These are the best new gaming laptops coming
out in 2024 from each brand. Let’s start out with MSI, as I think they’ve
got the most updates coming out this year! MSI have redesigned their top end gaming laptop
for 2024 with the new Titan 18 HX. It’s using a brand new 18” 4K 120Hz Mini-LED
panel which looked great in person. Along with Intel’s latest Core i9-14900HX
processor, MSI have boosted the combined CPU and GPU power limit from 250 watts up to 270
watts this year, so more performance. And I'm expecting it to be one of the most powerful
laptops of the year. It gets the extra power from a new 400 GaN
watt charger, which is actually smaller compared to the 330 watt brick used in last year’s
model. More power means more heat, but the new Titan
also has a vapor chamber cooler now, and it’s gone down to 2 fans instead of the 4 in last
year’s version, which means ports have returned to the back. Oh and perhaps most importantly
of all, it has an RGB haptic touchpad now. MSI also has their new Raider 18 HX, just
below the Titan, again with a new 14th gen HX CPU. Compared to last year’s Raider GE68
or GE78, this new model increases memory support from 2 to 4 slots. They also teased an AMD
version coming in April with the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D - the only other laptop to get AMD’s top-end
chip I’ve heard of apart from the ASUS Scar 17. MSI also has a new Stealth 18, which they
say is the lightest 18 inch gaming laptop at 2.9kg, but that’s about what ASUS’s
Scar 18 weighs, so it wasn’t quite as impressive, considering the Scar is one of ASUS’s most
powerful laptops. On the budget side, the new Cyborg 14 was
interesting. Yeah, it’s a little thicker compared to other 14 inch gaming laptops,
but this means it’s the only one with an ethernet port, and it’s also going to be
the cheapest 14 inch gaming model available. All the other options like the G14, Blade
14, Stealth 14, Omen 14 or Alienware x14 are more premium and cost more. So it’s nice
to have a smaller and cheaper option. Moving onto ASUS, and their big news was their
newly redesigned Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops, now thinner than ever and with OLED
screens. I’m a big fan of OLED screens because they just look excellent with deep blacks
and have the fastest possible response times. And OLED gets better in 2024 because at long
last it can finally support G-Sync. The new G14 maxes out with RTX 4070 graphics,
and it has all RAM soldered, so that’s the compromise of going thinner. But the thicker
2023 G14 design with one memory slot and up to RTX 4090 is still available for those that
want it. Along with new designs, the speakers in both
the G14 and G16 sound amazing, much better than last gen. Ports are also further to the
back now, because there aren’t any air exhaust vents on the left and right sides this year,
a trend we’ll see from a few brands this year - going thinner and maxing out at RTX
4070. I can’t wait to test out thermals in depth, make sure you’re subscribed for
the upcoming full reviews! Overall the designs are a bit cleaner and
less “gamery”, which I can appreciate. Unlike MSI, who updated most of their lineup
to 14th gen, ASUS are only giving Intel’s 14th gen HX processors to their top-end ROG
Strix and Strix Scar models. They’re sticking with 13th gen for everything else because
they decided the extra cost wasn’t worth the small performance difference. The Scar 18 also gets a new 240Hz Mini-LED
screen with over 2000 backlight zones, probably the same panel MSI are using in the Titan
18 HX if I had to guess. The popular TUF A16 also gets an upgrade to
AMD’s Dragon Range processors with up to 12 cores now thanks to the Ryzen 9 7845HX,
and there’s also going to be an A16 with Nvidia graphics, up to RTX 4070, but don’t
worry, the popular Radeon RX 7600S config isn’t going anywhere! There’s also an Intel version this year
too, the TUF F16, but that maxes out with RTX 4060 graphics. HP’s main announcement was that they’re
joining the 14 inch gaming laptop club with their new Omen Transcend 14 - HP’s lightest
gaming laptop ever. The Omen 14 has up to an Intel Core Ultra
9 185H processor, Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics, 32 gigs of RAM and a 14 inch 120Hz OLED screen,
and it looks great - depending on how you feel about the translucent edges of the keys
of course. I think they looked a bit better on the black version. GPU power maxes out at 80 watts because it’s
using a 140 watt Type-C charger, but based on my own testing, a full powered 4070 is
only 10% faster, so it should still be quite capable despite the smaller size. The big changes at XMG were the redesigned
Neo 16 chassis. Instead of having a water pipe for the liquid cooler soldered to the
air cooler, it’s now integrated inside the cooler. The increased surface area increases
thermal efficiency, and the liquid pipe now covers the CPU as well as the GPU - last year
it was GPU only. I did a 10 minute Cinebench run with the early
engineering sample and scored 25% higher in Cinebench multicore compared to last year’s
version - quite a big difference between a single generation. Otherwise it has a number
of design improvements, including less bottom chin below the screen, less screen wobble,
and an improved keyboard layout to list a few. The bigger Neo 17 also gets an update to the
liquid pipe. It’s not as integrated as the Neo 16, but it goes over both the CPU and
GPU now, instead of GPU only like last year. XMG also has the Fusion 15 coming in late
March or early April, and it’s basically a smaller version of the Neo 16, but without
water cooling. The all aluminum chassis feels nice, but it tops out at RTX 4070 due to the
tinner design. Also I think they were the only brand to not
mention AI once, so they get bonus points for that. Meanwhile Gigabyte has two new laptops, the
Aorus 16X and Gigabyte G6X. The Aorus brand is higher tier compared to
Gigabyte, which is why the Aorus 16X has more features and costs more. We didn’t cover
the Aorus 15X last year, so I’m not too sure how the new 16X compares, but it seems
like the main difference is that they have a 16 inch screen option now and translucent
Q W E R A S D keys. The 16X also doesn’t have ports on the back, but the 15X does,
so perhaps more cables getting in the way with this one. The G6X on the other hand has some nice improvements
compared to last year’s G6 and G5, granted it will probably cost more too. The improvements
include a MUX switch, a HX processor with more cores and threads, Type-C charging, and
a smaller bezel below the screen, which I think looks a bit nicer. Unfortunately it’s
still using a 45% NTSC screen, so colors don’t look great, but that seems to be the compromise
they’ve chosen to hit a lower price segment. They’ve also swapped the Aorus 15 and 17
over to Intel’s new Meteor Lake processors, so more multicore and AI performance, but
at the expense of single core performance. The Aorus 17X moves from 13th gen to 14th
gen HX processor, but that’s it. The Aero series did not change. Lenovo was a bit confusing at CES, from what
I could work out, they had 2 or 3 different locations to check out products and we only
got an invite to one that had one gaming laptop. The Legion 5i and Legion 7i are back this
year, and basically they made them thinner, which is why they max out with RTX 4070 graphics. They only had the new Legion 7i on display
where we were, and from what I can tell this is replacing the Legion Slim 7i and is the
same thickness. Based on the spec sheet, the Legion 5i is a bit thicker. Otherwise the Legion 9 also gets an update
to Intel 14th gen, and the software also has an update with a further AI FPS boost option.
They claim it scans on-screen FPS data and uses this while optimizing CPU and GPU power
to boost it as high as possible. Sounds good if it works, but honestly it’s getting a
bit confusing having a checkbox under a checkbox, just one check box for magic AI boosting would
be enough. Lenovo’s LOQ has also been refreshed this
year, and I’ve actually had it for about a month and finished a full review of it before
leaving for CES. It’ll be up next week, so make sure you’re subscribed for all the
details. The main takeaways are it’s still a great
entry level option. The keyboard has easier to see black keys now, the power button light
is bigger and brighter, and the air exhaust vents on the left and right sides have been
removed. The new design means they’re not needed anymore, so no hot air blowing on your
mouse hand. Unfortunately the launch prices are a bit
expensive, but considering sales we’ve had on the gaminglaptop.deals website, link below,
last year’s version still offers excellent value. The big news at CES from Alienware / Dell
is the redesigned Alienware M16. Basically they made it more portable by redesigning
the thermal solution, it doesn’t have the bit sticking out the back anymore. The new thermal solution also means there
aren’t as many vents above the keyboard, so the keyboard gets moved up a bit, giving
you more palm rest room and a bigger touchpad. It also has a new stealth mode which quickly
turns off RGB lighting so no one knows you’re a pro gamer and lowers performance and fan
noise. The new M16 R2 uses Intel’s Meteor Lake
processors with 45 watts of power and up to Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics, so it’s more of
a mid-range option compared to the rest of Alienware’s premium offerings. Alienware’s bigger m18 has also been refreshed
with an R2 version, but apart from Intel 14th gen 14900HX processor there’s not much difference.
Apart from a new 360 watt GaN charger, which allows a combined 270 watts of power. 175
for the GPU and 95 for the CPU, which is also what MSI’s new Titan 18 HX offers this year
too. The thinner x16 also gets an updated R2 version
this year with 14th gen. The chassis looks the same, but the processor changes to Intel’s
Meteor Lake chips now, which also means faster LPDDR5X-7467 RAM in the top-spec config. The
screen also gets a boost to 240Hz, up from 165Hz, I just hope it’s not 300 nits like
last year, because that was ridiculous from a premium laptop. The cooler is updated, the
storage maxes out with 8TB in RAID 0 now, and it gets Wi-Fi 7. Interestingly the x16 R2 also has an option
for the new 360 watt GaN charger, but I’m not sure why it needs so much power as the
specs say up to 220 watts of power - 175 for the GPU and 45 for the CPU. Maxed out laptops
had no issues with 300 or 330 watt chargers last gen, so I’m assuming the new charger
is bigger in wattage but physically smaller and this is their way of making the total
weight lower, even if the x16 R2 doesn’t need that much juice. Unfortunately no images
of the charger were provided, and Dell wasn't present at CES. No news about Dell gaming laptops, so they’re
probably staying the same and sticking with last year’s Intel 13th gen to keep them
cheaper. As for Acer, they’re releasing the Predator
Helios Neo 18 this year, which will exist alongside the Helios 18. Last year we had the Helios Neo 16, which
was a cheaper version of the Helios 16, so basically this means Acer is giving us a cheaper
18 inch option in 2024. All Helios models, so 16 and 18 inch, Neo
and non Neo versions also get Intel’s latest 14th gen HX processors, right up to the Core
i9-14900HX. Only the higher tier Helios 16 and 18 get
Wi-Fi 7 and the top-end RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics though, the cheaper Neo versions
are limited to RTX 4070. The Neo versions also don’t get the Mini LED screen options
available to the higher tier non-Neo models. The higher tier Helios 16 and 18 also get
Acer’s MagKey 3.0. Basically the WASD keys can be swapped for a different switch, with
two types included with the laptop, MagClick and MagSpeed. MagClick keys are tactile and
responsive keys with that distinct mechanical switch sound, while MagSpeed keys have more
vibrant LED lighting underneath. They didn’t confirm, but I think they had MagSpeed installed
here because in person the RGB looked brighter and there wasn’t a mechanical feel. The backs and lid logos of all Helios models
have also been updated. The higher tier 16 and 18 have an infinity mirror effect which
looks kind of cool, as well as an RGB predator logo to the right of the touchpad below the
keyboard. The cheaper Neo versions don’t have that, and the rear is just clear plastic. The Nitro 17 also gets the newer Intel 14th
gen processors, but they didn’t have that on display. The Triton Neo 16 that launched
in December with Meteor Lake was there, which is meant to be a thinner option. Razer has some welcome updates, but they’re
mostly minor changes to their existing lineup. The Blade 16 joins the OLED club with the
same 16” 240Hz OLED display as the ASUS Zephyrus G16, but the dual display from last
year that can swap between 4K 120Hz and 1080p 240Hz with a reboot is still available. The processor gets bumped up to Intel 14th
gen with the Core i9-14900HX, so only a minor difference which will mostly affect single
core performance. They’re also giving it Wi-Fi 7 this year, just like many other models
in 2024. The bigger Blade 18 will get a new 18 inch
4K 16:10 165Hz display, so UHD+, last year it maxed out at QHD+. The only other thing
Razer mentioned was that this will be their first laptop featuring Thunderbolt 5 and up
to 240 watts of power delivery over USB Type-C. These are two things we’ve been waiting
for laptops to add for years now, so I can’t wait to see this in action. The only problem
is they haven’t said when it’s coming, so for now we’ll have to wait. I asked other
brands when to expect Thunderbolt 5, and it sounds like it was a few months away. The Blade 14 gets the smallest refresh, with
AMD’s top-end Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, but that’s basically the same as the 7940HS
from last gen, just with more AI performance. Otherwise I think everything else is the same,
but I think the price is a little lower this year with a starting price of $2200 USD. So overall, MSI seems to be leading the way
this year, at least in terms of updates and overall improvements to their 2024 gaming
laptop lineup. A few other brands didn’t really make any changes this year. I’m particularly interested in trying out
HP’s new Omen Transcend 14, and we’re getting that to review in a few weeks as well
as reviews on the other new gaming laptops, so make sure you’re subscribed for those! Until then, you can find out more details
in the rest of my CES 2024 coverage, so I’ll see you in one of those videos next!
