Best Thin Laptops for Gaming : Best Thin Gaming Laptops in 2019!

The pursuit of thinner, lighter, and more powerful laptops is a trend that’s been going on for years. While smartphones and tablets sales have skyrocketed since 2014, laptop sales have noticeably declined since. And in order to compete, laptops are becoming thinner and more versatile.However, if you’re interested in buying a gaming laptop, the truth is most of them are bulky by 2019’s standards. Which may be a problem if you need a gaming laptop that’s easy to carry around. The good news is that the thin gaming laptops niche is growing, and more and more manufacturers seem to be interested in it!

In this short article, we’ll list some of the best thin laptops for gaming that you can find right now; and also point out some of the advantages and drawbacks of buying a thin gaming laptop. Let’s first check some of the thing to consider when buying a gaming laptop:

What to consider when buying a laptop for gaming?

Now, we all know the main ingredient in a gaming laptop is the graphics card (GPU). Although it’s not the only component that matters, but you’re guaranteed to be let down if you pick an entry-level GPU and you want to play the newest title in high settings. Mobile GPUs used to be something very different from their desktop counterparts, but today they’re closer in performance than ever. These precious chips keep being optimized to be squeezed into thinner machines, without sacrificing any of your entertainment. The mobile gaming dream is right now.

Regardless of how much thin you want your laptop, there are a few hardware specifications for you to look out for. Here are some guidelines:

• GPU: it’s a big decision and there’s a wide range of options. This is where you have to be considerate. Most gaming laptops come with Nvidia GTX and RTX cards. As a general rule of thumbs, you can go for something as entry-level as a Nvidia GTX 1050, that’ll let you play most games in mid-to-low settings. As a middle-ground option, you have the Nvidia RTX 2060, which is also held as the minimum standard for VR devices. The RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 are the most powerful out there and will let you play any game in high settings.
• Processor and RAM: for a standard gaming experience, you should aim for an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, with 8 GB of RAM at minimum. If you’re making the investment now, consider purchasing an 8^th generation Intel processor, or even a 9th generation processor if you want to future proof your machine. It’s going to be good both for performance as for battery saving. You won’t have to worry as much for the RAM, because most gaming laptops come with a free slot to upgrade it whenever you feel the need. However, if you’re not familiar with laptop upgrades you can buy a laptop that has enough RAM from the start
• Storage space: it’s fairly common to see a gaming laptop serve both a small SSD drive for booting and a 1TB HDD for storage. Purchasing a larger SSD might grant you decreased loading times, but it’ll come at quite the cost. Like RAM, storage is easily upgradable in most gaming laptops, and a lot of them have free slots for the newer PCIe NVme Solid State Drives.
• Other features: Once you’ve checked the laptop has the right specifications for you, it’s time to check the quality of the build. Premium gaming laptops offer FHD displays with a 144Hz refresh rate. A nice feature in keyboards is a 1.5 to 2mm key travel, which is going to feel comfortable for when you’ll be smashing your keys.

What if you’re buying a gaming laptop…but not for playing games?

It may seem counter intuitive, but a lot of creative professionals are buying a gaming laptop instead of a professional workstation laptop. There are plenty of reasons to buy a gaming laptop for work and study purposes, even if you never get down to play a single game. For example, a gaming rig makes a good laptop to edit videos, which is one of the most demanding tasks you can do on a laptop; and with more and more gaming laptop being equipped with high end IPS panels, they make a good option if you’re working in photo editing, graphic design, and anything where color accuracy is critical.

Another reason why you’d pick a gaming laptop, is the build quality.  Gaming laptops are usually built to last, as it would make no sense to buy one that can’t play a game being released next year. That’s why these machines are equipped for the titles of tomorrow. Buying one today will grant you a computing experience that’ll feel no less smooth in five years.

However, gaming laptops might not be a good fit for everyone, and if you’re here, you’re probably already familiar with some of their drawbacks, such as their battery life and most importantly, their size and weight.

How to choose a thin laptop for gaming?

One of the most things that put people off gaming laptops is how thick and heavy they were. A few years ago, a good gaming laptop looked something like this: And to be honest, some gaming laptops still look this in 2019. So you either choose gaming or portability.

And while gaming laptops still have a limited battery life, there are a few thin laptops out there that combine the power of a gaming laptop and the portability of an ultrabook. However, getting a thin laptop  comes with many benefits, as well as drawbacks. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of getting a thin laptop for gaming:

The Good:

Thin gaming laptops are lighter and easy to carry around to school or work, with an average thickness under 0.7 inch. They also have smaller footprint thanks to thin bezels around the screen.
They also look more premium and professional in comparison to traditional gaming laptops. If you don’t like flashy red trims and the aggressive of gaming laptops, then this could be an option.

The Bad:

Squeezing all the components that make a powerful gaming laptop in a slim chassis doesn’t come with no consequences. In order to make laptops thinner, many manufacturers will sacrifice a few features. For instance, a lot of thin laptops don’t come with HDMI or Ethernet ports, and to use those, you have to rely on a dongle or a USB hub. Also, thin laptops tend to have average typing experience; because of the short key travel. So if you’re looking for the best laptop for typing , a thin one might not be it.

Thin laptops also tend to have poor thermals, which might affect the performance if you use the laptop for a few hours. And the only solution to that is to use an external cooling system.

Best Thin Laptops for Gaming:

So, now that you have an idea about gaming laptops, let’s check some of the best thin laptops for gaming we selected for you. This list will be updated regularly, so if you have a question or suggestion, ask us in the comments below.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531GS-AH76

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First on our list, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531GS-AH76 is a 15.6” Full HD super slim gaming laptop, featuring an IPS display with 144Hz of refresh rate. It’s packed with an 8^th generation Intel Core i7-8750H processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The dedicated graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, with 8 GB of VRAM and Max-Q design. The Zephyrus S is the thinnest model in the series by ASUS, being only 0.62 inch thin and weighting 4.6lbs.

There’s plenty for the eye to be amused by this machine. We can start from the 6.5mm narrow bezel display, to the all metal chassis, up to the futuristic looking backlit keyboard, with four customizable color zones. The trackpad also acts as a touch numeric keyboard, which is a nice addition for tackling occasional data entry tasks. With modern connectivity options and an efficient cooling system, the Zephyrus S makes for a nice place to start.

Razer Blade 15

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Razer was one of the first manufacturers to tackle the thin gaming laptop niche, and the Razer Blade 15 featured here is a 15.6 Full HD premium gaming laptop that comes with an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The dedicated graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q, is one of the most powerful available on laptops, with 8 GB of VRAM. With a good-looking black aluminum unibody, the Blade 15 is one of the best thin laptops for gaming you can get.

Design, specifications and connectivity options are all future-proof in this machine. I could definitely picture myself using the Blade 15 five years from now, without ever being tired of its looks and performance. The only upgrade that I could feel the need of is a larger SSD, but that’s only in theory since cloud-based storage is becoming more and more popular. The Razer Blade 15 is quite an investment in terms of money, but it all pays out.

MSI GS65 Stealth-432

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The MSI GS65 Stealth-432 is another great 15.6” Full HD premium gaming laptop that despite its professional look, is capable of tackling the latest AAA games. Under the thin chassis, you’ll find a 9^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, which is 10% more powerful than its predecessor by Intel statements. The Stealth-432 comes with an impressive 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. The dedicated graphics card with this one is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070, with 8 GB of VRAM. In a similar fashion to its competitors, this laptop is 0.69” thin.

Another cool feature of this MSI powerhouse is the display, coming with a 4.9mm narrow bezel design and a stunning 240Hz of refresh rate. Coupling that with the high-performance graphics card, you’ll get to enjoy high settings games in a smoother way than ever. Other than that, you’ll enjoy the latest connectivity options with Thunderbolt 3 ports, a responsive touchpad and a distinctive backlit keyboard.

Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51-71VV

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Going back to a more affordable price range, we recommend the Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51-71VV, a 15.6” Full HD gaming laptop featuring a 144Hz IPS display. It’s packed with an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The dedicated graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q, with 6 GB of VRAM. This model is 0.7” thin and weights 4.6lbs.

The Triton 500 is a great buy if you’re looking for a VR ready laptop to use with Oculus Rift, for example.. The RGB backlit keyboard offers three customizable zones, and a dedicated TURBO key for instant overclocking your processor if you need the boost. With a Thunderbolt 3 port, connectivity is also guaranteed to stay up with the tides of time.

MSI GS75 Stealth-093

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MSI some of the best thin laptops for gaming out there; but if you’re looking for a bigger display, you won’t find many that manage to stay thin as well. And the MSI GS75 Stealth-093 is one of the few thin gaming laptops that also feature a 17 inch screen. And thanks to the thin bezels around the display, it allows the laptop to be a little smaller overall compared to traditional 17” laptops. The Stealth-093 features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. It comes with the Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics card, with 8 GB of VRAM. This matte black with gold finishes model is 0.75” thin and it does a great job in compromising between the display and chassis size.

Purchasing one of the most powerful gaming laptops in the market today is going to last you quite a while. The Stealth-093 doesn’t miss any of the modern features that premium laptops come with, such as Thunderbolt 3 ports, a fully customizable RGB backlit keyboard, and a highly responsive touchpad.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GM501GS-XS74

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The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GM501GS-XS74 is another model in the Zephyrus series that offers plenty of value for the price. The Full HD display has a refresh rate of 144Hz. It features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD for the fast booting and a 1 TB FireCuda for the storage. If you’ve never heard of it, FireCuda is a new drive (SSHD9 by Seagate, coming as a more performing version of a traditional HDD. The Zephyrus M is packed with a Nvidia GgeForce GTX 1070, with 8 GB of VRAM. This model is 0.78” thin.

Unlike the S counterpart, the Zephyrus M comes with a more traditional keyboard design, featuring a physical touchpad. You’ll definitely enjoy the 1.7mm key travel, the four-zone customizable backlighting and the modern connectivity options, including a Thunderbolt 3 port.

GIGABYTE AERO 15-X9-RT5P

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The GIGABYTE AERO 15-X9-RT5P is a professional looking gaming laptop that offers lots of value for the money. First, it comes in ultra slim chassis, and with 3mm bezels only around the screen, even at the top. To achieve that design, the front camera is placed on the hinge of the laptop. It features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. The AERO 15 is packed with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070, with 8 GB of VRAM. This all-metal machine is 0.74” thin and weights 4.4lbs. On top of that, it comes with the Windows 10 Professional operating system.

Offering 8 hours of battery life on average use isn’t as typical in gaming laptops. The AERO 15, though, makes up for a perfect companion for business and work, other than gaming. The extensive backlit keyboard includes a separate numeric keypad. With a purchase like this, it’s unlikely you’ll ever feel the need to upgrade in many years to come.

There are also other reasons why you’d choose the GIGABYTE AERO 15-X9-RT5P even if you’re not planning to use it for gaming. It comes with one of the best laptop displays ever. The display is even Pantone Certified for color calibration, which is great news if you’re doing any graphic related work such as photo editing, graphic design, or video editing.

ASUS UX550GE-XB71T Zenbook Pro

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If you’re not necessarily shopping for a gaming laptop, but rather want a thin laptop that has a good graphics card, then the ASUS UX550GE-XB71T Zenbook Pro offers just that. This 15.6 laptop is suitable for light gaming, as well as other tasks such content creation or multimedia purposes. The ASUS UX550GE-XB71T features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The dedicated graphics card is the entry-level Nvidia GTX 1050Ti, with 4 GB of VRAM. The Zenbook Pro is only 0.7” thin, being a perfect candidate for our list.

A 4K display is a rare sight in gaming laptops, since it comes at the cost of a lower refresh rate and consumes more power, but it looks so good on the Zenbook Pro. Despite having a lackluster graphics card, it’s still going to perform well in retro gaming and running editing software. The ASUS UX550GE-XB71T also features a great keyboard consierding how thin the laptop is; with more than 1.5mm of key travel.

If you’re just looking for a little more in a laptop than what a typical model has to offer, the Zenbook Pro is a strong choice for you.

MSI PS63 Modern-091

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Competing in the same department as the latter model, the MSI PS63 Modern-091 is a 15.6” Full HD laptop for light gaming and creativity. The Modern-091 features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti, with 4 GB of VRAM, is still a good value in 2019, and you can still play most current title in medium settings. The MSI PS63 is one of best thin laptops for gaming, and also the thinnest in our list, at 0.63 inch only.

The Modern-091 offers a white backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader and the house’s “silky” touchpad, just like the other MSI models we’ve reviewed. The key feature with this one, though, is the battery life, reaching up to 18 hours of activity on a single charge. To all the non-gamers out there, we’re looking at you!