the G15’s design. This machine combines gray plastic with some more extravagant touches: vast sections are covered with a pattern made from the ROG letters, and the per-key RGB LED lighting on the keyboard is paired with lighting around the base.
Acer Predator Helios 300
The 240Hz high-refresh-rate screen of my review model has a silky-smooth picture for all types of gaming, especially esports. Esports games, which tend to be less graphically resource-intensive, are some of the only titles in which the Helios 300 can reach triple-digit frame rates, so the base model’s 144Hz refresh rate is otherwise more the adequate.
The four-zone RGB keyboard is just as colorful. Acer’s PredatorSense app allows true RGB control (that is, the ability to specify the red, green, and blue values) for each zone. A dedicated button on the number pad launches the app. Though it lacks the per-key backlighting customization of the more costly Omen 15 and Alienware m15, its four zones and endless colors should satisfy most buyers’ personalization desires. Conveniently, the app allows you to save profiles.
MSI GL65 Gaming Laptop
The GL65 Leopard shares its basic design with MSI’s pricier GS75 Stealth, only that our review unit comes with a few curves on the lid. The two even share dimensions, at 1.1 x 14.1 x 9.8 inches. Though not as slim as the Asus Zephyrus or the Razer Blade 15, this notebook is hardly chunky. For the display bezels, they come as this as they get.
The 10SFK-062 sinks into the gamer cliché with its red-and-black color scheme. Most of the red comes from the few accents on the chassis, and above that, the overall look on this machine is conventional, except for the MSI gaming logo on the lid (passively backlit by the screen). Even with the understated looks, it won’t be mistaken for anything but a gaming laptop.
Acer Nitro 5
The laptop’s sound is a little hyped on the high-end and very echoey, though you could personalize it with the equalizer in the Dolby Audio software. In short, it’s yet another laptop with subpar audio – par for the course, basically (unless you’re Origin). the 1080p display, while still sharp and clear, is a little on the darker side (even at its brightest setting) and is practically the exact opposite of bezel-free.
The Acer Nitro 5 design is also nothing to write home about. It’s pretty underwhelming, and the fact that it is a budget laptop means there will be signs of cutbacks – and these are noticeable. The screen lid, for example, is made of cheap plastic. The top cover and the area around the keyboard track fingerprints like crazy, and the screen has almost an inch of bezel around it, all of which make us feel like we’re PC gaming in the early aughts.
ASUS TUF Dash 15
The TUF Dash 15’s appearance is what you’d expect from a brand pushing military spec MIL-STD durability standards: it isn’t a behemoth, but its hard edges and giant TUF branding on the back let you know this isn’t your typical office notebook. The bottom case uses a smooth, black finish with just a bit of texture to the right and left of the keyboard, and some decidedly “TUF” looking speaker grilles along the top.
The slightly larger chassis also affords plenty of IO, with one Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port and three USB Type-A ports – not to mention HDMI 2.0 and Ethernet. The Ethernet port in particular is great to see, since it’s left off so many modern laptops – and it can make a big difference, both when downloading large games and when playing online multiplayer with as little lag as possible.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
The company has made very few changes to last year’s product. The 2021 Zephyrus G14 has last year’s chassis with new chips (AMD’s Ryzen 5000 mobile processors and Nvidia’s RTX 3000 mobile GPUs). There are also new display options: last year’s model had a 1080p 120Hz panel or a 1440p 60Hz panel, while this year’s offers the choice of a QHD 120Hz screen or a 1080p 144Hz screen, in addition to a 1080p 60Hz option.
Zephyrus G14 models have AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series processors. The top option is the eight-core Ryzen 9 5900HS. This is more efficient than other chips in the Ryzen 9 series (such as the 5900HX, which powers the Razer Blade 14), but it still packs some serious power.
Omen by HP 15-Inch
The Omen 15 is simultaneously bold and understated. The lid, made of black metal, is bisected into fours, creating two smooth triangles and a pair of slightly raised, brushed aluminum rhombuses. A glossy silver Voodoo emblem references the notebook’s heritage, while the word Omen sits demurely on the hinge.
The Omen 15 can reproduce 102% of the sRGB color gamut, which is just above the 100% minimum. That’s enough to surpass the Zephyrus’ 71% and the G3 15’s 63%. However, it couldn’t overcome the 109% mainstream gaming average. But no machine can hold a candle to the Omen 15 when it comes to brightness.
Razer Blade 15 Base
Razer has refreshed its Blade 15 lineup this year to include Nvidia Ampere GPUs across the board and an even thinner chassis design for the latest Advanced Model SKUs. Options range from the GeForce RTX 3060 to the RTX 3080 and a new 165 Hz QHD panel as an intermediate between the usual FHD and 4K options.
The USB-A and HDMI ports which are now Gen. 2 and 2.1 compliant, respectively, port options haven’t changed from the Blade 15 Base Model. The Gigabit Ethernet port continues to be the easiest way to distinguish between the Base Model and Advanced Model.
MSI GS75 Stealth
The MSI GS75 Stealth is an excellent gaming laptop with plenty of power and superb graphics. Additionally, despite its large screen, it features a very sleek design and slim chassis. The only drawback is that it has a short battery life and gets hot quickly when gaming.
MSI wowed the gaming world when it released the 15-inch GS65 Stealth in 2018, which is the GS75 Stealth’s predecessor. GS65 Stealth had it all: slim bezels, impressive gaming performance, an unbelievably thin chassis, stunning design, just name it. A year later, MSI brought the same design to the 17-inch GS75 Stealth.
Acer Swift X
The keys on the keyboard are well spaced and aren’t very noisy. There’s white backlighting which illuminates all the letters evenly. The arrow key cluster is a little cramped due to the Pg Up and Pg Dn keys being placed right above it. The Acer Swift X has a fingerprint scanner placed just below the keyboard area.
The 14-inch display on the Acer Swift X is an IPS panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a full-HD resolution. It has a claimed brightness of 300nits and this was more than adequate for my usage. The display also has narrow borders on three of its four sides, along with a webcam on the top.
Final Words
Game creation is a rather dynamic industry, and as time goes on, the market for emerging technology frequently shifts. In any case, it can be challenging and time-consuming to keep up with the newest features and gimmicks. If you’re worried about your budget, you might look at our list of Best Gaming Laptops Under $1200. This list will be more beneficial to you if you have solid financial discipline.
