The Best Laptops - 2021 Picks! 

whats in your S-Tier this year?

Wow! Your laptop tier list is getting a lot better response than your one from last year! Not a single dislike!

The timestamps for lazy people who just want to see a specific laptop: 0:44 Alienware X17 1:11 Alienware X15 1:57 MacBook Pro 16 2:20 MacBook Pro 14 2:49 Prometheus 16 3:42 Prometheus 17 4:09 Mech/Neo 15 5:21 Acer Triton 300 SE 6:45 Acer Triton 500 SE 7:28 Acer Nitro 5 8:32 ASUS Zephyrus G15 9:56 ASUS Zephyrus G14 11:10 Razer Blade 14 12:25 Alienware M15 R5 13:43 Alienware M15 R6 14:29 Dell G15 15:44 ASUS Dash F15 16:27 ASUS Zephyrus S17 17:47 ASUS Zephyrus M16 19:04 ROG STRIX Scar G15 19:54 ASUS Zephyrus G15 AMD 20:46 ASUS Zephyrus Duo 15 SE 21:55 Lenovo Legion 5 22:29 Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 23:02 Lenovo Legion 7 23:47 Dell XPS 15 24:59 Dell XPS 17 25:24 Aorus 15G 25:52 Aorus 17G 26:09 AERO 15 26:42 MSI GE 76 27:13 MSI GF66 28:37 MSI Stealth 15M 28:47 HP Victus 30:01 HP Omen 15 30:35 Tierlist Rearrangement (ASUS Dash F15 changed based on personal opinion and not just specs)

I find it amazing how Dave seems to remember everything about the laptops, not reading from a script. Insane memory if that's reality.

It’s oddly satisfying when Dave justifies my Black Friday impulse buy with his tier list.

love this! please never stop this list. we want this every year.

I'd love a tier list like that for ultrabooks like the surface laptop, macbook air...

As someone who bought the 2020 version of the Nitro 5, it makes me really happy to see Dave giving it the credit it deserves. Because like he said, I had just graduated from high school at the time and my old laptop had broken down, and so I was able to convince my parents to get me the Nitro 5 since it was such a good laptop for the $670 I paid for it. 1 year later and it still runs just as great. Plus the performance has gone up a lot too since I upgraded to dual-channel memory

As a completely unbiased Legion 5 owner i believe this is absolutely accurate

I bought a Legion 5 based on Dave's review and it has not disappointed, one of the best budget laptops I have even owned. Thank you Dave. We appreciate your honesty always.

Its just really fascinating that most of Dave's choices on the chart ends up making a bell curve distribution (:

You can tell Dave takes way more consideration into the aesthetic of the product as well as the fan noise compared to it's performance. If you can make a really clean and sleak design while it's quiet and performs decent then you're on top of the list. And I agree. Sometimes in the pursuit of performance we neglect other crucial features along the way.

How to become S tier: paint your laptop white!

I really wish Dave just gives a one liner long term review of every laptop he includes in this list. People really like to know how the laptop is performing after one year.

Love this free form scoring. Gives an insight on your thought process.

I wish Dave had done another one of these for 2022, but thankfully Jarrod's Tech came through and did one

This year’s Zephyrus G14 deserves an A, the 1440p screen has much better response time and refresh rates, the performance is great for a 14’ at that price. Thermals have also been improved

I 100% agree with the treatment the Dell XPS got. Extremely lazy work from Dell, and I’ve been a fan of that lineup for years. Would’ve loved to see where you would have put the Surface Laptop Studio, but I guess it would’ve been an “F” because of the quad-core chip !

The Macbook Pro 14 Inch definitely deserve an S tier... Best speakers out there, best screen out there, best battery out there and the most efficient device... Even the 16 inch deserve it. The Legion 5 I was really happy that you put it in the S tier! I totally agree! I got one that I gave to my sister because I've switch on Mac and that was the best Windows laptop I had in my life. But if we forget gaming, I think the BEST DEVICES are the latest Macbook Pro 14 and 16 inch. Because honestly, no brand has succeed doing a revolution like this in decades. BUT, considering that this is not an X86 chip and that I got too much audio plugins that cannot work at all with it even with Rosetta 2, I can agree to put them on the A tier. This is the ONLY reason that forced me to buy the last 5K intel iMac. BUT, also considering that this is NOT Apple's fault, I kinda want them to be on the S tier. Because if the programmers where not that slow to support these chips, considering the time they are out already, it would have been the PERFECT device for me. Especially for my school work (the battery life is just insane). For the rest, I totally agree with your choices.

Doing architectural modeling on M16 with the screen is really satisfying, it does get loud, but the power it packs in such a mobile device is just unrivaled. The RTX sticker peeled off by itself tho ;(

An all rounder Laptop tier list would be much appreciated. Like for Gaming, Work, Video editing, long lasting etc. Almost a Macbook pro alternative for windows is what I am looking for but with respected gaming abilities.

Loving my Zephyrus G15. It's been really great for uni and playing games. Also, I feel like both of the MacBooks should be bumped up a tier. They're expensive, but nothing else has the battery life + the performance in the same package. I also think that the Zephyrus G14 should be at least an A. The major complaint that Dave had (the slow screen) was fixed in the 2021 model.

Dave's speaking facts Dell has been modelling their Alienware series based on trends of the industry, instead they should not worry about the thickness of their device and design all their Alienware series laptops like they did 2-3 years back. Just look at Lenovo man they don't give a shit about what their rivals are doing and continue to make their laptops just as thick as before or maybe even thicker which allows them great cooling and performance. Just want all these manufacturers to understand that making their devices thinner and thinner every year isn't the solution. All in all great video by Dave, enjoyed it thoroughly!

always love how you explained each product in details. great video as always man 👍🏻

I bought the G14 this year and I would make the case for A tier for two reasons. 1. The QHD 120hz model does not have the ghosting issues that the FHD 2020 model had last year. 2. It has a Print Screen button.

I bought the G15 this year. Love it. FN + F6 for print screen. I am a software developer and frequently need screenshots as well. Also, if you are a dev, FN + up/down for page up/down and FN + left/right for home/end. Super useful for quickly navigating around a code file.

I just got an ABSOLUTE steal deal on a stock clearance on Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 2060, Ryzen 7 4800h, 16GB RAM for 700$ brand new. This is my first laptop ever and i am SO happy with my purchase!

Currently have been running grey G15 for about two months since I purchased it. Such a beast in terms of performance. That also can be almost completely silent. And that also can run for pretty long on battery. Also looove the keyboard and trackpad. Almost perfect device for me, but definitely flawed, no doubt Love you, Dave! Your style of channel is fabulous!

Do this more often please. Tier list videos are by far the best “to the point” videos.

Your end-of-year 2022 list, you should not only place the laptops in tiers, but in addition order the laptops in each individual tier from best to worst (left to right). ✌️

I think for the most part it's a good list. The Razer Blade 14 is a great machine, but razer has some serious quality control/support issues they need to work out (blade 15 owner, webcam/windows hello died just after warranty and it's not fixable without a full screen replacement and you can't even get parts to do that). I also think the macbooks probably deserve a separate category. They're great devices for what they are, technical marvels in some ways (the screens are basically first of their kind, as are the chips and the efficiency that comes with it) but of course compared to the laptops in this list they're very expensive and not well suited to gaming. For creative workloads though, they really shine and have performance outpacing a lot of desktop systems. I get how it's hard to rank them in a list of windows laptops though. A mac either works for you or doesn't, and if it doesn't it doesn't matter how "good" it is.

I have the Legion 7 3080, definitely has a premium pricetag, but I think it's also the closest to a flawless laptop that you can currently buy. I personally think it's S tier even with the price, but I definitely think your list is totally fair. Nicely done as usual 👌

Picked up a Strix Scar G17 with 3070 last year. Lots of issues with the keyboard light software. Pretty expensive vs other laptops. But the keyboard is rock solid and the speakers are surprisingly good for a laptop.

What about the framework? That was the most innovative laptop this year

The g15 Advantage definitely deserved atleast an A tier for its price to performance also the 1440p panel had the best colour accuracy, it also has better battery than any other on the tier list. It should sit along side the legions imo

Being a subscriber of Dave2D and watching this on my new Legion 5.

I love my G15 AMD. It's honestly a great device as I lean heavy on gaming. I had Legion 5 but didn't sit right with me so I turned to G15 and I am very happy with the change.

I think the Rog Strix Advanced is A tier (I know you were vascilating between A and B). One of the hidden things of the AMD version is just how much power the machine holds while on battery. It's still around 80% as powerful vs being plugged in. Considering most laptops throttle 50 to 70% while on battery, I think that's pretty amazing.

I'm looking at the Blade 15 for a gamer and we went to the Razer Store Thursday and looked at it and it's a great machine. They had a gaming room in the back loaded up with games and you (mouse, keyboard, headset stations) could test out your favorite games on four of their models. I was impressed with the thermals (warm but not hot) and fan noise (it was there but not too bad). I have a MacBook Pro 16 and it's a fantastic device in terms of battery life and how cool it runs. The fan speed is 0 the vast majority of the time for me. I'm not a gamer but I make my living using the laptop so cost wasn't an issue. You can upgrade the RAM in the Blade 15 yourself, up to 64 GB of RAM and it has an open NVMe SSD slot so it's upgradeable. I think that you can replace the battery pretty easily too. I didn't see the Blade 15 or 17 mentioned here so I'll look around at other reviews. We currently have an Asus and it has a really annoying firmware bug where the fan runs full speed all the time. It is really loud and really annoying. I'm shocked that Asus didn't fix this. I can't trust a vendor with poor tech support.

I think my AMD advantage is S Tier for me..the performance to price ratio is amazing. That is the thing we all bought laptops for different purposes. I got performance for a discount price while others got performance for a premium. These lists are personal preference so no one should be butt hurt and hell I am glad mine was mid tier lol. Just proves my point on why I bought it. It was good enough to make a list!

Everything else about the ASUS G14 is so good I feel like it maybe deserved an A. The pixel response time on my 144hz 1080p could be better, but it's not awful and it's amazing how clean and well-built this laptop is for the price.

In my near future, desktops are going to be difficult to daily drive due to not being able to have a static desk setup. So looking into laptops, and Im very glad to see that there are more than enough options and all offering what Im looking for. A computer that can take anything I throw at it. Looking forward to the next 2 years to see what the market looks like.

Dave you nailed it. I have tested several of the laptops in this chart, and I still have my Zephyrus G15 which I use daily. I think it is the best all around laptop of the year. I think the Legion 5 is the more budget friendly number 1 of the year as well.

In summer I was picking a new device: Zephyrus G15 or Zephyrus M16. I'm a graphic and motion designer, with some video editing gigs from time to time. I went with the M16. Brighter and bigger screen in same body, great color accuracy, Intel is better for Premiere, 3060 is all I need for my work related tasks and for my daily gaming it can run every AAA game even if it isn't with the highest settings. Also, I really love that gorgeous black color. I use it as my main machine working at home, always using a headset so I don't really mind that it doesn't have as good of a battery and it's louder than the G15. Till now, I'm really happy with my choice. Great laptop.

Great review, Dave. This is shaping up to be a fun holiday tradition if you decide to continue these reviews in years-to-come. It was your initial review of the 2020 HP Omen 15 and the fact that it received a rating of S-Tier that encouraged me to make that my laptop purchase last winter -- something that doesn't happen often. I agree that HP took a lazier approach by only upgrading the chip, but the laptop is still great despite no physical upgrades (aside from the notches placed to help with screen-flex). I think the 2021 HP Omen 15 should be an A-Tier since it is only the second year of production after their complete overhaul. Thank you for the content you create!

I find it so satisfying to see Lenovo Legion finally getting credit where credit is due. That brand was slept on way too much compared to the overpriced Alienware devices and hit or miss ASUS ROG products. Can't wait for 2022.

I like how Jarrod (from Jarrod's Tech) predicted in his Laptop ranking that Dave is going to put the Zephyrus G15 to S-Tier lol (video at 14:54 in his rankings)

I really appreciate that you included visuals of the laptops and what features you were referring to 😌 I can always count on you to factor in aesthetics which I always look for in a laptop

If only the Asus ROG M16 had an AMD chip variation, that would have deserved an S tier.

If the Legion 5 Pro had a better design, it deserves to be in a new tier above S. Zephyrus M16 was my favourite thin and light gaming laptop.

The Alienware X15, sure it could be thicker but with the super sharp QHD screen it's a really nice slim portable bit of kit with great chassis build quality. I have the RTX3070 model and got a Time Spy score of 10151 without tinkering. That's pretty good imo for such a slim portable laptop.

I just ordered the Legion 7 Gen 6 16" - 32GB with AMD Ryzen 7 and RTX 3060 for USD $1700 (includes tax). Cyber Monday deal gave me $360 discount + $100 off for 1st time customer at Lenovo site. Delivery time is 4 mos+ but see some buyers get it in one month or so. Overall, not bad of a deal compared to similar specs out there. Plus I was leaning towards Dell XPS 15 but it's much more expensive so I made a good decision. I can't wait!! 😃

Something I kinda wish you would do is ranking between tiers; I've seen a lot of tier lists do a "high C/low B" kind of ranking. The better ones in each tier end up being closer to the letter and things can be put between others, rather than just adding to the different tiers. An example being if the Nitro 5 was better than the MacBook Pro 16 you'd put the Nitro to the left of it.

Bro, I used to follow you back in 2016-17. It's so good to see you have almost 4 million subs. I always dreamed of seeing you get what you deserve and more! I love you bro! Keep making kickass vids❤️🔥

Just got a Zephyrus G15 this year and Ive loved it! Insane performance and good looks for the price. The build quality is solid but the finish for the black one which I have scrapes off very easily. Already got spots around the bottom where the finish scraped off showing the metal underneath. Not really a big issue just an annoyance.

I switched from the 2018 Razer Blade 15 to this year's Razer Blade 14. The new laptop is objectively better, but I do miss the bigger screen. It's also unfortunate that it doesn't have thunderbolt any more.

My top pick is Yoga Slim 7 Pro Gen 6 (16" AMD 5800H 16gb ram for 899 bucks

I agree with that design point you mentioned for Legion 5 pro compared to Legion 5 but you just missed that gorgeous display on it! arguably the best gaming display existed! perfect resolution, 16 by 10 aspect ratio, and 165hz refresh rate! I think that display compensates for the intentional design flaw and it has a better build quality compared to Legion 5 also! so legion 5 pro is an "S" tier!

I own the Zephyrus G14 with the Ryzen 9 5900HS and RTX 3060. I would put it on A tier. It would be an S except for one issue. Sometimes while gaming the CPU runs at 95 degrees C (air-conditioned room and fan stand with 5 fans). Now according to AMD, this is normal operation, but the keyboard deck can get a little hot and I can't help but wonder if this can affect long-term reliability of other components in the laptop. That said, even when running that hot, the performance is incredible. Not upset about my purchase, but I do wish it was a little cooler.

Hey Dave, I bought the Razer Blade 14 after your review earlier in the year. It’s the best Windows laptop I’ve ever owned (and that’s a long list). Thanks for all the awesome videos this year, look forward to more in 2022.

Hey Dave long-time sub fan here but I can't help but disagree on the Legion 5 Pro being an A-Tier notebook. The trackpad has a designated button to be deactivated swiftly so I always have it switched off when I game. Second, the Stingray White version which I chose looks absolutely stellar with the ice-blue lighting. Absolutely blown away by this laptop! Keep up the great content and much love from Austria.

The dell inspiron 7000 series (17” qhd touchscreen < $1k, 16 plus with 3060 for < $1.2k) were my top laptop of 2021. Insane value

i genuinely love these videos, helps us make more informed decisions. keep it up :)

Nice list, harsh on the MacBook 16 though, the 14 gets the same performance at the cost of battery life, fan noise and heat. Not a fair comparison when there are trade offs.

What about X13 Flow, with and without egpu?

i feel like for every product he should also say what he would rank it based on just performance, because there are people out there who don't give a damn about looks and just want desktop replacement that they just keep at home

Surprised the Rog X13 Flow didn't make the list- really enjoyed your review on it and almost settled on it being my next buy- Feel like it's aesthetic suits my needs perfectly, just curious as to how it stands against others this year

Imma say something very controversial, but the F15 is a decent device, because i got the RTX 3060 version at best buy open boxed for 1000 dollars. It is affordable, lightweight and has a great, sleek design. Sure the 4 core processor isn't great, but it still plays games quite well with very playable framerates.

Starting to feel really good about my Legion 5 purchase. While waiting for it in the mail i haven't seen one bad review and this is the second superb rating.

Good list. Harsh on the MacBook Pro 16 though. Definitely a expensive product, not much more than a XPS 17 though and you certainly get the tech and quality you pay pay for. And if any laptops sent a wake-up call to all laptop manufacturers it's the M1 Macbooks this this year.

Just bought the Asus ZenBook Duo, loving it, if you need a a second screen it's great, wonder where it would be on the list since it's more affordable

I'm not even looking for a laptop, but I'm still watching because I love your videos, Dave! Actually, you were the one who convinced me, a lifelong Windows user, to buy the 2020 M1 Macbook. I absolutely adore it, so thank you! Keep up the great work!

I was somewhat disappointed that thinkpads couldn’t make their way to this list, they have done it so much better this year with all new AMD and stuff !!🥲🥲 But as always the list is awesome!!😁

Really liked this tier list. Although, would have loved to see the M1 Macbook Air/Pro in this mix.

I'm so glad that I stuck in to the end of the video to see you admit your bias for the one laptop you put into the S Row. Seriously, I questioned your thought process for every other laptop. Putting it in the actual row that you believe it should be on, really validated this video. Thanks!

"S-Tier: who cares about performance?" Eh, 95% of users do? Straight up pissing me off, well done. Goal reached. PS: Teal looks nice, but what is it with you and your teal affinity?

I agree with the legion 5 being more desirable than the 5pro and 7. It's an obscene value when you catch sales. With no real compromises. The weight is manageable, the cooling is phenomenal, it has a mux switch, good build quality, good screen when you get the 165hz version/144hz version. Just no real compromises and good pricing. Intelligently cut corners.

Where is asus flow x13?

Putting the GE76 Raider as a C is crazy. The fans can get loud if you are running them at max but almost every game out there won't get you close to max. The layout is amazing, the keyboard is the best out there and if you upgrade the thermals and add pads you will be in heaven. Not to mention a 3080, i9 and every other top of the line part you could hope for in a gaming laptop, it's literally worth every penny.

Where would you put Surface Laptop Studio? Was kinda hoping it would be there..

A 30 minutes video from Dave? *Starting doing home works while Dave talks in the background*

Damn, G14 at B while the G15 is at S, that made me sad. I thought when you were talking about the G15, you would hear yourself talking about the white color and fan noise and realize it should be in A. Meanwhile, the G14 has the magical print screen button, is more compact, and with a 3060, is cheaper than the G15 with a 3060. Also, there still aren't any other powerful gaming laptops at 14 inch, except for the overpriced Razer one, but the G14's battery life destroys the Razer's. I get this is your opinion, but that placement irked me.

What price would you say is fair for the MacBooks? I’m curious. We all agree they are expensive but, their Windows counterparts don’t do it the same way and even though they’re cheaper they are still expensive machines. So what should the price be for the new 16 inch Mac to be S tier?

Imagine the guys that order a Dash F15 without finishing the video

You are the third person I have seen rate the Legion 5 as an S-Tier so I guess I should look into builds of that. My other choice is the Omen 15 mainly because I do like the minimal aesthetic the shell has, though I would get a skin for it for an alternate color.

Got my legion 5 pro 3 days ago , i got this instead of g15 because i was scared about the qc problems of g15 . 16:10 is nice i was used to 16:9 but 16:10 changed my perspective it covered more space while browsing and the qhd display and 500 nits brightness is delight but still when you watch movies from Netflix and some games have cut on top and bottom of screen which is little bit frustrating, but yeah no laptop is perfect.

Awesome video and good way to summarize your laptop impressions of the year!

To be fair I got the tuf dash f15 for 80k (900-1000$) i7 3060 and it is pretty reasonable for the price and i am happy with its performance

For me you should have put the MBP16 M1 in (B) and the MBP14 M1 in the (A) Great video Dave!

The moment when Dave puts your laptop in the S-Tier! :')

I bought the last legion 5(amd) in my country yesterdayand i have to say, its the best laptop i have ever owned. I was so lucky to get it aswell

Here you have all the laptops, what you can find in this video: Class S: Zephyrus G15: amzn.to/3eLDdoF Legion 5: amzn.to/3px5rJI Class A: X17: amzn.to/3pBeQQJ MacBook Pro 14: amzn.to/3eAvr0o Mech/Neo 15: amzn.to/3mDkvUg Blade 14: amzn.to/3mFCf1n Legion 5 Pro: amzn.to/3qsAwha Legion 7: amzn.to/3FQ0UIl Class B: MacBook Pro 16: amzn.to/3ExPmIc Prometheus 17: amzn.to/32wqtzx Nitro 5: amzn.to/3mExAga Zephyrus G14: amzn.to/3HliJPt S17: amzn.to/31843E8 G15 AMD: amzn.to/3z7HNqh Aero 15: amzn.to/3qyF1Xi GF66: amzn.to/3sFrFeD Omen 15: amzn.to/3pARaM0 Class C: X15: amzn.to/3sB32Ql Prometheus 16: amzn.to/3z50lrc Dell G15: amzn.to/3qtCFsM M16: amzn.to/3JkLLke Scar G15: amzn.to/3Hjy0jQ Aorus 17G: amzn.to/343w4Oi GE 76: amzn.to/3Hl3l62 Class D: Triton 500 SE: amzn.to/3qO7AAr M15 R6: amzn.to/3FAaoav Zephyrus DUO 15 SE: amzn.to/3z4PwFG XPS 15: amzn.to/3z51tLs XPS 17: amzn.to/3pzdndG Aorus 15G: amzn.to/3z51q2e Class E: M15 R5: amzn.to/3FMtQAA Victus: amzn.to/32JgWET Dash F15: amzn.to/3ExRT5a Class F: Triton 300 SE: amzn.to/3qyegCi Stealth 15M: amzn.to/3mCIDX8

Dave getting the respect he deserves, no dislikes !

I think as a whole package battery, screen, performance, and OS the MacBook 16 should be higher. I think your statement that is way more expensive is disingenuous bc it's probably compared to laptops with screens not on the MacBooks level. Studio laptops are just as expensive ie ZenBook, Surface and others.

I would've loved to see where you would have placed the ROG flow x13 in this list

Glad to know I chose a S-tier laptop. I got a Lenovo Legion 5 because of your earlier review!

The prices for Macbooks have actually been good value since M1 in my opinion, even exceptional value for some workflows. The only thing not deserving of an S is that Apple didn't even bother to lure game publishers onto the platform and didn't even mention gaming in their latest Keynote.

Hi sir Dave, good day! I have a question sir. I'm having a hard time choosing between: R9-5900HX (RTX 3050) and R7-4800H (RTX 3060). Which do you think sir is a good overall blend of the CPU+GPU?

This is dope because you get a nice overview

*S tier* 8:32 ASUS Zephyrus G15 15:44 ASUS Dash F15 21:55 Lenovo Legion 5 *A tier* 0:44 Alienware X17 2:20 MacBook Pro 14 4:09 Mech/Neo 15 11:10 Razer Blade 14 22:29 Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 23:02 Lenovo Legion 7 30:01 HP Omen 15 *B tier* 1:57 MacBook Pro 16 3:42 Prometheus 17 7:28 Acer Nitro 5 9:56 ASUS Zephyrus G14 16:27 ASUS Zephyrus S17 19:54 ASUS Zephyrus G15 AMD 26:09 AERO 15 27:13 MSI GF66 *C tier* 1:11 Alienware X15 2:49 Prometheus 16 14:29 Dell G15 17:47 ASUS Zephyrus M16 19:04 ROG STRIX Scar G15 25:52 Aorus 17G 26:42 MSI GE 76 *D tier* 6:45 Acer Triton 500 SE 13:43 Alienware M15 R6 20:46 ASUS Zephyrus Duo 15 SE 23:47 Dell XPS 15 24:59 Dell XPS 17 25:24 Aorus 15G *E tier* 12:25 Alienware M15 R5 28:47 HP Victus *F tier* 5:21 Acer Triton 300 SE 28:37 MSI Stealth 15M