I test gaming laptops for a living — these are the 5 best Prime Day deals I’d get
In need of a new gaming laptop? Don't sleep on these deals
Are you looking for a new gaming laptop? Then you’re in luck: Amazon Prime Day is going strong, making this the ideal time to save.
When it comes to picking out one of the best gaming laptops, you should consider what’s most important to you. Would you rather sacrifice portability to have a bigger screen? How much does resolution matter to you? And are you the type of gamer who is happy to drop a few frames to buy a budget laptop?
I’ve been reviewing gaming laptops for a while now, and below I’ve picked five deals that have caught my eye. I think all of these machines hit a sweet spot between price vs performance.
And yes, technically some of these offers aren’t actually Prime Day Deals. But hey, it’s not like Amazon is the only place you can make a great saving on some of the best gaming laptops this week.
Quick links: Top 5 Prime Day gaming laptop deals
- MSI Cyborg 15: was $999 now $699 @ Best Buy
- Alienware x14: was $1,899 now $1,200 @ Best Buy
- Razer Blade 15: was $3,299 now $2,199 @ Amazon
- Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: was $1,399 now $799 @ Best Buy
- Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3: was $899 now $599 @ Amazon
Best Prime Day gaming laptop deals
MSI Cyborg 15
If you’re looking for rock-solid gaming performance at 1080p, look no further than the MSI Cyborg 15. Our favorite budget gaming laptop is even more appealing now that it’s had $300 knocked off. Thanks to a solid 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, this affordable laptop is perfect for gamers looking to enjoy the best Steam games. The 144Hz refresh rate of the Cyborg's screen makes blasting Hell beasts in Doom Eternal a responsive (ultra gory) treat. you’re going to have to lower a good few graphical settings. We loved this laptop when it was $1,000, and we love it even more now that it’s temporarily down to $700.
MSI Cyborg 15: was $999 now $859 @ Amazon
The MSI Cyborg 15 certainly stands out from the crowd, what with its unique cyberpunk-inspired design. In terms of gaming performance, this budget laptop handed in surprisingly good results during our tests and it's capable of running games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6 at 1080p / 60 fps. Battery life also proves strong for a gaming laptop.
Check other retailers: $1,124 @ Walmart
Alienware x14
When we originally reviewed the Alienware x14, we found it to be one one the slickest, thinnest gaming laptops around. That still remains the case in 2023. You won’t find many machines that measure in at just 0.6 inches thick. While its 12th gen Intel Alder Lake CPU and Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU aren’t quite at the bleeding edge, they’re still capable of producing impressive performance in games at 1080p (provided you play at medium settings). And don’t forget, this lovely little machine is way more portable than the most powerful gaming laptops.
Alienware x14: was $1,899 now $1,200 @ Best Buy
The x14 is one of the most distinctive gaming laptops we've tested here at Tom's Guide. We love how absurdly slim it is, which makes it one of the most ultra-portable gaming laptops on the market. Though we'd love an OLED version, the x14's 14-inch (1920 x 1080) 144Hz display can still serve up responsive 1080p gaming sessions.
Check other retailers: $1,491 @ Walmart
Razer Blade 15
The Razer Blade 15 (2022) is one of the best OLED gaming laptops you can buy. The screen of the Blade 15 is seriously impressive. Not only does its 1440p (2560 x 1440) OLED panel produce stunning contrast and colors, it boasts a hugely responsive 240Hz refresh rate. With a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, the Blade 15 has enough horsepower to run most modern games well. Play Resident Evil 4 on this and tell me OLED isn’t the best display type around.
Razer Blade 15: was $3,299 now $2,199 @ Amazon
The main selling point of the Razer Blade 15 is that incredibly vibrant 240Hz OLED display. Not only will some of the best PC games play smoothly on Razer’s laptop, the peerless black levels of OLED will make them look better than on any LED screen or IPS panel. 1440p is pretty much the sweet spot for laptop gaming at the moment, and the Blade’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is well suited to run titles at this resolution.
Check other retailers: $2,199 @ Best Buy
Last year’s Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 tops our best gaming laptops list for a reason. This model has a better, brighter screen than its predecessor, with good speakers and an AMD CPU/Nvidia GPU combo that delivers solid gaming performance. It also sports a built-in webcam, something earlier models lacked. Though the webcam isn’t great and this laptop doesn’t last long on a single charge, its gaming performance is overall good.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022): was $1,399 now $799 @ Best Buy
For our money, last year's Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is one of the best gaming laptops you can buy today. We love its sleek design and high portability. Plus, we appreciate its generous selection of ports and strong gaming performance credentials. This model comes packing an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
Price Check: $1,049 @ Amazon
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
If you want a super affordable gaming laptop, it's hard to beat the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3, which is now $599 on Amazon. While this machine doesn't pack the most cutting-edge specs, it has plenty of power to play modern PC games. This model features a 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 120Hz display, an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 laptop GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You should be able to run games like Doom Eternal at low to mid-tier graphics settings without too much of an issue.
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3: Was $899 now $679 @ Amazon
If you want to get into the world of PC gaming, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is an excellent entry point. This gaming laptop sports a 15.6-inch FHD display, an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It should be sufficient to play many games at low to medium settings.
Check other retailers: $599 @ Best Buy | $659 @ Walmart.
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Dave is a computing editor at Tom’s Guide and covers everything from cutting edge laptops to ultrawide monitors. When he’s not worrying about dead pixels, Dave enjoys regularly rebuilding his PC for absolutely no reason at all. In a previous life, he worked as a video game journalist for 15 years, with bylines across GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and TechRadar. Despite owning a graphics card that costs roughly the same as your average used car, he still enjoys gaming on the go and is regularly glued to his Switch. Away from tech, most of Dave’s time is taken up by walking his husky, buying new TVs at an embarrassing rate and obsessing over his beloved Arsenal.
- Tony PolancoComputing Writer