The best 17-inch laptop 2021: top large screen laptops for your money

The best 17-inch laptops dwarf their smaller siblings in more than just size. They also often beat out 13-inch and 15-inch devices when it comes to power and thermal efficiency. Because they’re physically larger, there’s more space inside to pack in high-end internals, add a larger screen, and use better (and bigger) cooling solutions.

There’s a reason that the best 17-inch laptops rank as some of the best gaming laptops on the market. It’s true that 13-inch laptops are the most portable and the best 15-inch laptops offer some stiff competition when it comes to performance, but there’s nothing more ideal for gaming, video editing, and 3D design on the go than one of these massive portables. 

If you need lots of power in your day-to-day work, the best 17-inch laptops might be the best laptops for you. You’ll especially like the picks below if you want the kind of power that usually comes with the best gaming PCs and best computers. Just keep in mind that they are heavier and larger to carry around.

The best 17-inch laptops of 2021

LG Gram 17 (2021)

(Image credit: LG)

1. LG Gram 17 (2021)

A productivity powerhouse

CPU: 11th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: 16GB LPDDR4X | Screen: 17-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS LCD | Storage: up to 2TB NVMe SSD

Excellent battery life
Large, high quality display
Very light
Expensive
Subject to screen glare

Laptops for work are rejoining the 17-inch fray and leading them is the much-lauded LG Gram 17 whose amazingly thin and light form factor has won awards. It’s back in 2021 and better than ever, with more powerful internals like the 11th-generation Intel chips and the Iris Xe graphics as well as two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. The long battery life and stunner of a screen are back, though as is its steep price tag. It’s worth it though, as this is among the best 17-inch laptops for non-gaming folks.

Read the full review: LG Gram 17 (2021) 

Gigabyte Aorus 17G (2021)

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

2. Gigabyte Aorus 17G (2021)

New age hardware, old school vibes

CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 Series | RAM: Up to 64GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD 300Hz NTSC 72% IPS panel | Storage: 512 GB PCIe SSD

Incredible mechanical keyboard
Powerful gaming performance
300 Hz display
No upgraded design
Extremely heavy

A tactile mechanical keyboard and a 300Hz refresh rate display are just the beginning. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G (2021) touts an incredible gaming performance that might just be worthy of desktop gaming PCs. With one of the RTX 3000 GPUs under the hood, this will see you through the most graphics-intensive games, including competitive ones. And, because of its impressive battery life, you can do so away from a power source. More than just the best 17-inch laptop right now, this is among the best gaming laptops of 2021.

Read the full review: Gigabyte Aorus 17G (2021)

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733

(Image credit: Asus)

3. Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733

The best of AMD and Nvidia

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 | RAM: 16GB – 64GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 anti-glare – 17.3-inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) 16:9 anti-glare display | Storage: 1TB + 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD

Excellent performance
Cool design
Brilliant mechanical keyboard
Expensive compared to rival products
Poor battery life

One of the most powerful gaming laptops that money can buy in 2021, the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733 barely breaks a sweat. That excellent performance is due to the impressive specs it’s kitted out with, which also sadly put out of most people’s reach, price-wise. If you can afford it, however, there are a few other things you’ll love about it, including that unapologetic design that lights up like Christmas due to its resplendent RGB lighting and that optical mechanical keyboard that’s simply one of the best we've experienced on a laptop. This isn’t just one of the best 17-inch laptops. This is among the best of the best out there, and a worthy consideration if you’re not limited by your budget.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733

Razer Blade Pro 17 (2021)

(Image credit: Razer)

4. Razer Blade Pro 17 (2021)

RTX 3000 gaming goodness

CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 – 3080 | RAM: Up to 32GB | Screen: 17.3" Full HD 360Hz – 17.3" 4K Touch 120Hz | Storage: 512GB – 1TB SSD

Extremely powerful
Gorgeous display
Great performance at 1080p
Very expensive
Gaming at 4K needs tweaking

If you’re looking for an absolute beast, the best gaming laptop for you might just be this follow-up to Razer’s 17-inch leviathan. More than just a gaming portable, it makes for an excellent mobile workstation for creators as well – although gamers who have the cash will appreciate the RTX 3000 GPU, up to 64GB of memory, and display with fast refresh rates. It’s pretty expensive, though, so unless you need all that power or you just have the money to throw away, you really have to make sure you’ll make the most of it.

Read the full review: Razer Blade Pro 17 (2021)

Dell XPS 17 (2020)

(Image credit: Dell)

5. Dell XPS 17 (2020)

A brilliant 17-inch Ultrabook

CPU: Up to 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10885H | Graphics: Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q | RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4-2933MHz | Screen: 17.0" FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit – 17.0" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 500-Nit | Storage: Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe

Great screen
Long battery life
Powerful
Not the most portable
Lack of ports

For a 17-inch laptop, the Dell XPS 17 (2020) is impressively thin and light, especially when you consider the fact that it boasts powerful specs for that top-notch performance that content creators require. Among the best 17-inch laptops out there, this is practically the whole package, touting a big, gorgeous screen, fantastic battery life that will last you the entire day and a gorgeous design on top of everything else. That’s without even mentioning its mid-range price of entry, giving the MacBook Pro 16-inch a good run for its money.

Read the full review: Dell XPS 17 (2020)

Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701

(Image credit: Asus)

6. Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701

The best thin-and-light 17-inch laptop for gaming

CPU: Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 – RTX 2080 Max-Q | RAM: 8GB – 24GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 144Hz panel with G-Sync | Storage: 512GB – 2TB SSD

Highly portable
Yet still packs plenty of performance
Excellent color-accurate display
Another pricey gaming machine due to hardware

Who says you can’t have your gaming cake and eat it, because with laptops like this ROG Zephyrus, it’s possible to have an incredibly powerful portable which isn’t even remotely hefty, but remains very svelte and, er, portable.

It is, in short, a gaming machine for which you don’t have to employ air quotes around the word ‘portable’, being 18.7mm thick (or rather, thin) and weighing 2.7kg. Compare that to the above Alienware which is 43mm and 4.8kg…

Yet with this Asus 17-inch laptop you still get a Core i7-8750H hexa-core CPU backed by a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8GB of video RAM (there’s up to 24GB of system memory, incidentally). All this means you can ramp up the detail levels and enjoy any game you want.

The display is also a fabulous piece of work, and what’s more it’s Pantone Validated with 100% sRGB color gamut, meaning the color accuracy is spot-on out-of-the-box, and this notebook can be used for professional photo or video editing.

Bear in mind however that battery life is disappointingly short, and the price is disappointingly hefty. For those who don’t have the hefty budget to cope with this, or the aforementioned Alienware laptop’s price tag, breathe easier and check out our next entry for a more affordable gaming option.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 

Asus FX705DT

(Image credit: Asus)

7. Asus TUF Gaming FX705DT

The best affordable 17-inch laptop for gaming

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3550H | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS-level NanoEdge | Storage: 512GB SSD

Impressive price/performance ratio
512GB NVMe SSD
Backlit gaming-optimized keyboard
Not as powerful as using older components
No Raytracing or DLSS 

The words ‘cheap’ and ‘gaming laptop’ don’t mix well. Simply put, if you’re on a strict budget, you won’t get a machine capable of playing the latest games at palatable frame-rates – especially if you want a 17-inch screen to boot. So that’s why the FX705DT is our ‘affordable’ pick as opposed to ‘budget’. Remember, if you want to go really bargain basement, you’ll be confined to casual gaming only.

This Asus gaming laptop, however, packs a Ryzen 5 3550H processor with a GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card with 4GB of video RAM, plus there’s 8GB of system memory. The FX705DT also boasts a roomy 512GB NVMe SSD and a backlit keyboard optimized for gaming.

All of which makes it a great choice for tackling the majority of games at good detail levels while still keeping things pretty smooth – and remaining relatively wallet-friendly. At the time of writing, there are some pretty tempting deals to be had on this Asus machine, too.

Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021)

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

8. Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021)

A creative professional's dream

CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i9/i7 H-Series | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 Series | RAM: up to 64GB | Screen: 17-inch Full HD 300Hz IPS-level – 4K HDR display with ADOBE RGB 100% color gamut | Storage: 2‎x M.2 SSD

Gorgeous display
Abundance of ports
Runs hot

One of the most powerful mobile workstations out there, the Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021) comes with a lot of power, a gorgeous display, and a whole lotta ports. Best yet, it’s priced well below its less-powerful rivals, making it a better proposition even if you have a more flexible budget. It isn’t by any means perfect. The battery life could use a bit of a boost, for example. But, for how much you’re paying and for the other things you’re getting in return, it’s a minuscule sacrifice.

Read the full review: Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021) 

Best 17-inch laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad P73

(Image credit: Lenovo)

9. Lenovo ThinkPad P73

The best 17-inch laptop for creative professionals

CPU: Intel Core i7 – Intel Xeon | Graphics: Up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 | RAM: Up to 128GB | Screen: 17.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS – 17.3-inch 4K IPS | Storage: 256GB – 1TB SSD

Superb display
Dolby Vision HDR
Xeon CPU and RTX 5000 GPU
Still quite hefty

This is another mobile workstation, but it represents a somewhat cheaper – and indeed a slightly slimmer – alternative to the above HP machine, with the P73 being ideally suited to content creators.

You get the choice of an Intel Xeon E-2276M processor or 9th-gen Intel Core CPU (up to an i9-9880H with vPro), with up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics and up to 128GB of system memory. But the display is the jewel in the crown featuring a 4K resolution, 400 nits brightness, Dolby Vision HDR and 100% coverage of the Adobe color gamut. The screen is, quite simply, ideal for serious photo or video editing.

The cutting-edge hardware support continues with Wi-Fi 6 on board, and you get a good selection of ports for wired connectivity, including a pair of Thunderbolt 3 connectors. Creative pros need look no further for something that can cater for all their needs, at a relatively reasonable asking price for the workstation market.

With the best 17-inch laptops, you'll often be taking them out and about, so it's always a good idea to get them insured against theft or accidental damage. If you're in the UK, then you can shop around and compare contents insurance to keep your gadgets, including laptops, protected.



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