Looking for a thin gaming laptop.

I have two that i'm thinking about getting:
Asus Zephyrus G16
Razer Blade 16

I heard the Razer Blade is complete trash in terms of thermals and build. Also, i've heard the OS is trash and an OS rebuild is needed.

Because of this i'm leaning toward the Zephyrus.

Any suggestions?

Does it has to be those 2?

What's your budget?
What are ur goal?

No, I travel and need something very portable, so something along those lines.

Budget: ~3k
Purpose: I run a lot of code experimentation and so I need a lot of computing power. If i'm not code experimenting, I want to take a break to can play any game I want.

I have last year's zephyrus 14" and with very light use the case is already discolored as if i used sandpaper on it



thermals on 16 will probably be better than on my 14", but mine is boiling hot. No issues from that, but it is.

on the other hand I never had razer accessory that didn't break just after warranty :/


My recommendation would be steam deck plus macbook pro, and it will still be cheaper lol

I have a MSI thin laptop bought in July 2021 for more or less 1100 € (~1300 $)

Not bad, still got it and still working pretty well, just changed the 16gb ram ddr4 to 32gb ddr4, also added a 2tb ssd so it's 2500gb now (June 2024).

Think i will keep it for many years to come, no point in reselling it, can run WoW, D2R etc.

Will keep it and maybe buy a gaming tower for around 1500€.


So my suggestion for you is to pick MSI brand and a price between 2000-2500$

This post was edited by Neili on Feb 21 2026 09:05am

I have the 2025 Zephyrus G16 with rtx5080

Only been using it for 3 months but its been solid so far. Very lightweight. Beautiful oled screen, gg speakers, all aluminum body, etc

Im able to play cyberpunk on ultra settings with 60+ fps

In terms of thin, lightweight and portable gaming laptop… this one is top-tier. Its on-par with a high-end macbook pro imo

I have a Macbook Pro from when the M1 just came out. I'm tired of MacOS, it's just not ideal for me. I'd much rather develop using Windows + Ubuntu VM hence wanting to find the premium of thin gaming laptops.

What's MSI's thinnest gaming laptop?

Yeah, i'm aiming for a top tier Windows gaming laptop.

I'ved used MacOS for 10+ years and am tired of it hence my quest to find the best thin gaming laptop.

I'm definitely looking at the G16 with a 5070Ti and Ultra 9... It's for sure at the top of my list.

I like the Razer Blade 16 form factor the most, but I keep hearing horror stories...

How about Framework laptop? It's so customizable, but best thing, it's repairable and upgradable in future if you ever need it. Quality is top notch.

Only not sure if the 16" version qualifies as thin for you