The Gaming Laptop Trends of CES 2025

CES 2024 showcased a plethora of gaming laptops, revealing key trends shaping the market. This report highlights the most significant developments.

Diverse Design Language

While gaming laptops have always offered stylistic variety, this year felt particularly diverse. Manufacturers like Gigabyte and MSI are blurring the lines between productivity and gaming aesthetics. High-end models are increasingly emphasizing design features beyond raw hardware capabilities.

This translates to a broader spectrum of choices. Sleek, professional designs like the Gigabyte Aero series cater to diverse user needs, while others, such as the MSI Titan 18 HX AI Dragonforged Edition, boldly showcase their gaming pedigree through striking graphics.

RGB lighting remains a staple, with innovative implementations like wrap-around rings, illuminated keyboards, and even trackpad lighting. Asus ROG Strix Scar's AniME Dot Matrix LED display, capable of displaying text and animations, stood out.

Expect a continued evolution of existing designs, alongside novel additions to the spectrum of form factors, from bulky powerhouses to slim and portable options.

AI Integration Takes Center Stage

AI features, while present in last year's models, often lacked polish. This year, several vendors demonstrated more refined AI assistants enabling software-free PC control.

One MSI demo showcased an AI assistant automatically optimizing performance settings based on the specified game. However, the practical speed advantage over manual adjustments remains to be seen. Further evaluation is needed to assess the true utility and offline capabilities of these systems.

Display Innovations and Beyond

Mini-LED technology is finally gaining traction in gaming laptops. Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte all presented Mini-LED models with high-end specifications and pricing. These displays, boasting over 1100 local dimming zones, deliver exceptional brightness, contrast, and color accuracy, offering a compelling alternative to OLED, particularly given the absence of burn-in risk.

Other notable innovations included the return of the ASUS ROG Flow X13 with USB4 eGPU support and the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, the first commercially available laptop with a rollable OLED display. While the rollable screen's durability is a concern, its existence signifies a significant step forward in display technology.

The Rise of Gaming Ultrabooks

Ultrabook-style gaming laptops are proliferating, with major manufacturers offering thin, light, and aesthetically minimalist designs. Gigabyte's updated Aero series exemplifies this trend.

These machines, while not always marketed as "gaming" laptops, offer a compelling balance between portability and gaming performance. They are especially suitable for users who don't require maximum settings on the latest titles. The integration of powerful integrated graphics, coupled with upscaling technologies like AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution and Intel XeSS, enables surprisingly playable performance in many games.

Cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now further enhance the viability of these systems, providing high-quality gaming experiences without requiring dedicated high-end graphics cards.

The gaming laptop landscape is evolving rapidly. We will continue to cover these developments as the year progresses. Share your thoughts and observations in the comments below!