3 Gaming Laptops You Could Buy For The Price Of A PlayStation 5 Pro

Hype was in the air as Sony unveiled the PlayStation 5 Pro on September 10. The non-pro model had been a major hit for the company, and gamers were excited to see how much better this mid-generation refresh of the console could get. 

Still, what Sony showed off was a more modest upgrade than many expected, and the price was far higher than anticipated. In exchange for three main upgrades in the form of a better GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI upscaling, customers are being asked to shell out just under $700. Adding insult, it wouldn't come with a stand to keep it upright or even a disc drive. Both are sold separately, costing $30 and $80, respectively. That means anyone hoping to pick up the whole kit will need to pony up just over $800 before tax.

With prices like these, many consumers who might have been easy sales will now consider alternatives to a PS5 Pro, and gaming laptops will undoubtedly be considered in lieu. Of course, comparing laptops to a console is a bit of an apples-to-oranges situation. Consoles are meant to live alongside a TV, whereas laptops are portable. Laptops are meant to run all kinds of software, which means more work for users who want to optimize them for games, the PS5 Pro is optimized for games out of the box with no fuss. 

Still, if what you want to do is play games and you don't care about exclusive titles, we've combed through laptop listings to find the ones that compete with the PS5 Pro on price. Here are three gaming laptops you could buy for around the price of a PS5 Pro.

If you're looking for a solid gaming laptop at a similar price to that of the PS5 Pro, the Acer Nitro V is well worth a look. This midrange gaming laptop packs an Intel Core i5-13420H processor, 8 GB of speedy DDR5 RAM, a laptop version of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, and 512 GB of SSD storage. Top that off with a 15.6 inch IPS display with a 1080p resolution that can reach 144 frames per second, and you're looking at a pretty great deal for the $780 price tag. At the time of this writing, it's even on sale for $650 from Amazon, which puts it under the price of a standalone PS5 Pro.

While you're unlikely to see the sort of seamless performance in gaming scenarios on the Acer Nitro V that you would on the PS5 Pro, these specs should run a fair number of modern titles at decent graphics settings without a hitch. It also has decent I/O, with three Type-A USB 3.2 ports, a Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4, 65-watt power delivery, and DisplayPort out, along with both ethernet and HDMI 2.1 ports. A 3.5mm headphone/mic port is also present.

The Nitro V has been a hit for Acer when it comes to reviews. It was well regarded by PCMag and Gizmodo, with both celebrating its bang-for-buck factor. Even so, the former griped about its processor performance and the latter found it to have poor battery life. It maintains a 4.5 star rating on Amazon, so it's clearly found an audience in those who want affordable, 1080p gaming on a device that fits into a backpack.

Another laptop worth considering if you are looking to spend around the same price as a PS5 Pro is the MSI Thin 15. On sale for $760 from Amazon at the time of this writing, it's an upper-midrange model that boasts an Intel Core i7-12650H processor, a respectable 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 512 GB of modern NVMe SSD storage, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 laptop edition with 6 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. It has a 1080p, 15.6 inch IPS display that reaches up to 144 Hz.

When it comes to usability, I/O is respectable, if not exactly groundbreaking. There are three USB 3.2 Gen1 Type -A ports, along with a Type-C port with DisplayPort out on the same USB spec. HDMI is here with support for 4K at 60 Hz, along with mic and headphone ports, and an ethernet/LAN port is also present, as is traditional for gaming laptops.

This is a pretty respectable package for that sales price, though slightly less of a bargain if it returns to its MSRP of $900, which also means those who'd rather have the Thin 15 than a PS5 Pro would need to flex their budget another $90. Still, if you can snap up the sale, this configuration is nothing to sneeze at, and could give the PS5 Pro some real competition when running certain games. However, it's less widely reviewed than other laptops on this list, which means its performance is less certain due to that lack of independent testing.

Another laptop that's in the same price range as the PlayStation 5 Pro is the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 2024 edition. It is currently on sale from Amazon for $700 as of this writing, which you might note is the exact price of a PS5 Pro, at least until it returns to its MSRP of $800. For your money, you'll get a solidly midrange laptop. It includes an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor, 8 GB of speedy DDR5 RAM, and 512 GB of PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD storage. The big disappointment here is the last generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 laptop graphics card, which may struggle to perform well with demanding titles. The display is a 1080p, 144 Hz, IPS panel measuring 15.6 inches.

When it comes to daily use, I/O is decent. The TUF Gaming A15 sports three USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, along with a Type-C port that includes DisplayPort out and is on the same USB spec. There's also an HDMI 2.1 port, an RJ45 ethernet/LAN port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

As the cheapest laptop on this list, the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 is priced competitively for its class. With that said, you're most likely not going to outperform a PS5 Pro with this device, except maybe in some weird, edge case scenarios. With that said, it was difficult to find trustworthy, independent performance tests for this particular skew of the A15, so you'll have to rely on your own judgment.

At the end of the day, none of the laptops on this list will outperform a PlayStation 5 Pro when it comes to gaming performance. Sony's upgraded console is built from the ground up to do one thing and do it well: absolutely rip through games with unparalleled stability. It's also made to work well with TVs, which makes it a great central hub for home entertainment. And if you're already invested in Sony's ecosystem with a collection of games for your existing PlayStation, it may not be wise to abandon them for a gaming PC.

However, if you don't own a PlayStation yet, or have been itching to explore what gaming on a PC is like, a laptop can be an excellent starting point. Some of the models listed above can do things the PS5 Pro cannot, such as achieve frame rates above 60 FPS, or take advantage of Nvidia features like DLSS that aren't available with the PS5 Pro's AMD RDNA architecture.

These comparisons demonstrate that although Sony's PS5 Pro pricing and features have prompted some passionate critique, it's not entirely out of line for what the console offers. If you wanted to truly outclass the PS5 Pro with a gaming laptop, you'd need to spend significantly more than the top price of $810 that accrues when you get a PS5 Pro along with a disc drive and stand. Even then, you would lose access to your PlayStation games library, along with the ability to play PlayStation 5 exclusive games. Ultimately, you should spend your own money based on your particular needs and preferences.