Are people telling you it is not possible to get a good gaming laptop for $700? Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I know $700 may not seem a lot of money for a gaming laptop – there are some really good options out there.
To make things easy for you, I have compiled a list of the top 5 best gaming laptops under $700. Buying a gaming laptop should not be a chore. Hence I will also give you an in-depth buyer’s guide, which will help you make a smarter, more informed decision.
So, what’s the wait? Let’s dive straight into the list of my top-picked laptops.
In a Hurry? These are the Best top-picked Gaming Laptops Under $700
Best Overall Gaming Laptop
Battery Life – Intel 12th generation gaming laptop
Best RGB Gaming Laptop under 700
3. Lenovo Legion 5 Flagship
Excellent gaming Laptop IPS 144HZ
Best Budget gaming laptop
5. Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i
Reviewing the Best Gaming laptop under $700
This list is not in any particular order because all the laptops I have picked for you are equally capable.
We have a stringent testing process. Each laptop is thoroughly tested and then assigned a score. We have a ranking chart in which laptops are placed according to their scores. Hence, only the top laptops are included in our listicle.
Excited yet! Let’s dive straight into the reviews.
Best Overall Gaming Laptop
1. Acer Nitro 5 AN515 – Excellent Gaming laptop under 700 dollars
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Pros
Cons
Bottom Line:
The Acer Nitro 5 AN515 is an exceptionally well-balanced laptop that does not cost a lot of money but still manages to deliver a great gaming experience in most of the cases. You can easily run almost all the modern games. However, you might need to tweak the settings a bit just to get the perfect experience.
Acer laptops have been exceptional ever since they started coming to the market more frequently, and for those wondering, the Acer Nitro series is the company’s take on affordable gaming laptops that bring together good aesthetics as well as overall specs in a nice package, so if you have been searching for something that is good and delivers good performance, this is the way to go.
The Acer Nitro 5 AN515 is the one that is on our desk today, and well, it is an excellent laptop for the price you are paying.
Gaming Experience
Of course, since we are looking at a gaming laptop, the main thing that most people will be concerned about is the performance of the laptop. After all, if a gaming laptop is not delivering the performance one wants, then what even is the point, right?
Thankfully, with the Acer Nitro 5, you are looking at an excellent laptop that delivers great performance overall in almost all the games. You can easily game at QHD with this laptop, and you can check out the benchmarks below of a few games I tested on 1080p and medium settings.
- Valorant: 177+ frames per second
- league of legends 300+ frames per second.
- Rainbow Six Siege: 220+ frames per second.
- Fortnite: 112+ frames per second
- CSGO: 200+ frames per second
Needless to say, this laptop’s gaming performance is better than you would expect. While some higher-end games might run into some frame-rate issues, it is nothing that can be resolved by carefully tweaking the settings.
Specifications
The next thing that we have are the specifications, and of course, for anyone spending money on a gaming laptop, you would need a good set of specifications, too. Thankfully, the Acer Nitro 5 actually brings a decent mix of specs that you can check out below.
- Intel Core i5-10300H
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- 15.6″ FHD 144Hz IPS Display
- 8GB DDR4
- 256GB NVMe SSD
You can tell that the set of specifications is excellent for the price you are paying for this laptop, and most games will run just fine. However, if you wish to spend a bit more money, the same laptop also comes with RTX 3060 and i7.
Design and Connectivity
The Acer Nitro 5 is unapologetically a gaming laptop as far as the design is concerned. It is more than safe to say that the company clearly wanted this laptop to look the way it does.
Most of the laptop is adorned in a mix of red and black accents, with black being the predominant color. The bottom line here is that even if you do not go around telling people that this is a gaming laptop, they will figure it out on their own.
As far as connectivity is concerned, there is plenty that you get access to. You get a single USB-A port on the left and two on the right. You also have a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port on the rear side, an HDMI out port, and a charging port. So, those who are looking to connect peripherals should not have any issues.
Battery Life
The battery life remains one of its most important aspects for anyone looking to get a new laptop. We cannot overlook that, to begin with. Sadly, the Acer Nitro 5 does not deliver a great battery life, but this is more than understandable due to the power-hungry nature of this laptop. If you want to game, I would strongly advise that you are connected to a power source.
Best Battery Life – Intel 12th generation gaming laptop
2. HP Victus 15 – Best gaming laptop under 700
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Pros
Cons
Bottom Line:
The HP Victus 15 is a slim and light gaming laptop that, despite its small size, has plenty of performance. For just $700, the specs inside this machine are top-notch hence allowing you to run most modern games. Unlike other gaming laptops, HP has not cut corners, making the Victus 15 an ideal daily companion for gamers.
HP has been on a roll lately. They have revamped all their existing gaming laptops – removing all of the faults and making them excellent machines. Their feedback has gone into making the Victus 15 – although a cheaper option compared to the competition, it is a fantastic laptop in its own right.
It has excellent performance out of the box and even comes with a stellar display for that added goodness.
Gaming Experience
If anything, the HP Victus 15 should not be able to provide such a good gaming experience. Instead, this laptop goes above and beyond with its performance and can play any game you throw at it quite convincingly.
Let’s be honest, nothing is more disappointing than not being able to play your favorite game, but you will have none of those concerns with this laptop. It can deliver 60+ FPS on 1080p resolution in most games and will also play some at 1440p – however, at a lower frame rate. I tested this laptop with popular AAA games and got the following framerate.
- Marvel’s Spiderman: 60 frames per second
- Fortnite: 96 frames per second
- Valorant: 172 frame per second
- Genshin Impact 70 frame per second
The FPS benchmark is proof of the great potential that is hiding inside this laptop. Of course, there will be some games that won’t quite hit the 60 FPS sweet spot, but you can always reduce the graphic settings.
Specifications
Specs can make or break a gaming laptop – none of them breaking part here because this laptop comes with just the right set of specs for its price.
- Intel I5 12450H
- Nvidia GTX 1650
- 15.6” FHD 144Hz IPS display
- 8GB RAM
- 512GB NVMe SSD
Surprisingly, you get the latest 12th generation Intel I5 12450H CPU in this laptop, which is quite an improvement over the previous I5. Not only does it have more cores 8 as opposed to 6 – it also comes with greater efficiency.
The other specs are pretty standard; however, I don’t like that this laptop has an Nvidia GTX 1650. It is an old GPU, which has been replaced by its newer version. Despite that, it still packs a punch in performance. If you are willing to spend a little bit of money, a version is available with the RTX 3050, which is a worthwhile consideration.
Design and Connectivity
The HP Victus 15 has a subtle design. This laptop is not trying to be the one that catches all the attention when you enter a room – on the contrary, it is the one that will slip under the radar of most people. I love gaming laptops that are not loud because it makes them highly versatile.
HP comes with a simple matte black finish which is as industrial as it gets. There is also no finicky branding; you get a simple V logo on the lid in a matching gloss black color.
When it comes to connectivity, HP has nailed it out of the park. This laptop gets supplied with all the ports you need to fulfill your needs. On the right, you get an HDMI, USB-A, Ethernet, and USB-C. The same ports are also on the left side with the inclusion of a power connector, SD-Card slot, and 3.5mm combo audio jack.
Battery Life
I would know how HP has pulled it off – neither do I need to know; the battery life of this laptop is fantastic. On average, you get 8-9 hours of battery backup when using the laptop for general day-to-day tasks like browsing, watching videos, and working on MS Office.
It also supports fast charging via the supplied charger. From zero to full, this laptop takes under 2 hours which can be quite handy in a pinch.
3. Lenovo Legion 5 – Good build quality gaming laptop
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Pros
Cons
Bottom Line:
Lenovo has found a winning formula with the Legion 5. A simple yet tastefully designed laptop with great specs and excellent user experience cannot go wrong. Hence, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Lenovo Legion 5 is the company’s top-selling laptop, and for a good reason
There is no trickery up its sleeve. This laptop does all the basic fundaments quite well without adding any unnecessary gimmick. This has proved to be a recipe for making gamers happy because, let’s face it, not everyone wants an over-the-top laptop with a lot of gimmicks but useless functionality. Therefore, the Lenovo Legion 5 is a laptop you should surely consider if you are tired of the so udo “cool” gaming laptops.
Gaming Experience
Lenovo Legion 5 will provide you a consistently good gaming experience day in and day out. It can play almost all games without a fret – emphasis on the almost part, because there will be some games for which you will need to drop the graphic preset to low for smooth FPS.
Talking about FPS, I was thoroughly impressed by the capability of this PC when gaming. For example, it gave the following FPS on different games.
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: 65 frames per second.
- Rainbow Six Siege: 190 frames per second.
- GTA 5: 75 frames per second
- Fortnite: 96 frames per second
- Valorant: 190 FPS
I played all the games at ultra-graphic settings to keep the test consistent. In theory, you can get even higher FPS if you bump the graphic settings down a notch. Frankly, you will need to do that in some games if you want to enjoy a smooth gaming experience.
Specifications
The Lenovo Legion 5 comes with great specs for the price, and rest assured, you won’t be disappointed by this laptop. It comes with the following specs:
- AMD Ryzen 5 4600H
- Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti
- 15.6” FHD 120Hz IPS display
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Lenovo has done the right thing by going with an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H instead of an Intel processor because the Ryzen delivers more power while being more efficient as well. The rest of the specs are just the usual you would expect in a laptop at this price point.
One thing I find annoying, though, is the inclusion of only a 256GB SSD. I get it – to compensate for the small SSD, Lenovo is throwing in a 1TB HDD. However, HDD has a low transfer speed, making your system slow in the long run.
Design and Connectivity
Lenovo often uses minimal design language for their laptops, and the Legion 5 is no different. It has a very simple and clean design with minimal logos or text, making it appear quite industrial – you know, the laptops usually the guys with suites carry around.
If you like a flashier gaming laptop, then you will not like the Lenovo Legion 5. However, for the stealth matte black fans out there – it is a dream come true.
Proper connectivity is very important for any gaming laptop; thankfully, the Lenovo Legion 5 does not disappoint in terms of connectivity. 5x USB-A ports, 2 on the back and the remaining on the sides. You also get a single USB-C port, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort, Ethernet LAN, and a separate 3.5mm jack for mic and audio.
The only port we don’t have here is the thunderbolt. However, it is not Lenovo’s fault as the thunderbolt port is exclusive to Intel-powered laptops.
Battery Life
Going with an AMD CPU sure has its advantages. For starters, the Ryzen is a lot less taxing on the battery, therefore, resulting in higher battery backup. How much higher, you might ask? Well, the Lenovo Legion 5 with an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H will give you a battery time of 10 hours, which is quite fantastic.
144Hz FHD IPS-Type Display Gaming laptop
4. Asus TUF F15 – Good laptop under 700
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Pros
Cons
Bottom Line:
The Asus TUF F15 is a well-specced laptop with an amazing price point. In addition, it isn’t too heavy on the pocket, so if you want to get into gaming, the Asus TUF 15 is an excellent entry point.
Asus has always been the best gaming laptop brand, but my pet peeve with them is they focus mostly on high-end gaming laptops throughout the years. They are finally here with an excellent alternative to the more budget laptops in the form of the TUF 15.
Gaming Experience
This laptop can serve you quite well and get the job in most games. However, if I am being honest, its gaming experience falls flat as compared to the other top gaming laptops.
The blunt of the blame for which goes to its outdated specs, which will not allow you to max out games at 1080p resolution. However, the gaming experience is not as bad as you think. Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh on the laptop – but that is only because this laptop has much potential.
During testing, I did manage to run all the games on this PC. The frame rate for these games is as follows:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: 82 FPS
- F1 2021: 40 frames per second
- Fortnite: 90 frames per second
- CSGO: 155 frames per second
- Overwatch 100 frames per second
No doubt! The Asus TUF 15 can play a myriad of different games. From racing games like Forza Horizon 5 to interactive multiplayer experiences like GTA 5 – this laptop will be able to play them all. However, in each one of the games, you will need to keep the graphic quality low or medium to get a smooth gaming experience.
Specifications
The Asus TUF 15 is only held back by the outdated CPU – rest of the specs of this laptop are quite impressive, those being as follows:
- Intel I5 10300H
- Nvidia GTX 1650
- 15.6” FHD 144Hz IPS display
- 8GB RAM
- 512GB NVMe SSD
If this laptop had a better CPU, let’s say an Intel 12th generation I5 or a Ryzen 5 4600H, then it would have been surely at the top of the list.
One quirk I would like to mention because proceeding to the next section is that this laptop comes with Windows 11 out of the box. So take it for what it is – despite being buggy, you are still getting the latest Windows experience here.
Design and Connectivity
Clean and simple are the two words that can summarize the whole design language of the Asus TUF 15. While boring, the toned-down design and the simple approach make this laptop highly versatile. You can go placed unnoticed, which is not something I can say for most other gaming laptops.
I also like the efforts Asus has made to keep reduce screen bezels. While not the smallest, the Asus TUF 15 has quite thin screen bezels, increasing the gaming immersion.
Without good connectivity, a laptop is nothing. I am pleased to report that the Asus TUF 15 comes with a versatile I/O selection containing all of the essential ports. This laptop includes support for the latest thunderbolt 4 connection. Other ports here include a full-size Ethernet jack, 3x USB-A ports, HDMI, and a 3.5mm combo Audio/Mic jack.
Battery Life
The battery life of the Asus TUF 15 is good but not top-class. Due to having an Intel 10th generation CPU, this laptop suffers from excessive heat generation, which also has a negative impact on the battery life. As a result, I could only manage to squeeze 5-6 hours of battery backup out of this laptop – that too with sparing usage.
5. Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3i – Best Budget gaming Laptop under 700
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Pros
Cons
Bottom Line:
The budget is tight for all of us – especially with the rising inflation. Therefore, if you want a save a little on your purchase, the Lenovo L340 is an ideal laptop. Despite not costing a lot of money, this laptop is not vastly different from the other gaming laptops on this list. So, by paying less – you are not getting a major inferior gaming experience which is a win in my books.
I have to commend Lenovo for making such a great gaming laptop at a budget price point. Not everyone wants to splurge a crazy amount of money on a gaming laptop, and that is totally fine if you are getting a good gaming laptop for your money, to begin with.
Gaming Experience
I have to admit – the Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3i delivers a better gaming experience than I was expecting, which caught me by surprise. Gaming on the laptop turned out to be quite enjoyable. It played all the games I threw at it quite comprehensively, averaging around 50 FPS in most games at medium graphic settings. The benchmarks down below support this number.
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: 52 frames per second.
- Rainbow Six Siege: 168 frames per second.
- Fortnite: 90 frames per second
- Call of Duty: WWII: 76 frames per second
While not the best performance I have seen in this price range but definitely not the worst – so the Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3i gets a solid pass. At the end of the day, you have to realize that we are talking about a budget gaming laptop. I bet a modern Ultrabook will cost more than this gaming laptop, so not really a bad proposition you are getting here, eh?
Specifications
While nothing fancy, the specs match what you expect in a sub $700 gaming laptop. I have only one major gripe that being this laptop comes with only a 256GB SSD. However, if you are willing to pay a little bit extra you can also buy the variant with 512GB SSD.
Otherwise, the rest of the specs are the same as you get on other laptops in this list, which as are follows
- Intel Core i5-11300H
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 1650
- 15.6″ FHD 120Hz IPS Display
- 8GB DDR4
- 256GB NVMe SSD
All things considered; you are getting a great set of specs with this laptop. Unlike some others on the list with 10th generation Intel I5 CPU, the Lenovo idea pad gaming 3 comes with the 11Th generation Intel model, which ensures a step up in performance.
Design and Connectivity
The Lenovo ideapad gaming 3 has the same design as its Ultrabook sibling – the Lenovo Ideapad 3. What I mean is this laptop has a minimal design with clean body lines– just a little bit chunky though, which is nothing unusual for a gaming laptop.
In addition, the Lenovo logo is recessed to the side – which frees up a lot of space on the laptop’s body and makes it look uncluttered.
Despite being a budget gaming laptop, I did not find the connectivity of the Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3 to be any different from the other laptops on this list. It offers all the necessary ports that you may need for basic connectivity.
For the folks looking for the exact configuration, this laptop comes with HDMI, USB-A, USB-C, Ethernet LAN, and a 3.5mm headphone slot. The only port I find lacking here is the SD-card slot.
Battery Life
The battery life of the Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3 is decent. It occupies a middle ground between good battery and battery life. This laptop could only last 6 hours on battery power, ensuring it will get you through your school or college day. However, you will need to charge in the evening.
Related Guides
Buyer’s Guide: What to look for When Buying a Gaming Laptop under 700
A gaming laptop is a costly item, and one does not spend all his money on one without knowing the fundaments. The buyer’s guide is a special segment in which I will tell you the ins and outs of buying a gaming laptop and how you can get yourself a better deal.
Gaming Experience Should be the No.1 Priority
A gaming laptop has many different facets; however, I believe the most important one is the gaming experience. For this reason, I have separated the gaming experience segment in each of my reviews.
A laptop is worth nothing if you are unable to play your favorite game on it. Therefore, I suggest you comprise on other aspects such as aesthetics or the battery life of a laptop but not on the gaming experience.
I still remember the disappointment on my face when my dad had bought me a gaming laptop only to realize it could not play my favorite game – I don’t want you going through that feeling of disbelief.
Not Everyone Needs the Same Laptop
We all have different wants and needs; therefore, one laptop I may like might not be the one you like. For instance, I don’t like flashy and over-the-top gaming laptops; however, you might like them.
Therefore, keep your options open and find a laptop that works for you. It might be hard knowing at first, but once you read a couple of reviews knowing which laptop works for your needs becomes quite clear.
Factors to Look for in a gaming Laptop
The previous two segments were just the gist of how buying a gaming laptop works. Now, I will tell you what you should look out for in gaming.
CPU
Plain and simple – you need a laptop with at least an Intel I5 or a Ryzen 5 processor. Anything less is unacceptable because then you won’t be freely able to play any game you like.
RAM
If you are a person that likes keeping many tabs open of Google Chrome open in the background, then you will need more RAM – we are looking at roughly 16GB RAM to fulfill your needs. However, for strictly gaming, you can get away with having 8GB RAM on your laptop.
Storage
How much storage space you need depends entirely on your use. Some gamers like having a lot of games installed on their PC, while others prefer cloud gaming. Depending on the type of gamer you are, pick the laptop with the storage space that works for you.
Just to be on the safe side, I think you should get a laptop with at least a 256GB SSD. Even if you have embraced cloud gaming, you would still at least need 256GB space for media and other such files.
GPU
You don’t buy a gaming laptop every day, so get the best GPU you can in your price range. Generally speaking, the two most popular GPUs in the $700 price bracket are the Nvidia RTX 3050 and Nvidia GTX 1650. If you have the option, get the RTX 3050 because it is more powerful and delivers better FPS in games.
Conclusion
This is all that you need to buy an amazing gaming laptop without breaking the bank. I not only provide you 5 solid options under the $700 price tag but also told you how you can make a smarter purchase through the buyer’s guide section.
With everything now said and done, it is time to wrap up the article. Before you go, let me
know about your favorite laptop. I hope that you found the information in this article helpful – and with that said, happy hunting, guys.
