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Game Reviews

ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop (NVIDIA RTX 4050) Still at an All-Time Low With Hundreds Off, but Returning to Full Price Soon

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PC gaming handhelds have taken off dramatically in the last several years with the advent of the Steam Deck and then later competitive devices in the form of the Lenovo Legion Go and well as the Asus ROG Ally. While convenient, they really are just designed for gaming and not so much any of the other expectations that come with a PC. That’s why PC gaming laptops still prove themself to be a fine option for gaming on the go while also providing the full capabilities of, well, a laptop. Right now, Amazon has the Asus TUF F16 gaming laptop on sale for an even 23% off. Normally listed at $1,000, the price has come down to just $770. That saves you a whopping $230 for a limited time.

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Specs Deep Dive

What’s we’re looking at here is a 16-inch gaming laptop capable of a 16:10 Full HD resolution with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz and a response time of 7ms. The laptop employs Adaptive-Sync which helps to reduce lag, minimize stuttering, and eliminate visual tearing. That leaves you with a smooth gaming experience. The screen has a thin bezel to maximize screen real estate at 90% while keeping a small form factor so the laptop remains portable.

This model of the Asus TUF F16 is powered by an Intel Core 5 210H processor and is equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce 4050 laptop GPU. It has 8GB of RAM with a PCIe Gen4 SSD with a storage of 512GB. All and all, it’s not the most robust gaming hardware on the market, but at it’s price point, it’s perfectly serviceable to support almost any indie game and a number of larger AAA titles at medium settings.

This gaming laptop works hard to stay cool while you play. It’s equipped with four exhaust vents , 84-blade Arc Flow Fans, and five dedicated heat pipes, plus an anti-dust filter to keep the airflow system clear of debris. You laptop can cool itself without becoming excessively noisy.

Designed for portability, this Asus TUF F16 gaming laptop has been rigorously tested to meet military grade standards. This durable device can withstand vibrations, shock, high altitudes, and extreme temperatures both high and low.

Battery life is reliable and can charge quickly. The 56Wh battery can be fast-charged from nothing back up to 50% in just 30 minutes.

For a limited time, you can save yourself a whole $230 representing 23% of the price of this Asus TUF F16 gaming laptop.

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This 27-Inch ASUS TUF Gaming Monitor Has Never Been This Cheap Before, Now With 3-Year Warranty Included
Game Reviews

This 27-Inch ASUS TUF Gaming Monitor Has Never Been This Cheap Before, Now With 3-Year Warranty Included

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Gamers who love multiplayer online combat games where teamwork is key — think Helldivers II or Marvel Rivals — are all too aware that it only takes one laggy teammate to kill an entire mission. It’s not always a slow internet connection or console either — a subpar monitor with a bad refresh time can spell doom for the whole team.

If you end up being that guy who says “sorry, my screen is slow” one time too many, you might find your team membership revoked. This limited-time Amazon deal that guy-proofs you and ensures your screen is totally ready for combat: Act now and save 30% off the price of the 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor, a 1440p QHD gaming superstar with a blistering 260Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync technology, and many more features that will upgrade your gaming performance. It’s just $229 while this deal is in effect.

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Silky Smooth, Lightning Quick

First things first — the ultra-fast 260Hz overclocked refresh rate and 1 ms pixel response time. No blur, smooth frames, or delay, even in the fastest action of your favorite shooter or racing game. ASUS doubled down on killing the bluir with their ELMB Sync tech (Extreme Low Motion Blur), and adaptive sync options that keeps things moving even if your graphics card is having a hard time. That translates to less tearing.

The colors pop too, and the anti-glare coating is a huge plus if your rig is located with your back to a window. That, of course, comes in handy if you decide to take a break from gaming to enjoy some streaming or YouTube.

Not a Space Hog

The ASUS TUF monitor won’t require a total overhaul of your gaming space either. It’s razor thin and weighs only 11 pounds, meaning it’s also easily wall-mountable of you go that route. The display port and two HDMI 2.0 ports are located in the back of the unit along with an earphone jack, and it comes with DisplayPort and HDMI cables so you can go from unboxing to heavy-duty action in mere minutes.

The 30% off deal happening right now at Amazon on the 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor translates to a $100 price break, and also to one of the best $230 gaming monitors you’ll find. Finding a gaming monitor with enough speed to keep up with the most intense action gaming at this price is beyond rare, but as limited time deals do, this one could end at any time.

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Asus TUF Gaming F16
Product Reviews

Asus TUF Gaming F16 review: Strong gaming performance offset by skimpy SSD, short battery life

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Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware


Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

If you’re looking to enjoy some 1080p gaming without shelling out a lot of money, we had the chance to review the new Asus TUF Gaming F16 gaming laptop. It uses Nvidia’s entry-level RTX 5050 GPU with an added twist. While some laptops have opted for a higher-tier RTX 5060 with lower TDPs, the TUF Gaming F16 is packing a potent 115-watt RTX 5050 that helps to level the playing field for gaming.

The TUF Gaming F16 is an imposing laptop thanks to its 16-inch frame, and it manages to incorporate a generous assortment of ports, an RGB keyboard, a numberpad, and a 165 Hz IPS display. Given its as-tested MSRP of $1,199, the TUF Gaming F16 offers strong performance, but that comes with a couple of caveats.

Design of the Asus TUF Gaming F16

One word can be used to describe the TUF Gaming F16’s design: understated. While the TUF Gaming F16 is first and foremost a gaming machine, it features a clean exterior, finished in black and light grey. The aluminum lid is minimalistic, with just the letters “TUF” and the accompanying logo embossed in the top corner.

There are some interesting touches, including the rear exhaust panel with triangle- and rhombus-shaped cutouts. There’s also a nifty four-leaf status LED at the top of the rear deck (behind the display) – it blinks to signify power status, drive access, etc.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

There are two USB Type-A ports on the right side of the chassis. You’ll find another USB-A port, two USB Type-C ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, an HDMI port, a GbE port, and a proprietary power receptacle on the left side.

The laptop has a nice, solid feel. The plastic used throughout the chassis is of high quality, and the aluminum lid is a nice touch, especially at this price.

The laptop measures 10.59 x 3.94 x 1.07 inches and weighs 4.95 pounds. For comparison, the Acer Nitro V 16S AI measures 14.08 x 10.39 x 0.79 inches and weighs 5.5 pounds, while the Alienware 16 Aurora is 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.89 inches and weighs 5.64 pounds.

Asus TUF Gaming F16 Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally

CPU

Intel Core i7-14650HX

Graphics

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU (8GB GDDR7, 2,092 MHz max boost clock, 115W max graphics power)

Memory

16GB DDR5-5600 (2x 8GB)

Storage

512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Display

16-inch, 1920 x 1200, IPS, 16:10, 165 Hz,

Networking

Realtek RTL8852CE Wi-Fi 6E (MT7925), Bluetooth 5.3

Ports

2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, HDMI 2.1, 3.5 mm audio jack, Gigabit Ethernet

Camera

1080p

Battery

90 WHr

Power Adapter

280 W

Operating System

Windows 11 Home

Dimensions (WxDxH)

10.59 x 3.94 x 1.07 inches

Weight

4.85 pounds

Price (as configured)

$1,199.99

Gaming Performance on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Our TUF Gaming F16 review unit features an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor, 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and a GeForce RTX 5050 GPU with 8GB of GDDR7 memory. The TUF Gaming F16’s RTX 5060 pushes pixels to a 16-inch, 1920 x 1200 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate.

When testing new gaming laptops, I like to break out Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to get a feel for how the system will perform. At the native 1200p resolution with the Ultra preset, I averaged around 90 frames per second (FPS) through most scenes in the game. Heavy action on-screen caused the frame rates to dip to the 70 FPS range, but the play experience was generally excellent.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyHeader Cell – Column 0

Price (as-tested)

CPU

GPU

Display

Memory

Storage

Battery

Weight

Ethernet

Wireless

Asus TUF Gaming F16

$1,199

Intel Core i7-14650HX

GeForce RTX 5050

16-inch, 1920 x 1200

16GB DDR5-5600

512GB

90 WHr

4.85 lbs

1 GbE

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth

Acer Nitro V 16S AI

$1,299

AMD Ryzen 7 260

GeForce RTX 5060

16-inch, 1920 x 1200

32GB DDR5-5600

1TB

76 WHr

4.55 lbs

1 GbE

Wi-Fi 6E

Alienware 16 Aurora

$1,499

Intel Core i7-240H

GeForce RTX 5060

16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 120 Hz

32GB DDR5-5600

1TB

96 WHr

5.64 lbs

1 GbE

Wi-Fi 7

Before I delve into our usual gaming benchmark suite, it’s worth noting that the RTX 5050 in the TUF Gaming F16 has a maximum total graphics power (TGP) of 115 watts. For comparison, the RTX 5060 in the Nitro V 16S AI has a TGP of just 85 watts, while the 16 Aurora’s RTX 5060 has an 80-watt TGP. The advantage in available TGP plays highly in the TUF Gaming F16’s favor in gaming benchmarks, even though the RTX 5060 used in the two competing laptops is technically a more powerful chip.

Taking a look at Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest settings), the TUF Gaming F16 delivered 95 FPS at 1080p and 90 FPS at 1200p. Those numbers weren’t too far off the pace of the Nitro V 16S AI, which hit 98 FPS at 1080p and 91 FPS at 1200p. The 16 Aurora was one frame per second faster at 1080p.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

When shifting over to Cyberpunk 2077 (Medium settings), our TUF Gaming F16 review unit managed 30 FPS at 1080p, equaling the performance of the 16 Aurora. The Nitro V 16S AI achieved 32 FPS at 1080p and 27 FPS at 1200p, which was actually just behind the TUF Gaming F16.

Far Cry 6 (Ultra settings) saw the TUF Gaming F16 push its way to the front of the pack, with 90 FPS at 1080p and 86 FPS at 1200p — the Nitro V 16S AI well behind, at 82 FPS and 79 FPS, respectively. The 16 Aurora pulled up the rear (not by much), with 81 FPS at 1080p.

It was another three-way race in Red Dead Redemption 2 (Medium settings), with our review unit easily keeping up with the other two competitors. The TUF Gaming F16 and Nitro V 16S AI scored identically, with 68 FPS at 1080p and 64 FPS at 1200p.

Finally, the Borderlands 3 benchmark (Badass settings), saw the TUF Gaming F16 hit 81 FPS at 1080p and 75 FPS at 1200p, compared to 82 FPS and 81 FPS, respectively, for the Nitro V 16S AI. The 16 Aurora was the leader at 1080p with 83 FPS.

The overall sentiment here is that despite being a lower-level SKU in the RTX 50 Series, Asus’ implementation of the RTX 5050 with a 115W TGP and a 2,092 MHz max boost clock allows it to remain competitive with the TGP-capped RTX 5060 competition.

Metro Exodus remains our go-to benchmark for gaming laptop stress testing. Our review unit averaged 65.62 FPS at 1080p across 15 loops using the RTX benchmark preset. The CPU performance cores averaged 3.0 GHz, and the efficiency cores averaged 2.53 GHz. The RTX 5060 GPU also ran at 2.53 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Our review unit has a Core i7-14650HX “Raptor Lake” processor, which has 8 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. That processor is paired with just 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, instead of the 32GB found on the competing laptops (while the Aurora was far more expensive as tested, the Acer was $100 more). SSD storage is also a bit on the stingy side at 512GB, which doesn’t leave a lot of space for games after you take into account the standard Windows 11 Home install.

The TUF Gaming F16 started strong in the Geekbench 6 synthetic CPU benchmark, achieving a single-core score of 2,710 and a multi-core score of 15,013. That performance put it slightly ahead of the Acer (Ryzen 7 260) and Alienware (Core i7-240H) contenders in single-core, with a healthier margin of victory for multi-core.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Things turned ugly in our file transfer test, which involves copying 25GB of mixed media files. Asus is using a 512GB Micron 2500 Series PCIe 4.0 SSD, rated for 6,600 MBps sequential reads and 3,650 MBps sequential writes. In our test, the SSD only managed 775.5 MBps compared to 1,170.12 MB/s for the 16 Aurora. The Nitro V 16S AI left our review unit in the dust, more than doubling its results (1,838.88 MBps). Going with a 512GB SSD was already painful, but the lagging performance just adds insult to injury. In the real world, I noticed some sluggishness when installing games onto the SSD.

Our Handbrake benchmark involves transcoding a 4K video file to 1080p. The TUF Gaming F16 completed the task in 3 minutes and 33 seconds, easily dispatching the other two systems. The Nitro V 16S AI took nearly a minute longer to complete the transcode (4 minutes and 32 seconds).

Display on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Like many mainstream gaming laptops, Asus has adopted a 16:10 aspect ratio for the TUF Gaming F16’s display, meaning that you get a 1920 x 1200 resolution. An IPS panel is employed here, accompanied by a relatively brisk 165 Hz refresh rate. An anti-reflective layer is used on the display.

Compared to the Nitro V 16S AI and 16 Aurora, the TUF Gaming F16 comes up short in overall panel brightness — at least on paper. We measured 298.4 nits compared to 312.2 for the 16 Aurora and 391.8 nits for the Nitro V 16S AI. However, in the real world, I never felt wanting for additional brightnessin an indoor setting. The screen did wash out a little when using the laptop outside on a partly cloudy day, but it was still usable without straining with the brightness maxed out.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Testing with our colorimeter showed that the TUF Gaming F16’s panel outperformed its peers, capturing 86.8 percent of the DCI-P3 and 122.2 percent of the sRGB color spaces. In practice, there was little to complain about with respect to how colors were represented on the display. The anti-reflective coating might blunt colors just a tad compared to a glossy finish, but everything that I threw at the TUF Gaming F16 looked great. I spent a few hours toiling around in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and came away impressed with how gorgeous the varying environments were.

I also watched a few episodes of my new favorite TV show, The Pitt, on the display. Unlike some previous medical dramas, which lean heavily on unrealistic darkened set design to create a certain mood, The Pitt is bathed in the stark bright lights of a typical hospital. There’s nowhere to hide under these illuminating conditions. From the various colors of the scrubs worn by nurses, interns, and doctors, to their lifelike gushes of blood (and other bodily fluids) that shoot across the screen, I felt fully immersed in the frantic emergency room environment.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

The TUF Gaming F16 uses a full-size keyboard plus a dedicated numberpad. The keys have 1.7 mm of travel and are adequately spaced to occupy as much of the width afforded by the 16-inch frame as possible. While the majority of the keys feature black keycaps, the WASD keys are clear, which allows more of the RGB coloring to shine through when enabled.

Speaking of RGB, the TUF Gaming F16 uses a single-zone RGB setup (compared to four zones for the Acer) that can be configured with the Armory Crate app. You can also quickly change Aura Effects using the Fn + F4 key combination.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In addition to the standard assortment of keyboard keys, there are also four dedicated keys on the top row of the deck. You’ll find volume up/down, microphone, and Armoy Crate keys.

Using the keyhero.com typing test, I averaged 90.87 words per minute with 96.43 percent accuracy using the keyboard, which is slightly above my typical typing performance.

Our review unit features a large 5.1 x 3.3-inch touchpad that allows my fingers to glide over the surface easily. The surface also provides a satisfying click.

Audio on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

The TUF Gaming F16 only comes with two speakers, but they are punching well above their weight when it comes to performance. The speakers are loud, clear, and equally adept at producing remarkable sound in games, movies, TV shows, and music.

Playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I could hear the distinct sounds of boots hitting metal ladders as I climbed them, the audible grunts pulling myself up to a platform, the “glug glug” of pouring a bottle of wine, and the crack of Indy’s iconic whip. Of course, this was with the volume raised to about 30% to overpower the laptop’s twin cooling fans.

I also took the time to slink into the melodic tranquility of “Mujahedin and Opium,” a John Barry track from the James Bond film, The Living Daylights. The song is a perfect mix of percussion, strings, and soaring brass that gives it a majestic quality (and is probably one of my favorite pieces in the lengthy catalog of James Bond soundtracks). I felt that the TUF Gaming F16 captured the raw essence of the piece, and I’m not embarrassed to admit that I might have played the song on repeat a dozen times or so.

Upgradeability of the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Eleven Phillips head screws affix the bottom panel to the TUF Gaming F16’s main chassis. Once removed, the panel easily lifts off, revealing the internal comments. Immediately visible at the bottom is the 90 WHr battery, and directly above it sit the two 8GB DDR5-5600 modules.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

To the right of the DDR5 modules is the first M.2 bay, which is occupied by the 512GB Micron 2500 Series SSD. If you switch your attention to the left side of the mainboard, you’ll find the Realtek Wi-Fi 6E/Bluetooth combo card and the second M.2 slot, which is unused.The second M.2 slot and the replaceable RAM allow people to fix my qualms with part selection, assuming they’re willing to open the system up themselves.

Battery Life on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Although the TUF Gaming F16 uses a rather large 90 WHr battery, it didn’t fare as well as the assembled competition in endurance testing. Our battery test consists of web browsing, video streaming over Wi-Fi, and conducting OpenGL tests with the screen brightness set at 150 nits. With its Raptor Lake processor built on a legacy Intel 7 (10-nanometer) process node, our review unit lasted just 6 hours and 57 minutes. For comparison, the 16 Aurora lasted 9 hours and 41 minutes, while the Nitro V 16S AI lasted another 30 minutes.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Keep in mind that our battery benchmark does not take into account gaming, so the 115-watt RTX 5050 will likely fare worse than the 80- to 85-watt RTX 5060s used in the other two laptops.

Heat on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Asus uses a twin-fan cooling system on the TUF Gaming F16, and the setup does help to keep system temperatures in check. You can definitely hear the fans spin up when gaming, although the sound output is about typical for this class. The fan noise can get grating after a while, but cranking up the speakers to a moderate level drowns out the calamity. The best option is to choose from one of the best gaming headsets.

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During our stress test, we measured skin temperatures of 88 degrees Fahrenheit on the touchpad and 96 F between the G and H keys. The underside of the chassis came in at 97.5 degrees, while we saw upwards of 112 F above the F7 key.

During the Metro Exodus stress test, the CPU package measured 79 degrees Celsius (C). Meanwhile, the RTX 5060 ran at an average of 2.53 GHz at 80 C.

Webcam on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

Unlike some of the more recent mainstream gaming laptops we’ve reviewed that cram in lower-resolution 720p webcams, the TUF Gaming F16 thankfully opts for a 1080p unit. However, the results weren’t as promising as I would have hoped. While the overall resolution seemed slightly better than the 720p webcams I’ve recently encountered, the colors were somewhat washed out and not as well saturated. My skin typically appears brown in webcams, but it looks a bit greyer on the TUF Gaming F16.

Overall, the webcam was just adequate, and I wouldn’t chalk it up as being anywhere near the top of its class. If you want to use it for videoconferencing for work meetings, where you’ll just appear as a tiny head in a sea of other talking heads, it’s adequate. However, opt for one of the best webcams if you need a higher-quality picture.

Software and Warranty on the Asus TUF Gaming F16

When it comes to preinstalled apps, the TUF Gaming F16 is relatively unencumbered by needless fluff. The most prominent app is Armory Crate, which is Asus’s all-in-one utility that monitors everything from CPU/Memory/GPU/Fan status to performance modes. Armory Crate is also where you’ll find controls for the Aura RGB effects on the keyboard. The Game Library features can also keep track of and allow you to set performance profiles on a per-game basis.

Other installed apps include MyAsus, which has system diagnostics capabilities, can assist with system updates, and allows you to get in contact with Asus customer support. There’s also the CapCut video editor, Dolby Access for switching audio profiles, and GlideX, which allows you to share screen access across multiple devices (i.e., a laptop, smartphone, and tablet).

The TUF Gaming F16 comes with a one-year warranty.

Asus TUF Gaming F16 Configurations

Our review unit is the TUF Gaming F16 (FX608J), which features a Core i7-14650HX processor, 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, a 512GB SSD, a GeForce RTX 5050 GPU, and a 16-inch 165 Hz 1200p IPS display. The laptop carries an MSRP of $1,199.99, but Newegg currently sells it for $1,109.99.

The FX608JH configuration swaps in a lower-performing Core i5-13450HX processor and only comes with 8GB of DDR5-5600 memory.

The top configuration is the FX608LP, which includes a Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory, a GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, a 165 Hz 1600p display, and a 1TB SSD. It can be had for $1,579.99 at B&H Photo Video.

Bottom Line

The Asus TUF Gaming F16 is an interesting entry into the mainstream gaming laptop sector with solid pricing that appears to make it a true contender at first glance.

After all, its 115-watt RTX 5050 had no trouble keeping up with more miserly RTX 5060 GPUs in the two competing laptops in game tests. The screen is big and colorful, and the speakers are a joy to listen to.

However, things quickly fall apart when you realize that you’re only getting 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and your $1,200 outlay is rewarded with a skimpy 512GB SSD. To add insult to injury, storage performance lagged well behind the competition. Most laptops in this price range give you double the RAM and double the storage space. While you could upgrade this system to fix these problems, that would be easier to swallow at a $999 price point.

Battery life was also just average, with the TUF Gaming F16 lasting just under 7 hours compared to over 10 hours for the Acer Nitro V 16S AI.

In my opinion, the Nitro V 16S AI is the better overall laptop, boasting far superior battery life, comparable gaming performance, twice the storage space, and twice the RAM. It’ll cost you $100 more, but it’s well worth the extra coin.

Asus TUF Gaming F16: Price Comparison



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Asustufmotherboard
Game Reviews

ASUS TUF Gaming Motherboard Crashes to Lowest Price Yet for Labor Day, Already Flying Off Shelves

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Building your own custom gaming PC is a good way to save some money versus just outright buying a pre-built, but that doesn’t exactly mean it’s cheap. PC parts can be expensive and as you start adding CPUs, graphics cards, SSDs, and more to your cart, that number skyrockets pretty fast. If you can find any of those parts at a discount, it isn’t such a bad idea to pay them some attention. For instance, this ASUS TUF gaming motherboard is on sale over at Amazon as part of a limited time deal. The Z790-Plus WiFi normally goes for $250, but right now you can grab one for 24% off. That saves you $64, bringing the price down to just $186.

With the ASUS TUF Z790-Plus WiFi, you’re getting onboard WiFi 6 as the name implies. Expect ultra-fast wireless networking speeds and improved capacity. The motherboard is also Windows 11-ready right out of the box.

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You’ll find your connection options are highly versatile. The TUF-Gaming Z790-Plus WiFi packs three different USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports on it with two in the rear and one in the front. You also have support for Thunderbolt 4.

There are four PCLe 4.0 M.2 slots which support up to two 22110 devices along with NVMe SSD RAID. The PCLe slots are reinforced with a metal sheath which keeps your cards firmly in place to ensure you don’t have issues with anything disconnecting, even when moving around your PC.

The PCLe slots are equipped with a quick release physical button. Custom PCs are sort of your own little Ship of Theseus in that you’ll find yourself making incremental upgrades throughout its life. Those quick release buttons will make upgrading your storage or graphics card much easier down the line.

Cooler by Design

Keeping your gaming PC cool can be an uphill battle. The ASUS TUF Z790-Plus WiFi motherboard has been engineered to help keep temperatures down. It’s armed with an enlarged VRM heatsink. Plus three M.2 slots along with the PCH feature heatsinks which help provide enough mass and surface area so heat can dissipate. The multi-layered circuit board allows it to spread out around the voltage regulators which improvs system stability.

So if you’ve been putting together a list of PC parts to consider for your custom gaming tower, this ASUS TUF Z790-Plus WiFi motherboard might just fit the bill. It’s currently $64 off with that 26% discount. Instead of paying $250, you can get it for just $190 for a limited time.

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ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: a high-performing, low-priced laptop with a noise problem
Product Reviews

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: a high-performing, low-priced laptop with a noise problem

by admin



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025): Two-minute review

The ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is a gaming laptop that promises top-tier performance at an affordable price. It doesn’t exactly convey its power visually, looking rather muted compared to others in this class. However, it does exude a fair amount of elegance, which belies its budget price tag.

It’s surprisingly thin and free from bulk, although it’s still quite heavy. The lid hinges are pleasingly small, and the bezel around the screen is very minimal – in fact you’ll struggle to find a more slender frame on even the best gaming laptop models.

Build quality is also respectable, although the keyboard doesn’t look the most premium. Thankfully, the keys themselves feel great, offering sufficient dampening, travel, and feedback, which makes them a joy to use when gaming.

And, on that front, the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) acquits itself very well. The RTX 5050 in my unit performed remarkably well, achieving very high frame rates with demanding graphics settings selected, although Cyberpunk 2077 labored considerably on the highest preset, with disruptive stutters, lag, and visual glitches. But dropping the settings down slightly improved the experience greatly, while maintaining plenty of visual fidelity.

(Image credit: Future)

  • ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) (2TB 64GB RAM) at Amazon for $1,589.99

More bothersome, however, was the noise the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) generated, which is distractingly loud and pretty much rules out playing without headphones. At least the unit stays relatively cool for the most part, with any heat steering clear from any touchable surface.

The large 16-inch, 1920 x 1200 display of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is certainly good enough to represent AAA games faithfully, but it’s not the best in class, guilty of looking a little washed out at times. It also lacks the high brightness levels of its rivals, and is a little too reflective.

As mentioned, the keys feel great to use when gaming, but the cramped layout – owing to the inclusion of a number pad – can make typing awkward, at least for someone as ham-fisted as me.

This isn’t too big a gripe, though, and if you’re willing to put up with the incessant noise and can settle for gaming at close-to maximum settings, the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is a respectable performer that won’t break the bank – at least not to the extent other gaming laptops will.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Price & Availability

  • $1,449.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$2,499
  • Available now
  • Well-priced for the spec

The ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) starts from $1,449.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$2,499 and is available now. In the US, we couldn’t find a model equipped with an RTX 5050; the base model here appears to start with a 5060 instead.

This is a decent price for a 16-inch laptop with an RTX 5000 series GPU. There are few compromises, too, with the 1920 x 1200 resolution being the main concession. But the overall design and build quality of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) aren’t what you’d call cheap.

However, the Acer Nitro 16 AMD is cheaper by a significant amount. This has a less impressive spec, though: the base Nitro 16 AMD gets an RTX 4050 GPU, an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU, and only 512GB of storage. It’s also quite bulky and doesn’t exactly look premium. We were very pleased with its 1080p performance, though, and we also liked its keyboard.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Specs

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ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) Base Config

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) Maximum Config

Price

$1,449.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$2,499

$1,699.99 / £1,699.99

CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 260 Processor 3.8GHz (24MB Cache, up to 5.1 GHz, 8 cores, 16 Threads)

AMD Ryzen 9 270 Processor 4.0GHz (24MB Cache, up to 5.2GHz, 8 cores, 16 Threads)

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, 8GB

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, 8GB

RAM

8GB DDR5

32GB DDR5

Storage

1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

Display

16-inch, FHD+ 16:10 (1920 x 1200, WUXGA), 165Hz, IPS, Anti-glare display, G-Sync

16-inch, FHD+ 16:10 (1920 x 1200, WUXGA), 165Hz, IPS, Anti-glare display, G-Sync

Ports and Connectivity

1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x USB-A (1x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB-C (1x USB 3.2 Gen2 and 1x USB 4), 1x RJ45, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x USB-A (1x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB-C (1x USB 3.2 Gen2 and 1x USB 4), 1x RJ45, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Battery

90WHrs

90WHrs

Dimensions

13.94 x 10.59 x 0.70 inches (354 x 269 x 17.9mm)

13.94 x 10.59 x 0.70 inches (354 x 269 x 17.9mm)

Weight

4.85lbs (2.20kg)

4.85lbs (2.20kg)

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

  • Surprisingly thin
  • Very thin screen bezel
  • Good-feeling keyboard

To my personal delight, ASUS hasn’t done much to gamify the appearance of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025). It has a minimal aesthetic and the whole unit looks surprisingly elegant for a gaming machine.

It isn’t saddled with the typical gaming laptop bulk, either. The chassis is pleasingly thin and the rear protrusion is comparatively small. While it’s still quite weighty, again it’s not as heavy as some of its rivals.

The lid hinges look rather smart, and are easy to operate yet provide plenty of stability, while the bezel around the display is very small, allowing almost all of the allotted space to be used.

There are a few missteps in the design, though: the corners of the base are a little too sharp, and the keyboard looks a little cheap. A number pad is also included, which unfortunately makes the whole layout a little more cramped than it otherwise would be. Still, I did appreciate the translucent WASD keys, which distinguishes them from the others.

Underneath the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) are four rubber feet and plastic strips that raise the unit from the surface by a fair amount, which helps to improve airflow.

You’ll find the usual selection of ports on the TUF Gaming A16 (2025), with most of them located on the left side. They’re sensibly ordered, too; I particularly appreciated the headset jack being at the front and the power port at the back.

Along with an ethernet port and an HDMI port, you’ll also find two USB-C ports on the left – one is 3.2 Gen 2 and the other 4, but both support external display connections. On the right are two USB-A ports, which are again logically located, since it makes them amenable to connecting peripherals such as mice.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

  • Impressive AAA performance
  • Quite loud
  • Display not the most vibrant

I was impressed by the overall performance of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025). When I played Cyberpunk 2077 on the Ray Tracing: Low preset – which the game selected by default – I was getting roughly between 175-200fps, depending on the in-game environment.

Turning the preset to Ray Tracing: Ultra naturally resulted in a decrease, but I was still in the respectable region of 115-150fps. Ray Tracing: Overdrive caused a further dip, down to 70-100fps, but with the added bane of significant stuttering and input lag, as well as some strange visual artefacts and pop-in effects. Suffice to say this isn’t a setting I can recommend playing on.

Nonetheless, the above demonstrates a laudable effort on the part of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025). However, the price is paid in noise – a loud one. Under load it’s a veritable cacophony, as the fans whir away with considerable force. Needless to say this can be quite disruptive, requiring one of the best PC gaming headsets with strong noise cancellation to drown it out.

At least the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) stays relatively cool. Any heat generated is confined to reasonable temperatures, and concentrated mainly at the very back of the unit – although this can spread to the underside, so if you are using the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) on your lap, your legs might get a little toasty. Mercifully, though, the heat doesn’t encroach on the keyboard or the sides of the chassis, so there’s no chance of scorching your fingers.

The 1920 x 1200 display on my unit provided sufficient sharpness, even at 16 inches, and proved to be very bit as smooth and responsive as you’d expect from its 165Hz refresh rate. Colors appear vibrant enough, but they can look a little washed out at times. What’s more, the maximum brightness level isn’t that high, and reflections can rear their ugly heads under certain lighting conditions.

(Image credit: Future)

The keys are tactile and well damped, and have more travel and resistance than those on your typical laptop, which makes them easy and satisfying to use when gaming. I also appreciated the prominent nub on the W key, making it easy to locate.

While the keys also feel good to type on, the aforementioned cramped layout can hamper the A16’s productivity credentials. I never fully got used to it, and what’s more the large trackpad does encroach on your hand placement, so you need to take care in not pressing down too hard.

The trackpad is smooth and makes for effortless swipes and gestures, but it can be inconsistent in registering taps, sometimes requiring a harder hit than normal. This might be a moot point for many gamers, though, since they’ll likely be pairing the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) with one of the best gaming mice.

Typical of many Asus products, there are a few annoying pop-ups from Armory Crate, as well as some bizarre notifications from Nvidia about display mode changes, which usually appear when booting up a game; for some unknown reason the system frequently thought two displays were connected.

Thankfully, this didn’t seem to affect performance in any way, and Windows at least makes it easy to change projection settings with the Win+P shortcut. Aside from these niggles, the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) provides a pretty seamless experience overall, as you might expect given the power on tap.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Battery Life

(Image credit: Future)

The battery life of the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is pretty impressive. It managed to last two hours and ten minutes in the PCMark gaming battery test, which is close to the time achieved by the Acer Nitro 16 AMD.

In our movie playback test, where we ran a short film on a continuous loop, it lasted an impressive 12 hours and 18 minutes. What’s more, the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is also quick to charge, taking just under two hours to fully replenish.

Should I buy the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025)?

Swipe to scroll horizontallyASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The TUF Gaming A16 (2025) is priced very competitively considering the spec. The relatively low resolution is about the only sacrifice.

4 / 5

Design

It’s surprisingly thin and elegant for a gaming laptop, and it also appears built to a high standard

4 / 5

Performance

The TUF Gaming A16 (2025) delivers high frame rates in AAA titles with demanding settings, although it won’t handle max presets all that well, and the noise is bothersome.

4 / 5

Battery Life

It performed well in our series of battery benchmarks, and it’s fast to charge, too.

4 / 5

Total

The TUF Gaming A16 (2025) seems to have achieved its aim of delivering high performance at a relatively low price point, which makes it a tempting proposition for those on a budget – if they can put up with the noise.

4 / 5

Buy the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) if…

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ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025) review: Also Consider

How I tested the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025)

  • Tested for a few days
  • Used for gaming and everyday tasks
  • Plentiful PC gaming hardware experience

I tested the TUF Gaming A16 (2025) for a couple of days, during which time I used it for gaming and everyday tasks such as typing and browsing.

I played various games, including Cyberpunk 2077, which is a demanding test for systems and remains a cutting-edge AAA experience. I also ran our series of benchmark tests, designed to assess the gaming, creative, and productivity credentials of PCs, as well as storage speeds and battery life.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and during that time I’ve experienced plenty of systems and hardware. I’ve also reviewed a number of laptops, from gaming machines to those designed for productivity and general use.

ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2025): Price Comparison



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