Asus TUF A14 (2025) evaluate

This laptop computer feels prefer it was made particularly for me, and people like me. Its lush brushed metallic and barely curved however nonetheless sq. design, plus cozy typing, is strictly what I need for a piece and journey machine. But on prime of that, you are additionally getting first rate gaming efficiency and nice battery life, all packaged in a beautiful 14-inch type issue. There we go, that is the evaluate completed… alright, there is a little extra to it than that.

The Asus TUF A14 (2025)I’ve in entrance of me proper now could be simply the perfect gaming laptop computer I’ve used, and you recognize what? I do not suppose I’d swap it out for a single different laptop computer—except Asus begins providing an RTX 5070 or RTX 5080 model, after all.

That’s as a result of all these design decisions converse to me very particularly as somebody who spends simply as a lot time working and travelling as I do gaming. This laptop computer appears tailored to individuals with simply such use circumstances, supplied the ‘work’ is not very resource-intensive. For me, it is simply typing in Chrome with just a few tabs and a few completely different apps open, so the TUF fits simply high quality.

As a pure gaming laptop computer, there are definitely higher decisions for the admittedly very steep worth that is going for. At the time of writing, as an example, you possibly can really get an RTX 5070 Ti laptop computer for a little less. And whereas I’d anticipate this RTX 5060-touting TUF A14 will go on sale too, sooner or later, I do not doubt that you will nonetheless be capable to get better-performing laptops for cheaper than it even then.

Part of the rationale for it is because it is a 14-inch laptop computer and also you often should pay a premium for this dinky (however nonetheless very usable) type issue. The different half is that it is simply an extremely well-made laptop computer throughout. Nothing about it feels unintended or half-assed. You nearly get that MacBook feeling while you maintain it, which is saying one thing for a gaming machine, and particularly one not in Asus’ premium ROG model.

I’m gonna carry on speaking in regards to the design for some time longer, really, as a result of it truly is value highlighting.

Our Dave tried the 2024 model of the TUF A14 and located the identical as I did with this one: It’s pretty. Not a lot has modified within the design since then as a result of not a lot wanted altering. That barely annoying touchpad grit, when pressed within the corners, appears to have been mounted, too.

The laptop computer exterior seems very subtly premium, which helps when bringing it out and about in public—none of that garish ‘I’M A GAMER’ nonsense. It’s fairly gentle at 3.22 lbs, too, and naturally it is good and dinky, so it is an extremely moveable and publicly usable laptop computer in all respects. The 16:10 side display screen helps in that respect, too, although keep in mind that side ratio could make you lose out on a little discipline of view in some video games, which is perhaps a problem for essentially the most aggressive of avid gamers, however not for the overwhelming majority, myself included (and I do like aggressive shooters).

That display screen is a 2560 x 1600, 165 Hz IPS affair, which seems a lot vibrant to my eyes. It would have been good to see an OLED on this, such as you get with the Transcend 14, however I’ll take an amazing IPS with few complaints. I suppose I may not wish to see how a lot an OLED model of this laptop computer would value.

The keyboard is a real pleasure to kind on. I nonetheless desire my mechanical Keychron, however for a chiclet laptop computer keeb it is nice. Ditto the trackpad, which is massive and centred.

The audio system are clear and loud, although not notably bassy, as you’ll typically anticipate from little laptop computer models. There is one annoying factor about them, nevertheless. On a flat floor they’re high quality, however as a result of they’re positioned beneath the laptop computer, just a little on the aspect, when you apply it to your lap it may possibly muffle the sound, which is a disgrace.

Not solely is its chassis and total design pretty however its internals really feel completely tailor-made. One would possibly have a look at the specs listing and really feel just a little underwhelmed by the CPU, GPU, and RAM, however I feel they make excellent sense for this laptop computer. The processor is definitely not geared toward productiveness, however for gaming it is nice. Likewise, 16 GB of RAM is ok for gaming and lightweight work. Even the cooling followers sound nice as they’ve a surprisingly nice timbre.

Most importantly, I discovered the RTX 5060 GPU within the TUF A14 to carry out a lot better than I anticipated. Admittedly I’m coming from a desktop with a now-ageing RTX 3060 Ti inside, so there’s positively just a little body gen wow issue at play for that purpose alone. But nonetheless, that apart, I reckon it is a mighty succesful chip for 1080p and native 1600p gaming, supplied you are pleased enabling upscaling and possibly 2X body gen in additional demanding video games. You may allow 4X body gen, however the outcomes and latency can range massively sport to sport.

You desire a first rate beginning body price to scale back enter latency when body gen is enabled. Sadly, I could not all the time attain that right here. Thankfully, it’s best to be capable to begin out with an honest sufficient body price with upscaling enabled in most video games.

That’s because of the RTX 5060. I can actually say this laptop computer GPU era looks like the primary time I’ve been in a position to say that gaming on a (considerably) reasonably priced laptop computer GPU is a genuinely nice gaming expertise. I’m no fan of Nvidia making an attempt to persuade us all that generated frames are simply the identical as actual frames, however hey, higher these than none so far as I’m involved.

I actually did not suppose I’d really feel like that about 4X body gen, both. But after making an attempt it for hour after hour (after hour) in Killing Floor 3, I’m on board. I used to be in a position to whip that UE5 sport on excessive settings at 1440p or 1600p and get a cushty mid-high-100s body price with 4X body gen enabled, and the latency was completely playable.

The reality is, I persistently selected to play the sport on my laptop computer (often on my exterior monitor) reasonably than on my RTX 3060 Ti desktop, and it wasn’t even a tricky choice. I bumped into some points with the hybrid GPU setup switching between AMD and Nvidia on my exterior show and crashing, nevertheless, this stopped with some tinkering. It did not occur a lot within the first place, and at any price appears to be a problem that you simply’d get with any AMD-Nvidia hybrid system.

Now, if I flip UE5’s lighting system Lumen on and crank another settings up, latency turns into an issue, however the reality is I’m in a position to play a great-looking UE5 sport at 165 Hz with the frames to match and virtually unnoticeable latency.

Admittedly, body gen is a combined bag and really game-dependent, however that it is value it even among the time is not any small factor. I’d nonetheless advocate the laptop computer with out it—simply have a look at these non-frame gen body charges, they’re completely cheap—however with it? You guess.

And then there’s Turbo mode. Most of my testing was completed on the highest efficiency settings Windows affords, however I assumed I ought to attempt Turbo mode in Asus Armoury Crate, too, and that shocked me. By boosting the quantity of energy fed to the CPU and GPU (from 68 W common energy draw throughout a Metro Exodus run as much as 98 W common energy draw, within the case of the latter), you possibly can see from the 1080p benchmarks above that body charges elevated considerably in all however one of many video games I attempted. In reality, it even begins to strategy an RTX 5070 laptop computer stage of efficiency—maybe RTX 5060 Ti cell efficiency, if there have been such a chip.

That being mentioned, I’d personally decide to drop these few frames and maintain it within the typical efficiency mode, as a result of the followers do kick into overdrive in Turbo. It’s not a grating sound—the timbre and pitch of the followers is surprisingly nice, like a standing fan on a heat summer time’s day—however it’s loud. I had them working at full Turbo whack in a piece assembly not way back and I struggled to listen to what individuals had been saying. For such a glossy laptop computer as this, that Turbo mode is greatest left for closed-back headphone classes solely. Even then, I’d nonetheless decide to depart it on the usual efficiency mode.

Moving in the wrong way, along with the standard silent/eco mode gubbins, bear in mind you even have the choice to ditch the Nvidia GPU for gaming fully and simply use the iGPU. With just a bit fiddling within the Windows settings, I set Risk of Rain 2 to make use of simply the Radeon 860M within the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 APU, and it labored simply high quality. It was completely playable at 1920 x 1200, and saved loads of energy and due to this fact battery life. I’d positively advocate doing this for much less intensive video games.

Saying that, although, the TUF A14 (2025)’s battery life even when utilizing the RTX 5060 is improbable, which is shocking contemplating it is solely rated to 73 Wh. But we have already seen that RTX 50-series laptops are extremely succesful within the effectivity division, because of a brand new era of MaxQ tech that includes such fancy shmancy issues as reminiscence voltage optimisations, quick frequency switching, superior energy gating, faster entry into low-power states, and so forth.

The particulars do not matter as a lot because the outcomes, actually, and these converse for themselves with the TUF A14 (2025). I really did not imagine the outcomes at first, however after triple-checking all my settings and working the battery life check one other two occasions and checking it was certainly working the check on the RTX 5060 reasonably than the iGPU, I can affirm: This 73 Wh battery can actually stretch itself far. Over two hours and thirty minutes in the course of the PCMark 10 gaming check may be very spectacular, even when that’s largely as a result of the RTX 5060 wasn’t guzzling a lot energy at default Windows efficiency settings.

Outside of gaming and day-to-day work/searching, you should not anticipate a lot, nevertheless. The Ryzen processor in that is really a downgrade over final yr’s RTX 4060 model. As you possibly can see, it performs worse at productiveness duties than higher-end Ryzen AI 300-series chips. Not massively so, however not unnoticeably so, both. And it definitely will not examine with a full-fat thirteenth or 14th Gen Core i7 or Core i9.

But for a gaming and lightweight workload machine, that is a sacrifice I’m greater than keen to make. In reality, it is not likely a sacrifice when you think about the positive factors in effectivity. That’s why I mentioned this machine feels completely tailor-made.

I’m beneath no illusions, although—I do know that whereas that is completely tailor-made to somebody like me, it may not be for everybody. Not for its MSRP, anyway. That’s as a result of, as I acknowledged firstly, there are cheaper choices that carry out higher. If you are simply searching for the perfect efficiency on your buck, this is not it.

But if, like me, you are pleased sacrificing just a little efficiency—within the data that it is nonetheless good current-gen efficiency nonetheless—for fantastic design, type issue, and battery life, then I do not hesitate in recommending it. If I had been solely utilizing my laptop computer for gaming at house, I’d search for an RTX 5070 or RTX 5080 machine, but when I need to journey and/or use my laptop computer for different issues, this Asus TUF A14 (2025) is surely the laptop computer I’m searching for.