The best gaming laptops:
1. Chillblast Defiant 2 Mini review
Price when reviewed: £899 inc VAT
Key specs: 13.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 1TB hybrid HDD | 2.1kg
Portable, powerful and affordable are three words that rarely go together when one thinks of gaming laptops, but that’s exactly what Chillblast has served up with the Defiant 2 Mini. Like squeezing the engine of a supercar into a hatchback, the Defiant 2 Mini unites a quad-core Intel CPU, a cracking Full HD IPS display and has recently been upgraded with the latest Nvidia GTX 960M graphics chip. If you want to play the latest games but don’t want to shell out on a giant laptop, the Defiant 2 Mini is a pint-sized wonder. Click here to read our Chillblast Defiant 2 Mini review
2. MSI GT72 Dominator Pro
Price when reviewed: £2,000 inc VAT
Key specs: 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 2x 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD | 4kg
The MSI GT72 is every inch the gaming laptop we’d love to own. And we wouldn’t be disheartened by the hefty asking price, either: the price of our review unit was inflated due to the inclusion of a swathe of SteelSeries gaming accessories and an MSI rucksack. Spend a little time shopping around and, as long as you don’t mind dropping to 8GB of RAM and a single 128GB SSD, you can buy a GT72 equipped with a 4GB GTX 980M for less than £1,400. At that price, this easily upgradable powerhouse is a steal. Click here to read our MSI GT72 Dominator Pro review
3. Chillblast Helix 2 17in
Price when reviewed: £1,430 inc VAT
Key specs: 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD | 2.66kg
There’s no two ways around it: 17in gaming laptops are chunky monsters. Not so the Chillblast Helix 2. It has the same plus-size footprint as its big-screened rivals, but it’s gone on a crash diet to achieve its 27mm thickness. It’s still no lightweight, but the payoff is very respectable performance across the board. A quad-core Core i7, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 970M provide enough oomph to run most games smoothly at the 17in screen’s Full HD resolution. If you want big-screened gaming power with a little less bulk, the Helix 2 could be just the ticket. Click here to read out Chillblast Helix 2 review
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