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I asked Google’s AI mode for gaming laptop recommendations — and it was a disaster

AnyFans 2025-09-15

By Jason England

I asked Google's AI mode for gaming laptop recommendations — and it was a disaster

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Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. It fumbles the ball in a big way.
The (somewhat) good

(Image credit: Google)
As you know, it’s perfectly possible to get the latest RTX 50-series gaming laptops for less than $2,000. For less than $1,000, there are some pretty impressive 40-series options — I’ll go into all of these later.
Well, let’s start at below a thousand bucks, and in all honesty, Google AI mode has made some good decisions here. Typically, this constrained price point puts you in this realm of specs: an RTX 4050, 13th Gen Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
Both the Acer Nitro V 15 and Lenovo LOQ 15 are solid options sporting these specs. Personally, I’d push you towards the LOQ, as Lenovo has always made better laptop keyboards, and it really shows here.

(Image credit: Future)
However, this is where we run into the first issue. Google AI is good and all, but it doesn’t seem to be too great at keeping up with recent developments, cross-referencing information from different sources or finding savings that satisfy the criteria.
For example, RTX 4060 laptops are regularly available for less than $1,000. I’d point you to the MSI Sword 16 for this for example, which with $200 off means you can get much more for your money. AI mode didn’t spot this, which means it may be good at finding editorial answers to your questions, but not that great at spotting savings to get you more bang for your buck.

(Image credit: Google)
Then I turn my attention to the less-than $2,000 option. This is plenty of headroom to get something packing an RTX 5070, and maybe even an RTX 5080 if you look hard enough. So why on earth is Google AI mode recommending the Asus ROG Strix G16 with RTX 4070!?
Not only that, but a casual (and traditional) Google search will show this option actually blows past the $2,000 budget. Some hallucination has clearly happened here. That’s not to say the G16 is a bad laptop, but we’ve moved forward significantly since this came out last year. The recency context seems to be way off in what is sourced — highlighted by the fact a key source used in its search was a best laptops guide from April 2025.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
But most concerningly, where did the Alienware M16 R2 come from? I mean, it’s fine, but not something to write home about with a cheap chassis, loud fans and a dull display. Well, as it turns out, Google AI mode sourced this information directly from Dell’s website.
It scraped the retailer’s website and presented this (clearly biased) information as a straight-up recommendation. This is incredibly problematic as you’re being told to buy a laptop based on marketing materials alone.
I’m sure this could get better over time, but with AI mode essentially being a black box that has to be coerced over time, and given Dell built a page called “best gaming laptops” that this is being sourced from, it’s not been weighted towards real editorial expertise vs marketing tactics.
What is the fix?
How do we tackle this? Well, there are two key options to make sure you see us and other trusted outlets in your search results:

Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News: While Google search becomes increasingly AI-fied, Google News continues to be a good place to follow publications with a direct feed of news stories.
Add Tom’s Guide as a preferred source: Google recently launched a feature to let you set your preferred sources. This maintains visibility of your trusted publications, and we’ve got the step-by-step on how to do it.
If you are in AI mode, just make sure you check the sources Google’s pulling its answer from on the side column — it pays (literally) to be careful that you’re not being hoodwinked by marketing messaging that has just been assumed to be trustworthy.
What you should actually buy

(Image credit: Future)
But I don’t want this to end on me ranting, without actually giving you advice. If you came here after being disappointed with the Google AI mode recommendations, let me point you in the right direction of what you actually should purchase at these prices.
Best gaming laptop under $1,000

Save 17%MSISword 16: was $1,199 now $999 at Newegg
As I mentioned above, there’s a solid spec of the MSI Sword 16 available for less than $1,000. Normally, you’re limited to RTX 4050, so to get RTX 4060 is an impressive performance bump — paired with a 16-inch FHD display running at 144Hz, Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD.

Best gaming laptop under $2,000

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI: $1,899 at Best Buy
One of my personal favorite gaming laptops of 2025 — the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI packs a lot of horsepower into a nice shell with a gorgeous OLED panel. Performance-wise, you’re getting an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5070 Ti graphics, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD.