Expert assessment
Advantages
- Awesome 1080p and esports speed
- Surprisingly good battery life
- Many ports
- Cheaper than many rivals
cons
- Average AMD processors
- Screen lacks brightness
- No Thunderbolt 4 or biometrics
Our verdict
The 2023 incarnation of the Asus TUF Gaming 15 ticks the box with great 1080p and eSports power, solid processing, reasonable design and great battery life – all for the right price. It’s not particularly refined and doesn’t have many desirable additional features, but it’s still a bargain thanks to its great value.
Price at review
From $1,199
Best Prices Today: Asus TUF Gaming A15 (2023)
If you’re in the market for a gaming laptop, it’s tempting to assume that your favorite portable device will be way too expensive, but that’s not the case with the Asus TUF Gaming A15 for 2023.
This year’s version starts at just $1,199 / £1,049 and goes up to a reasonable $1,399 / £1,499 so you don’t have to shell out big bucks.
The model I reviewed costs $1,399 in the US, but a more palatable £1,199 in the UK. That gets you an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU and a 144Hz, 1080p display – the exact hardware you’ll need to run almost any game smoothly for years to come.
On paper, that’s great. But success is more than components, and the A15 competes with its bigger brother, the TUF A16, the updated Acer Nitro 5 and contenders on our Best Cheap Gaming Laptops 2023 chart.
Design & build
- Trusted military design and MIL-STD-810H testing
- A solid port selection, albeit without some future-proof options
- Slimmer and lighter than its main rival
The Asus TUF range is inspired by military hardware and this 2023 edition still looks like a supply crate. Make of it what you will.
Go beyond that – and the advertising stickers – and you’ll find a notebook with MIL-STD-810H testing to ensure it can withstand shocks, drops, temperature changes and water spills.
That said, there’s a lot of movement in the screen, base and keyboard, so I’d still recommend a protective case if you use the A15 outdoors often.
More impressively, the A15 weighs 2.2kg and is 25mm thick, so it’s slimmer and lighter than the Acer Nitro 5. This isn’t a slim and light laptop in the grand scheme of things, but it’s significantly easier to manage.
you’ll find a notebook with MIL-STD-810H testing to ensure it can withstand shocks, drops, temperature changes, and water spills
Mike Jennings / Foundry
There are full-sized USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports on both sides, but the USB 4 Type-C port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connector, and the HDMI, audio, and Ethernet outputs are all clustered at the left side, which may not be convenient for your cable routing or for left-handed users.
The move to USB 4 and HDMI 2.1 are the only upgrades from the 2022 A15, and the AMD chipset means no Thunderbolt. You’ll find that, and an extra USB port, on the Acer.
Elsewhere, the A15 has Wi-Fi 6 rather than 6E, a blurry 720p webcam with no Windows Hello login and no fingerprint reader. There is Gigabit Ethernet, but not faster 2.5 Gbps. That’s expected for an affordable gaming notebook and won’t hinder day-to-day use – and the Acer suffers similarly.
Keyboard and trackpad
- A good layout with extra buttons and RGB LED lighting
- A smooth, soft typing action that won’t satisfy many gamers
- An inconsistent trackpad means you’re better off with a mouse
The keyboard could also use a bit more refinement. The buttons may have 1.7mm of travel, but they’re soft, without the snappy feel found on the best gaming notebooks.
It’s not a disaster; you use the A15 for gaming and typing. But if you want a robust keyboard for hammering through hectic sessions, you’re not going to get it here.
Mike Jennings / Foundry
The trackpad is also soft and the buttons are inconsistent, with varying levels of force required across the pad.
Ergonomically, the A15 is okay but not brilliant. The layout is better, with a numeric keypad, additional audio buttons, and single-zone RGB lighting. There’s hardly any difference between the Asus A15, the Asus A16 and the Acer – they’re all fine, but not great.
Screen & Speakers
- A 1080p IPS panel at 144Hz means you’ve got the pixels and pace for mainstream games
- A lack of clarity means that playing outside is a no-go
- Mediocre speakers
There aren’t any major additions to this year’s A15’s screen – the 1080p IPS panel with 144Hz refresh rate makes a reappearance. In addition to Nvidia Advanced Optimus and a MUX switch, you also get G-Sync support, so you can easily use the laptop on AC power and battery power.
That’s fine for mainstream gaming and eSports, but this screen isn’t fast enough for high-end competition. It doesn’t have the extra immersion you get from 16:10 panels or higher resolution displays.
Mike Jennings / Foundry
In terms of quality, there is good and bad news. On a positive note, the A15’s delta E of 1.46 means colors are accurate and the contrast ratio of 935:1 is fine for gaming – regular games will look good here.
On the downside, however, the maximum brightness of only 290 nits is not high enough for outdoor use. And it’s always quite annoying when other specs aren’t available – the 2022 model could sometimes be found with 1440p panels and 300Hz refresh rates, but there’s no sign of that this year.
Unsurprisingly, you get mediocre speakers on this unit, with non-existent bass and a tinny top end. Use a headset instead and you’ll have a much better time.
Specifications and Performance
- AMD Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processors
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 4060 or 4070 graphics card
- 16 GB DDR5 memory and 512 GB SSD
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU has 8 GB of memory and a TDP of 140 W, which is right at the top of the GPU’s thermal envelope. Asus has deployed an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor with eight multi-threaded cores and a boost speed of 4.75 GHz.
You’ll also find that processor in the TUF A16, but it’s odd when most other gaming laptops – including the Acer Nitro 5 – contain Intel chips.
You’ll have enough speed to handle any top single-player game for years to come
The A15 has 16 GB of dual-channel memory and a 512 GB SSD. That memory is fine, but the SSD is small given the size of modern games. Fortunately, there is a second SSD slot in it.
The Asus played CyberPunk 2077 on Ultra settings at an average of 88 fps and returned a still-playable result of 55 fps with Ray Tracing and DLSS. A 1080p average of 85fps in Far Cry: New Dawn and a mighty 247fps in Rainbow Six Siege continue the A15’s good form.
You’ll have enough speed to handle any top single-player game for years to come, especially if you don’t want to use the top settings. There’s also easily enough speed for any eSports game.
Mike Jennings / Foundry
In 3D Mark Time Spy, the A15 scored 10,020 points – almost 1,000 more than the RX 7600S in the A16. That result increased by 600 points in Turbo mode. That’s as good as it gets for the laptop version of the RTX 4060.
AMD’s processor performs well against Intel’s chips. In PCMark 10, the AMD CPU scored 7,132, which is better than the 6,926 scored by the i5-12500H in the Acer and the i7-12700H, which actually turned out to be a bit slower in PCMark 10. The i5-13500H and i7-13700H did not make a huge difference here too.
In Cinebench R20’s single- and multi-threaded tests, the A15 scored 579 and 5,241, with the former trailing Intel and the latter ahead.
The Ryzen chip’s Geekbench 5 score of 9,291 is about 3,000 points less than the Core i7-12700H and not far past the i5-12500H. The Geekbench 6 result of 10,120 is behind the i7, which is more than 1,000 points better in that test.
Remarkably, the A15 lasted almost nine hours when working with the screen at full brightness
For everyday browsing, photo editing, multitasking, and office tasks, the AMD chip is great, but if you want real content creation, you’re better off with the Intel i7-12700H.
On a more positive note, the Asus never proved too hot or too loud. The fans produced only a small hum in daily Performance mode, and the noise wasn’t much more intrusive in Turbo mode.
You even get decent battery life. I got through two hours of gaming with the TUF A15 – twice as much as the Nitro 5. Remarkably, the A15 lasted nearly nine hours working with the screen at full brightness and twelve hours running a movie with the brightness reduced to our normal trial setting.
The A16 showed similar long-lasting results, so clearly something good is happening in the 90Wh power pack and this is a laptop that’s sure to last a full working day.
Price & Availability
In the US and UK, the TUF A15 ships with RTX 4050, RTX 4060, and RTX 4070 graphics. The first two GPUs come with the Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, while the RTX 4070 is paired with a Ryzen 9 7940HS.
The RTX 4050 version costs $1,199 and £1,049the RTX 4060 model costs $1,499 and £1,199and the RTX 4070 installation arrives at £1,499 but is not available in the US at the time of writing.
In the US you will find the A15 at walmartNewegg and on the Asus Store at different prices, and in the UK go to Amazon, Box, Curries and the Asus UK Store.
Mike Jennings / Foundry
These prices are in line with the A16 and competitive with the Acer. The Nitro 5’s RTX 4050 model costs $999 in the US, but currently costs £1,264 in the UK, so the A15 is more affordable in the UK. The RTX 4060 version of the Acer costs $1,299 and £1,399, so the A15 is more affordable.
Check out our roundup of the best cheap gaming laptops and check out the best gaming laptop backpacks if you like rugged, reliable storage.
Pronunciation
Alongside that better price, the A15 delivers great 1080p and eSports power, excellent battery life, a screen good enough for indoors, smooth gaming and a decent selection of ports in a relatively manageable body.
The lack of future-proof connectivity, screen brightness and a really great keyboard define the A15’s ambition, and the AMD processor is fine, but Intel continues to outperform in many scenarios.
At these prices, however, the A15 covers up its flaws. It’s a competent, reasonably fast gaming laptop with no major flaws, so ideal if you want solid gaming power without spending a ridiculous amount of money.
Specifications
- Model tested
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Screen: 15.6 inch IPS, 1920×1080 144Hz
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
- Memory: 16 GB on board
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe Ms SSD
- Webcam: 720p
- Connectivity: 1 x USB-C 4/DisplayPort, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C/DisplayPort/Power Delivery, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x Audio
- Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
- Battery capacity: 90Wh
- Dimensions: 251 x 354 x 25mm
- Weight: 2.2 kg
- Warranty: 1 year RTB
