The Best Budget Gaming Notebooks
To make this list, a notebook must meet two requirements first and foremost. First, given that this is a list of affordable notebooks its price shall not exceed 1,500 Euros. Keep in mind that the prices listed in the table below are updated daily and can thus differ from day to day. And second, these laptops must be equipped with a mid-range gaming-capable GPU, such as a GTX 1650 or an RX 5500M, capable of running most recent games in FHD (1920 x 1080) in medium to high details smoothly. More powerful GPUs, such as the GTX 1660 Ti or the RX 5600M, should thus be capable of running most current games smoothly in 1080p and maximum settings. Other gaming top lists:
- The Best Gaming Notebooks (particularly powerful gaming notebooks)
- The Best Thin & Light Gaming Notebooks (lightweight and thin gaming notebooks, less than 2 cm / 0.8 inches thick, and less than 2.5 kg / 5.5 lbs)
The Best Budget Gaming Laptops
Pos. | Rating | Date | Image | Modell/Testbericht | Height | Weight | Size | Resolution | Screen | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 84 % | 10/2020 | ![]() | Aorus 5 KB Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 28 mm | 2.1 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
2 | 84 % | 06/2020 | ![]() | Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F AMD Ryzen 7 4800H AMD Radeon RX 5600M 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 21.6 mm | 2.4 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
3 | 83 % | 07/2020 | ![]() | Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H Intel Core i5-10300H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 26.1 mm | 2.5 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
4 | 83 % | 11/2020 neu! | ![]() | Acer Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 22.9 mm | 2.5 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
5 | 83 % | 05/2020 | ![]() | Asus TUF A17 FA706IU-AS76 AMD Ryzen 7 4800H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 26 mm | 2.6 kg | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
6 | 83 % | 06/2020 | ![]() | Asus TUF A15 FA506IV-HN172 AMD Ryzen 7 4800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 24.9 mm | 2.2 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
7 | 82 % | 09/2020 | ![]() | Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O AMD Ryzen 7 4800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 500 GB SSD | 19.9 mm | 2 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
8 | 82 % | 09/2020 | ![]() | HP Omen 15-ek0456ng Intel Core i5-10300H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 32 mm | 2.1 kg | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
9 | 82 % | 10/2020 | ![]() | Lenovo Legion 5 17IMH05 Intel Core i5-10300H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 26.2 mm | 2.9 kg | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
10 | 82 % | 10/2020 | ![]() | Aorus 7 KB Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 29 mm | 2.5 kg | 17.30" | 1920x1080 | matte |
The table above contains an overview over the best budget gaming laptops for less than 1,500 Euros reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
1st – Aorus 5 KB
Gigabyte’s Aorus 5 KB is based on barebone made by gaming expert Clevo. Our review unit’s compact 15-inch chassis encompassed a Core i7-10750H paired with a GeForce RTX 2060, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB large SSD, and a 144 Hz panel.
We liked the device’s maintenance options but were not particularly fond of its noise emissions under load, which turned out to be very high.
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2nd – Dell G5 15 SE
After years of stagnation AMD is finally back in the mobile gaming segment. One of the best examples is the Dell G5 15 special edition. While its Radeon RX 5600M performs roughly on the same level as a GTX 1660 Ti the Ryzen 7 4800H is faster than almost every single one of its Intel competitors.
Unfortunately, the G5 15 suffers from high temperatures and noise emissions under load, which at least in part can be blamed on its poor cooler. In return, battery life was more than adequate.
Top 10 Laptops
Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks
under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1.000 USD/Euros
Best Displays, for University Students
Top 10 Smartphones
Smartphones, Phablets, ≤5-inch, Camera SmartphonesThe Best Smartphones for Less Than 160 Euros
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3rd – Lenovo Legion 5
Thanks to its GeForce RTX 2060 the Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH is one of the most powerful gaming laptops in this budget top 10 list. The rest of its internal hardware is fairly impressive as well. Our review unit, priced at around 1,200 Euros at the time of writing, featured 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB large PCIe SSD, and a 120 Hz panel. As a bonus, the 15-inch laptop offered decent battery life.
A better rating could have been achieved by improving connectivity (no Thunderbolt, no card reader).
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4th – Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315
At a price of right around 1,500 Euros our Acer Predator Helios 300 review unit almost did not make this budget gaming notebook list.
For your money, you get a powerful gaming combination consisting of a Core i7-10750H paired with a GeForce RTX 2060, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512 GB large SSD. In our review, we particularly liked its 144 Hz display, its backlit keyboard, and its fast Wi-Fi. Downsides include the lack of Thunderbolt 3.
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5th – Asus TUF A17
Like many other notebooks in this top 10 list the Asus TUF A17 features an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H. Combined with a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti the laptop has no issues playing modern games smoothly. The 17-inch budget notebook also features a fast 120 Hz display and a large battery.
Downsides include among others the device’s very high noise emissions under 3D load and its poor color space coverage.
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6th – Asus TUF A15
The smaller 15-inch sibling to the TUF A17 is called – surprise, surprise – TUF A15, and its pros and cons are almost identical. Unlike the A17’s GTX 1660 Ti the A15’s similarly powerful GeForce RTX 2060 comes with support for Raytracing, although that might not be relevant for all gamers.
Similar to the A17 we liked the A15’s high-contrast 144 Hz display and its good battery life, and disliked its poor color space coverage and connectivity (no card reader, no Thunderbolt 3).
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7th – Schenker XMG Core 15
RGB keyboard backlight aside the Schenker Technologies XMG Core 15 is a fairly discreet overall. The visually subtle case doesn’t give any indication at the gaming prowess contained within.
At around $1,500 you get a Ryzen 7 4800H combined with a GeForce RTX 2060. Thanks to its comparatively low weight and its small footprint (narrow bezels) the 15-inch device is fairly comfortable to carry around. We also liked its fast 144 Hz display. In return, connectivity and sound quality are definitely in need of improvement.
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8th – HP Omen 15
The HP Omen 15 has been a hot contender for our budget top 10 for many years. This time, the SKU equipped with a Core i5-10300H, a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, and a 144 Hz panel made our list. Among other things this compact and conveniently lightweight 15-inch notebook offers a backlight keyboard, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and a relative large battery ensuring a decent battery life.
On the flip side we did not like its high temperatures and noise emissions under load nor did we care for its somewhat cheap looking case.
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9th – Lenovo Legion 5 17
While most gaming laptops get very hot when subjected to 3D load the 17-inch Lenovo Legion 5 remained comparatively cool overall.
At a price of around $1,000 you get a Core i5-10300H paired with a GeForce GTX 1650. Battery life was pretty good overall, and the device lasted for more than 10 hours in both, our Wi-Fi and battery test. We also liked the notebook’s sleek and chic design, although we should note that the case is made almost entirely out of plastic. Its major downside was its poor connectivity (no Thunderbolt 3).
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10th – Aorus 7 KB
Gamers on a budget will find the Aorus 7 KB to be a decent all-rounder. Its Core i7-10750H hexa-core CPU is paired with a fitting GeForce RTX 2060 high-end GPU, which is slightly faster than a GTX 1660 Ti that lacks the former’s ray tracing capabilities.
The chassis was relative lightweight and compact for a 17-inch device. However, its small size resulted in very high noise emissions when subjected to 3D load. In addition, the display turned out to be fairly dim and its connectivity was comparatively poor.
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Top 10 in Comparison
Test Results
Aorus 5 KB | Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H | Acer Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 | Asus TUF A17 FA706IU-AS76 | Asus TUF A15 FA506IV-HN172 | Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | Lenovo Legion 5 17IMH05 | Aorus 7 KB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Response Times | ||||||||||
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 14.4 (7.6, 6.8) | 20.4 (10.8, 9.6) | 26 (12, 14) | 17 (9, 8) | 22.4 (11.6, 10.8) | 34 (16, 18) | 9.6 (5.2, 4.4) | 17 (9, 8) | 38.4 (19.6, 18.8) | 13.6 (6.8, 6.8) |
Response Time Black / White * | 11.2 (6.8, 4.4) | 10.8 (6.4, 4.4) | 17 (8, 9) | 11 (6, 5) | 19.2 (9.6, 9.6) | 24 (13, 11) | 9.6 (4.4, 5.2) | 11 (7, 4) | 28 (15.6, 12.4) | 9.6 (5.2, 4.4) |
PWM Frequency | 198.4 (99) | |||||||||
Screen | ||||||||||
Brightness middle | 318 | 292 | 301 | 319 | 264.8 | 280 | 312 | 314 | 326 | 303 |
Brightness | 298 | 290 | 277 | 294 | 253 | 254 | 290 | 293 | 304 | 278 |
Brightness Distribution | 87 | 77 | 77 | 83 | 90 | 88 | 87 | 87 | 89 | 87 |
Black Level * | 0.3 | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.22 | 0.31 | 0.15 | 0.2 | 0.22 | 0.25 | 0.31 |
Contrast | 1060 | 1081 | 1158 | 1450 | 854 | 1867 | 1560 | 1427 | 1304 | 977 |
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 2.49 | 3.99 | 5.12 | 4.42 | 4.73 | 5.89 | 4.84 | 2.51 | 4.42 | 2.13 |
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 5.06 | 6.11 | 8.86 | 8.54 | 18.89 | 19 | 13.85 | 4.42 | 9.44 | 7.51 |
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated * | 1.53 | 3.02 | 4.88 | 4.64 | 4.79 | 1.77 | 1.71 | 1.53 | 0.7 | |
Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 1.6 | 3.3 | 3.47 | 4.84 | 1.4 | 4.08 | 9 | 3.26 | 5.8 | 3.4 |
Gamma | 2.211 100% | 2.25 98% | 2.37 93% | 2.39 92% | 2.16 102% | 2.33 94% | 2.105 105% | 2.42 91% | 2.261 97% | 2.156 102% |
CCT | 6714 97% | 7047 92% | 7062 92% | 6850 95% | 6641 98% | 7303 89% | 8099 80% | 6150 106% | 6822 95% | 6850 95% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 65 | 58.1 | 37 | 60 | 38.4 | 37 | 68 | 71 | 66 | |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 89 | 89.7 | 57 | 92 | 59.3 | 58 | 92 | 93 | 90 | |
Noise | ||||||||||
off / environment * | 25 | 28 | 30.7 | 25.2 | 28.7 | 30.2 | 25 | 27 | 24 | 25 |
Idle Minimum * | 26 | 28 | 30.7 | 25.2 | 28.7 | 30.2 | 26 | 32.4 | 24 | 31 |
Idle Average * | 30 | 28 | 30.7 | 25.2 | 30.5 | 30.2 | 30 | 32.4 | 25 | 33 |
Idle Maximum * | 34 | 28 | 30.7 | 25.2 | 32.5 | 30.2 | 32 | 32.4 | 29 | 48 |
Load Average * | 53 | 28 | 36.6 | 43.5 | 42.5 | 40 | 46 | 32.5 | 43 | 57 |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 51 | 50.6 | 47 | 53.1 | 50.1 | 49 | 48 | 47.2 | 46 | 55 |
Load Maximum * | 56 | 50.6 | 50.9 | 56 | 53.4 | 49 | 48 | 51.9 | 51 | 57 |
Heat | ||||||||||
Maximum Upper Side * | 50 | 53 | 46.3 | 44.1 | 47.6 | 42.9 | 51 | 40.2 | 47 | 48 |
Maximum Bottom * | 49 | 57.6 | 44.4 | 48 | 50.8 | 49.9 | 64 | 48.4 | 44 | 52 |
Idle Upper Side * | 35 | 27.4 | 28.1 | 25.2 | 33 | 27.8 | 29 | 25.6 | 35 | 37 |
Idle Bottom * | 31 | 31 | 29.4 | 25.7 | 29 | 27 | 32 | 26.7 | 30 | 38 |
Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
Reader / Idle | 538 | 671 | 848 | 624 | 543 | 587 | 469 | 703 | 1399 | 513 |
WiFi v1.3 | 285 | 372 | 433 | 280 | 512 | 370 | 354 | 391 | 683 | 284 |
Load | 58 | 87 | 84 | 108 | 196 | 116 | 87 | 101 | 104 | 70 |
H.264 | 554 | 338 | 322 | 371 | 383 | 860 | 333 | |||
Power Consumption | ||||||||||
Idle Minimum * | 8 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 12 | 9.2 | 2 | 15 |
Idle Average * | 12 | 10.6 | 8.3 | 13.2 | 10.5 | 10 | 14 | 14.6 | 8 | 17 |
Idle Maximum * | 21 | 11 | 8.7 | 19.8 | 17 | 10.5 | 20 | 18.1 | 16 | 22 |
Load Average * | 128 | 84.1 | 82 | 105 | 103.7 | 135 | 103 | 84 | 58 | 137 |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 138 | 152.9 | 151 | 127 | 128.1 | 144 | 125 | 142 | 89 | 161 |
Load Maximum * | 217 | 180.4 | 195 | 177 | 183.2 | 147 | 193 | 194 | 169 | 225 |
* ... smaller is better
Benchmarks
The Witcher 3 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) (sort by value) | |
Aorus 5 KB | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H | |
Acer Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 | |
Asus TUF A17 FA706IU-AS76 | |
Asus TUF A15 FA506IV-HN172 | |
Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
Lenovo Legion 5 17IMH05 | |
Aorus 7 KB | |
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) (sort by value) | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H | |
Acer Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 | |
Asus TUF A17 FA706IU-AS76 | |
Asus TUF A15 FA506IV-HN172 | |
Schenker XMG Core 15 GK5NR0O | |
HP Omen 15-ek0456ng | |
Lenovo Legion 5 17IMH05 | |
Aorus 7 KB |