“AMD shook up the laptop world with the 4000 series of processors”
If you are someone who has been following discussions about laptops or laptop launches you definitely might have come across the word “Ryzen” and certainly for good reasons.
Let me refresh it for people who are new to laptops. The Laptop chipset market is basically dominated by two companies. One is Intel with core series of processors and the other one is AMD with the Ryzen. For years AMD has been lacking so far behind intel which made it hard for anyone to recommend buy AMD based laptops as they were so bad and lacking so far behind intel so far.
Now the year 2020, everything has changed drastically and the same goes with Ryzen. AMD has revamped everything in their processors from ground up. They started using 7nm in laptop chipsets in a world where intel is stuck with 14nm forever. The better 7nm architecture and combined with the optimizations AMD has done basically resulted in much better efficiency and performance than the intel counterparts.
The Ryzen 5 4600h now has 6 cores and 12 threads which is supposed to compete with the 4 core 8 thread intel core i5. As the specs suggest the 4600h is much better than the core i5 and even beats the core i7 from intel for the most part.
So, the nerdy part aside the TLDR version is that the Ryzen 5 is much better than the core i5 from intel and you might even consider it instead of the i7 if you benefit from multicore performance.
Table of Contents
Article Contents
Why Prefer AMD Over Intel
(Huge Disclaimer: The processors discussed here are the Ryzen 4000 series of chips from AMD and don’t make a mistake by relating it to the Ryzen 3000 series of chips from AMD which have far less performance)
Better Battery Life
Ryzen 4000 series of processors use 7nm architecture compared to the 14nm architecture in the intel processors.
This quite simply means better efficiency which in turn leads to lower power consumption and better battery life compared to the intel counterparts.
Given the same size of battery you can get better battery life under light loads with Ryzen when compared to the intel.
More Cores
Both the R5 4600H and the R5 4500U (processor intended for thin and light notebooks with lower TDP) have 6 physical cores which is higher than the intel counterparts with only 4 cores. The Ryzen 5 4600H comes with 6 cores and 12 threads whereas the 4500U comes with 6 cores and 6 threads (No hyperthreading).
Better Multicore performance
More physical cores and the 7nm architecture improvements AMD made in the processor makes it better for multi-threaded applications.
The same cannot be said for single core performance as it matches intel processors in the best case. If your use case is more dependent on single core performance then intel is your way to go else if your use cases are dependent on more cores then Ryzen is the choice.
Gaming Performance
In Gaming Laptops with discrete GPU:
Gaming performance has always been a strong point of intel. As games depend on better single core performance and doesn’t depend on the number of cores which leads to better gaming performance in Intel processors (in most cases).
To be honest the difference just a few frames (5-10 fps max) is not that big considering more cores and the better multicore performance that Ryzen provides.
But if you are someone wants the maximum frames then it’s a thing you might want to consider.
In thin and light laptops with integrated GPU:
The integrated GPU in Ryzen 5 4500u is better than the integrated GPU in the respective intel thin and light counterparts.
If you have gone through all of that you are now ready to make your purchase decision.
Now let me show you through the best picks for the laptops with Ryzen 5 (not in a particular order).
Best Ryzen 5 Laptops in India
The most important thing in a gaming laptop is the GPU the laptops equipped with Ryzen 5 4600h usually comes with GTX 1650 or 1650ti form NVidia. But there are some laptops with GTX 1660ti and AMD GPU. All the laptops in the segment come with 8gigs of ram (with extra ram slot) unless mentioned otherwise.
GPU’s from Nvidia are usually recommended as they consume much less power than the AMD counterparts and provide better performance.
1. ASUS TUF A15
The ASUS TUF A15 is a budget gaming offering from ASUS that ticks most of the boxes that you might look for in a gaming laptop that you should be aware of.
The laptop comes with 2 GPU offerings namely the GTX 1650 and GTX 1650ti. So, let be honest with you here. You should not look at 1650 and 1650ti as different GPU’s as they are pretty much the same but the 1650ti is clocked at higher clock speeds which provides marginal or insignificant difference in frame rates in games. So, I advise you not to make a laptop decision based on the above-mentioned GPU’s.
I would recommend you to buy laptop with 1650 instead of 1650ti and save some money if various SKU’s are available for the same laptop unless you are someone who needs the extra 5 fps for victory which I advise.
Also Read : Best Gaming Laptops Under Rs 70000 in India
The laptop has an all plastic build but pretty rigid and is bit on the thicker and heavier side weighing at around 2.3kgs.
The screen is 15.6 inches in size and has 144hz refresh rate. But the panel doesn’t have good response times that you would associate with a high refresh rate panel. The color accuracy of the panel is also not good which matters if you are looking to do design work. But if you are a casual gamer it should serve you with the purpose.
It comes with a lot of storage options from only SSD to HDD and SSD combos. So, you call feel free to choose whichever storage option you are comfortable with.
The keyboard is pretty good and the trackpad is average. The speakers in the laptop are very good for the price range it competes in(60k-70k).
The performance is as you would expect for a 1650 laptop which is pretty good but the thermal management in the laptop is not that good and it heats up pretty quick. There are some get arounds like disabling the turbo boost and stuff which you can do for bringing down the temps of both CPU and GPU.
Battery life is average as it comes with a 48wh cell which should provide you around 4 hours on light use.
It is a very good offering for the price and the price for the laptop fluctuates a lot so make sure you pick one up during the right time.
Check Cheapest Price : Amazon
2. HP Pavilion Gaming
The HP pavilion gaming is a direct competition to the ASUS TUF A15 by all means as it is almost similar in specs to the A15 and it too has its own short comings.
The laptop is primarily all plastic but it has cleaner looks compared to the TUF A15 which has design aesthetics all over the place. But the laptop has a central hinge system which is prone to breaking in the long-term use and doesn’t have particularly good reliability so keep that in mind moving forward.
The laptop comes with a 15.6-inch 144hz display that is pretty similar to the one in the TUF A15. It too has poor color accuracy and not suitable for design work but it should satisfy a casual gamer.
The laptop comes with a GTX 1650ti which for all things considered performs pretty good and a bit better than the vanilla 1650.The thermal system for cooling the laptop is also not good due to two fans on the one side.
The keyboard and trackpad are both pretty good and the speakers have pretty good sound quality but not as good as the TUF A15.
Also Read : Gaming PC Assembled Under Rs. 50,000
The battery is a 52.5wh cell which would provide you 4+ hours of battery life.
All things considered the laptop is pretty thin and light as it weighs around just 2kgs (1.98 to be precise) which makes it one of the lighter offerings. You can go for this laptop if you want a lighter laptop for portability with pretty good specs. It goes for sale around 71k so make sure you pick it up at the lowest price.
Check Price : Amazon
3. ASUS Zephyrus G14
Asus is back again in the list but this time with the almighty G14. The G14 is the most unique gaming laptop in the list as it tries to diminish the line drawn between thin and light laptops and gaming laptops.
The Zephyrus G14 is the most interesting laptop released this year and for good reasons. But there are some weird tradeoffs that come with this laptop.
The laptop is completely constructed of aluminum and magnesium alloy which results in very light weight of 1.6kgs. The laptop is also very thin compared to other gaming laptops in the list which makes it perfect for portability and not to mention the laptop looks awesome especially in this Grey color.
This laptop unlike every other laptop comes with a 14-inch screen. If that sounds small to you it is. It is significantly smaller than the 15.6 inch laptops that you are used to but that should not be a problem unless you are dead set on a 15.6 inch laptop and the laptop comes with a pretty great 120hz pantone validated screen which is supposed to cover 100% of the SRGB color gamut which makes it very good for content creator on the go but the response rate of the display is very low which you might notice if you are coming from a screen with faster refresh rate else it will not pose you any problem.
The keyboard is great with 1.7mm key travel and tactile feedback and the trackpad is made out of glass which makes the tracking great but the trackpad is pretty small. The speakers are the best in the class with 2 tweeters that fire towards the top cut out and two speakers that fire down.
Also Read : Best Gaming Laptops Under Rs 50,000
The laptop comes with a GTX 1650 and 1650ti and I recommend you to go for the base 1650 variant. The performance is as good as you would expect it to be for a 1650 laptop. The thermal system is also good and is sufficient enough for the base model.
The laptop also comes with a 70.9wh battery which gives it amazing battery life which is around 9 to 10 hours under normal usage.
So, what’s the catch you might ask. For one the laptop doesn’t come with a webcam which is extremely frustrating so make sure you have couple of thousand rupees more lying around to buy a webcam which is required for online classes in this day and age. Secondly the laptop needs a lot of tweaking to get it running as intended. Tweaking is a must to achieve the best battery life and good thermals as the laptop runs hot without disabling the turbo boost. There are a lot of tutorials for the same everywhere so make sure you are aware of the above-mentioned stuff before making the purchase and the base variant comes with only 512gigs of SSD and the laptop doesn’t come with extra M.2 slot.
The laptop has the same specs and performance of the TUF A15 that costs just around 60k but G14 laptop costs around 85k primarily due to the unique form factor it comes in which is definitely something you should keep in mind
All in all, this is the best portable gaming laptop that you could buy right now.
Check Price : Amazon
4. HP Omen 15
The HP omen 15 2020 is the best gaming-oriented laptop to come out this year but there are some pretty noticeable shortcomings associated with this laptop you might want to take into account.
The HP omen 15 comes with a plastic top panel and is covered with metal on the keyboard deck and bottom panel. The design is very clean and minimalistic which must satisfy both gamers and alike. But the main problem with the build is the hinge quality and the screen flex. The screen flex is a real issue and it flexes a lot even under normal use which is something to be considered if you travel a lot and the hinge quality is fine but there’s some quality control issues with the hinge’s connection with the top deck so be aware of that.
The laptop is actually pretty thin and weighs around 2.3kgs.
The laptop comes with a 60hz mediocre screen with poor color accuracy which is not good if you are a content creator but not that bad for gaming especially for the base variant.
The keyboard and trackpad are good but not as good as the G14 and the speakers are also pretty good.
The laptop comes with 2 GPU options. GTX 1650ti and 1660ti (YES). But the main issue is that the model with 1660ti too comes with a 60hz screen which doesn’t utilize the full potential of the GPU so this is a rare case that I would recommend you to go for a 1650ti instead of the higher end variant.
Also Read : Gaming Laptop Buying Guide: How To Choose the Right Laptop?
The cooling system is the best in class and the performance is also the best in class. So, if frame rates are the goal for you and nothing else matters you can also check for the higher end variant which is pretty much always out of stock.
It comes with 512 gigs of SSD onboard and can be extended with the extra M.2 slot that is available
The laptop comes with a 52.5wh battery which should provide you with 4+ hours of battery life. The 1660ti variant comes with a 70wh battery which should provide you with much battery life but be aware as both models come with a 60hz screen.
The 1650ti variant costs around 76k during the sale and the 1660ti variant is around 86k so make sure you pick it up at the right time.
So, if your primary concern is gaming this is the best laptop for you.
Check Price : Amazon
Other Mentions:
The main reason why the other mentions segment exists is just because these laptops are pretty niche and cannot be recommended to everyone or are outperformed easily by other laptops in this segment.
5. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 gaming
There is nothing that is fundamentally wrong with the IdeaPad 3 gaming.
It is definitely one of the better offerings under 70k but the laptop fails in comparison with the HP pavilion gaming that provides same specs and performance in lighter and better package for around 1000rs more which is not definitely that much.
Also Read : Gaming Laptops Under Rs 90,000
But if your brand of choice is Lenovo and you want Ryzen offering from Lenovo this is your best bet as of now.
6. Dell G5 SE
The Dell G5 SE is quite a controversial laptop to say the least. The main problems in this laptop are the thermal and the build quality.
It is the best all AMD laptop offering till date in India but the compromises outweigh that privilege easily.
The laptop is very thick and bulky and the hinge quality is very poor and prone to fail.
It comes with the Radeon 5600m graphics which competes with the GTX 1660ti but the problem is that the laptop doesn’t have sufficient cooling solution and heats up too much which leads to random shutdowns during gaming as a lot of people reported.
Also Read : Best Gaming PC Build Assembly Under Rs 1,00,000 in India
But if you are not bothered by these things and choose to tweak the laptop or go for it because your brand of choice is Dell you can go for it.
Otherwise the laptop is not recommended for the normal consumer.
7. MSI Bravo 15
The bravo 15 does everything pretty mediocre and is easily outshined by the HP omen 15 that costs the same.
There is no particular reason to go for it other than the fact that it comes with 16 gigs of ram preinstalled which is the highest in this segment and the laptop weighs only 1.86 kgs.
MSI is also notorious for poor after sales service so keep that in mind before going for the laptop.
Also Read: 10 Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitors
You can go for the laptop only if you need a comparatively lighter laptop that is cheaper than the G14.
Thin And Light Laptops
Choosing a thin and light laptop is not as hard as choosing a gaming laptop. The things you have to look for are the screen quality and the build quality and most importantly the battery life as other factors are pretty much the same among different laptop..
8. ASUS VivoBook 14
This is the entry level Ryzen 5 offering from ASUS that should make a lot of people happy considered the given price.
The laptop comes with a all plastic build and is sturdy enough for normal use. The laptop is thin but not as thin as other laptops in this segment. It is very light though coming in at 1.4kgs.
The laptop comes with a 14-inch 1080p screen with low brightness at only 200nits and the quality of the panel itself is just fine.
The laptop comes with 512 gigs of internal storage and 8gigs of ram.
The keyboard is a chicklet style keyboard with fairly good feel and has a pretty good trackpad with a fingerprint sensor on the corner of the trackpad. The speakers are fine for average media consumption and nothing special.
The battery is 42wh battery and provides you a with around 5-6 hours of battery life which is fine for a thin and light laptop.
The thing that makes this laptop special is its price it comes at around 51k which makes it the best bang for the buck laptop in the list.
The laptop is not for everyone and has its fair list of issues like the dim screen but for the price it comes it at it makes a very good purchase.
9. ASUS ZenBook 14
The ASUS ZenBook 14 is arguably the best Ryzen 5 Ultrabook you could buy. It is better than the VivoBook 14 in every possible way.
The Built quality is very good and the laptop is extremely this at around 14mm and is also very light at 1.26 Kilos. The build quality is also superb with all metal build.
The screen is a very good quality panel with 100% of SRGB coverage but the brightness is fairly low at 250 nits. The bezels surrounding the display are also very small which makes it a treat for the eyes and the laptop comes with an IR camera for windows hello facial recognition.
The keyboard is similar to the VivoBook 14 but the trackpad here is excellent which is covered by glass for accurate tracking that changes into a numpad with a touch of a button. The speakers are good but don’t expect much as it is a very thin laptop.
Also Read : Best Gaming Monitors Under 20000 in India
Storage is 512 gigs and the ram is 8gb. The most exciting part here is the battery life as it comes with a 67wh cell which ASUS claims will provide up to 22hrs of battery life but you can realistically expect around 10 or 11 hours of battery life which makes it a perfect all-day laptop.
This is the costliest of the bunch coming at around 75k but if you want the most complete Ryzen Ultrabook this is your best choice.
Check Price : Amazon
10. Acer Swift 3
The Acer Swift 3 is a thin and light offering that competes directly with the ZenBook 14 but costing significantly less. It is almost as good as the ZenBook but not quite the best.
The laptop build is primarily metal and is also very thin at 16mm and the weighs at 1.2 kgs similar to the ZenBook.
The screen is 14 inches and is good for the price. The bezels surrounding the laptop are thin but not as thin as the ZenBook. The laptop comes with fingerprint unlock for security.
The same goes for keyboard and trackpad are pretty good but not as good as ZenBook’s glass trackpad. The speakers are pretty good.
The battery is 48wh and provides you with around 6 to 7 hours of battery life.
Also Read : Best All in One Desktops in India
The thing is that the Swift 3 costs around 61k making it almost 15k cheaper than the ZenBook which is a significant amount of money.
So, if you want a very good laptop that is almost as good as the best laptop in the price range for a lot less money this should be your choice.
Check Price : Amazon
2 In 1 Laptops
The 2 in 1 laptop are for those people who look for a touch screen in their laptop and intend it to use in the tablet mode or use their laptops for creative purposes like sketching arts or just practicing drawing as their hobby.
2 in 1 laptop can be useful for people who are into media consumption as they have 360-degree rotation hinges which makes it easy to prop in any orientation you want it to be.
11. Asus VivoBook Flip
The VivoBook flip is almost as similar to the normal flip but it comes with a touch screen and the stylus support with 360-degree hinge.
The build in this laptop seems to be metal unlike the plastic offering from the normal VivoBook 14.
The screen size is 14 inches as the name suggests. For security the laptop comes with a finger print sensor.
The specs, the battery life and everything is similar to the non-flip VivoBook.
Also Read : Best Productivity Laptops Under Rs 50,000 in India
The laptop comes with a stylus in the box and is pretty good for normal users and people who want to sketch occasionally. It is not as good as a Wacom tablet and for all purposes intended is pretty good for all people except for the professionals who must definitely buy a Wacom tablet instead looking for laptops with stylus support.
It is priced at around 65k and goes even less during the sale so pick it up at the right time.
Check Price : Amazon
12. HP Envy x360
The HP Envy is a premium 2 in 1 laptop that is pretty good but there are few shortcomings you need to consider.
The laptop is constructed form metal and looks very good aesthetically and weighs 1.3kgs.
The Laptop has a 13.3-inch 1080p screen and it is pretty good for all things intended. The stylus functionality is as expected and pretty good but not for professionals.
The keyboard and trackpad are pretty good and the speakers are fine for casual media consumption. The laptop comes with a fingerprint sensor and has dedicated switch to microphone mute switch and privacy shutter for the webcam.
It comes with Ryzen 5 4500u with 8 gigs of ram. The battery life is pretty good as it comes with 51wh battery that should provide you around 6 to 7 hours of usage.
Also Read : Best Mini PCs in India
The main shortcoming of this laptop is that it comes with only 256 gigs of onboard storage and it costs 75k which is quite a lot more than the VivoBook which has double the storage.
The laptop is pretty good overall and if you don’t care about the storage and want a compact 2 in 1 laptop.
Check Price : Amazon
So that’s been it and these are the best Ryzen 5 laptops so far in 2020 and if you have any queries or suggestion leave it in the comments below.
Written By - Nirunjan Kumar Infinite monkey theorem. I love how things work. Tryna make things work! Instagram
Shubham
Shubham Garg (Editor Shubz.in) is an engineer with a specialization in Mechanical Engineering from AKTU, Uttar Pradesh. Being a mechanical engineer he has always loved to learn the inner working of various machines and consumer electronics. He regularly tests various audio, home appliances, and daily use products, to provide the best advice to readers. He is a wizard that can make your shopping easy, saving you time and stress of figuring out what to buy.
