Should you buy a gaming laptop before Black Friday?

The decision of whether or not to buy a new rig in the Black Friday gaming laptop deals is far from new territory. However, it’s a question that’s historically been answered with some of the best prices of the year on some of the best gaming laptops on the market. If you’ve been on the fence about whether to hold off until the big day arrives, then we enthusiastically believe that waiting is the right call in most cases. We’ve witnessed both high-end machines, such as the best Razer laptops and Alienware laptops, as well as more affordable models, such as those made by Lenovo and HP, reach their historic lowest ever prices over this period. 

From the gaming laptop deals that we’ve observed over recent years, and from what we’re expecting to see later this month, we absolutely recommend waiting until Black Friday to buy your next gaming laptop. Unless, however, you’ve found a gaming laptop being offered ahead of schedule from a retailer offering a Black Friday price match guarantee, such as that which Best Buy (opens in new tab) has on right now for its My Best Buy members. In instances like this, you can pick up an early offer safe in the knowledge that you will be getting the best price possible, or refunded the difference should that model become cheaper on the day – so you’re not missing out. 

Should you buy a gaming laptop before Black Friday? 

In most cases, you should wait for Black Friday before buying a gaming laptop because we tend to see some of the deepest discounts of the year on everything from budget gaming laptops to more high-end offerings on the day. While it’s true that some gaming laptops appear to be perennially discounted from certain retailers beforehand, the best offers are typically reserved for Black Friday itself as the deals present last year have shown us.

If you’re after an RTX 30 series gaming laptop then we recommend waiting until Black Friday to make any purchases unless there’s a price match guarantee in place. For example, at Best Buy (opens in new tab) right now you can pick up an Asus ROG Zephyrus (RTX 3070) for $1,549.99 (down from $1,850) (opens in new tab) as well as an Alienware m15 R4 (RTX 3070) for $1,799.99 (reduced from $2,100) (opens in new tab). In these instances, you’re guaranteed Best Buy’s lowest price even with Black Friday’s sales, so pulling the trigger early is fairly risk-free. 

With that said, we don’t tend to see all too competitive savings on budget gaming laptops under $800 on the big day itself. If you are interested in picking up an entry level rig, then, it’s worth keeping a close eye on prices in the weeks leading up to the event. 

While there have been exceptions, the most that you can expect to be discounted on lower-end gaming laptops is anywhere between $50 – $100 which is a far cry from deeper discounts that we’ve seen on some of the more powerful machines. Plus, these cheaper machines tend to sell out a lot quicker during the holiday sales, which means you’ll need to be right in the centre of the mix to make it out with the more competitive offers. If you don’t want to be watching for flash sales all weekend for the sake of an extra $50, we’d recommend checking out the latest cheap gaming laptop deals.

Asus ROG Strix Scar II

(Image credit: Asus)

Buying a gaming laptop on Black Friday: price history

If you’re unsure of what makes a good gaming laptop deal this Black Friday, then we’ve pulled up some of the more noteworthy deals from last year in order to help you make an informed decision and know what to look out for this time around. 

Looking back at the previous Black Friday gives us a decent idea of the kinds of savings that we’re expecting to see later this month from the majority of the larger online retailers. Amazon (opens in new tab), for example, had a variety of extensive deals available featuring representation from most major brands. Some highlights from its Black Friday sales last year included the Alienware m15 R3 (RTX 2060) which was selling for just $1,549 (down from $1,849) for a $300 saving. Similarly, a Gigabyte Aero 15 (RTX 2070) gaming laptop had its MSRP slashed down to $1,945 (reduced from $2,498) for a weighty $553 off. Last year’s Black Friday was equally strong on the budget gaming laptop front, as Best Buy was offering the Acer Nitro 5 (GTX 1650) for just $599.99 (down from $700).

Dell (opens in new tab) is one of the most prevalent retailers to watch out for on Black Friday in order to get yourself a great deal on a Dell or Alienware gaming laptop for less than you would before Black Friday. Last year’s Winter sales event proved that with some of the historic lowest ever prices on Alienware laptops that were seen up to that point. Such highlights of the sale included the Alienware m17 R3 (RTX 2070) for $1,599.99 (reduced from the usual $2,178 listing price) and a massive $830 discount on the, then, flagship Alienware m17 R3 (RTX 2080 Super) which sold for $2,199.99 (down from $3,030).

Today’s best gaming laptop deals

Our price comparison technology does the legwork to bring you the best deals across the internet on some of our favorite gaming laptop models this side of Black Friday. 


Gaming monitors are great on the go, but you can maximize their power potential for less later this month on the big screen in the Black Friday gaming monitor deals

However, if you’ve got a specific resolution in mind then we recommend keeping a close eye on the Black Friday 1440p monitor deals and Black Friday 4K monitor deals, and that stands equally for frame rate too, as the Black Friday 144Hz monitor deals are definitely one to watch as well. 

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