Sales of laptop computers have skyrocketed this year. With more and more people working from home, a powerful machine that allows them to stretch their legs in the house has become an essential household item. This is especially true for gaming laptops, as they are a great way to ease the hardships of this shitty year.

This year, the evolution of laptops has been cracking in the right direction. Mechanical keyboards and 1440p screens became more common in the mobile market, and the portability factor of high-performance machines also became more realistic this year. More powerful components, such as CPUs with more cores and threads than ever before, for example, AMD's mobile Ryzen processors, are being packed into thinner, lighter, and classier looking mobile chassis. portable machines powered by Nvidia's RTX 2060 can be had for under $1 even available for less than $1,000.

So, whether you're a gamer or a home office user, we've gathered together some of the portable champions, mobile monarchs, and noteworthy laptops that will represent the year 2020. Here are the nominees in the laptop category for this year's Hardware Awards, and you might find something worth a big ticket item on sale in January.

The final winners in each category will be announced on New Year's Eve, when we'll reveal which one has been named the Best Gaming Laptop of 2020. Until then, please take a look at our Best Gaming Laptops roundup to get a better sense of what criteria we use to judge these products.