It has been over two decades since gaming laptops started gaining popularity, but the real upgrade was when the manufacturers started to deploy a discrete GPU solution in a compact form factor. It isn't a big challenge now as it was 10 years ago, since laptop makers have adopted newer and advanced cooling solutions, newer form factors, and have learned to accommodate powerful GPU solutions without having to compromise on the lightweight and thin design.
Gaming has never been so wonderful on a laptop as it is now, thanks to GPU makers, especially NVIDIA, which made smooth gameplay possible on max graphical presets on modern laptops. However, some major caveats still make gaming on laptops an unpleasant experience, which I don't see going away anytime soon.
Laptops surely did make portable gaming possible and are particularly beneficial for those who have limited space or cannot afford both a desktop and a portable gaming device. However, five reasons have still kept me from fully switching to a laptop, and many reasons still make the desktop the best possible platform for a fully immersive gaming experience.
Laptop Keyboard Sucks
To ensure laptops can retain their portability, manufacturers have no choice other than to use low-profile keys. Most laptops utilize rubber dome or membrane-based key mechanisms, and the low-profile mechanical switches are often limited to premium models. The difference between a regular gaming keyboard and a laptop keyboard can be night and day, particularly if you are transitioning from a desktop.
While it's true that you can adjust in a week or two, you will never have that same satisfying feedback as on mechanical/hall-effect keyboards. Even with a budget membrane or mem-chanical keyboard, gaming is way more pleasant. Moreover, there is almost zero customizability on laptop keyboards except for RGB lighting on some models. A lot of budget mechanical keyboards allow hot swappability, and customizable RGB lighting is the minimum you would expect on them. The numerous choices on gaming keyboards make laptop keyboards incredibly lackluster for gaming and even for productivity.
However, ergonomics remains the biggest factor why a lot of gamers buy a dedicated keyboard for gaming. The cramped layout or flat profile of a laptop keyboard isn't only unpleasant, but can also cause wrist fatigue. Mispresses are also quite common on laptop keyboards, which is one of the worst fears in competitive gaming.
Misleading Hardware (You are Not Getting RTX 5090)
It's great that you can finally have the GeForce RTX 5090 in your gaming laptop, but when you compare your frame rates with those of an actual desktop RTX 5090, you see a big performance gap. This isn't new, but it's definitely one of the most ridiculous things that continues without GPU manufacturers being held accountable for. Yes, they do market it as a "Laptop GPU", but the GPU model name doesn't notify you that you are being supplied with a one or even two-tier slower GPU.
When it was just "Max-Q", the specs difference was already expected, but when NVIDIA dropped that designation, claiming to deliver an “actual” discrete GPU inside laptops, that’s when the confusion really began. For instance, the GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU is in reality even weaker than the desktop RTX 5080. Almost all the mobile variants offer the specs of a GPU one tier below it, but the reduced TDP further throttles the performance. Of course, that's done on purpose (to improve battery life and such), but I just can't stand seeing a nerfed RTX 5080 being mentioned as a "GeForce RTX 5090".
Playing on a 15 or 17-inch Display Just Gives Off Early-2000 Vibes
Laptops cannot just bring the same immersive experience as regular monitors. Even a 22-inch monitor, which appears small on the desk, is far bigger than the screens available on premium gaming laptops. Sometimes it feels like I am playing on a CRT monitor, but that just puts me off since I am used to 24-inch or bigger monitors. I don't mind a smaller screen, but that's what a gaming handheld is for. Gaming laptops are neither small nor they are big enough to have an immersive experience.
Considering you are paying thousands of dollars for those premium specifications and are still limited to a 15 or 17-inch screen size, I personally see it as a big downgrade over the desktop. On the latter, the possibilities are almost endless. It's similar to the keyboard comparison, and even though we have high refresh rate displays with modern technologies on laptops now, the screen size is and will always offer an inferior immersive experience.
Limited Battery Life Remains a Challenge
The first time I saw my gaming laptop stuttering while gaming, I thought it had something to do with my hardware, but as soon as I plugged it into the outlet, it fixed itself. This is common to see on laptops since they try to conserve the battery life by throttling the GPU, but in case you want your hardware to work at its full power, you are hardly going past two hours.
Of course, you can extend those by some "tweaks", like dropping your refresh rate, reducing the brightness, or putting your laptop on battery saver mode. But those tweaks will hurt your performance so badly that they practically undo all the benefits of your expensive hardware. I am sure that most gamers won't be happy to have their gaming session abruptly end in under two hours, but that's how it is, and the only way to continue is to put that laptop back into the outlet.
True Portable Gaming isn't a Laptop's Domain
Talking about portability, gaming on a laptop isn't really "portable" since it still has somewhat of a big form factor and requires you to charge it all the time. It's even worse when you can't have access to a power outlet, and that's when your laptop becomes just as useless as your desktop. Most gaming laptops are still heavy, and carrying them is still a pain.
Some laptop manufacturers did come up with lightweight and thin solutions, but the price you have to pay for them will cost you an arm and a leg. Laptops can handle gaming, but they still don’t close the gap with desktops enough for me to make the switch, at least for now. Gaming laptops might be perfect for those who want both work and play in one device, but I personally cannot see myself transitioning completely, given my major complaints.
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