Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Русский
Türkçe
Svenska
Chinese
MagyarThe Best Thin & Light Gaming Notebooks
"Mobile gaming" - what sounded like a poor joke a few years ago has already become common practice; at least in the notebook range. Processors and graphics cards are getting smaller and more power-efficient, which makes cooling easier. As a result, powerful components can be packed into slimmer and slimmer cases. Although 17-inch powerhouses still dominate the 15-inch and smaller range is steadily growing.
The following table shows an overview of the Top 10 gaming laptops reviewed by Notebookcheck in the previous 12 months that weigh less than 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) and are less than 2.0 cm (0.8 inches) thick. More gaming rankings from Notebookcheck:
The Best Thin and Light Gaming Laptops
The table above contains an overview over the best thin & light gaming notebooks reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Link: all devices in this class reviewed
Editors' Comments
In July, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 (Gen 8) stormed straight into first place. August is a bit more leisurely, but we still have a newcomer in the form of the Acer Predator Triton 14 in 9th place. The even better rated HP Omen Transcend 16 misses the entry into our list; it meets the requirements for maximum thickness, but is a bit too heavy at 2.33 kg, but is still worth a look.
We will list such alternatives separately starting this month so that such devices that just barely miss the entry into our list or that are just pushed out of our list, but are still highly recommendable, do not get lost.
Alternatives that just didn't make it or were ousted again:
- MSI Stealth 14 Studio (rating, 85%)
- HP Omen Transcend 16 (just too heavy, 87.9%, 2023)
- Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (formerly 10th place)
- Gigabyte AERO 16 OLED BSF (former 10th place, 86.2%)
Alternatives that just didn't make it or were ousted again:
1st – Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 (i9-13900H, RTX 4070)
Lenovo's latest Legion laptop looks sleek and doesn't compromise on case quality, connectivity or display options. The performance is also excellent.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 G8 sacrifices some performance for the slimmer dimensions and lighter weight. However, since the gaming laptop otherwise offers a very good compromise of performance and portability, most gamers should not complain about this.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i Gen 8 can be ordered in the US, prices starting at $1,500 for the base configuration with a Core i7-13700H and an RTX 4060. Our reviewed model with the Core i9-13900H and an RTX 4070 costs around $1,800. Alternative, the gaming notebook can also be ordered at Best Buy.
Pricecompare
2nd – Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (R9 7940HS, RTX 4090)
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2023 is the first notebook to feature AMD's new Phoenix mobile processor, which is combined with the fast GeForce RTX 4090 laptop and a 165 Hz mini LED panel in a 14-inch chassis.
You can't get more performance in a 14-inch case: thanks to Ryzen 9 7940HS and the GeForce RTX 4090 laptop, the new ROG Zephyrus G14 offers extremely fast components in a compact case. The overall performance is outstanding and a great mini-LED panel with 165 Hz is also included. Actually, an almost perfect combination, but it also has its price.
The device sells through Asus’s own webshop as well as the usual retailers. Amazon US also lists this item for around $3,700.
Pricecompare
3rd – Razer Blade 15 OLED (i9-12900H, RTX 3070 Ti)
This incarnation of the Blade 15 continues to rely on potent Alder-Lake and Ampere hardware, but entices with an interesting upgrade: Razer installs a high-contrast OLED screen (QHD) including a high refresh rate (240 Hz) and excellent color space coverage.
Razer delivers a powerful tool for gamers and creatives with the Blade 15 OLED (Early 2022).
In the US, users can order a variant of Razer Blade 15 OLED (Early 22), which has the same configuration as reviewed model, via Amazon for around $2,000.
Pricecompare
4th – Asus ROG Flow X16 (Ryzen 9 6900HS, RTX 3070 Ti)
The Asus ROG Flow X16 is one thing above all - versatile! It's a slim, mobile work device, it's a convertible, a tablet, a powerful workstation and a gaming PC as well. What's even more surprising is that it does all of these things really well and hardly makes any major mistakes; it's anything but a lazy compromise.
The Asus ROG Flow X16 is an extremely versatile and powerful gaming workstation convertible with a good touch display.
Currently, users can keep tabs on stores like Amazon, newegg, and Best Buy and wait for the device to appear here.
Pricecompare
5th – MSI Stealth 16 Studio (i7-13700H, RTX 4070)
The MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG combines a 13th generation Intel and an Nvidia RTX 4070 laptop GPU. Visually, the Stealth 16 Studio is very dignified, which means that the device is not exclusively aimed at gamers. A demanding office routine in a discreet design and still playing the latest games in the evening are no problem.
The MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG is a very powerful and at the same time very light notebook for content creators and gamers.
In the US, the laptop can be ordered through Amazon US for around $2,650. Alternative, interested users can purchase MSI Stealth 16 Studio via Best Buy.
Pricecompare
6th – Asus ROG Flow Z13 ACRNM (i9-13900H, RTX 4070)
With the Asus ROG Flow Z13 special edition we have an unusual concept: gaming hardware, which is in a tablet, which is why the 13-inch convertible brings even demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 smoothly to the screen in the native WQHD resolution.
With the ACRNM special edition of the ROG Flow Z13, Asus offers an extremely powerful gaming convertible with an equally extreme design. Thanks to the new RTX 4070 laptop, even current games are displayed smoothly on the WQHD screen.
In the US, users can order a variant of ROG Flow Z13 2023, which is equipped with an i9-13900H and RTX 4050, via Amazon for about $1,750.
Pricecompare
7th – Lenovo Legion Slim 7 (Ryzen 9 6900HX, Radeon RX 6800S)
Lenovo's thinnest gaming laptop is just 1/100th of a millimeter thicker than the Razer Blade 15 and uses only AMD's latest Zen3+ and RDNA-2 hardware. It does surprisingly well against the competition, as long as you don't mind the high core temperatures. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16 (also marketed as Legion S7 16) is the thinner variant of the Lenovo Legion 7 16 (non-slim).
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16 offers comparable performance to laptops with a GeForce RTX 3060, it's thin, and the AMD hardware offers a good mix of portability, price, midrange gaming performance, and quality that's better than most RTX 3060 laptops out there.
The 16-inch Legion Slim 7 16 with AMD hardware is now available for configuration in Lenovo's online store starting at $1,279.99. Our configuration costs approximately €2,070 (Lenovo DE). So far, only a few stores carry the Legion Slim 7 16.
Pricecompare
8th – Razer Blade 14 (R9 7940HS, RTX 4070)
Razer has equipped the Blade 14 with significant improvements this year. Both on the inside, now with latest chips from AMD and Nvida, and on the outside we find some upgrades including 16:10 display.
The Razer Blade 14 finally offers significant improvements in 2023 and is faster than ever. Unfortunately, it has also become thicker and lacks high-end GPUs.
In the US, Razer is now shipping the Blade 14 2023 starting at $2400 USD for the RTX 4060 option and $2700 for the RTX 4070 option. Otherwise, Amazon lists a variant of the gaming laptop with a slightly weaker RTX 4060 VGA for around US$2,400.
Pricecompare
9th – Lenovo Legion Slim 7-16IAH7 (i7-12700H, RTX 3060)
The "Legion 7" is available twice: once in the normal version and once in thin, with the addition of "Slim". The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i is supposed to convince customers who might otherwise find a gaming laptop too over-designed with its slim and simple exterior. The abbreviation "IAH" also reveals the technical specifications: I stands for Intel, and "AH" for Alder-Lake-H. That is important because the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is also available in an AMD version, which also appears in this list.
The Lenovo Legion S7i is slim, high-quality and performs well - but less efficiently than its AMD counterpart.
On Lenovo's official store, various configurations of Legion Slim 7 are available now with prices starting from $1,360.
Pricecompare
10th – Acer Predator Triton 14 (i9-13700H, RTX 4050)
The compact gaming notebook is state-of-the-art: Raptor Lake, Ada Lovelace, LPDDR5, PCIe 4, Thunderbolt 4. It is the almost identical successor of the already reviewed Acer Predator Triton 300 SE. The 14-incher offers a lot of performance, (Core i7-13700H, GeForce RTX 4050), a very bright screen (WQXGA, 165 Hz, G-Sync) in 16:10 format and a Thunderbolt 4 port.
A lot of computing power in a 14-inch format: Acer delivers a potent notebook with the Predator Triton 14.
Some variants of the 14-inch Predator Triton 300 SE are now available from Amazon, a model in a similar configuration to our reviewed unit costs around US$1,100.
Pricecompare
Top 10 in Comparison
Test Results
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA402XY | Razer Blade 15 OLED (Early 2022) | Asus ROG Flow X16 GV601V | MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13VG | Asus ROG Flow Z13 ACRNM | Lenovo Legion S7 16ARHA7 | Razer Blade 14 RTX 4070 | Lenovo Legion Slim 7-16IAH 82TF004YGE | Acer Predator Triton 14 PT14-51 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 70.4 | 99.6 | 97.6 | 96.61 | 96.4 | 96.94 | 69.8 | 97.3 | 70.5 | 96.9 |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.4 | 100 | 99.4 | 99.92 | 99.7 | 99.92 | 98.1 | 99.8 | 99.1 | 99.9 |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 72.5 | 93.4 | 94 | 84.63 | 84.8 | 85.17 | 71.9 | 85.3 | 72.8 | 85.5 |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 12 ? | 17.2 ? | 2 ? | 3.8 ? | 4.4 ? | 2.1 ? | 10 ? | 11.9 ? | 12 ? | 15.1 ? |
| Response Time Black / White * | 8.9 ? | 9.9 ? | 2 ? | 7.6 ? | 5.6 ? | 3 ? | 12.8 ? | 8 ? | 7 ? | 5.8 ? |
| PWM Frequency | 5430 | 500 ? | ||||||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 474.6 | 535 | 383 | 486 | 424 | 464 | 492.4 | 559.3 | 523 | 547 |
| Brightness | 445 | 563 | 384 | 469 | 411 | 455 | 471 | 560 | 494 | 516 |
| Brightness Distribution | 86 | 91 | 99 | 91 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 88 | 90 | 88 |
| Black Level * | 0.39 | 0.03 | 0.39 | 0.37 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.44 | 0.4 | 0.56 | |
| Contrast | 1217 | 12767 | 1246 | 1146 | 1160 | 1231 | 1271 | 1308 | 977 | |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.12 | 1 | 1.89 | 2.27 | 3.04 | 2 | 1.9 | 4.44 | 2.6 | 3.28 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.73 | 2.8 | 3.76 | 5.73 | 7.5 | 4.2 | 3.81 | 9.3 | 5 | 8.57 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.57 | 2.67 | 0.6 | 3.04 | 1.2 | 0.99 | 0.39 | 1 | 1.09 | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.26 | 3.36 | 4.34 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 6.8 | 3.3 | 4.4 |
| Gamma | 2.22 99% | 2.24 98% | 2.41 91% | 2.46 89% | 2.32 95% | 2.24 98% | 2.36 93% | 2.3 96% | 2.17 101% | 2.168 101% |
| CCT | 6542 99% | 6337 103% | 6386 102% | 6625 98% | 6952 93% | 6832 95% | 6497 100% | 6242 104% | 6013 108% | 7767 84% |
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 22.8 | 23.3 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23.1 | 22.7 | 23 | 25 |
| Idle Minimum * | 23.6 | 23.6 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23.1 | 23.4 | 23 | 27 |
| Idle Average * | 23.6 | 23.6 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23.1 | 23.4 | 23 | 29 |
| Idle Maximum * | 25.7 | 33 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 36.5 | 23.1 | 23.4 | 23 | 31 |
| Load Average * | 27.6 | 49.5 | 38.5 | 36.71 | 34.81 | 41.3 | 31.4 | 33 | 43.7 | 42 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 54.4 | 52.2 | 50.92 | 44.05 | 44.7 | 51.4 | 51.8 | 51.7 | 43 | |
| Load Maximum * | 54.4 | 52.2 | 43.9 | 50.92 | 51.57 | 46.9 | 51.2 | 55.6 | 52 | 45 |
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 49.8 | 47 | 49.5 | 46 | 60 | 42.5 | 46.6 | 37.4 | 48.3 | 54 |
| Maximum Bottom * | 48.8 | 46.5 | 47.5 | 41 | 61 | 42.6 | 50.8 | 35.2 | 55.3 | 56 |
| Idle Upper Side * | 29.4 | 25.9 | 33.4 | 36 | 38.2 | 26.2 | 26.4 | 33.2 | 35.7 | 31 |
| Idle Bottom * | 30 | 28 | 35 | 33 | 37.7 | 26 | 27.2 | 36.2 | 37.6 | 31 |
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| Reader / Idle | 305 | 404 | 661 | 513 | 669 | |||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 261 | 448 | 274 | 474 | 466 | 398 | 374 | 374 | 309 | 302 |
| Load | 55 | 58 | 125 | 89 | 142 | 52 | 59 | 76 | 109 | |
| Witcher 3 ultra | 91 | |||||||||
| Power Consumption | ||||||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 22 | 9.4 | 31.6 | 9.6 | 11 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 19.5 | 13.3 | 12 |
| Idle Average * | 29 | 14.2 | 33.3 | 16 | 18 | 12.6 | 14.7 | 24.7 | 17.5 | 14 |
| Idle Maximum * | 39.5 | 14.5 | 38.6 | 16.9 | 19 | 13 | 19.8 | 27 | 18.4 | 26 |
| Load Average * | 98.7 | 79 | 149 | 104 | 91 | 92.5 | 85.3 | 83.2 | 122.8 | 88 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 171.8 | 172 | 149.6 | 142 | 130 | 104.4 | 167.5 | 165.8 | 154.7 | 114.9 |
| Load Maximum * | 213.2 | 220.8 | 160 | 214 | 228 | 133.6 | 230.7 | 204.5 | 232.6 | 213 |
* ... smaller is better
