Best Laptops of 2021 So Far

 Welcome to the best laptops of 2021 so far.

 

These are the best laptops I've reviewed and used this year. 

And there is not a lot of budget laptops. 

I thought about why there isn't and the reason being is manufacturers are not sending them 

in for review because 

they're having zero issues pushing premium laptops. 

If you look at some of the most popular laptops, they're all sold out. 

Between the chip shortage and people just needing laptops to work from home. 

They don't have to sell as many budget laptops to make up for it. 

Now I do have more budget laptop reviews coming out in the future, so I do promise to update

. 

Now the best laptop for gaming my personal favorite is the ASUS Zephyrus M16. This thing is special. Because it's light it's 4.2 lbs. It has a QHD display, which is 16 inches but it uses that 16:10 aspect ratio. This makes it the perfect mix for someone that's doing content creation but also enjoys gaming. The portability is there, the performance is there. This is the 11900H, which really outperforms a lot of laptops. And unlike the G15 this thing actually comes with a webcam. Now there is one downfall, this can only be bought with a 3060 in North America. If you're outside North America then there are versions with a 3070. And if you have to have a 3070 then I definitely recommend taking a look at the G15. The G15 does have the benefit of using an AMD processor. And that processor nets you better battery life. So if battery life is more important to you go for the G15. The only downfall though is that you don't get that 16:10, 16" display and you miss a webcam. Now the 14" gaming laptop has been hot. There have been basically two awesome competitors right now and the Razer Blade 14 and the ASUS Zephyrus G14 are super special. Because there is so much performance packed in here considering how small these things are. Like if you have always wanted a powerful gaming laptop that you can literally take anywhere with you. Then you got to look at these two. Like literally under 4 lbs and very easy to carry. Now here's the thing. If you're looking at a 3060 then stick with the G14 because that's the most powerful version you can get of it is with a 3060. And the reason why I say stick with the G14 is that it has upgradeable memory. Something that the Razer Blade 14 does not it's stuck with 16 Gigabytes of soldered RAM. Now if you have to have a 3070 or 3080, I don't think anyone should go for the 3080. The 3070 is the sweet spot then go for the Blade 14 because not only do you get that more powerful GPU to game on it also comes with a QHD display. Now if these are both out of your price range and you're looking for something a bit more simple. Take a look at the HP Envy 14. This thing is significantly cheaper. It's not a gaming laptop by any means but it still comes with a dedicated GPU, which I feel is fine for super light gaming but also fantastic for some simple content creation. Now, most of these laptops are really expensive and not all of us have the money to buy the best of the best. And one laptop that I reviewed this year is more affordable. Is it budget-friendly? No. I mean if you're buying a gaming laptop there's no such thing as a budget-friendly one. But if you're looking for slightly more affordable then take a look at the Acer Nitro 5. Don't buy the 3070 model because I feel once you hit the 3070 and the QHD display, you're pretty much at the same price points as the M16s and G15s. but if you're buying something with a 1080p display and the 3060. The Acer Nitro 5 offers a lot of value and performance for the price like they have improved a lot this year. It runs super cool it doesn't get hot. There are different modes to keep the fans really really low. The fact when I was gaming with this the fans would kick on but they were not nearly as loud as previous Nitro 5's. You can upgrade the RAM, the drives, it even comes with the bracket inside the box. Overall it's a very solid affordable gaming laptop. As for 17-inch laptops, the Blade 17 is the one I personally love. It's been my favorite of the past few years and one that I used quite consistently. And this thing just has great options. You can spec with a 3080, you can get it with a 4K high refresh display. It's just like the perfect laptop for a gamer and content creator and even someone whos in to like 3D work. If you want something that's a bit more enthusiastic and performance is your top priority then I'd take a look at the MSI GE76. Like this thing has RGB for days. It has tons of ports, lots of options to upgrade. It even has some of the ports in the back which keeps your desk clean. And you can even get this thing with a 360hz display which I don't recommend. I think it's a bit overkill. But the cool thing about this laptop is you can get it with a 3080 that has 16GB of VRAM. In fact, it goes up to 145 watts. So the performance combined with the 11th gen intel chips is like through the roof. As for productivity laptops or just a general ultrabook or regular laptop. MacBook Air! Honestly, there's just nothing like it. Don't waste your money on the MacBook Pro get the MacBook Air because you're getting the exact same performance. And I feel like the extra money spent towards just having a slightly better display and a touch bar is really not worth it. You know you're gonna get a very similar experience with a MacBook Air. It happens to be a bit lighter and these M1 processors are so good! You know there's no fan inside of here. So you never hear it! You know the battery life is fantastic. It's light like if you're a student like this is the laptop to get. It's the laptop I personally use when I'm not gaming. Like if I'm just around the house and I need to do a little bit of work that's that I'm pulling out the MacBook Air. As for budget laptops, I haven't reviewed a ton this year. But the Acer Swift 3 is a decent pick. You know now like you can usually pick this up for a couple hundred bucks under $1000. It offers everything you need with good battery life. You can still upgrade the RAM and the drive. It's just a good workhorse. In fact, this is the laptop my kids used when they were at home during the entire crazy lockdown that we were going through and I haven't had any issues with it, you know. The keyboard is comfortable to type on, the touchpad is decent, it provides a decent experience and if you don't want to break the bank I still think it's a solid option. Now if you're looking for a 2-in-1, I still think the Lenovo Yoga Gen 6 is the best 2-in-1 you can get. Performance is awesome like it's just really good. And this year they improved the display by creating a 16:10 aspect ratio. One thing they do well includes speakers that don't suck. Like these speakers rival the MacBook Pro 13 in fact they actually sound better you know and then you combine that with Lenovos tactile keys. The little nipple in the middle. You have the pen that's like inside the laptop so you can never really use this. You don't have to spend extra money to buy a stylus to get with it. It's just such a good laptop. Now I know some of you are saying the Titanium is better but if you actually break it down and compare them. This just offers better performance and I think it's slightly a bit cheaper offering you better value. Now, this is expensive and this is a business 2-in-1. If that's out of your price point then take a look at something like the HP Spectre X360 or the Envy 13 360. Those are also two fantastic options that are a bit cheaper than this guy.

Now one category I'm not going to recommend right now is ultra performance notebooks. 

I just haven't reviewed a ton this year. 

I'm still waiting for the Dell XPS 15 to come. 

I'm still waiting for ThinkPad extreme gen 4 to come in. 

Don't buy a MacBook Pro 16 whatever you do it's just not worth it. 

Apple is probably going to release a new one at the end of the year. 

The Intel one they have out right now is just not worth buying so stay away from that. 

ideas. bay