18-inch laptops: This category should be more than just for gaming laptops like the MSI Raider A18

With the transition from 16:9 back to the taller 16:10 aspect ratio, the 17-inch format has fallen to the wayside, in favor of smaller 16-inch screens. Recently, however, a new category has emerged: The 18-inch laptop. In a way, 18-inch is the new 17-inch.

However, this new category is still quite limited in scope. Mostly, it is dominated by thick and powerful gaming laptops. One example of such a device is the MSI Raider A18.

This immensely powerful gaming laptop, which we recently reviewed, contains AMD's most powerful mobile CPU, the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, as well as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080. These powerful components necessitate a large and heavy cooling system and a thick chassis. Accordingly, this device weighs 3.64 kg, being 34 mm thick. Worse: Even the 400 W charger adds a lot of weight, with an extra 1.375 kg - a total package of 5 kg or 11 pounds.

It would not have to be this way. We think: Manufacturers should explore this category with more lightweight models as well. For example, LG still makes a Gram 17 – we think, a Gram 18 could be very interesting. The huge screen size is certainly highly attractive if you want as much screen real estate on the go as possible. Most people probably do not want a gaming laptop, but a bigger screen is something many users would like. There is simply no reason why 18-inch laptops need to be this thick and heavy.