Notebookcheck's Top 10 Slim & Light Gaming Laptops

Displays with slim bezels are not only sexy to look at, but they are also very trendy among gaming laptops. Besides the Gigabyte Aero 15, Acer Predator Triton 500, and Asus ROG Strix GL504, the 2019 model of the Razer Blade 15 features an edge-to-edge screen as well. The stylish metal body is one of the most noble, high-quality and best assembled chassis you can get. Keyboard, touchpad, and display (144 Hz) do not have to hide behind the competition, either.

The 15-inch laptop is packed with high-end components, despite its compact dimensions. This includes the Core i7-8750H, GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q and NVMe-SSD storage. You can adjust both the software and hardware (like RGB illumination) comprehensively via Razer Synapse. Thanks to the good cooling solution, the notebook does not get very loud or warm, either. The port selection (no card reader, no RJ45 Ethernet) on the other hand could be better. Gamers with a focus on design and ambitions to travel cannot go wrong, though.

The wolf in sheep's clothing: This is a good description for the Gigabyte Aero 15 Classic-XAGigabyte Aero 15-Y9 (i9-8950HK, RTX 2080 Max-Q) Laptop ReviewGigabyte Aero 15-X9 (Core i7-8750H, RTX 2070 Max-Q) Laptop Review. While typical gaming notebooks are pretty bulky and/or heavy with playful designs, Gigabyte uses a slim, light, and sturdy case with an understated design for its 15-inch laptop. Only the RGB illumination of the keyboard hints at the gaming ambitions.

Under the hood, you get high-end hardware like the Intel Core i7-9750H Intel Core i9-8950HK SoCand Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, which results in high temperatures under 3D load. You also get an accurate and bright 4K panel, but it only runs at 60 Hz. Gigabyte still ignores G-Sync and supports Optimus for longer battery runtimes instead. We think this is a good decision considering the mobility aspect.

At the time of writing, MSI had a total of three notebooks in our mobile gaming top 10 list. N addition to the GS73 8RF and the GS75 8SG the GS65 9SG recently also made our top 10. The 15-inch notebook is ideal for gamers on the road thanks to its low weight of just 2 kg (4.4 lbs). G-Sync is not available in favor of Optimus, which boosts battery life quite significantly.

While the 2017 Predator Triton 700 could not fully convince us due to its unusual placement of the input devices and the thick bezels, the Triton 500 leaves a much better impression. With the exception of the limited maintenance and the missing graphics switching, which would be a great fit for such a mobile device, Acer did not make any major mistakes.

We do not only like the metal surfaces of the 15-inch chassis, but also the Thunderbolt 3 port as well as the 144 Hz panel with G-Sync support. The necessary gaming performance is provided by the six-core CPU and a GeForce RTX 2080 in the efficient Max-Q design.

While the keyboard and the touchpad of the GX531 were located at the front halt of the laptop, the brand-new GX502 uses a classic layout and we prefer it this way. Despite the smaller dimensions, Asus still implements a full-fledged GeForce RTX 2070. Other advantages include the 144 Hz panel with accurate colors, the nice design as well as the RGB illumination. We also appreciate the choice between G-Sync and Optimus.

The device loses points for the soldered RAM, the loud fans and the meager sound. Thunderbolt 3 and a card reader would have been nice, too.

If you prefer large displays you might be delighted by the fact that MSI offers its GS65 with a large 17-inch display. The flagship model reviewed by us, the GS75 9SG, is equipped with a Core i7-9750H, a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, and an SSD RAID comprised of two 1 TB drives. Other benefits include its low weight, its slim chassis, its decent battery life, and last but not least its 144 Hz display with narrow bezels.

The ROG Zephyrus S GX531 (now also available with Turing GPUs) represents the successor the GX501, which was very innovative at its launch. As it is common for a mobile laptop from 2018, the bezels are much slimmer, and the device is also slimmer.

However, we think Asus tries a bit too hard with the diet, because the GX531 does not only get warmer than other gaming systems in our Top 10, but also louder (which is partly caused by the mediocre fan control). The unusual position of the input devices takes some time getting used to, and potential buyers might also be scared off by the limited number of ports (no Thunderbolt 3, no RJ45-LAN, no card reader), the limited maintenance, and the small battery. The laptop still manages a good score thanks to the stylish, high-quality, and conveniently light case. We also like the RGB illumination as well as the responsive 144 Hz panel.

Even though MSI did not change the chassis compared to the GS73VR 7RG, buyers also expect a good and slim 17-inch laptop in 2018. This means the GS73 8RF is not only comfortable light (2.4 kg) for gaming purposes, but also pleasantly slim (19.6 mm).

You still get potential hardware. The GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q has absolutely no problem with the native resolution of the test model. The high-contrast 120 Hz TN display features 1920 x 1080 pixels. We like the RGB illumination of the keyboard as well as the fast card reader, but not so much the port layout, the sound, and the temperatures during 3D workloads. A WLAN battery runtime of 3.5 hours is not really good, either, despite the lack of G-Sync support.

The Tulpar T5 from the Turkish notebook manufacturer is based on a barebone from Tonfang, more precisely the GK5CN6Z chassis. It is pretty exotic, which is supported by the keyboard. We get more and more mechanical keyboards, but they are still rare on machines for less than 2000 Euros. We also like the RGB illumination and the slim-bezel design of the 144 Hz panel.

There are also some drawbacks like the sound, the battery capacity, and the performance of the card reader, bu we think the main issue is the poor fan control. A Thunderbolt 3 port would have improved the score as well.