Best Gaming Laptops in Canada

Today, gaming laptops are a great option for PC gaming. They have all the same features as desktop gaming rigs, such as multicore processors, advanced GPUs and SSDs, loads of RAM, and high-quality screens. Some of the best gaming laptops even feature mechanical keyboards, although most gamers still prefer an external mouse and keyboard.

However, finding the perfect gaming laptop that matches your needs and budget is not always simple. Comparing the plethora of products on the market may seem like an impossible task.

To make your job easier, we have already picked the best products in this category. In addition, here is a more detailed buying guide to help you with your decision.

These are the key features you should focus on when buying a laptop for gaming:

GPU

The best gaming laptops used to be large and heavy because having a good enough graphics processing unit (GPU) meant that you had to compromise on portability. Luckily, we have seen significant advances in technology. Today, a good gaming laptop can have the same performance as a desktop computer packed in a lightweight chassis that ensures you can easily carry it with you.

The GPU, or the graphics card, is arguably the most important feature of a gaming laptop. It processes the data and transmits a signal to the monitor delivering the images to your display. When running games, this process is burdensome, so we recommend getting 4GB of VRAM.

However, the GPU’s performance depends on the cooling system, so you also have to consider the wattage the graphics card is limited to and whether the chassis is too tight to allow for adequate cooling. Even a top GPU will perform slower it’s squeezed in a chassis that doesn’t guarantee proper cooling.

Nvidia is the leader in performance when it comes to GPUs, although which RTX card is ideal for you depends on the gaming experience you want.

CPU and RAM

The CPU, or central processing unit, is the brain of your laptop. While the GPU handles the graphics, your laptop’s CPU handles everything else. It can significantly impact many things, from frame rates to battery life.

RAM is something you should consider as well if you want a powerful gaming laptop. The minimum these days is 8GB, which is what many gaming laptops start off with. However, at least 16GB is needed for a good gaming experience if you play a lot of AAA games that provide a high-quality video game experience.

Portability

Finding the perfect gaming laptop to match your needs used to be more challenging than it is today. Either you could get a compact and lightweight laptop with poor performance, or you could opt to invest in power and get a heavy and bulky laptop that was hardly portable.

Luckily, with more efficient and powerful GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, gaming laptops have taken huge strides with performance and portability. Still, usually, you will sacrifice one or the other depending on what is more important to you.

Screen size

In the end, the screen size you choose is what determines the size of your laptop and how portable it is.

You can opt for a 13 or 14-inch screen if you’re constantly on the move and looking for a very compact and portable laptop. Although laptops of this size are usually very lightweight and have a longer battery life, they can’t carry the most powerful CPUs or GPUs because their small chassis doesn’t able effective cooling.

With smaller bezels and lightweight frames making way for lighter and thinner machines, 15-inch screens are pretty much the standard these days. They usually have midrange battery life and weight, but they can also carry more powerful GPUs and CPUs.

On the other hand, if you need workstation features and you’re looking for a premium gaming experience, a 17-inch panel is probably what you should go with. It will not be as portable as the smaller laptops and can’t stay unplugged for long, but if you plan on mostly using the laptop at home, a 17-inch screen can be a great choice.

Weight and thinness

Compared to a desktop PC, a laptop can save you space and give you that portability without compromising too much on power. However, for the laptop to actually be easy to carry around, it needs to be compact.

Most people are looking for a lightweight gaming laptop because who would want to lug around a large and heavy machine. A light gaming laptop is especially important if you plan to carry it around daily for work. Therefore, it’s important to take note of the measurements because a thin gaming laptop will fit easily into your bag and take up less space.

Price

Picking the best gaming laptop is an easier task if you have an unlimited budget. There are many excellent options out there, although the most expensive gaming laptop is not always the best choice, so you still need to do some comparing.

It gets more challenging with a limited budget, and the lower your budget, the more you need to do research to ensure you get your money’s worth.

No matter what your budget and needs, there will be some good alternatives available for you. Still, because it can be a tough process to go through all the options available on the market right now, we have chosen the best game laptops that will guarantee value for your money for years to come.

With plenty of affordable GPUs and CPUs having a tight budget doesn’t mean you have to compromise on performance; you can find excellent gaming notebooks at affordable prices. Even laptops under $1000 or $500 can have performance levels equivalent to those of gaming PCs.

Still, more powerful gaming laptops are usually priced somewhere between $1,500-$2,000, with the top-end machines costing even more than that.

Screen Resolution and Refresh Rate

With displays, what you should focus on is the balance between frame rates and aesthetics.

There are gaming laptops with touch screens available, but this feature is usually considered useless.

Refresh rate

The refresh rate refers to how many times the image is redrawn on the display each second. A higher refresh rate makes the action on the screen easy to follow and smooth, so it’s an essential feature when picking out a gaming laptop.

There is a wide range of displays available on game laptops. If you’re looking for a budget gaming laptop and you’re planning on plugging in an external monitor, a standard 60Hz panel can be a good option for you.

By paying a bit more, you can get high refresh-rate displays at 144Hz, or, if you’re ready to dish out even more cash, you can get the latest models with 240Hz or even 300Hz displays.

Resolution

A higher resolution means more pixels on the screen, which can mean a clearer image.

The minimum recommended resolution for a gaming laptop is 1920 x 1080. However, laptops that have QHD (2560 x 1440) or 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution are gaining popularity due to their detailed image and colors.

However, laptops with higher resolution need hardware that can power the games at high resolutions, which is like adding to the laptop’s cost.

High-resolution screens are a nice addition to gaming laptops, but high frame rates are more important, and having a 4K screen is pointless if the hardware doesn’t support it. 

Battery life

Battery life, the persisting problem that gaming laptop manufacturers face.

Gaming laptops tend to have short battery lives, often less than 8 hours. There are some exceptions, and future advances will help turn things around, but for now, the best-performing gaming laptops have short battery life and will need a power supply. Because of all this, battery life is usually not a deciding feature when buying a gaming laptop.

Other features

Of course, there are many other features you may find important too., especially if you’re planning to use the laptop for work as well. These features include audio quality, keyboard, mouse, design, and available ports.

You will probably be plugging in an external keyboard, mouse, and headset most of the time, but since it’s a gaming laptop you’re looking for, this may not always be the case.

Sound is an important part of a gaming experience, so pay attention to the audio quality when choosing a gaming laptop. Also, make sure the keyboard delivers firm feedback and has a springy bounce to it. A keyboard that feels mushy will slow you down when playing.

If you’re interested in a mechanical keyboard, some options are available in gaming laptops.

Gaming Laptop Brands

There are many brands on the market when it comes to gaming laptops. Some of these manufacturers have been around for ages, while many newer brands have entered the market more recently and are producing new, innovative models.

Best gaming laptop brands include ones with a proven track record, such as Acer, Alienware, Asus, Dell, HP, MSI, and Razer. All of these brands are known for their good-quality products, although it’s hard to rank them as they all keep continually bringing out better and better machines for mobile gaming.