At this time of year, students get hit with a lot of “back to school” offers, but for gamers, not many of them make sense. The whole idea is that these allow gamers to afford powerful hardware they can take to a university with them, but an expensive setup and beefed-up kit won’t be the easiest to fit inside smaller rooms, or take on the go with them for classes.
Currys has piqued my interest though, because the store's latest gaming laptop deals collate slimline options that don’t mean the same compromises often found in the most portable PCs. The best part? Students can save an additional 10% when buying through 12DOVE - and that’s on top of some laptops that already list up to a £600 reduction. All that, and you get access to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series machine with the latest upscaling technology like DLSS 3.5.
Smaller laptops these days don’t have the same drawbacks they used to. If a student wanted a laptop they could take into lectures and carry around in a backpack, they often had to seriously scale back their gaming ambitions, but AI enhancements in lightweight gaming laptops mean you could be sitting in a lecture, typing up some notes, and no one around you would know you’re doing it on a rig that’s capable of playing the latest games with Ray Tracing enabled and buttery smooth framerates.
Getting more specific, the collection features machines with Quad HD+ OLED screens with refresh rates of 240Hz. In my eyes, this kind of laptop consolidates other gaming hardware purchases, driving the value for money through the roof. With laptop specs like that, there’s no need to buy a separate gaming monitor, and brightness specs of 500 Nits on 188.7 pixels per inch will be the perfect way to kick back with the latest games after a stressful Turnitin assignment upload.
But what do the latest and greatest bits of NVIDIA GeForce RTX wizardry actually mean for gaming? Well, dedicated third-gen RT cores mean that in-game levels shine with realistic lighting without causing big performance drops, even when Ray Tracing is turned on. DLSS 3 uses AI power to generate frames, giving you a smoother and more competitive performance when playing, even if the hardware itself wouldn’t usually be able to boost your FPS to those levels. Then, there’s NVIDIA Reflex, which helps those budding Esports hobbyists with faster and more precise optimizations that decrease system latency.
But those beefy technical specs won’t mean carrying your laptop to the library feels like a weightlifting session. Slim laptops with those specs in Currys wares have weights of around 2.16Kg and a thickness of around 19.9mm - perfect for sliding into a backpack and taking on the go.
Of course, for an on-the-go solution, none of these specs would matter without a decent battery life. Luckily for any students interested in these slimline gaming laptops, battery lives don’t need to be forfeited. 5.5 hours is an average for this type of rig, which is plenty for a few classes before plugging back in for a gaming session later in the day.
The collection over at Currys currently includes the likes of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which we gave a 5-star rating in our review, calling it “a gaming laptop for all”. The version harnessing an RTX 4070 is currently on offer at Currys for just £1,499, with a £200 reduction to boot.
Some other notable listings include the MSI Stealth Studio, which is seeing a £600 reduction down to a price of just £1,299, despite sporting an Intel Core Ultra 7 and an RTX 4060. Elsewhere, you’ll find a super affordable MSI Cyborg 14” with an RTX 4050 inside it for just £799 - not bad for a machine that has a 144Hz Full HD display.
Remember, shoppers who buy through GamesRadar via this article can get an additional 10% off whichever laptop they buy. That time will vanish quickly, so be sure to check out the Currys Slim Gaming Laptop Sale.
For more on laptops, check out the best gaming laptops, the best Razer laptops, and the best Asus laptops.
