Convertible gaming laptops are unbelievably rare. Why is that?
Well convertible laptops are generally built as thin, power efficient, light and portable machines.
This is entirely counter intuitive to what a gaming laptop is supposed to be.
So the question arises, how can you fit a gaming-centric hardware in a thin profile? That is exactly what the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops try to achieve.
Here we have selected the top 5 best 2-in-1 gaming laptops that stand out from the rest.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Comparison Table of Best 2-in-1 Gaming Laptops
| Model | Screen Size | Processor | RAM | HDD | Graphics Card | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Spin 5 SP515- 51GN-83YY | 15.6" | Intel Core i7-8550U | 8 GB | 1 TB HDD | NVIDIA GTX 1050 | See details |
| Lenovo Yoga 720 | 15.6" | Intel Core i7-7700HQ | 16 GB | 512 GB SSD | NVIDIA GTX 1050 | See details |
| Acer Nitro 5 Spin NP515 -51-56DL | 15.6" | Intel Core i5-8250 | 8 GB | 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD | NVIDIA GTX 1050 | See details |
| HP Spectre x360 | 15.6" | Intel Core i7-8750H | 16 GB | 512 GB SSD | NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti | See details |
| HP Spectre x360 | 15.6" | Intel Core i7-8705G | 16 GB | 1 TB SSD | AMD Radeon RX VEGA M | See details |
What to Expect?
There are a few things you need to keep in mind when getting a convertible gaming laptop.
Cost
For starters, expect the laptops highlighted here to be expensive.
Convertible gaming laptops are generally more expensive than their non-convertible counter parts.
Think of the high cost as a premium that you need to pay for these laptops.
Graphics Card
The best that you can get (with the current tech) is a mid range mainstream NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti.
1050 Ti Benchmark [Read More at Notebookcheck.net}
Unfortunately, there are no convertible gaming laptops with GTX 1060 or higher.
Perhaps these graphics card run way too hot to fit in a portable chassis.
BEWARE! Most convertible laptops offer NVIDIA MX130 and MX150 dedicated graphics card. Many consider these to be gaming-grade.
However, these are entry level graphics card that very weak.
In other words, stay away from these if you are a gamer worth your salt!
We have made sure that NONE of the laptops that we review here offer the basic level NVIDIA MX130 or MAX150.
Processor
You can find pretty sweet and high performance processors.
You can find both power efficient as well as powerhouse processors. Power efficient processors are easy on the battery life and give off less heat but they are weaker in performance.
Intel Power Efficient processors are designated with a “U” suffix i.e Intel Core i7-8550U.
Core i7-8750H (Left) vs Core i7-8550U (Right) – Note that “H” processor is 31% more powerful than the power efficient “U” processor. [Courtesy: cpu.userbenchmark.com]
List of Top 2-in-1 Gaming Laptops in 2020
We have selected the following as the best convertible gaming laptops in 2020.
- Acer Spin 5 SP515-51GN-83YY – Most Affordable 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop
- Lenovo Yoga 720 – High Performance Mid Range Convertible Gaming Laptop
- Acer Nitro 5 Spin NP515-51-56DL – The Only Convertible Laptop That Looks Like a Gaming Laptop
- HP Spectre x360 NVIDIA – Premium Grade – Best 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop
- HP Spectre x360 AMD Radeon – Premium Grade – With Radeon RX Vega
1. Acer Spin 5 SP515-51GN-83YY – Most Affordable 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop
If you are looking for an affordable option, then it won’t get any cheaper than this 15.6″ FHD option.
Acer Spin 5 offers a fairly well rounded hardware configuration for its price. It offers a fairly powerful Intel Core i7-8550U processor from the 8th generation.
This is a quad core processor that is comparable to Intel Core i7-7700HQ (flagship processor of the previous generation). In short, this is highly capable processor and should be able to operate almost anything your throw at it.
As mentioned earlier, an Intel ‘U’ designated processor is power efficient. As such, this processor ensures a decent battery life as well.
Other than that, this notebook offers a mid range NVIDIA GTX 1050. Note that the NVIDIA GTX 1050 is not the same as the NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti. The later is significantly more powerful.
NVIDIA GTX 1050 vs NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti [Courtesy: LaptopMag.com]
All in all, if you are looking for an affordable option, then this is one of the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops.
- The most affordable convertible gaming laptop
- A well rounded processor and a graphics card – capable of running professional software.
- A long lasting battery life thanks to the power efficient processor
- Lack of SSD can bottleneck an otherwise powerful laptop
- Thick bezels are quite annoying to look at
2. Lenovo Yoga 720 – High Performance Mid Range Convertible Gaming Laptop
Lenovo Yoga 720 comes in various configurations. This particular configuration is highly suited for gaming as well as high performance.
This laptop offers a powerful Intel Core i7-7700HQ Quad Core processor. In terms of performance, it is slightly more powerful than the Intel Core i7-8550U that we saw above in the Acer Spin 5.
Core i7-7700HQ (Right) vs Core i7-8550U (Left)
Basically, this is a high performance processor. It is built for heavy applications as well as games.
While it has a similar processor as the Acer Spin 5 above, it excels in almost all other respects. It offers a whopping 16 GB of RAM. This is sufficient to run heavy editing and rendering software.
It also offers a very large 512 GB SSD. There is nothing faster than an SSD when we talk about storage. To have 512 GBs of it is certainly worth noting.
Gaming wise, it offers the mid range NVIDIA GTX 1050. It is the same graphics card as we saw above in the Acer Spin 5.
So why choose this over Acer Spin 5? Well if you want to just game, then Acer Spin 5 is great. However, if you want to work on professional software as well, then go for this Lenovo Yoga 720.
Lastly, you must note that this laptop offers a 4K UHD Touch display. While on a 15.6″ inch the difference 4K makes may not be noticeable, the benefit here is that it support 4K external displays.
All in all, if you are looking for a high performance option at a relatively reasonable price tag, then this is one of the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops.
- 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD are quite worth it if you plan to work on professional software
- Slim bezels and a beautiful 15.6″ Touch 4K display is beauty to look at
- The processor belong to the older generation i.e 7th – while it has good performance, it may suffer from a lower resell value.
- Many customers have complained about a black bar that develops on the screen spontaneously – we recommend getting a comprehensive warranty plan.
3. Acer Nitro 5 Spin NP515-51-56DL – The Only Convertible Laptop That Looks Like a Gaming Laptop
Next up we have one of the one of the most famous 2-in-1 gaming laptops.
This is also the only convertible laptop that has the signature looks of a gaming laptop.
It has dark chassis with red accents. On top of that, it is also very slim and measures 4.85 pounds. This essentially makes this one the thinnest gaming laptops in the market.
Unfortunately, this laptop does not seem to offer much other than its gaming-centric looks.
For starters, it is very expensive. It is far more expensive than the Acer Spin 5 we reviewed above. However, despite being an expensive machine, it has a weaker processor i.e Intel Core i5-8250 compared to the Intel Core i7-8550U in the Acer Spin 5.
On top of that, it has the same graphics card i.e NVIDIA GTX 1050 and a mediocre 8 GB of RAM.
The only department where this laptop seems to excel is in the storage department. It offers 1 TB of HDD as well as 256 GB of SSD. However, storage alone does not warrant such a hefty price tag.
It does have one trick up its sleeve that may make it lucrative for many: You can stream your Xbox Games on this laptop.
This laptop needs to get at least $300 cheaper for us to consider this as a wise investment.
This is a good convertible laptop if you are after the looks of gaming laptop. It is also one of the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops if you are looking for cross platform support.
- The only convertible gaming laptops series with gaming-centric looks and style
- Interactive Xbox streaming experience makes this a cross platform laptop.
- You can get a much cheaper laptop with a better processor and and overall better hardware configuration
- Weak graphics card despite being an expensive machine
- Overall, not the best value in the market with its current price tag.
4. HP Spectre x360 NVIDIA – Premium Grade – Best 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop
HP Spectre x360 is a premium line of ultrabooks that offers some of the best design profiles in the market.
HP has three “x360” lines i.e HP Pavilion x360, HP Envy x360, and HP Spectre x360. The Spectre series is the most exquisite as well as the most expensive.
Essentially, this is a high end business laptop. It just happens to have a very decent gaming hardware as well.
For starters it offers one of the most powerful processors of the 8th generation i.e the Intel Core i7-8750H. Unlike the Quad Core Core i7-8550U, this is a Hexa Core processor that has about 30% better performance.
You should know that this processor is far more capable of mere gaming. It is even featured in workstation grade laptops.
Besides that, this is also the first laptop in this list to offer the NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti. The laptops mentioned previously offered the NVIDIA GTX 1050 which is much weaker in comparison.
You should be able to play all AAA title at high graphics if you keep the resolution at FHD.
Aside from that, it offers an ample 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD.
To top this all up, the 15.6″ screen is 4K. But the beauty of this laptop does not end there. Since this is a premium laptop, it is also constructed with the most premium materials. Take for example the screen which is made out of Corning Gorilla Glass.
The only issue with a laptop like this is its price. This is a supremely expensive laptop.
- Premium grade laptop made out of premium grade materials including Corning Gorilla Glass.
- Beauty to behold. The screen is 4K IPS with some of the slimmest bezels in the market.
- Comes with a premium HP stylus for designers
- Core i7-8750 high performance processor is a flagship processor of the 8th generation
- Offers powerful ports such as Thunder Bolt 3 as well as HDMI V2.0 that can support 4k External monitors
- Very Expensive
- You can get an NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card for the price much cheaper than this if you choose to go for non convertible gaming laptops.
5. HP Spectre x360 AMD Radeon – Premium Grade – With Radeon RX Vega
This is almost the same as the HP Spectre X360 we saw above. In fact, it comes from the same series just offers a slightly different configuration.
For starters, this particular configuration offers a much rarer Intel Core i7-8705G processor. It is slightly weaker in overall performance as compared to the Core i7-8750H, but it has a higher base frequency per core.
Core i7-8750H (Left) vs Core i7-8705G (Right)
While this configuration offers a slightly less powerful processor as compared to the Spectre x360 configuration above, it does offer a much larger 1 TB of SSD drive. This much SSD can truly spoil you.
Secondly, instead of the NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti it offers the AMD Radeon RX VEGA M graphics card. The RX VEGA M is much better in terms of performance.
VEGA M vs GTX 1050Ti
Other than that, it offers the same premium construction and components.
In the end, if you have fallen in love with HP Spectre X360 but want to get the one with the most powerful graphics card, then this is one of the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops.
- The VEGA RX variant is better in gaming performance as comapred to the GTX 1050Ti variant above.
- Premium grade laptop made out of premium grade materials including Corning Gorilla Glass.
- Beauty to behold. The screen is 4K IPS with some of the slimmest bezels in the market.
- Comes with a premium HP stylus for designers
- Core i7-8750 high performance processor is a flagship processor of the 8th generation
- Offers powerful ports such as Thunder Bolt 3 as well as HDMI V2.0 that can support 4k External monitors
- Very Expensive
- You can get an NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card for the price much cheaper than this if you choose to go for non convertible gaming laptop.
Conclusion
Here we listed some of the best 2-in-1 gaming laptops out there with a convertible mechanism.
It should be obvious that convertible gaming laptops are a lot more expensive than their conventional counterparts.
Furthermore, since convertible laptops are designed to run cool and be portable, they do not tend to offer top graphics card. As such, the most powerful graphics card that you can find is the AMD Radeon RX VEGA M featured on the HP Spectre X360 above.
In any case, these monitors are great for gaming as well as for artists that require a digital studio. These can handle digital drawing with stylus fairly easily.