The best gaming laptops 2021 under 80,000 rubles | Market Analysis | Best budget gaming laptop

Gaming laptops are gaining an increasing share of desktop PCs thanks to technological progress that allows them to pack modern hardware with high performance into a compact case. But at the same time, the price of top models still remains too high for the average buyer who is willing to spend money only on a budget gadget. We present a rating of the cheapest gaming models that can handle most games without putting too much of a strain on the family budget. Our top is compiled only taking into account the price of devices and the most inexpensive laptop is in first place.

Budget Gaming Laptops: What to Look for

What should I recommend first? If gaming is your main goal and you can't spend more than $1000, go for the best graphics card for the money and let everything else fade into the background. As a result, you may need to sacrifice a couple of characteristics. You'll have a smaller drive or a Core i5 processor instead of a Core i7.

Laptops cannot be upgraded except for RAM and sometimes storage. The screen, video card, processor will remain with you in this laptop forever. If you can afford to pay a little more for next-generation components, your laptop can last longer and stay relevant longer.

The best options for laptops up to 80,000 thousand rubles for work and study

HONOR MagicBook Pro

The ultrabook is clad in a thin and light aluminum case weighing 1.7 kg, in which there is room for powerful components. Like other best laptops under 80,000 rubles, the hero of our review received a gorgeous IPS screen with a large diagonal of 16.1 inches and FHD resolution. It features a matte finish and 100% coverage of the sRGB color palette. The frameless design allowed it to occupy 90% of the usable area.

Dolby Atmos stereo speakers provide clear and loud sound, and to ensure you can work and watch videos for a long time, there is a 56 W battery. It lasts up to 12 hours without recharging, and 30 minutes replenishes 50% of the charge. The fingerprint scanner is combined with the power button, and the HD webcam is equipped with a protective curtain. AMD Ryzen 5 / Intel Core i5 combined with 8 GB of non-expandable RAM and a Vega 8 video core are responsible for performance.

The cooling system is built on improved Shark fin 2.0 coolers, the blades of which resemble shark fins. Due to this, air flow increases by 20%. The keyboard without the NUM block is highlighted in white.

Pros:

• Cool design;
• Super thin and lightweight;
• Comfortable backlit keyboard;
• Not a bad touchpad;
• Large display with 100% sRGB coverage;
• Frameless design;
• Up to 12 hours without recharging;
• The webcam is covered with a protective curtain;
• Improved cooling;
• SSD NVMe Gen3;
• Excellent sound and good location of the speakers;
• Aluminium case.

Minuses:

• Keyboard without number pad;
• Only 8 GB of RAM.

Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2

The family of thin and reliable laptops has been updated with a 14-inch IPS display and new 11th generation Intel Core processors. It is suitable for demanding users who are interested in purchasing a lightweight (1.64 kg) and well-protected ultrabook with a thickness of 18 mm. The shock-resistant case, which meets the American military standard MIL-STD-810G, contains a capacious battery that lasts up to 12 hours, and in 60 minutes it is charged by 80%.

The moisture-resistant keyboard is equipped with a white LED backlight, and other controls include a touchpad and trackpoint. There are two ways to identify a user - by fingerprint or by face (analogous to Face ID). To access the network, high-speed Wi-Fi 6 and a gigabit LAN port are provided. Harman Kardon sound quality lets you enjoy movies, games and your favorite music. The TPM 2.0 cryptographic module encrypts data, maintaining its confidentiality when working on corporate networks.

Good performance is facilitated by a combination of Intel Core i5/i7 processors with a 10-nm process technology, 8 GB DDR4-3200 (it is built-in, but there is a free slot where you can add another 16 GB) and a Vega 7 video core.

Pros:

• Aluminum housing meeting military standard MIL-STD-810G;
• Spill-resistant keyboard;
• High-quality sound from Harman Kardon;
• Nimble;
• You can expand the amount of RAM and install a second drive;
• The younger version has a 512 GB SSD;
• The memory operates in dual-channel mode;
• Charging speed - 80% in 60 minutes;
• 12 hours of autonomy;
• Very compact;
• Large keyboard key travel;
• Doesn't get particularly hot;
• TrackPoint;
• Unlocking methods are by face and finger.

Minuses:

• Versions without a pre-installed OS do not have a backlit keyboard;
• Contrast ratio 700:1.

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15

The model attracts primarily with its autonomy - it can work up to 14 hours on a single charge. This is thanks to the 57 W battery and 7-NM processor, which uses battery resources more sparingly. The charging speed is also excellent - 80% reaches 80% within an hour. Your eyes will not get tired from long-term work thanks to the high-quality IPS matrix with wide viewing angles and FHD resolution. Anti-reflective coating combined with a high brightness reserve of 300 cd/m2 makes work comfortable even on a sunny day.

Unlike its predecessors, the updated line received more powerful chipsets with 4, 6 and even 8 cores - AMD Ryzen 3/5 4300U/4500U/4600U. They are based on an energy-efficient 7-NM process technology. RAM is 16 GB with a high frequency of 3200 MHz, but it is soldered on the board, which means there is no possibility of upgrading. The built-in video accelerator is Vega 5/6, and a full-size LED-backlit keyboard is provided for typing text. There are 4 additional buttons. The metal-plastic case has a modest weight of 1.7 kg and does not exceed 18 mm in thickness. The HD webcam is covered with a mechanical curtain.

Pros:

• A good solution for work and study;
• Productive;
• Screen with an impressive reserve of brightness;
• Lightweight - no more than 1.7 kg;
• Thin;
• Assembled from durable metal and plastic;
• Withstands up to 14 hours of operation;
• Can handle many games;
• Cool backlit keyboard;
• Quiet even under heavy loads;
• Camera shutter.

Minuses:

• Built-in RAM.

Acer Aspire 7 A715-41G - the best for work and play

The best laptops for work under 80,000 rubles are also offered by Acer, which equipped its new product with a thin-frame 15.6-inch screen with FHD resolution, made using IPS technology. It gives excellent detail and viewing angles. The filling power is enough for gaming and working in professional and office applications. It is the Acer Aspire 7 A715-41G that tops the 2021 laptop rating in terms of price and quality ratio.

Responsible for performance are 4-core AMD Ryzen 5/7 H-series chipsets, which are combined with a sophisticated cooling system, 16 GB DDR-2400 with the ability to add as much more, high-speed SSDs and discrete gaming video cards Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650/1650Ti. The metal-plastic case weighs 2.15 kg and houses a 48 W battery, which lasts up to 8 hours without recharging. The keyboard is equipped with a white backlight and a fingerprint scanner. For high-speed network access, Wi-Fi 6 and gigabit RJ-45 are provided.

Pros:

• Housing made of durable plastic;
• Nice design;
• Holds a charge for a long time;
• Charges quickly;
• Many interfaces;
• Powerful filling, which is enough even in games;
• Responsive touchpad;
• Pleasant to use keyboard;
• Wi-Fi 6 and fingerprint scanner;
• Backlight;
• Cooling system;
• Up to 32 GB of RAM, for which two slots are allocated.

Minuses:

• Quiet sound;
• No card reader.

Best with AMD CPU and GPU plus 144Hz screen: MSI Alpha 15

A gaming laptop with a Ryzen 7 processor and a Radeon RX 5500M graphics card is an affordable alternative to models based on Intel and Nvidia components. There's plenty of advanced functionality here, although the cooling fans could be quieter.

pros

• Attractive appearance.
• The AMD Radeon RX 5500M graphics processor outperformed the GeForce GTX 1650 in tests.
• Keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting and AMD FreeSync screen technology.

Minuses

• Not the best CPU performance.
• Fans are too active and noisy.

Prices for Yandex.Market

MSI Alpha 15

Discrete graphics card

Let's say you want something more than growing virtual potatoes or playing on low settings. You have a Steam account and buy the latest AAA games like Battlefield, Tom Clancy, Tomb Raider or Far Cry. Also, you wouldn’t mind playing modern online games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Valorant at the maximum frame rate that your laptop screen can handle. This is where a discrete video card comes to the rescue. This is the starting point from which you can seriously count on decent games.

If you're really serious and want to play on the best graphics possible and at the highest resolution, which for most laptops means 1920 x 1080, you'll have to shell out some cash. Especially if you want this laptop to remain relevant for gaming for more than a couple of years. Such laptops require powerful graphics cards like Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super.

With a few compromises, you can get decent 1080p gaming while taking a few steps back from the high-end GeForce RTX graphics cards. In this case, laptops may cost less. Budget gaming laptops are now an established category of laptops, so almost all popular manufacturers are engaged in them. This review covers devices from companies such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI.

Best for Configuration Flexibility: HP Pavilion Gaming 15

The HP gaming laptop performs well in the competitive segment of budget devices for 1080p gaming. However, in this competition he reaches the semi-finals at most.

pros

• Ability to play at 1080p resolution with high graphics settings.
• Decent autonomy.
• Wi-Fi 6.

Minuses

• Max-Q video card instead of a full-fledged GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.
• 60Hz screen instead of 144Hz.
• No Thunderbolt 3 port.

Prices for Yandex.Market

HP Pavilion Gaming 15

Laptop for gaming - what is it?

In a nutshell, a gaming laptop is a fast, efficient, gaming-rich device . The enormous power brings it closer to desktop computers, thanks to which high-performance configurations have received the honorary title of desktop replacements.

Gaming laptops differ from multimedia laptops primarily in their strong configuration: processor, video card and large amount of RAM. These three options ensure smooth gameplay. Additionally, the gaming experience is enhanced by fast SSD drives, high-resolution displays, specialized keyboards, special cooling systems, numerous external ports, enhanced audio, and a LAN connector with increased bandwidth.

The gaming laptop also differs in appearance. Special design: often black body and contrasting accents - red or orange. The aggressive design at first glance distinguishes a gaming laptop from other laptops, but more important than the appearance are all other parameters, and this should always be remembered.

In this guide, we will cover all the options and aspects of a gaming laptop.