I review gaming laptops for a living, and these are the 5 best Black Friday deals

Don't miss out if you're looking for a new one

Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10 review
(Image credit: Future)

Gaming laptops aren't easy to buy – to get actual quality, you're almost always going to end up spending a slightly (or way) bigger chunk of change than you probably first imagined. Still, the good news is that the market is now so competitive that when big sales events roll around, the discounts are actually properly solid.

That's what has happened this Black Friday, with the world of gaming laptops offering up some of the biggest and most genuine deals I've seen anywhere this year. Laptops that I found really impressive when I reviewed them are now cheaper than I thought they'd be for a while, and I thought I should probably gather some of the best options for you here, in one place.

Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5070)
Save £450
Lenovo Legion 5i (RTX 5070): was £1,549 now £1,099 at lenovo.com
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This is perhaps the deal that I think the most people will be drawn to – Lenovo's laptop is a pretty superb buy at this price, with great specs and a very solid design ensuring that it'll feel like the £1500 machine it really is, rather than the £1100 one you'll be buying. That's just what you want from a proper sale like this.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5070)
Save £350
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 5070): was £2,299.99 now £1,949.99 at Amazon
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At the other end of the scale, the G14 is my favourite laptop of the year, but its pricing can't be ignored, so this deal helps soften the blow a lot. That said, what you're paying for here is the stunningly slim design and extreme portability, not the raw specs.

Acer Nitro 18 AI (RTX 5070 Ti)
Save £400
Acer Nitro 18 AI (RTX 5070 Ti): was £1,899 now £1,499 at Currys
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If you're not so fussed about portability, then an 18-inch laptop might make sense for you, since these generally have the most power under their hoods. Acer's Nitro 18 AI is a beast, and this sizeable discount makes it a really clever buy for Black Friday.

Medion Erazer Scout 15 (RTX 5050)
Save £199.99
Medion Erazer Scout 15 (RTX 5050): was £949.97 now £749.98 at Laptops Direct
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Right at the bottom end of the pricing scale is this great little laptop from Medion, which looks like just about the cheapest way you could possibly get a 50-series card this year. It won't be able to compete with more powerful laptops, but at this price you're unlikely to care.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI (RTX 5070 Ti)
Save £300
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 AI (RTX 5070 Ti): was £1,899 now £1,599 at Amazon
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Another Acer laptop rounds us out, and gives you the option of getting the super-powerful 5070 Ti GPU without having to adapt to an 18-inch frame. This 16-incher is more reasonable in its proportions, but has enough under the hood to absolutely chew up the most recent gaming releases.

Whichever of the above deals you get, I'm convinced that you'll be making a very smart buy that should last you years very happily. I've tested most of them myself, but those I haven't had my hands on have sufficient recommendations from other experts, and sufficiently impressive specs lists, that I'm comfortable pointing you in their direction.

One thing to note, though, is that you can't necessarily rely on these deals lasting through until the start of December, when Black Friday weekend ends. I've already seen some other excellent gaming laptop deals disappear, presumably as stock was snapped up, so if you know which one you're going to go for, I'd recommend striking while the iron is hot.

Max Freeman-Mills
Staff Writer, Tech

Max is T3's Staff Writer for the Tech section – with years of experience reporting on tech and entertainment. He's also a gaming expert, both with the games themselves and in testing accessories and consoles, having previously flexed that expertise at Pocket-lint as a features editor.

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