Best VR-ready laptops 2024

The best VR-ready laptops are what you need to use virtual reality headsets such as the HTC Vive Pro 2 and Valve Index. Most high-end gaming laptops are capable of running VR games, but not all have a convenient mini-DisplayPort. Though some do have a USB Type-C with DisplayPort adaptability.

In order to guide you toward your most immersive experience, we have to keep in mind the budget. You can buy a $4K gaming laptop and be set for years, but that's not very realistic, so keep in mind what you need for what you want to play. At the very least, don't go buying old tech, and keep your purchase within Nvidia's 40-series GPUs.

To keep you in a realistic budget, we highly recommend taking a tour of the best gaming deals and cross reference that with the vr-ready laptops on this page. Keep in mind that the laptop in question doesn't actually need to be a gaming laptop. It just needs some DisplayPort functionality as well as a strong GPU. For example, you can meet your needs with the Dell XPS 15 (9530).

Without further ado, these are the best VR-ready laptops.

The quick list

Best overall

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 best vr-ready laptops

The Alienware m17 R5 serves up big performance and endurance with a beautiful 4K display and comfy keyboard at a premium price. (Image credit: Future)

1. Asus ROG Strix Scar 18

Best overall VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900HX
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
RAM: 32GB
Storage: Dual 1TB SSD in RAID 0
Display: 18-inch, QHD+ (2560 x 1600), 240Hz
Weight: 6.8 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Flashy, futuristic design
+
Captivating display
+
Full, balanced audio
+
Impressive overall and gaming performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Pricy
-
Webcam could be better
-
Below-average battery life

At the top of our list is the absolute beast of a machine: Asus ROG Strix Scar 18. Rocking an Intel Core i9-13900HX processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics chip, it can tear through every VR game you throw at it like a lightsaber through butter. It has pretty amazing qualities when you're not playing VR games as well!

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is coming through with a massive 18-inch, 2560 x 1600 display clocked in at 240Hz, which means you're able to experience all 240 frames of any video game you play (provided the GPU can handle it). The display is bright and relatively colorful as well. Surprisingly enough, the audio is an absolute banger as well.

There's a reason the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is at the top of our best gaming laptops page, too.

See our full Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review.

Best value VR-ready laptop

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro best vr-ready laptops

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is the perfect mid-range gaming laptop. (Image credit: Laptop Mag/Momo Tabari)
Best value VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB SSD
Display: 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, IPS, 165Hz
Size: 14.3 x 10.25 x 0.86-1.05 inches
Weight: 5.5 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Exceptional performance
+
Decent color and brightness
+
Sturdy chassis and hinge
+
Perfect keyboard

Reasons to avoid

-
Subpar battery life

Coming in at a relatively affordable ~$1,500 is the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. Unfortunately, we'd typically see a decline in quality features at this price point, but Lenovo manages to pull through with some key aspects. The AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU certainly push through to make this a remarkable gaming laptop to use for VR.

Outside of VR, you get a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 display clocked in at 165Hz. It's relatively bright and colorful for this price. Pack that in a sturdy chassis along with an amazing ThinkPad-esque keyboard. Like most gaming laptops, you're going to have to keep this one plugged in. 

But overall, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is an exceptional gaming laptop considering the price point.

See our full Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review.

Best value alternative VR-ready laptop

MSI Katana 15 Review best vr-ready laptops

The MSI Katana 15 boasts excellent RTX 4070-gaming performance and solid productivity scores in a machine that doesn’t cost a fortune, and it's also one of the best VR-ready laptops. (Image credit: Future)
Best value alternative VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i7-13620H
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch (1080p)
Size: 14.1 x 10.2 x 0.98 inches
Weight: 8.8 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Superb RTX 4070-performance
+
Solid productivity scores
+
Satisfying keyboard
+
Affordable for its specs

Reasons to avoid

-
Abysmal battery life

If you're looking for a great VR-ready laptop that won't break the bank, it's hard not to recommend the MSI Katana 15. All of its flaws don't apply if you're using it exclusively for VR.

The MSI Katana 15 boasts affordability along with strong performance from its Intel Core i7-13620H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics chip. Usually, affordable gaming laptops stick you with a crappy keyboard, but the Katana 15 features a pleasant 1.7-mm key travel. That's more than enough room for you to tap dance across the deck in comfort. To top it off, we've got some bangin' speakers with enough boom to offer impactful sound across a medium-sized space.

If you're not looking to spend a crap ton of money for a VR-ready gaming laptop, the Katana 15 should be your pick. And if you're plugged in with your VR headset, you're never going to notice its lackluster display and poor battery life.

See our full MSI Katana 15 review.

Best all-around VR-ready laptop

Lenovo Slim Pro 9i best vr-ready laptops

The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is a powerhouse that delivers on most fronts, built with a stunning display, swift productivity metrics, and formidable gaming performance. (Image credit: Laptop Mag/Momo Tabari)
Best all-around VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-13905H
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 with 6GB vRAM
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1TB Samsung PM9A1 SSD
Display: 16-inch, 3,200 x 2,000 Mini LED 165Hz
Size: 14.3 x 9.6 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 4.9 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent productivity performance
+
Stunning 3K Mini-LED display
+
Phenomenal keyboard
+
Solid gaming performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Dreadful battery life

The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is not only a great VR-ready laptop, but it's also a great all-around laptop, succeeding in hitting the marks for productivity performance and its stunning 16-inch, 3K, 165Hz, Mini-LED display. The biggest key feature of all of its greatness comes down to its $1,599 price point. We've seen several laptops charged up to ridiculous price points with similar specs.

But if we're getting down to just the performance, the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is packing an Intel Core i9-13905H processor combined with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU with 6GB vRAM. These components are solid enough to take you through less taxing video games, but more importantly, through productivity-based VR apps. This is a great laptop for the non-gamer of you that use VR. However, the only flaw is that its battery life is lacking.

See our full Lenovo Slim Pro 9i review.

Best performance VR-ready laptop

Best vr-ready Laptops : MSI Titan GT77 HX

The MSI Titan GT77 HX is the tip of the RTX 4090 iceberg in terms of pure power and gaming prowess, but its portability takes a hit because of it. (Image credit: Future)
Best performance VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-13980HX
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
RAM: 64GB
Storage: dual 1TB SSD in RAID 0
Display: 17-inch, 4K, 144Hz, Mini LED
Size: 15.6 x 12.9 x 0.9 inches
Weight: 7.3 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Monstrous power
+
Gorgeous display
+
Tactile Cherry mechanical keyboard
+
Impressive port array

Reasons to avoid

-
So big and heavy

Are you looking for the monster under the bed? Well, it ain't the MSI Titan GT77 HX because this baby is way to damn big and loud, and for good reason. The Titan has been one of the most powerful gaming laptops around for years now. So it's no surprise that it's on our list for best vr-ready laptops. This machine is packing an Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, and 64GB of RAM. It's a chonky boi.

Outside of being a monster for VR games, we've got a gorgeous 17-inch, 4K, 144Hz, Mini LED display. That's right, this thing will blow your face off (yes, in a good way). Even more impressive is the Tactile Cherry mechanical keyboard that will grace your fingers like a lover in the night. There's no stopping the MSI Titan GT77 HX from becoming your next gaming laptop. Well... maybe the obscene price (screams in $5,299).

See our full MSI Titan GT77 HX review.

Best workstation VR-ready laptop

best vr-ready laptops HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 review: A mobile workstation with endless horsepower

The ZBook Fury 16 G9 is a thick stunner with more than enough power to handle any and all workflows while delivering a gorgeous display and excellent audio. (Image credit: Future)
Best workstation VR-ready laptop

Specifications

CPU: Intel Core i9-12950HX
GPU: Nvidia RTX A5500 24GB VRAM
RAM: 64GB
Storage: 1TB SSD
Display: 16-inch, 4K+ (3840 x 2400) 120Hz 16:10
Size: 14.3 x 9.8 x 1.09 inches
Weight: 5.4 pounds

Reasons to buy

+
Powerful CPU and GPU combo
+
Stunning 16-inch, color-accurate Dream Color display
+
Excellent audio
+
Excellent keyboard

Reasons to avoid

-
Starts at $2,699

Now, if you're on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, looking for pure productivity power beyond measure, then the HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 is your next best bet. This monster is packing an Intel Core i9-12950HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX A5500 graphics chip with 24GB of VRAM, and 64GB of RAM. That's more than enough horsepower to drive you to the moon and back (that's technically canon -- we went to the moon with 72K of RAM).

On top of being a beast upon epic proportions, the HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 offers a 16-inch, 4K+ display that's clocked in at 120Hz with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It's stupid bright and colorful, so you can truly experience everything you're creating or testing outside of the VR space. And when you're clacking away, you'll be doing so on a pleasantly comfortable keyboard.

See our full HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 review.

How to choose the best VR-ready laptops for you

Before you get around to choosing the best VR-ready laptop for you. Consider the specs you’ll need in the gaming laptop you’re looking at. 

Here are the VR minimum specs:

The main thing you have to worry about when picking out a VR-ready laptop is what kind of specs it has and if it has a mini DisplayPort. Anything apart from those features are negligible if you’re just focused on the VR portion, but you should be mindful of the display, keyboard and size of the laptop, as you’re likely to use it as a normal gaming laptop as well.

If you’re on a budget, consider looking at laptops with lower-end AMD GPUs, such as the Dell G5 15. It won’t be ideal, but it’ll get your VR setup up and running. Of course, you can spring for a laptop with an RTX GPU, like the Alienware m17, which would absolutely kill it in VR, but that’s going to cost you. Overall, you have to figure out your budget and what’s important to you in a VR-ready laptop.

How we test the best VR-ready laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. 

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings at 1080p resolution.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 10 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise. 

These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming. 

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on. 

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it. 

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

Rami Tabari
Editor

Rami Tabari is an Editor for Laptop Mag. He reviews every shape and form of a laptop as well as all sorts of cool tech. You can find him sitting at his desk surrounded by a hoarder's dream of laptops, and when he navigates his way out to civilization, you can catch him watching really bad anime or playing some kind of painfully difficult game. He’s the best at every game and he just doesn’t lose. That’s why you’ll occasionally catch his byline attached to the latest Souls-like challenge.