Ranking: The best affordable (sub-$1,500) gaming laptops

Now that the Omen Max exists, HP's Omen 16 (2025) is now more of a cost-effective solution. The Omen's refined design, good input devices and, above all, very good processor and gaming performance make this fact barely noticeable, at first, at least. It's still a budget gamer but comes without some of the usual compromises.

HP's latest Omen 16 is breaking into the budget arena this year. However, its case, input devices and performance are better than the price suggests.

The Omen can be had from Notebooksbilliger.de for just 1,199 euros in Germany.

With the TUF Gaming A18 FA808, Asus is offering a reasonably priced XXL laptop which, thanks to its large display, works great for watching movies but and for gaming. We tested a configuration featuring a Ryzen 7 260 and a GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU.

The RTX 5060 version of the TUF Gaming A18 proved to be a well-designed 18-inch laptop at a relatively fair price.

The Asus TUF Gaming A18 FA808UM-S8060W we tested is available for around 1,300 euros at various online stores in Germany (e.g., Galaxus.de).

While most laptops tend to be rather plain in color—usually gray or black—the bright Surge Green version of the Lenovo LOQ 15AHP11 is impossible to miss. This makes the new LOQ 15 a real eye-catcher.

You can’t go wrong with LOQ machines: Solid casing quality, good input devices, decent selection of ports, and usable displays all come included.

The LOQ 15AHP11 is available in grey starting from around 1,500 euros at various online stores in Germany (e.g., Galaxus.de).

The Nitro V 17 ANV17-41-R4CJ is aimed at buyers looking for a large gaming laptop at the lowest possible price - after all, like the Omen 16 and the LOQ 17, this is one of the cheapest gamers with Nvidia's RTX 5070.

The Acer Nitro V17 should appeal to all price-conscious gamers who value quiet and economical gaming instead of maximum frame rates.

The test model, which comes with no Windows license, costs 1,300 euros at our partner store Notebooksbilliger.

In spite of the LOQ 17IRX10 being a more affordable laptop, for a model featuring an RTX 5070, that is, Lenovo still did a decent job with this machine. The graphics card performs truly well which is very important. Thanks to built-in GPU overclocking, the RTX 5070 laptop GPU delivers above-average performance.

The LOQ 17IRX10 is an inexpensive RTX 5070 gamer with particularly strong 3D performance thanks to built-in GPU overclocking.

Lenovo's LOQ 17IRX10 with a Core i7-14700HX and a GeForce RTX 5070 is available for around 1,800 euros at Galaxus.de, as an example.

While some RTX 5060-powered systems like the recently tested MSI Cyborg 15 come with underwhelming TGP power limits, the Blackwell chip can deliver its full performance in the Erazer Deputy 15 P1. The laptop's casing is well-made, withstanding pressure and torsion well; good input devices and a decent number of interfaces are here to attract customers, too.

Quality casing, good input devices and convincing performance. Medion's Erazer Deputy 15 P1 rightfully takes its place among the budget gamers worth your attention.

Erazer Deputy 15 P1 MD62761's Core 7 250H and a GeForce RTX 5060 SKU is available for just under 1,300 euros from various online stores in Germany (e.g. CoolBlue).

If you are looking for a current-gen gaming laptop within the 1,000-euro range, the T6 V3.5 is worth considering. This 16-inch machine offers a solid mid-range graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU, accompanied by a speedy Core i7-14700HX CPU.

Tulpar's T6 V3.5 does not have to hide behind systems from better-known brands, and is well worth a look.

Depending on the configuration, you can have a Tulpar T6 V3.5 for around €1,150 from the brand's website.

The Nitro V14 AI stands out from the crowd with its pure white color, and also with how small it is. This is a particularly compact gaming laptop, and certainly an eye-catching one. Its replaceable/upgradable RAM and SSD are a nice thing to have; the Nitro has two SO-DIMM banks and two M.2 slots.

The best thing about the 14-inch model is its generous battery life. The device lasted almost 13 hours in our Wi-Fi Web browsing test.

As reviewed, the Acer Nitro V14 AI ANV14-62-R9LT is available from various online stores in Germany (e.g. notebooksbilliger.de) starting from around €1,200.

For those looking for a reasonably priced notebook with a modern graphics adapter, the Nitro V 16 AI from Acer may be worth a shot. For around €1,100, the buyer gets 16 GB of DDR5 RAM (2 x 8 GB) and a 1-TB SSD, a Ryzen 5 240 and a GeForce RTX 5050 with 8 GB of GDDR7 VRAM. While the machine's casing uses very little metal, it does sport stylish looks and a good set of ports, including USB 4. Its input devices are also fine, and it gets extra plus points for its very good battery life.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI is inexpensive, has a stylish design, good connectivity and good battery life.

The Nitro V 16 AI ANV16-42-R860 is available online starting from around 1,150 euros (e.g. at Galaxus.de).

The Scout 17 E1 was the first notebook based on the GeForce RTX 5050 to land in our test lab. This Medion machine offers adequate performance for Full HD gaming in most cases, even if the RTX 5050's edge over the 4050 might seem disappointing to some.

Medion's Erazer Scout 17 E1 is an affordable entry-level gamer that's a tad costlier than it should be.

In Germany, the Erazer Scout 17 E1 MD62758 is available for around €1,200 from Medion's online store, among other options.