Gaming laptops have long been viewed as a compromise, struggling to balance portability, power, and battery life. While recent models have made strides toward achieving this balance, the emergence of gaming handhelds, particularly the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, has highlighted the shortcomings of traditional gaming laptops in a new light.
Battery Life: A Key Differentiator
In terms of battery performance, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X shines, delivering just under three hours of gaming time in the PCMark 10 gaming test. While this may not seem remarkable at first glance, it surpasses the battery life of any gaming laptop tested under the same conditions by over an hour. In fact, it nearly triples the performance of most gaming laptops in similar scenarios.
However, it’s important to note that the Razer Blade 14, a gaming laptop equipped with a powerful RTX 5070 GPU, offers significantly higher graphical performance. With the ability to achieve an average of 97fps at 1080p in Cyberpunk 2077, it showcases the raw power that gaming laptops can deliver. In contrast, the Xbox Ally X’s Radeon 890M GPU, which operates at a mere 35W, struggles to reach 49fps at the same resolution.
Yet, the issue extends beyond gaming battery life. In general desktop tasks, the Xbox Ally X impressively lasted 17 hours and nine minutes in the PCMark 10 Office battery life test. The best-performing gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 16, managed only eight hours and 28 minutes, while the Razer Blade 14 fell short at four hours and 24 minutes. This discrepancy can be attributed to the Blade 14’s slim design, which necessitates a smaller battery, but it raises questions about the battery capacities of larger gaming laptops as well.
Design Choices and Usability Challenges
The Razer Blade 14, while sleek and lightweight, could benefit from a slight increase in thickness to accommodate a larger battery. A modest addition of 100g-200g could potentially double its battery life, making it a more competitive option in the portable gaming market. This sentiment is echoed across various gaming laptops, including the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which also suffers from inadequate battery life.
Another significant factor contributing to the appeal of gaming handhelds is their use of integrated graphics, as opposed to the separate GPUs commonly found in gaming laptops. The Xbox Ally X utilizes an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme CPU with an integrated Radeon 890M GPU, while the Razer Blade 14 combines an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU with both integrated and dedicated graphics. This dual-GPU setup allows for superior performance but introduces complications in usability, particularly when switching between GPUs for different tasks.
Windows automates this GPU switching, but it often results in delays and disruptions, complicating the user experience. For applications that benefit from GPU acceleration, such as Photoshop, users must manually designate which GPU to utilize, adding an extra layer of complexity. In contrast, the streamlined operation of a single integrated GPU in handhelds provides a more seamless experience.
The Future of Gaming Laptops
Despite their limitations, gaming laptops still offer advantages such as larger screens, superior performance, and the convenience of built-in keyboards and trackpads. The software optimization seen in devices like the Xbox Ally X further enhances battery life, underscoring that gaming laptops are not without merit.
The anticipated collaboration between Intel and Nvidia, which will integrate Nvidia graphics into Intel CPUs, could revolutionize the gaming laptop landscape. This development promises to deliver integrated GPUs that rival AMD’s offerings, potentially eliminating the cumbersome GPU switching process that currently plagues many gaming laptops.
While creating powerful integrated chips presents its own challenges, the competition between AMD and Intel/Nvidia to develop high-performance integrated GPUs signals a promising future for both gaming laptops and handhelds. As the industry evolves, one can only hope that future gaming laptops will feature larger batteries, enhancing their viability in the portable gaming market.
For those seeking the best options in gaming handhelds and laptops, our comprehensive guides offer a range of recommendations, catering to budgets of all sizes.
