Best gaming and work laptops in 2024

Picking out a laptop can be a lot more complicated than it seems. Checking out the best all-around laptops is a good place to start, sure, but you may want to use your laptop for a more specific purpose. Of course, you can look at the best gaming laptops if you're a gamer, or the best business laptops if you're a professional, but what if you want to do some hardcore gaming as well as get some serious work done on the same machine? Luckily, we've found the best laptops out there for work and play.

Work and play with these laptops

Razer's Blade line of laptops has been popular for a while, and the Blade 17 is no different. This premium PC features a 12th-gen Intel i7 or i9 CPU, up to an Nvidia RTX 3070TI, up to 32GB of RAM, lots of expandable storage potential, and up to a blazing fast up to 240Hz G-Sync display. Put simply, whether you're looking to get some serious work done or get in some serious gaming after work, the Blade 17 will have no trouble handling it all.

What's more, though, is that this laptop starts at only $1800, depending on your configuration, so you won't have to mortgage your life away to get an impressively powerful machine, either. You will have to deal with a weight hovering around 6 pounds, which isn't exactly lightweight, but considering the value of the Blade 17 as well as the performance you can get out of it, it'll be tough to find an all-around better laptop for both work and play.

If you want a laptop that outperforms most desktop gaming PCs and workstations alike, the Legion 9i from Lenovo is worth a look. This mighty laptop packs in a 13th-gen Intel Core i9 chip, up to an Nvidia RTX 4090, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, a 165Hz Mini-LED G-Sync display, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, and tons of IO, too. There really isn't much in terms of specs that the Legion is missing, no matter what you need out of a laptop.

You're also getting an utterly unique built-in liquid cooling system, a slick design that is still somehow quite thin, and a solid 1080p webcam, too. There are a few quirks, like how heavy it is, touchpad placement, or, unsurprisingly, bad battery life, but if you've got a big budget for the ultimate laptop that can edit 4K video as easily as it can run modern AAA games at high framerates, the Lenovo Legion 9i does everything you'll want and probably more.

If you're looking for a laptop that can handle games and work, but you don't have thousands to spend on a tricked-out PC, HP's Envy 16 is an excellent choice. This machine features up to an Intel Core i9 chip, up to an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, and an OLED display, but what's more is that pricing for this PC kicks off at well under $1500, depending on your configuration, making it quite affordable even for those on a budget.

Whether you're someone who needs a great webcam for meetings, wants solid IO for at-home connectivity, or you just need enough power to get through the latest Cyberpunk 2077 update, the HP Envy 16 can do it all. You also won't have to deal with a chunky, gamer-aesthetic laptop, either, as the Envy is a sleek, fairly thin laptop that doesn't come with a ton of flashing lights on it, either. If you want tons of value on your next laptop, the Envy 16 may be your best bet.

If you want to game, but you also need to do some graphic design or illustration, for example, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a mighty fine machine. This PC features a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 chip, up to an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, up to a meaty 64GB of RAM, and a 120Hz display on top of up to 2TB of storage. You're also getting solid IO, Dolby Atmos speakers, a 1080p webcam, and, of course, the ability to use your Surface as either a laptop or tablet, too.

While you will have to buy a Slim Pen 2 separately, it feels great on the Surface, making this hybrid a great choice for creators, but thanks to all that premium hardware mentioned above, you won't have any issue setting the pen down and booting up a graphically demanding game in your offtime. And while this laptop is on the heavier side, around 4 pounds, it's not as heavy as some of the other laptops on the list. The Surface may be expensive, but for creators, it's more than worth it.

If you're interested in a Mac option, there's no better choice than the M3 MacBook Pro. This powerhouse of a machine sports Apple's new M3 Pro or M3 Max chips that offer up not just some serious CPU power but a ton of key GPU upgrades for some fairly impressive gen-on-gen performance. You can also get up to 8TB of storage, up to a meaty 128GB of unified memory, a gorgeous Mini-LED display, and a high-quality six-speaker array.

If you need to work on a Mac, perhaps for the use of a certain piece of software, the MacBook Pro has more than enough power for just about anyone, and while there may not be as many games on Mac as there are on Windows, you definitely have some options. Plus, the M3 MacBook Pro's hardware is powerful enough to handle any game you throw at it with ease. If you're looking for a powerful Mac laptop, the M3 MacBook Pro is that laptop.

If you spend a lot of time on the road, you may not want to lug around a 6-pound monstrosity, so you should consider the ROG Flow X13. This machine features an 8-core Ryzen 9 chip, an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage on top of a solid suite of IO, a 1080p webcam, and Dolby Atmos speakers. You can also use this PC as a tablet, too.

This laptop, though, weighs in at under 3 pounds, making it a lot easier to carry around with you than many other options on our list, some of which can reach 6 pounds. But you'll still have enough power here to handle the latest games at high framerates, as well as run the majority of professional applications out there. It may not be as powerful as the heaviest machines, but the Flow X13 is certainly no slouch, making it an excellent lightweight choice.

Best gaming and work laptop: Bottom line

When you're looking to game really well and get some demanding work done on the same machine, this generally makes your top choices rather heavy and rather expensive, but that doesn't mean you don't have options and that some laptops might be better for you than others.

In general, the Razer Blade 17 is an excellent choice. Since it's not the most recent Blade, it's not nearly as expensive as the most expensive laptops on our list, but it's new enough that it still packs a major punch in terms of power with likely more than enough performance for most folks, whether they're professionals or hardcore gamers. The balance of value and power we see on the Razer Blade 17 is just a tough combination of winning characteristics to beat.