Gaming laptops are a great way to enjoy your favorite games without the hassle of building a PC or having it take up permanent space on your desk. The only trouble with most gaming laptops is that they aren’t exactly the most portable. In general, they tend to be quite thick when closed and many are not exactly lightweight. This is a problem if you want to travel with your gaming laptop, as the size and weight can make it uncomfortable to carry in a backpack or on a plane. However, there are some exceptions, which are thin and light without affecting performance.
To narrow down the best gaming laptops for travel, we’ve set weight and thickness thresholds for the laptops that qualify for this list. We don’t limit the screen size because smaller screens certainly don’t offer the most immersive gaming experience. As long as the laptop is about 20mm thin when closed and weighs about 2kg (or less), such models will be suitable for carrying on the go. There are plenty of options in India, but here are some of my favorites that I’ve chosen based on personal experience and value for money.
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MSI Stealth A16 AI+
The MSI Stealth A16 AI+ is a new addition to the company’s Stealth series and will soon go on sale in India. The reason to choose this product is the great combination of premium components and portable design. Despite having a 16-inch screen, the Stealth A16 AI+ weighs only 2.1kg and is only 19.9mm thin, making it easy to carry. I also like the understated look with its all-matte black finish with no RGB lighting anywhere, except for the keyboard.
This laptop is also ready for the future as come November, it will officially receive Copilot+ features in Windows 11. Stealth A16 AI+ is equipped with AMD’s top-end Ryzen AI 9 HX370 CPU with integrated NPU fits 50 TOPS on it. own. There’s up to 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD (with a second M.2 slot), and a choice between an Nvidia RTX 4060 or RTX 4070 GPU. You can truly game on the go thanks to the large 99WHr battery. Other premium features include a magnesium alloy chassis, Wi-Fi 7, per-key RGB backlighting, 16-inch QHD+ IPS display with 240Hz refresh rate, HDMI 2.1 port, and Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port. MSI backs this up with a two-year warranty.
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Asus Zephyrus G14 (2024)
The Asus Zephyrus G14 (GA403) is our best compact AMD pick. It is about Rs. 1,85,000, but you get many premium features that make it a worthy investment. One of the main reasons it made this list is because of the small size it occupies, so you don’t need a large backpack to carry this one. It’s also incredibly light at just 1.5kg and thin at just 16.3mm thick. Even so, Asus has managed to include an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU with 8 cores and 16 threads, along with an NPU capable of 16 TOPS. While it doesn’t qualify as a PC Copilot+, I’m sure the NPU will eventually be useful for on-device AI processing or in-game AI upgrades. The GPU is Nvidia RTX 4060 with 8GB of dedicated RAM.
Despite its compact size, the Zephyrus G14 has plenty of ports, including a total of four USB ports (two Type-C), HDMI 2.1, and even a miroSD card reader. The design is outstanding but what’s more impressive is the screen. It’s a 14-inch OLED display with 3K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a Delta E <1 rating for high color accuracy. It also supports VESA DisplayHDR 500 and Dolby Vision playback, making it great for professional editing work. Finally, there's Nvidia's G-SYNC for smoother gaming.
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HP OMEN Surpasses 14
The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is our favorite compact Intel option with very similar features to the Zephyrus G14 but at a more attractive price of around Rs. 1,50,000. It’s equally thin and light, weighing 1.63kg and measuring up to 17.9mm thick at its widest point. The OMEN Transcend 14 comes in white or black, with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU. It also has a stunning 14-inch display with a 2.8K OLED panel with IMAX Enhance and 120Hz variable refresh rate. OMEN Transcend 14 has a 71WHr battery, Wi-Fi 6E support, four-zone RGB backlit keyboard. There’s no full-size HDMI port here, but you do get Thunderbolt 4 for display.
Acer Nitro V 14
The Acer Nitro V 14 AI gaming laptop is another recent product and will soon go on sale in India. This is a powerful laptop with a compact shape, weighing only about 2kg and having a thickness of about 22.8mm. This 14.5-inch laptop may not be as thin or light as an Asus or HP, but it packs quite a punch with an AMD Ryze 7 8845HS CPU and Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU. This is one of the few 14-inch laptops. inch has a slightly larger screen size in a compact form factor. The screen has a decent 2,560×1,600 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Acer offers a lot of port options on the Nitro V 14 such as two USB-C ports, HDMI, USB-A and a microSD card reader.
Asus Zenbook S16 or S14
You might be thinking what Zenbook is doing in the list of best gaming laptops, but this isn’t just any Zenbook model. These are some of the thinnest laptops on the market that deliver above-average gaming performance thanks to the latest AMD and Intel processors. Despite not having a dedicated GPU, the Ryzen AI processors in the Zenbook S16 and Core Ultra (Series 2) in the Zenbook S14 can easily handle even the latest demanding games quite well. Both of these models are Copilot+ laptops, which means you’ll be able to enjoy all the AI features via an update in November. According to some early reviews around the web, the Radeon 890M in the CPU Ryzen AI 9 HX370 and Intel Arc Graphics 140V in a Core Ultra 7 256V CPU deliver comparable performance in most games. The Zenbook S14 is one of the few (possibly the only) Lunar Lake laptops available to buy now, but you can expect more to follow.
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