The best 17-inch laptops may be big and bulky next to their 13-inch and 15-inch counterparts, but there’s a reason why there’s a big market for them. Ideals as desktop replacements, these large laptops have the perfect screen real estate for gaming and content creation. More importantly, they all have a large chassis for excellent ventilation and powerful internals.
In other words, the best 17-inch laptops dwarf their 13-inch and 15-inch laptop cousins in a lot of ways. They rock more powerful components than the smaller options, such as discrete graphics like the Nvidia’s Max-Q GPUs, which means that they can hold their own against many gaming PCs when handling the latest AAA games. So, unless portability is your priority, these laptops really are among the best options for heavy gaming or serious creative work like video editing.
Touting incredible power while slimming down their dimensions over older models for a more compact design, these laptops are excellent choices for photographers, for video editing and for gaming. So we’ve rounded up our selection of the best 17-inch laptops for you and put them on this list alongside our price comparison tool. Whichever 17-inch portable you end up with, you know you’re getting the best deal for you.
The best 17-inch laptops at a glance:
- Alienware Area-51m
- Alienware m17 (2019)
- Razer Blade Pro 17
- HP Omen 17
- Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
- LG Gram 17
- Asus TUF Gaming FX705DT
- HP ZBook 17 G5
- Lenovo ThinkPad P73
- System76 Serval WS
The best 17-inch laptops of 2020
1. Alienware Area-51m
The best 17-inch laptop for gaming
CPU: Intel Core i7-9700 – i9-9900K | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 – RTX 2080 | RAM: 16GB – 64GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS – 144Hz IPS Nvidia G-Sync | Storage: 1TB SSHD – 2TB RAID0 SSDs + 1TB SSHD
Hugely powerful
Smart design
144Hz display with G-Sync
Very expensive
Can get warm (and noisy)
Alienware makes some fantastic gaming machines, including the best 17-inch model on the market in our opinion. The Area-51m benefits from a great build quality and striking design, but more importantly, some supremely powerful components to drive fast frame-rates.
This laptop can pack up to an Intel Core i9-9900K processor and GeForce RTX 2080 graphics, all backed with up to 64GB of RAM. All of this helps to make the most out of the Full HD display’s 144Hz refresh rate, with G-Sync on hand to keep everything super-smooth in demanding games.
There are plenty of other smart touches with this Alienware model, including the ability to upgrade the GPU and CPU for future-proofing, a quality keyboard, and some very impressive speakers delivering both clarity and bass. Notebook speakers that don’t suck? Yes, they do exist…
The downside is the amount of damage the Area-51m will do to your bank balance, particularly for a higher-end spec. Still, if you’ve got the cash, it’s well worth the outlay.
Read the full review: Alienware Area-51m
2. Alienware m17 (2019)
Has Alienware made another stylish winner?
CPU: 9th Generation Intel Core i5 – i9 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 – RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 17.3″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 60Hz – 17.3″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz Eyesafe Display Tech + Tobii Eyetracking | Storage: 256GB SSD – 4TB SSD RAID 0
Stunning design
Thin and light
Only 1080p screen
Short battery life
The Alienware m17 2019 boasts more powerful internal components and a bold new design that you won’t see on any of its rivals. This Alienware gaming laptop looks good inside and out, so you can have the most immersive gaming experience of your life and look good while gaming, whether you’re at home on your couch or at a cafe. It’s portable as well, with an impressively thin and light chassis that’s ideal for gaming on the go. This is the most well-rounded 17-inch laptop for gaming you’ll ever find. Just be prepared to shell out a bunch of cash.
Read the full review: Alienware m17 (2019)
3. Razer Blade Pro 17
A gaming laptop and workstation rolled into one
CPU: 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750H | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 – 2080 Max-Q Design | Screen: 120Hz 17.3-inch (diagonal) 3840 x 2160 touch display with LED Technology – 144Hz 17.3-inch (diagonal) TFT 1920 x 1080 display with LED technology | Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe – 2TB SSD
Fantastic performance
Trackpad back where it belongs
Very expensive
You’d be doing this laptop a disservice by not taking it seriously. The Razer Blade Pro 17 may be a laptop designed for gaming – and an excellent one, at that. But, it also boasts enough power and delivers a fantastic enough performance to deserve to be called a workstation, making it one of the best 17-inch laptops to consider if you work hard and play hard. That comes at a steep price, but this laptop is future-proof and somewhat upgradeable, it should last you a long while too.
Read the full review: Razer Blade Pro 17
4. HP Omen 17
The monster gaming laptop you can afford
CPU: 9th Generation Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti – RTX 2080 with G-SYNC | Screen: 17.3″ diagonal FHD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080) – 17.3″ diagonal 4k IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 x 2160) | Storage: 512 GB – 1TB SSD
Affordable price
4K, G-Sync Display
Plastic-y build
The recently refreshed HP Omen 17 comes with many of the most powerful specs in a gaming laptop. The only difference between this and its rivals is, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to take one home. It’s a nice surprise, especially considering that HP can and does charge a premium for many of its best laptops. The thing to really pay attention to here, however, is the display, as HP does offer a number of options that include a couple of 1080p ones with blazing fast refresh rates. If affordability is a priority, this one’s definitely a shoo-in.
Read the full review: HP Omen 17
5. Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
The best thin-and-light 17-inch laptop for gaming
CPU: Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 – RTX 2080 Max-Q | RAM: 8GB – 24GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 144Hz panel with G-Sync | Storage: 512GB – 2TB SSD
Highly portable
Yet still packs plenty of performance
Excellent color-accurate display
Another pricey gaming machine
Who says you can’t have your gaming cake and eat it, because with laptops like this ROG Zephyrus, it’s possible to have an incredibly powerful portable which isn’t even remotely hefty, but remains very svelte and, er, portable.
It is, in short, a gaming machine for which you don’t have to employ air quotes around the word ‘portable’, being 18.7mm thick (or rather, thin) and weighing 2.7kg. Compare that to the above Alienware which is 43mm and 4.8kg…
Yet with this Asus 17-inch laptop you still get a Core i7-8750H hexa-core CPU backed by a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8GB of video RAM (there’s up to 24GB of system memory, incidentally). All this means you can ramp up the detail levels and enjoy any game you want.
The display is also a fabulous piece of work, and what’s more it’s Pantone Validated with 100% sRGB color gamut, meaning the color accuracy is spot-on out-of-the-box, and this notebook can be used for professional photo or video editing.
Bear in mind however that battery life is disappointingly short, and the price is disappointingly hefty. For those who don’t have the hefty budget to cope with this, or the aforementioned Alienware laptop’s price tag, breathe easier and check out our next entry for a more affordable gaming option.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
6. LG Gram 17
The best overall 17-inch laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-8565U | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 17-inch 2,560 x 1,600 IPS LCD | Storage: 256GB – 512GB SSD
Incredibly thin and light for a 17-inch laptop
Great all-round performer
Excellent screen
Fair amount of flex in the thin body
As you might guess from the name, LG’s focus with the Gram is on making a very lightweight and thin notebook which still manages to pack in 17-inches of screen real-estate. The Gram 17 is 17.8mm thick, appropriately, and weighs 1.34kg, making it extremely light for a large machine. Unbelievably light, in fact.
That 17-inch IPS display, incidentally, boasts a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and is fantastic for a spot of movie watching on the go. Another major positive with the LG Gram 17 is a good level of battery longevity, which helps if you want to watch a couple of movies while on a long journey.
You also get a good selection of ports, and while the SSD may not be the fastest, this notebook still offers great performance for everyday computing thanks to an Intel Core i7-8565U processor capable of Turbo to 4.6GHz, along with 16GB of system memory.
The end result is an excellent all-rounder which can cope with everything, bar gaming – but it wasn’t designed for that. Furthermore, LG’s Gram can truly be dubbed ‘ultraportable’, which is a real achievement given the 17-inch chassis – and that’s why this LG machine snatches our accolade for best overall 17-inch laptop.
7. Asus TUF Gaming FX705DT
The best affordable 17-inch laptop for gaming
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS-level NanoEdge | Storage: 512GB SSD
Impressive price/performance ratio
512GB NVMe SSD
Backlit gaming-optimized keyboard
The words ‘cheap’ and ‘gaming laptop’ don’t mix well. Simply put, if you’re on a strict budget, you won’t get a machine capable of playing the latest games at palatable frame-rates – especially if you want a 17-inch screen to boot. So that’s why the FX705DT is our ‘affordable’ pick as opposed to ‘budget’. Remember, if you want to go really bargain basement, you’ll be confined to casual gaming only.
This Asus gaming laptop, however, packs a Ryzen 5 3550H processor with a GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card with 4GB of video RAM, plus there’s 8GB of system memory. The FX705DT also boasts a roomy 512GB NVMe SSD and a backlit keyboard optimized for gaming.
All of which makes it a great choice for tackling the majority of games at good detail levels while still keeping things pretty smooth – and remaining relatively wallet-friendly. At the time of writing, there are some pretty tempting deals to be had on this Asus machine, too.
8. HP ZBook 17 G5
The best 17-inch workstation
CPU: Intel Core i5 – Intel Xeon | Graphics: Up to Nvidia Quadro P5200 | RAM: Up to 128GB | Screen: 17.3-inch HD SVA eDP anti-glare 1,600 x 900 – 17.3-inch 4K IPS DreamColor (or optional touchscreen) | Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD / 2TB SSHD / 16GB Intel Optane
Supremely powerful
Top-notch 4K screen
A hefty machine
Expensive
If you want extreme performance from your 17-inch laptop, HP’s most recent ZBook is absolutely packed with power. We’re talking Intel Xeon processors at the top end – or up to a Core i9-8950HK – backed with heavyweight graphics in the form of up to an Nvidia Quadro P5200 (with 16GB of video RAM).
The ZBook comes with a 17.3-inch 4K IPS DreamColor screen which boasts 100% AdobeRGB coverage (or there’s an option for a more basic 1,600 x 900 panel). There are various storage options for PCIe NVMe SSDs or solid-state hybrid drives, or indeed Intel Optane Memory to accelerate that storage.
That display truly is a fabulous thing, and the HP ZBook 17 G5 is obviously a top-performing machine particularly when fully specced-up, but there’s an equally obvious downside in that it’s very (unsurprisingly) expensive. Still, if you want an incredibly powerful PC capable of crunching through heavyweight computing tasks which you can take on the move with you, well, here it is.
9. Lenovo ThinkPad P73
The best 17-inch laptop for creative professionals
CPU: Intel Core i7 – Intel Xeon | Graphics: Up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 | RAM: Up to 128GB | Screen: 17.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS – 17.3-inch 4K IPS | Storage: 256GB – 1TB SSD
Superb display
Dolby Vision HDR
Xeon CPU and RTX 5000 GPU
Still quite hefty
This is another mobile workstation, but it represents a somewhat cheaper – and indeed a slightly slimmer – alternative to the above HP machine, with the P73 being ideally suited to content creators.
You get the choice of an Intel Xeon E-2276M processor or 9th-gen Intel Core CPU (up to an i9-9880H with vPro), with up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics and up to 128GB of system memory. But the display is the jewel in the crown featuring a 4K resolution, 400 nits brightness, Dolby Vision HDR and 100% coverage of the Adobe color gamut. The screen is, quite simply, ideal for serious photo or video editing.
The cutting-edge hardware support continues with Wi-Fi 6 on board, and you get a good selection of ports for wired connectivity, including a pair of Thunderbolt 3 connectors. Creative pros need look no further for something that can cater for all their needs, at a relatively reasonable asking price for the workstation market.
10. System76 Serval WS
The best 17-inch Linux laptop
CPU: 9th-gen Intel Core i5 – Core i9 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 – RTX 2080 | RAM: 8GB – 64GB | Screen: 17.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 – 17.3-inch 4K IPS | Storage: 240GB – 8TB SSD
Impressive performer
Smart backlit keyboard
Choice of Linux distros
There aren’t many choices for your operating system if you want an alternative to Windows 10 with your 17-inch laptop – there’s no MacBook, or Chromebook at this size – but you could, of course, run with Linux. And this dedicated Linux portable from System76 is a great pick on that front (although it’s worth noting that some 17-inch workstations do have a Linux option, like the above Lenovo which can be pre-installed with Ubuntu rather than Windows 10 Pro).
With the Serval WS you can opt for either Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or Pop!_OS, and choose between a Full HD or 4K display. There’s also a choice of 9th-gen Intel processors (up to the Core i9-9900K) backed with up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 2080 graphics card. It’s possible to load this portable with up to 64GB of system RAM, as well, and up to 8TB of storage.
So there’s a good deal of power on offer here, and you get impressive connectivity, along with quality input peripherals like a very nifty backlit keyboard. Those who want a 17-inch Linux machine can’t go wrong here.