Asus TUF Gaming A14 hands-on review

When the going gets TUF, the Asus’ TUF lineup is the more cost-effective gaming laptop to buy, and the A14 goes hard with cleaner, sharper looks, a more durable feel, attention to ergonomics, and beefier power under the hood.

This is an ROG Zephyrus G14 in spirit, but without the higher price tag — cutting the OLED in favor of a more than serviceable QHD+ IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate, and shedding its aluminum unibody skin for a mix of the metal and plastic with a premium feel.

On top of that, a shift to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor beefs up AI performance nicely, and is even more powerful than what is on offer in the pricier counterpart. Pair that with RTX 4060 graphics unlocking DLSS 3.5, and cram it all into a thin and lightweight shell, and you’ve got a seriously impressive mid-ranger.

But what about the price? This remains to be seen, but that’s not going to stop me guessing. The lower-cost TUF Gaming A14 with AMD Ryzen 8845HS and RTX 4060 comes in at $1,399. My bet is on $1,499, but could go up as far as $1,599 — the starting price of the Zephyrus G14. Even on the more expensive end of that window, this is an impressive price-to-performance ratio blended with ultimate portability given how shockingly thin and light it is.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. A maximum of 16GB DDR5 RAM and a limited port array could get a little annoying depending on your peripheral and multitasking demands. But all-in-all, this laptop stood head and shoulders above everything else announced at Computex 2024.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: Specs

Asus TUF Gaming A14: What I like

My love-in with the TUF Gaming A14 started the very moment I picked it up and held it in my hands. It’s surprisingly light for a gaming laptop and you can really tell Asus’ change in direction here for the whole TUF line — pointing it towards something more premium.

ROG + TUF = <3

Yes, compared to a whole aluminum construction, the TUF Gaming A14’s build quality is technically a downgrade. But you’re missing the point by talking purely about materials used. The metallic top and bottom give the outer-shell a nice durability, whereas the plastic casing across the inside doesn’t detract from the premium aesthetic and feels good to the touch.

Alongside this, Asus has really paid attention to the ergonomics with a keyboard that has plenty of key depth and a nice tactile-yet-soft landing to each press — while also pairing as another vent to keep the laptop cool. Plus, the touchpad is a revelation in the TUF lineup, as clicks are snappy and the surface is oh-so smooth.

And let’s not forget that 3.2-pound weight. For a gaming laptop, this is impressively light and the military standard testing gives me full confidence of throwing this in my backpack to take on the road.

A mid-range gaming tour de force

I’m not gonna lie. I expected Asus to slap last gen specs in this laptop and call it a day. I mean this is the TUF lineage — they don’t want to make ROG Zephyrus entirely redundant…right?

Well, someone in their Taipei office (which we visited — more on that soon), must have lost their marbles as it actually has more CPU power than the current ROG Zephyrus G14, thanks to the use of an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset. 

Ignoring how daft the name is, this is the latest CPU to come out of Computex, which touts serious gains in CPU and GPU performance, as well as a big boost in NPU capability to meet the Copilot+ PC standard. All this paired with the RTX 4060 makes this a lean, mean mid-range machine. I’ll leave more detailed thoughts until we actually get one to test, but on paper, this is a sweet system.

But the beauty of a gaming laptop extends beyond gaming — it’s great to have a system you can both work and play on, and this pairing in productivity is sure to be speedy too. Not only that, but the 14-inch 2.5K panel with 16:10 aspect ratio and a (claimed) 100% DCI-P3 color gamut does double duty for gameplay and prosumer tasks admirably. 

Not to mention AI-infused workloads too, which should be handily digested with 233 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPs) of performance across the CPU, NPU and GPU.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: What I don’t like

While most of the tactical cutbacks don’t compromise the experience, there are two potential bugbears that may frustrate you.

Just 16GB RAM

For general productivity, a bunch of games and even some prosumer work, 16GB of DDR5 RAM is enough. But in the more intense moments of multitasking or the bigger AAA productions, things may slow down.

With no choice to upgrade to 32GB, it could be frustrating for those who really put their laptop through their paces.

Can we stop using MicroSD card readers on laptops?

First, it’s good to see USB-4 on here alongside a couple of USB-A sockets for peripherals and display connection. But if you’re serious about gaming, the lack of an ethernet port may sting a little.

And second, it’s 2024. Why are we still skimping on a full-size SD card slot? MicroSD cards are a rarity nowadays, outside of expanding the storage of your gaming handheld. Cameras stick religiously to a full card, so to make this properly useful, we need to pivot.

Asus TUF Gaming A14: Outlook

But gripes aside, I’ll just say it — this could be my next new laptop. It’s very early days and of course, you should wait for our full review with lab testing to see whether my prediction here is right, but the Asus TUF Gaming 14 is a combo breaker of power and value for money.

And it is all stuffed into a thin and light, yet premium shell that has plenty of vents and a cooling system stolen from its more expensive older sibling. That’s why I say it’s the ROG Zephyrus G14 in spirit, but it could very well overtake it as the best gaming laptop (provided testing stays true to my hype).