Best 18 inch laptop models for gaming & workstation use: January 2024
We list the best 18 inch gaming laptop models of the year so far, and discuss non-gaming 18" laptops
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If you’re looking for the either the best 18 inch laptop for productivity/workstation uses or the best 18 inch gaming laptop in 2024, then we’ve got you covered with the following selections. Although 18-inch laptops did exist several years ago, the size fell out of favor with laptop manufacturers, as they were too unwieldy and heavy for most consumers to be interested in them. However with improvements in laptop design making for thinner and lighter laptops, not to mention increasing screen resolutions and the computing power to run games at these resolutions, this display size option has once again returned to the market. On this page we’ll be going over everything you need to know about 18″ laptops, and listing the best models currently available, depending on where your priorities lie.
Here at WePC, we make sure our guides are always updated with the latest picks as they hit the market (assuming we deem them worthy of your hard-earned cash). You can see our top picks immediately below, read a bit further on for our reviews of each, or look to the bottom of this page for more information on 18-inch laptops generally. Do be sure to have a look at our best gaming laptop guide for our favored picks covering all sizes and price points.
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01Best overall 18″ gaming laptop (great value)
ASUS ROG Strix G18 (i9-13980HX, RTX 4080)
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02Most powerful 18″ laptop (with RTX 4090)
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0318″ gaming laptop with mini LED display
Are there any non-gaming 18 inch laptops?
Currently, all 18-inch laptops are also gaming laptops. There aren’t very many available on the market, and those that are all have the graphics card power, plus high display refresh rates, to consider them gaming laptops. This of course doesn’t stop you from using them for other purposes, and models like the Razer Blade 18 would also be well-suited for creative design work.
Best 18 inch laptop: reviews
The best gaming laptop of this size overall (great value)
ASUS ROG Strix G18 (i9-13980HX, RTX 4080)
CPU
Intel Core i9-13980HX
Graphics Card
Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
RAM
16GB/32GB/64GB DDR5 RAM
Storage
1TB-2TB SSD
Max Refresh Rate
240Hz
Resolution
2560 x 1600
Amazon UK
- good value for money
- very powerful GPU & CPU
- 240Hz 1600p display with good response time
- good color replication
- somewhat plastic build
- some coil whine and fan noise under heavy loads
- sub-par webcam quality
Although they don’t have the most powerful laptop graphics card (compared to the RTX 4090 laptop GPU), RTX 4080 laptops are generally the pick we’d recommend to most people looking for a high-end gaming laptop with one of the new 40-series cards. The power they provide is more than enough for most users, unless they’re going for 4K gaming or high-end workstation tasks (read our Is the RTX 4090 overkill? page for more info). Ultimately RTX 4080 laptops, whilst certainly not cheap, are substantially more affordable than RTX 4090 models, and in particular the ASUS ROG Strix G18 offers great value for what is a very powerful machine.
The Strix G18 comes with Conductonaut extreme advanced liquid metal cooling to reduce thermal throttling, which was on the CPUs of the SCAR and Zephyrus Duo models last year, but this year has been applied to the GPUs as well. In addition to this, it now features a three fan internal cooling setup (as opposed to the previous two) which we saw used to great effect in the cooling of the ASUS FLOW X16 last year. This means that (as with the X16) the entire back of the laptop is now taken up by an exhaust port, so the I/O sockets have been moved to the side, but we think this is a worthwhile trade-off.
The display is very nice, and is basically the same as in the SCAR 18 (read below for the full details of this).
Despite having less RGB customization than the SCAR, it still has an RGB light strip along the front of the laptop, and thankfully this year ASUS have removed the connective ribbon cables previously used to power this, meaning it’s a lot easier to get into without accidentally wrenching it out and breaking it when you take the back off. The build quality might be a bit plasticky, certainly compared to the premium Razer Blade 18, but if your concern is for gaming power at a reasonable price, then we’d heartily recommend the ASUS ROG Strix G18.
The most powerful 18 inch gaming laptop (with RTX 4090)
ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (i9-13980HX)
CPU
Intel Core i9-13980HX
Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 / RTX 4090
RAM
16GB/32GB DDR5 RAM
Storage
4TB SSD
Max Refresh Rate
240Hz
Resolution
2560 x 1600
Amazon UK
- Very powerful GPU & CPU
- 240Hz 1600p display with good response time
- Good color replication
- Expensive
The SCAR line always supply the most high-end, most high-powered gaming laptops in the ASUS roster. The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 pretty much has all the features mentioned in the above G18, though with some additions that make it the superior (but more expensive) device.
This year the cosmetic differences compared to the regular ASUS ROG Strix don’t seem to be as pronounced, but the main distinction is that it has the highest GPU option available – the Nvidia RTX 4090. On top of this it has a higher ceiling for SSD loadout, being equippable with 4TB of storage. If you’re going for the RTX 4080 GPU we’d recommend the G18 above this device, as the value it offers is superior for relatively minor differences, but if you’re going for the most powerful FPS / workstation performer then it has to be the SCAR with RTX 4090.
This laptop is the most highly powered 18-inch laptop on the market, outperforming the only other RTX 4090 18-inch laptop: the Razer Blade 18 by virtue of its superior cooling and slightly more powerful i9-13980HX CPU.
The quality of the display is great, though not quite as good as the competing Razer model. Both are 240Hz 1600p panels. The SCAR 18 doesn’t have quite as good a response time as the Razer Blade 18, though at around 5ms average grey-to-grey it’s still very impressive. The color gamut is comparable at around 100% sRGB and 97% DCI-P3, though accuracy isn’t quite as good, peak brightness (490nits) is slightly lower, and so is contrast (907:1), though both are still pretty solid.
18 inch gaming laptop with the best display
Acer Predator Helios 18 (Mini-LED)
CPU
Intel 13th gen Core i9
Graphics Card
Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
RAM
32GB DDR5 RAM (4800MHz)
Storage
2TB SSD
Max Refresh Rate
250Hz
Resolution
2440 x 1600
- Powerful GPU options
- Great color replication
- Fantastically bright Mini-LED display (in HDR mode)
- Fans get loud under strain
- Internal temperatures could be better
The Acer Predator Helios 18 is definitely worthy of being the best display pick. This is because it comes equipped with a very impressive 250Hz MiniLED screen. Although Razer have released a new 16-inch Razer Blade with Mini-LED display, the Razer Blade 18 does not have this screen option, making the Acer Predator Helios the only 18 inch Mini-LED laptop on the market, not to mention one with a pleasingly high refresh rate. The screen has 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage, plus good color accuracy, making it ideal for creative use on the side.
Besides the screen, the laptop comes with the 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900HX processor, which isn’t quite the most powerful that money can buy, but isn’t far off, plus you get the option for an RTX 4080 laptop GPU. Both of these offer impressive performance, although the main downside of the machine is the fan system – which creates a lot of noise when the pre-sets are set to their highest, plus the laptop still suffers somewhat from high internal temperatures on maximum power.
After last year’s successful redesign, Acer have decided to further tweak the design of the Helios – with welcome additions including a Mini-SD card reader and a customizable a light strip on the rear side.
The most portable option laptop, with the best build quality
Razer Blade 18 (i9-13950HX)
CPU
Intel Core i9-13950HX
Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 / RTX 4090
RAM
32GB DDR5 RAM
Storage
2TB SSD
Max Refresh Rate
240Hz
Resolution
2440 x 1600
- Very powerful GPU options
- Surprisingly good thermals
- Slimline
- Superb build quality
- Expensive
- Power limit restricts CPU performance somewhat
The Razer Blade 18 is another 18-inch laptop that can be equipped with an RTX 4090, though it can also be equipped with RTX 4060, RTX 4070, and RTX 4080 laptop GPUs. We haven’t had chance to test one of these machines yet ourselves, but Jarrod of Jarrod’s tech has done an in-depth review of the RTX 4080 variant and it’s an impressive device, though like all Razer laptops it doesn’t come cheap.
If you’re looking for the best FPS for your money then you’d be better picking one of the other options on this page, however with the Razer Blade you get the best build quality we’ve seen so far on an 18″ laptop, plus a great quality display and top-notch intuitive onboard software that allows you to tweak your fan settings and voltage to a fine level of fidelity (certainly better than the bloated software on ASUS machines). Although no 18-inch laptop is particularly portable, the Blade 18 is the closest you’ll find, being the most slimline and lightest of any option on this page.
Looking closer at the display, the 3.4ms average grey-to-grey response time is top-notch – faster than the 4.16ms needed to completely remove any ghosting at the 240Hz refresh rate and one of the best results you’ll find for a gaming laptop screen. In terms of color gamut coverage, you get 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3, along with decent color accuracy.
C. 4 hours battery life is lower than we’d like, but not the worst out there considering the high power of the GPU and CPU. The option to automatically switch to 60Hz display refresh rate on battery mode helps here. Compared to many Razer Blade laptops, the cooling is actually pretty decent despite the slim build, though you may still want to consider buying a laptop cooling pad or at least a laptop stand to help reduce thermal throttling.
Are 18 inch laptops expensive?
18-inch laptops are invariably quite pricey, and are basically all very premium, high-end laptops. Hopefully in years to come we will see more affordable options come available. Until then, check out our best gaming laptop under $1500 guide to see some more mid-range options, our best gaming laptop under $500 article for true budget options, or indeed our best laptop under $400 page for non-gaming models.
What 18 inch laptops are there?
Not every laptop brand has decided to produce 18-inch models, with names like MSI, Eluktronics, and XMG introducing 16-inch models instead of 15-inch, but all sticking with 17.3-inches as their maximum display size.
The following list is all of the 18-inch laptops that have been released over the last year or so, all of which we have listed above, with the exception of the Alienware M18 R1 as it is frankly ridiculously overpriced, as is often the case with Alienware products. It’s a fairly short list, so options are relatively limited for this size of laptop device compared to 17-inch laptops, 16-inch laptops, and definitely 15-inch laptops and smaller, of which there are hundreds.
- Acer Predator Helios 18: Can be equipped with up to RTX 4080 GPU, comes with an option for a mini-LED screen. Difficult to find on Amazon but you can buy from Best Buy.
- Alienware M18 R1: Comes in Intel or AMD CPU options, although the latter isn’t currently available and will be released over the coming months.
- Asus ROG Strix G18 (often just labelled as ASUS ROG Strix 18): The more affordable of the two ASUS options, which comes with stripped down RGB and build quality compared to the SCAR, can be equipped with up to RTX 4080 GPU, all options come with a i9-13980HX CPU.
- Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18: This laptop comes equipped with up to an RTX 4090 GPU, and has higher SSD loadout options and RGB customization compared to the Strix G18.
- Razer Blade 18: Comes equipped with up to an RTX 4090 GPU.
18 inch laptop FAQs
Do 18 inch laptops exist?
Do 18 inch laptops exist? Well we’d be damn fools for making this guide if they didn’t!
To be fair the 18-inch laptop has only just recently returned as an option in 2023, and there aren’t many options available. Read our guide for the best ones for each use-case.
What is the biggest screen in laptops?
The biggest screen in the laptop game is indeed the 18-incher.
Over the last few years 17.3-inch laptops were the biggest sized display laptops you could get, though several brands decided to release 18″ models in 2023.
Best 18 inch laptop : Final Word
We hope this best 18 inch laptop guide has given you what you were looking for. If you’re not sure about any of the above picks, do take a gander at our various other gaming laptop guides in the mega menu above, arranged by price point and hardware type.
