6 Best 144Hz Gaming Laptops In 2023

Here are the most sought-after 144Hz gaming laptops to look out for.

Why are 144Hz gaming laptops so popular? Playing games on a laptop with high refresh rates means smoother gameplay and performance. It’s great for terrain-heavy and fast-paced games where jerky movement can be picked up quite heavily on a lower refresh rate.

While higher refresh rates often mean a higher price tag, that may not always be the case. We’ve compiled a list of the best 144Hz gaming laptops – ranked from best performance to best value. We’ll also talk you through what to look for and how certain components in a gaming laptop affect the overall price.

At Student Beans, we can also help you get 10% to 40% off with student discounts on laptops, gaming tech and more at Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, Acer, Laptop Outlet, HP, Logitech, GAME, Nintendo Store and more!

Jump to:

1. What does 144Hz mean?
2. What to consider when buying a gaming laptop
3. The best overall 144Hz laptop
4. Best 14-inch 144Hz laptop
5. Best 144Hz laptop under £1,500
6. Best 144Hz gaming laptop for battery life
7. Best thin 144Hz laptop
8. Best value 144Hz laptop
9. Is 165hz good for gaming?
10. Can you play Warzone on a laptop?
11. Is 240Hz better than a 144Hz laptop?
12. Are gaming laptops worth it?
13. Can I build my own gaming laptop?

What does 144Hz mean?

Hz (Hertz) is a unit of frequency. It represents the refresh rate of a display, which is the number of times a display refreshes in a second to show you a new image.

So, if a laptop is described as 144Hz, it means the display of that laptop refreshes 144 times per second to show a new image. Just like a 360Hz display will refresh 360 times a second.

The higher the Hz, the better the experience.

Is 144Hz good for gaming?

Whether gaming for fun or competitively, a 144Hz laptop is going to make all the difference.

The result will provide you with a more responsive gaming session, allowing you to take advantage over your opponents who have lower refresh rates. You can imagine how delayed a game is if played with 60Hz displays, it will result in a lag and you’d be behind in the game.

A 144Hz laptop will give you a smoother performance, and you won’t be so frustrated when playing.

What to consider when buying a gaming laptop

Your budget

Your budget is going to be the most important factor when buying a gaming laptop. We totally get that wanting top-of-the-range specs are desirable, but they come with a seriously hefty price tag. As a student, you’ll know how it might not be totally accessible to achieve right now.

Specs like GPU, CPU, hard drive and RAM space are going to be what hike the price up, especially the former two.

So how much are you willing to spend on a gaming laptop? Our list of 144Hz gaming laptops comes in all shapes, sizes, specs and prices. Meaning there’s an option for absolutely everyone.

The latest tech

Typically, the latest tech or upgrade is going to last longer. Obviously, this may increase costs, but if it’s worth it for longevity’s sake, then it might be worth upgrading to get the latest fixes and improvements.

Returns policy and warranty

If your laptop fails on you, chances are you’ll need to get it fixed by the manufacturer. Because of this, you should check the retailer’s warranty and make sure it allows for returns in the event that your laptop malfunctions. If your laptop can’t be fixed, a warranty or returns policy may allow you to get a replacement, or loan laptop while your current one is being fixed. Some only cover specific things, such as manufacturer faults, while others cover accidental damage, loss or theft.

TL;DR: Always check the warranty policy before making a gaming laptop purchase (or any laptop purchase for that matter!). 

Cooling capabilities

Running all those games is going to cause a bit of a strain, even on the best of the best gaming laptops out there. That’s why checking the fan and cooling system is important. Check if they’re single, double or even triple-fanned — as these will help you determine what you can and can’t run on your gaming laptop.

The best overall 144Hz laptop

1. Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8

Lenovo says that the Legion Pro 5i, is capable of so much, including content creation and heavy gaming.

Its dimensions (21.9-26.75mm x 363.4mm x 260.35) and weight (just under 3kg) still classes it as a pretty hefty laptop to be carrying around. Having said this, considering what it’s capable of and comparing it to other gaming laptops, it’s surprisingly light and thin and can fit in most laptop bags — as it’s only 16 inches. 

If battery life is ever a concern, then this Lenovo gaming laptop will put you at ease. That’s because it supports Lenovo’s Super Rapid Charge system. This feature allows you to charge your laptop for just 10 minutes, which will replenish roughly 30% of the battery. It’s fantastic if you’re running late for a lecture or need to get some last-minute uni assignments done. If you want a decent amount of charge, then leaving it plugged in for half an hour should give you around 70% battery, which is still super impressive.

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 11
• Processor: NNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050, 4060 or 4070 0 GPUs & 13th Gen Intel® Core™
• Graphics card:  NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070 8GB GDDR6
• Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
• Screen size: 16-inches
• Screen type: Non-touch
• Battery life: Up to 99.99Whr
• Battery type: 4 cell, 80Wh
• Memory card reader: Yes
• HDMI: 1
• Audio connections: 3.5mm headphone port
• Webcam: Yes

Pros

• Amazing battery life
• Fast charging capabilities
• Decent pricing (considering specifications)

Cons

• Still fairly heavy to carry around

Get a Lenovo student discount.

Best 14-inch 144Hz laptop

2. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14

One of the best 144Hz gaming laptops measuring 14-inches has to be the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. The Zephyrus G14 combines well-balanced specs that are perfect for gaming performance without the bulk. Measuring just 14-inches, it’s been fitted with a 16:10 aspect ratio compared to previous models’ (16:9 panels). 

It comes with an AMD’s RX 6800S, which can be downgraded to the RX 6700S if you’re looking to save some extra cash. If you’re not too fussed, the cheaper option may work well for you, especially when it’s already equipped with a 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM that can handle pretty much anything you make it run.  In fact, 16GB of that is soldered to the board, and the other 16GB attached is removable, suggesting you can make this much faster if you add another slot in yourself.

One slight downside is its battery life when you’re gaming. However, while watching streams or movies, it’s not too much of a problem. Just make sure you have your laptop charger plugged in for most of your gameplay. 

What’s in the box

• 1 x ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401QM
• 1 x ASUS 12 Month Collect & Return Warranty 
• 1 x Charging cable

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 10 Home
• RAM: 16 GB
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS Processor 3.1 GHz (16M Cache, up to 4.5 GHz)
• Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 6GB
• Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
• Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Screen size: 14 Inches
• Screen type: Full HD IPS
• Touch screen?:No
• WiFi?: Wireless (802.11ac Wireless)
• Ethernet: No
• Battery life: 8-10 hours
• Battery type: Lithium-ion
• Disc drive: No
• Memory card reader: No
• HDMI: HDMI 2.0 Port
• Audio connections: Built-in array microphone and 2x 2.5W speaker with Smart Amp
• Webcam: FHD 1080P@60FPS external camera
• Colour: White

Pros

• Has the latest AMD’s CPU and GPU
• Unmatched gaming performance
• Sturdy and durable.

Cons

• The battery can be unreliable.

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Best 144Hz laptop under £1,500

3. Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop AN515-45

Okay so we’re pushing it a little here with it being £999.99, but we promise it’s for good reason. The Acer Nitro gaming laptop is fitted with an Intel Core i5-12500H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card offers some decent gaming performance. If you’re after something that doesn’t scream “gaming laptop” to take about with you, then this is it.

Plus, you can upgrade this laptop if you need a little extra. Add a 2.5-inch SSD for more storage, or get an Acer Nitro 5 RAM upgrade for a bit more speed. The Wi-Fi component is also accessible if you need something a little faster for connection too. The downside to this 14Hz gaming laptop? Acer is known for installing a fair bit of bloatware, so you may want to spend a bit of time removing what you don’t need.

What’s in the box

• 1 x Nitro 5 AN515-45-R5G6 Gaming Notebook
• 1 x Lithium-Ion Battery
• 1 x AC Adapter.

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 11 Home 64-bit
• RAM: 6 GB, DDR4 SDRAM
• Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H processor Octa-core 3.20 GHz
• Graphics card: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 with 8 GB dedicated memory
• Storage: 1 TB SSD
• Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Screen size: 15.6-inch
• Screen type: LCD
• Touch screen?: No (but can be upgraded to)
• WiFi?: Wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX200
• Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet
• Battery life: 10 hours
• Battery type: Lithium-ion
• Disc drive: No
• Memory card reader: No
• HDMI: 1
• Audio connections: Unknown
• Webcam: Yes
• Colour: Black

Pros

• Amazing performance for the price
• Very quiet
• Tons of upgrade options.

Cons

• Plastic build means cleaning your fingerprints off it more often!

Get Acer student discounts here.

Best battery life

4. Lenovo Legion 5

Taking performance and horsepower into account, the Lenovo Legion 5 is one of the best gaming laptops for battery life. It can hit anywhere between 8.5-9 hours of battery life without sacrificing gaming performance, which is way more than the average gaming laptop lasting around 4-5 hours.

The Lenovo Legion 5 is fitted with an AMD Radeon™ RX 6600M graphics card to handle gaming visuals, a Ryzen™ 5 5600H Processor, 16GB RAM and a 512GB hard drive. Overall, this makes it a very powerful laptop for gaming. Aesthetically, it’s made entirely of plastic and is fairly lightweight (in comparison to most gaming laptops). The bezels are quite small too, bar the bottom which is quite common in most 15-inch laptops you find. 

What’s in the box

• 1 x Lenovo Legion 5 gaming laptop
• 1 x Charging cable.

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 11
• RAM: 16 GB DDR4-3200MHz (SODIMM)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600H Processor (3.30 GHz up to 4.20 GHz)
• Graphics card: AMD Radeon™ RX 6600M 8GB GDDR6
• Storage: 512 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe QLC
• Screen resolution: WQHD display
• Screen size: 15-inch
• Screen type: IPS
• Touch screen?: No
• WiFi?: WiFi 6 (802.11 ax)
• Ethernet: None
• Battery life: Up to 8 hours*
• Battery type: Lithium-ion
• Disc drive: No
• Memory card reader: 
• HDMI: HDMI 2.1
• Audio connections: Nahimic 3D audio
• Webcam: 720P HD with Array Microphone & Electronic Privacy Shutter
• Colour: Stingray & Dove Grey.

Pros

• Amazing performance
• Great hardware controls.

Cons

• Can get hot
• Not the best mic and speakers.

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Best thin 144Hz laptop

5. Razer Blade 15

While definitely on the pricier side, the Razer Blade 15 is one of the most powerful laptops yet is praised for being one of the best thin gaming laptops with a 144Hz rate. It’s fitted with a base configuration for an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and a 256GB SSD. Storage isn’t huge, but the power you’ll get for gaming and multitasking is almost unmatched when it comes to gaming laptops. In fact, you’ll get to reach heights of 300fps if you push it to its limit.

If you really must, you can reconfigure the Razer Blade to fit your needs. Make it an RTX 2080 laptop, or fit up to a 1TB SSD and even a 4K OLED touch display (if that’s important to you!).

If you’ve got the cash and want a stylish gaming laptop to impress yourself and others then this is the best thin and light gaming laptop for you.

What’s in the box

• 1 x Razer Blade 15
• 1 x Power adapter & regional power cord
• 1 x Micro-fiber cleaning cloth
• 1 x Important product information guide.

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 10 Home – Free Upgrade to Windows 11*
• RAM: 16GB RAM (DDR4 3200MHz)
• Processor: 6-Core Intel® Core™ i7
• Graphics card: Up to GeForce RTX™ 3070 Laptop GPU
• Storage: 512GB PCIe
• Screen resolution: FHD 144Hz or QHD 165Hz
• Screen size: 15.6-inches
• Screen type: IPS
• Touch screen?: No
• WiFi?: Killer® Wi-Fi 6E AX16900 (Gig+)
• Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet
• Battery life: 4.5 hours
• Battery type: Lithium-polymer
• Disc drive: No
• Memory card reader: Unknown
• HDMI: HDMI 2.1
• Audio connections: Dolby Atmos
• Webcam: 720p webcam
• Colour: Black.

Pros

• Solid graphics performance
• Colorful 1440p panel
• Glass touchpad.

Cons

• Poor battery life.

Get an Amazon student discount.

Best value 144Hz laptop

6. MSI Pulse GL66 15.6″

One of the best value laptops is the MSI Pulse GL66 15.6-inch. Equipped with an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 series graphics card, this is value all in one place, especially for a 144Hz gaming laptop. 

It’s got a ton of ports, such as three type-A USB ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, an HDMI 2.0b, a high-speed headphone jack and Gigabit Ethernet, all fitted on both sides of the gaming laptop. Overall, it’s a laptop that’s perfect for gamers and art students looking to run multiple applications that require all the processing power they can get.

It’s also fitted with a beautiful RGB backlit keyboard. Use the MSI Centre installed to customise it to your hearts’ content.

What’s in the box

• 1 x MSI Pulse GL66 15.6″ gaming laptop
• 1 x Charging cable.

Technical specs

• Operating system: Windows 10 Home
• RAM: 8 GB RAM
• Processor: Intel Core i7 11th Gen. Processor
• Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU
• Storage: 512 GB SSD
• Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Screen size: 15.6-inch
• Screen type: Unknown
• Touch screen?: No
• WiFi?: Gb LAN 802.11 ax Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth v5.2
• Ethernet: Unknown
• Battery life: Unknown
• Battery type: Lithium-polymer
• Disc drive: No
• Memory card reader: No
• HDMI: Yes
• Audio connections: 
• Webcam: HD type (30fps@720p)
• Colour: Titanium Grey.

Pros

• Amazing gaming performance
• Can fit two hard drives.

Cons

• Can get quite hot.

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And that’s the best 144Hz gaming laptops rounded up! Sign up to Student Beans to use our tech student discounts to get these gaming laptops for less.

Plus, if you’re looking for something to keep your gaming laptops cool, check out our list of the best laptop bags and accessories!

Is 165hz good for gaming?

A 165Hz gaming laptop will provide you with the best image resolution and a smoother gaming experience with little to no motion blur. This is because it can handle up to 165fps, which in terms of movement in gameplay is similar to that of real life. When it comes to the 144hz vs 165hz  conversation, a 165Hz laptop would be slightly better than a 144Hz laptop, but they can be quite costly and the difference may not be as much for some users.

Can you play Warzone on a laptop?

Yes, it’s possible to play Warzone on a gaming laptop. Keep in mind that Warzone takes up a huge chunk of hard drive space. To meet the requirements and then some, we’d recommend having at least a 256GB or 512GB SSD laptop to accommodate the size of the game. 

The likes of an Acer Nitro 5 and beyond would be perfect to run Warzone on, and happens to be one of the best 144Hz gaming laptops under £1,000!

Is 240Hz better than a 144Hz laptop?

In short, yes. A 240Hz laptop will make imaging and gaming look very smooth. However, the jump from 144Hz to 240Hz is nowhere near as noticeable as say 60Hz to 144Hz. It’s down to personal preference if you need the extra boost, especially for FPS games where a smoother experience could be beneficial, but be prepared to fork out a bit more than usual.

Are gaming laptops worth it?

Laptops built for gaming are absolutely worth getting if you play games regularly and need extra power for them to run. By investing in a gaming laptop with at least 144Hz, you can expect a much smoother gaming experience too. A gaming laptop configured to run games is usually great for running creative applications too, so they can be useful for art and design students who need to run various design or editing software.

Can I build my own gaming laptop?

Technically speaking — yes. But you have to have a particular set of skills on how to build one, either as a hobbyist or a technician.

Laptops are tiny compared to PCs, which most people can assemble together a lot easier than a laptop. Connecting the CPU and GPU to the graphics card within a laptop requires a special process with specific equipment though, hence why not just anyone can assemble one together.

However, some sites allow you to “configure” your gaming laptop, essentially customising your laptop to suit your needs. You may wish to upgrade (or downgrade) certain laptop components to match your budget and requirements for use. The technicians on the other side will then build this based on your specifications.

Save even more on laptops, computers and tablets with our student discounts.