Black Friday gaming laptop deals 2024: early deals available right now
Check out these early Black Friday gaming laptop deals
Even though the big event is still a few weeks away, we're already seeing Black Friday gaming laptop deals rolling out across numerous major retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, and Currys.
Black Friday deals on gaming laptops can be hot property at this time of year, since these big-ticket items can see their prices slashed by hundreds of dollars/pounds - suddenly placing some of the best gaming laptops within reach of those with tighter budgets. It used to be the case that the best discounts were reserved for Black Friday itself (which falls on November 29 this year), but these days it's easy to find excellent deals throughout the month of November.
Take the MSI Thin 15, which is now just $599.99 (a 33% savings) at the Best Buy Black Friday sale event, or this 14-inch Lenovo Legion Slim 5 for $1,099.99 at Lenovo.com, a 24% discount. UK Black Friday deals are also putting out some real bangers, like this Gigabyte Auros 16X for £1,349 at Currys, a massive £550 price cut on one of the best-performing gaming laptops we've tested here at TechRadar in years.
No matter what gaming laptop you're on the hunt for, these Black Friday gaming laptop deals are already worth picking up - which is why I'm here to trawl through all the big retailer sites and track down the very best discounts for your browsing convenience. I've personally reviewed dozens of gaming laptops over the years, and our team here at TechRadar has tested hundreds, so you can trust that our recommendations are the real deal.
As Computing Editor at TechRadar, you'd better believe that I've seen a laptop or two in my day. I've personally tested enough gaming laptops to outfit a small army, and while I do most of my gaming on my chunky custom desktop PC these days, I still love a well-designed portable gaming system - especially if it's currently enjoying a cut-price deal.
Today's best gaming laptop deals in the US
- Amazon: the biggest inventory, but also flooded with third-party sellers
- Best Buy: huge selection, official Black Friday sale starting on November 8
- Walmart: super-cheap options, watch out for third-party sellers
- Dell: good if you're on a budget, plus powerful Alienware laptops
- HP: great budget Victus laptops, plus high-end Omen models
- Lenovo: great deals on Legion and IdeaPad Gaming laptops
- Razer: big savings on last-gen Razer Blade laptops
The MSI Katana 15 is one of our favorite laptops year after year, as it delivers phenomenal performance for the price. We gave it 4 out of 5 stars in our review, and the configuration on sale at Amazon right now offers even better specs capable of 1440p gaming at high framerates. This is definitely the midrange Black Friday gaming laptop deal to beat this year.
We've always loved the HP Victus line for its accessible pricing and its excellent performance, and the Victus 16 is no different. We gave it 4 out of 5 stars, with out biggest complaint being that it was a bit too expensive at its launch price, but now that it's 16% off, it's definitely one we'd recommend this year if you're on a tighter budget.
We loved the Legion Slim 5 when we reviewed it last year, and seeing it marked down nearly 25% makes it an even better deal. As one of the cheapest OLED gaming laptops you're going to find, this Legion model is portable, powerful, and will get you fantastic 1080p gaming for a ridiculously low price.
Today's best gaming laptop deals in the UK
- Amazon: large inventory, but beware of upmarked third-party sellers
- Currys: exceptionally competitive choices for all price ranges
- Dell: excellent budget options, as well as hefty sales on Alienware laptops
- Laptops Direct: often has great clearance sales, but watch out for old stock
- HP: get great HP gaming laptops for up to £400 off
- Lenovo: save hundreds on Legion and IdeaPad Gaming laptops
The HP Omen Transcend 14 is a fantastic laptop for 1080p gaming on the go with a gorgeous OLED display, great portability, and excellent design. We gave it 4 out of 5 stars in our review (it's battery life is terrible), and for the price, it's easily one of the best gaming laptops you can get in the UK right now this Black Friday.
The Lenovo Legion 7i was a powerhouse gaming laptop when we reviewed it last year, and the latest model on sale right now at Lenovo has slightly better specs, making it an absolute steal right now at 10% off for Black Friday.
The MSI Thin 15 is a fantastic device for 1080p gaming on the go that doesn't break the bank, as we noted in our MSI Thin 15 review from a while back. This laptop offers a fast 144Hz refresh FHD display, 13th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, RTX 4050 GPU, and 16GB RAM. If we had a complaint, it'd be the rather small 512GB storage, but you can always upgrade it with a bigger SSD if necessary. And for the price, you really can't go wrong here.
We raved about the Gigabyte Aorus 16X earlier this year, with our own Lindsay Handmer calling it "one of the best performing gaming laptops I have tested" in his Aorus 16X review. Paired with a great 165Hz QHD+ display, 14th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, and other great specs, this laptop will get you fantastic 1440p gaming on the road or at home for £550 off right now at Currys.
Black Friday gaming laptop deals: FAQs
When will the best Black Friday gaming laptop deals start?
Black Friday starts on November 29 this year, but early Black Friday gaming laptop deals are already rolling out across major retailers. Although the Friday-Monday period after Thanksgiving in the US is generally where the biggest price discounts land, there's been a visible trend in recent years where retailers price their products at roughly the lowest prices you're going to get starting in early November.
Is Black Friday the best time to buy a gaming laptop?
Generally, I'm going to say yes, though the weeks leading up to Black Friday are also chock full of savings on gaming laptops from major brands like Razer, Alienware, Lenovo, HP, MSI, and more.
A recent report from Adobe Analytics shows that computer prices generally fall about 24% on Black Friday from their pre-holiday price, but the prices are going to start trending down pretty quickly starting in the last week of October.
What specs should I look for when buying a gaming laptop on Black Friday?
As a general rule of thumb for any modern gaming laptop running Windows 10 or 11, you'll want a discrete GPU (also called a graphics card). This could be from Nvidia's GeForce line or AMD's Radeon series - both are good and broadly speaking, larger numbers in the name of the GPU mean better performance.
The Nvidia RTX 3050 is what we would currently consider the minimum for a good gaming experience at 1080p resolution, but more powerful GPUs like the higher RTX 3000-series and 4000-series will net you better performance.
You're also going to want at least 8GB of RAM, ideally 16GB, for playing the latest games, as well as an Intel Core i5/AMD Ryzen 5 processor. i7/Ryzen 7 is also good, but anything more powerful than that is likely to be overkill.
The only reason you might want to splurge on a super-powered system with tons of RAM, a high-end GPU, or an Intel Core i9/Ryzen 9 CPU is if you need your gaming laptop to be able to carry out demanding, resource-intensive tasks.
This could be editing 4K videos, or running 3D animation rendering software. In this situation, be sure to do your research in advance regarding what programs you'll be running and the recommended system requirements for those.
Regarding how old the components are, you may want to tread carefully. We'd recommend against choosing anything more than two generations old; that means you can go back as far as an 11th-generation Intel or a 5th-generation AMD CPU. Some of the deals that crop up on Black Friday might seem great, but upon closer inspection have some seriously outdated components that won't stand up in the long run.
Lastly, if you're considering something like a MacBook, you'll have a much easier time. The variation of components here is far smaller than that found in Windows-powered gaming laptops; broadly speaking, we'd recommend opting for one with Apple's excellent M2 or M3 chips, rather than the older Intel-powered models. Just keep in mind that a lot of the best PC games simply won't run on a MacBook, so a Windows PC is highly recommended.
What Black Friday gaming laptop deals should I expect?
Black Friday gaming laptop deals are generally fantastic pretty much across the board at major retailers in the US and UK, with nearly all models having some configuration on sale at places like Amazon, Best Buy in the US, Curry's in the UK, and others.
Unlike manufacturers like Apple (which almost never has sales pricing on their website), you can also find great deals directly from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and others through their webstores.
Why you can trust TechRadar this Black Friday
For more than a decade, we've been covering Black Friday here at TechRadar, and our dedicated team has scoured the internet year after year to find the best gaming laptop deals across every major and not-so-major retailer.
TechRadar's computing team is especially knowledgable thanks to their decades of shared experience that we leverage to help you find the right deals for the gaming laptops you want, but also to help you find which gaming laptop is actually right for your needs, backed up by our rigorous testing and review process.
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Christian is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing Editor. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with computer hardware and building PCs. He was a regular fixture amongst our freelance review team before making the jump to TechRadar, and can usually be found drooling over the latest high-end graphics card or gaming laptop before looking at his bank account balance and crying.
Christian is a keen campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and the owner of a charming rescue dog named Lucy, having adopted her after he beat cancer in 2021. She keeps him fit and healthy through a combination of face-licking and long walks, and only occasionally barks at him to demand treats when he’s trying to work from home.
- John LoefflerComponents Editor