It’s easy to get jaded when reviewing gaming laptops—years of testing the fastest and most furious can do that to you. But we’re not so far gone that we can’t appreciate a good bargain. And that’s exactly what the Asus TUF Gaming A14 is. (It starts at $1,399.99, in our as-tested model FA401UV.) Lightweight, compact, and durable for gaming on the go, the notebook’s AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU aren’t the most powerful combination on the planet, but they deliver consistent performance and respectable frame rates. The TUF also offers a bright, vivid display with a high refresh rate, as well as a comfortable keyboard and solid battery life for when you need to quit gaming and do some work or digital content creation. A dull design and weak speakers keep the TUF Gaming A14 from perfection, but it’s a great choice for gamers who prize performance and frugality.
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Configuration & Design: Understated, for Under $1,500Asus’ TUF laptop line targets entry-level and mid-tier gamers, and the A14 reflects that wallet-friendly mission with two sub-$1,500 configurations. The base model (FA401UV) tested here costs $1,399.99 and sports a 3.8GHz AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, 16GB of 7,500MHz LPDDR5X memory, a 1TB NVMe solid-state drive, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, and a 14-inch, 2,560-by-1,600-pixel display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 165Hz peak refresh rate.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you want just a bit more potency, another $100 buys the model FA401WV with a 2.0GHz Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU. Arguably, the main difference between the two systems is the neural processing unit; the entry model has an AMD NPU rated for a maximum of 16 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) compared with the deluxe version’s 50 TOPS.Worth noting: Each laptop has two M.2 SSD slots capable of housing up to 4TB of PCIe 4.0 solid-state storage. It’s a nod to the DIYers out there who want to fiddle around with their systems’ insides.
If it wasn’t for the quasi-military TUF logo stamped on the top right corner of its Carbon Gray CNC aluminum lid, you’d probably mistake the A14 for a non-gaming laptop. But hey, I respect an understated king. Pop open the lid, and you’re greeted by a black plastic expanse that’s susceptible to oily fingerprints. The palm rest with its large touchpad has a gentle downward slope that shades into the keyboard deck.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The hexagonal power button sits slightly above the function-key row along with media controls and a button to launch Asus’ Armoury Crate control-panel software. A tiny LED-backlit X sits at the very top of the deck between the two hinges. It’s a shame Asus hid the most interesting design on the notebook’s undercarriage; it would have been cool to see the diamond pattern that makes up the vents on its bottom appear on other parts of the laptop.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The A14 is as durable as it is sensible. The notebook carries MIL-STD 810H certification, which means it can (within reason) withstand short drops and other shocks as well as extreme temperatures, altitude, and humidity.The TUF Gaming A14 measures 0.78 by 12.2 by 8.9 inches and is the lightest in its gaming segment at 3.2 pounds. Its more costly cousin the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (0.67 by 12.2 by 8.7 inches) is right on its tail at 3.3 pounds. The HP Omen Transcend 14 is next at 3.6 pounds, while the 14.5-inch Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 is the heavyweight of the group at 3.8 pounds.Using the Asus TUF Gaming A14 (FA401): So Much for RGB and SpeakersBoth configurations of the A14 have the same 2.5K matte, non-touch display with a refresh rate of 165Hz, a middle ground that will satisfy most gamers. The screen supports Nvidia G-Sync to eliminate screen tearing as well as Nvidia Advanced Optimus to switch between integrated and discrete graphics without the hassle of rebooting. Both came in handy as I made my way through Black Myth: Wukong, allowing me to kick prodigious ass as the Monkey King, though I typically prefer glossy displays for gaming so I can get every hue and tint. Speaking of hues and tints, the Asus’ island-style keyboard lacks both. Instead of oohing and ahhing over alternating twinkling colors, all I got was bright, white, one-zone lighting. I launched Armoury Crate and spent about 15 minutes trying to create a custom lighting setup before I realized my light show wasn’t going to happen. On the positive side, the mini LED backlighting shines exceptionally bright, whether you’re in a dark room or broad daylight.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
After some tooth-gnashing over the lack of color, I launched MonkeyType and took the online typing test. The large keycaps and their 1.7mm travel enabled me to score 81 words per minute, which is much better than my typical 70 wpm. The glass touchpad has great palm rejection and agile response when it comes to navigation and multitouch gestures. The pad has a 16:10 size ratio to match the display, which Asus claims lends itself to better precision. I didn’t notice any real difference, but I guess it’s nice to have.As for the stereo speakers, laptop manufacturers, please hear me, because I can’t hear you: Any sound made by the A14’s dual bottom-mounted speakers was immediately smothered by my pillowy thighs. It’d sound better if the speakers were set off to the sides, but putting them on the bottom all but guarantees you’ll be reaching for a gaming headset. Even with a Dolby Access app to augment the audio, Shawn Mendes’ smooth vocals sounded underwater when I had the notebook in my lap (and the TUF doesn’t have much bass to begin with). I moved to a table, and the system’s audio barely carried across my medium-size living room.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
I’ve seen so many ultraportables with skimpy port offerings lately that the Asus seemed to be spoiling me. The A14 has two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and a Thunderbolt 4 port plus an HDMI 2.1 video output, a microSD card reader, and a headset jack.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The 1080p webcam does a decent job of capturing detail, helped by more prominent features like Skorbunny’s eyes and the top of the print on my dress. Finer details like the striations in the gold charm on my necklace were muddled—in fact, when I zoomed in, the charm just looked like a gilded blob. The camera did a better job on the color front, as seen with my yellow dress and green, blue, pink, purple, and orange locks.Although I appreciate the webcam’s Windows Hello compliance, I wish Asus provided a physical privacy shutter. Call it healthy paranoia, but I just feel better about a webcam when I can pull the shutter closed.Testing the Asus TUF Gaming A14: Respectable, With Some Standout PerformancesAnd now, on to the benchmarking. To recap, the TUF Gaming A14 features an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU to bolster the processor’s Radeon 780M integrated graphics. It’s available at Best Buy and B&H for $1,399.99.I pitted the A14 against the similarly compact Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 ($1,999.99 as tested), the HP Omen Transcend 14 ($1,699.99 as tested), and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 ($1,479.99 as tested) plus one larger gaming rig, the Gigabyte Aorus 16X ASG ($1,629.99 as tested). The list has a mix of GeForce RTX 4060 and 4070 GPUs for comparison.
Productivity and Content Creation TestsWe run the same general productivity benchmarks across both mobile and desktop systems. Our first test is UL’s PCMark 10, which simulates a variety of real-world productivity and office workflows to measure overall system performance and includes a storage subtest for the primary drive.Three other benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon’s Cinebench R23 uses that company’s Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Geekbench 5.4 Pro from Primate Labs simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better).At last, we run PugetBench for Photoshop by workstation maker Puget Systems, which uses the Creative Cloud version 22 of Adobe’s famous image editor to rate a PC’s performance for content creation and multimedia applications. It’s an automated extension that executes a variety of general and GPU-accelerated Photoshop tasks ranging from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving an image to applying masks, gradient fills, and filters.
The A14 worked hard to keep pace with the competition, even coming out on top in a few tests such as PCMark 10. The TUF Gaming dominated the HP in every test, though the Gigabyte showed its strength in a couple.Gaming and Graphics TestsFor gaming laptops and other mobile gaming hardware, we run both synthetic and real-world gaming benchmarks. The former includes two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark, Night Raid (more modest, suitable for systems with integrated graphics) and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). Additionally, we use the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which gauges OpenGL performance. These GFXBench tests are rendered offscreen to accommodate different native display resolutions; more frames per second (fps) means higher performance.Our real-world gaming testing comes from the in-game benchmarks of F1 2021, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Rainbow Six Siege. These three games—all benchmarked at 1080p resolution—represent simulation, open-world action-adventure, and competitive/esports shooter games, respectively. Valhalla and Siege are run twice (Valhalla at Medium and Ultra quality, Siege at Low and Ultra quality), while F1 2021 is run twice at Ultra quality settings with and without AMD and Nvidia’s performance-boosting FSR and DLSS features turned on.
Its Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU means that the TUF Gaming A14 can’t match the frame rates of more powerful chips like the GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090, but it can still deliver respectable performance more often than not. Again, it consistently outperformed the Omen, though wasn’t quite in the same class as the Zephyrus and Legion. When I tried Rainbow Six Siege, the laptop posted 242fps at 1080p resolution using the Ultra preset and an impressive 182fps at 1600p.Battery and Display TestsWe test each laptop and tablet’s battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.To gauge display performance, we also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen’s color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
The A14 tapped out after nine and a half hours, outlasting the Legion but trailing the Zephyrus and Transcend. Still, its unplugged stamina is great for a gaming laptop, not that you should expect that kind of runtime for actual gaming—a much more taxing activity for the CPU and GPU, not to mention the cooling fans, than our video rundown. The system’s screen showed good but not great color accuracy. Its brightness was more impressive, though outshone by the Aorus.Verdict: A Capable, Conservative PerformerSure, gamers rave about Asus’ flagship Zephyrus line packing all the good stuff (and being exorbitantly expensive). But you should spare a glance for the TUF Gaming A14, which at $1,399.99 brings enough power to the table to satisfy entry-level and mid-tier gamers as well as deftly handling any productivity or creativity apps you spend time with. The notebook packs a bright, colorful display with a springy keyboard and plenty of ports, too.To be sure, this price point brings some compromises, starting with the design. While some might like the understated aesthetic, the TUF doesn’t exactly scream “gamer,” especially without RGB keyboard lighting. Its speakers also leave much to be desired, and yes, a bit more power wouldn’t hurt. But overall, the A14 offers a nice blend of power and portability without putting too much of a dent in your wallet.
Cons
Humdrum design
Weak audio
The Bottom Line
Asus’ TUF Gaming A14 sacrifices flash for frugal frame-rate pushing. It’s a plain, but still compelling, compact gaming laptop.
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About Sherri L. Smith
After starting as an entertainment writer, I eventually landed at Fast Company, where I discovered my calling: tech reviews. From there, I freelanced until I got a full-time gig at Laptop Magazine, where I spent 14 wonderful years playing with all the toys, from laptops to smartphones and virtual reality, among other bits of tech. I’m passionate about reviewing and helping you find your next great gadget. Join me on the journey.
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