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The Asus TUF Gaming A15 has been around for several years, and when we reviewed last year’s model (TUF FA507RM-ES73), we liked it for its decent 1080p gaming performance and bright 300Hz screen. As ever with Asus, the firm has never been complacent with its most affordable gaming notebook – they keep refining the design and packing in solid internals.
The 2023 model we’re reviewing has received faster components and more ambitious graphics options inside a case that’s lighter than last year’s model.
That sounds great when the machine we’re reviewing (the FA507NU-DS74) costs a little over $1000, but gets you a practical machine for both gaming and productivity. We’re hoping for more cheaper SKUs to drop soon as the Asus site lists an RTX 4060 as an option.
There’s plenty of competition in the midrange market, though, so we’ve got to find out if the 2023’s Asus TUF Gaming A15 can outrun rivals like the Lenovo Legion 5 or the Acer Nitro 5.
About The Asus TUF FA507NU-DS74
Our review unit is the latest model in the Asus TUF Gaming A15 series and arrives with AMD’s Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 processor, one of the A15’s higher-end configurations.
Here’s a look at the main specs:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
- Memory: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Display: 15.6-inch 1080p resolution at 144Hz/3ms
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050
- Wireless: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
- Weight: 4.85 pounds
- Dimensions: 13.94 x 0.88 x 9.88 inches
Last year, we reviewed the Asus TUF FA507RM-ES73 with an RTX 3060 and liked it for the build quality and performance, but the latest iteration takes competition to the doorstep of heavy-hitters like the Acer Predator Helios and Acer Nitro 5 with newer hardware and refined aesthetic.
Design & Build
The Asus TUF range always has this military-inspired design, and the 2023 version keeps that tradition: it has a molded lid that looks like it’s crafted to withstand all the shoves and pushes of daily use, and you’ll find edges with utilitarian air vents alongside numerous TUF logos. Some of us may find the military design immature, but it doesn’t look awful either.
Most of the TUF’s physical connectivity ports are on the left side. It comes with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports with one handling DisplayPort, and the left panel also holds a full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, an HDMI output, and the audio and Ethernet jacks. That’s decent connectivity, but faster USB ports would be better. On the inside, there’s dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, alongside a basic 720p webcam. There isn’t a fingerprint or card reader, however.
With a 15.6-inch body, the FA507NU-DS74 has room for a number pad, and the keyboard has fast response and quiet buttons. They’re good enough for eSports gaming and are firmer than the Acer Nitro 5’s soft keys. That’s not to say the TUF Gaming A15’s keyboard is perfect. The buttons are wobbly and the underlying plastic is soft – we expected a sturdier feel for the price.
The key layout also needs some work: while you get a number pad and extra audio buttons, you’ll have to do with small cursor keys and a single-height Return button. Also, while it does offer RGB LEDs, it’s got single-zone lighting without much customization.
Below the keyboard is a touchpad that’s large enough, but its buttons are soft and uneven. A USB gaming mouse would be better if you’re gaming casually on this machine.
Display
The 15.6-inch IPS display pairs its 1920 x 1080 resolution with a decent 144Hz rate – but the refresh less is lower than the 300Hz in last year’s model.
The display’s peak brightness of 250 nits is good enough to provide good levels of depth and punch, while the contrast ratio offers well-saturated and accurate colors. With 72% NTSC and 3ms response time add to the laptop’s impressive features for both gaming and productivity tasks.
Those are fantastic specs for a midrange gaming machine, and they mean your games will look excellent. The TUF Gaming A15’s panel is comfortably better than the Acer Nitro 5’s screen, which suffers from poor color quality and gamut coverage.
Perhaps the only issue here is the 250 nits level of peak brightness. While that’s fine for indoor use, it’s still not high enough for outdoor use. However, for eSports fans, that’s remedied by 144Hz, which is more than what you’d need for mainstream competitions.
The speakers have a surprising number of bass and volume, but the top end is fairly tinny. They’re acceptable if you have no other choices, but a headset will be better.
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Performance
Powering the Asus TUF FA507NU-DS74 is AMD’s new Ryzen 7 7735HS, which has eight cores, 16 threads, and a peak speed of 4.7GHz. The rest of the specification is reasonable: you get 16GB of dual-channel DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD with fine everyday read and write speeds of 3,145MB/s and 2,072MB/s.
The TUF A15’s RTX 4050 has a higher power envelope than the RTX 3060 GPU inside the Nitro 5, so it delivers better gaming performance, scoring 41, 517 in 3D Mark Night Raid tests, while the Nitro was almost 10,000 points behind. The same is reflected in real-world gaming, where the A15 maintains the lead in Star Wars Jedi Survivor, with its 1080p Ultra average of 53fps, while the Nitro 5 came at 82 fps on the same game.
At 1080p high settings, the Asus FA507NU-DS74 averages 71 fps on Forza Horizon 5, but it drops to 51fps in Ultra settings. It even runs Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with an impressive 63fps, which is great for a gaming laptop at this price range. If you activate ray-tracing and DLSS, gaming gets even smoother and you can even play at higher Ultra settings on select AA games.
Bottom Line
There’s a lot to like about the Asus TUF Gaming A15 for 2023. It’s got the power to run mainstream games on an impressive 1080p screen, and its AMD processor offers good productivity performance. The TUF FA507NU-DS74 manages to pack decent battery life in non-gaming situations.
It’s an affordable laptop, though, so the Asus A15 isn’t perfect, its keyboard is fine for gaming but the trackpad is underwhelming, its connectivity and build quality are mediocre, and Intel’s latest processor is faster than the Ryzen 7 7735HS if we’re going to nitpick.
No gaming laptop is going to be perfect at this price, though, and the A15’s issues don’t affect performance – there’s still enough quality here to handle everyday life and this won’t be the last gaming laptop with a poor trackpad.
The Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA507NU-DS74 offers good quality in most key areas and arrives with an RTX 4050 GPU, making it an excellent choice if you want a versatile gaming laptop without breaking the bank.
The Review
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA507NU-DS74
The Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA507NU-DS74 offers good quality in most key areas and arrives with an RTX 4050 GPU, making it an excellent choice if you want a versatile gaming laptop without breaking the bank.
PROS
- Rock-solid Nvidia graphics
- Impressive 1080p screen
- Fast and versatile AMD processor
- Reasonable battery life
CONS
- Middling build quality
- Mediocre connectivity
Review Breakdown
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EDITORS RATING
Last update on 2023-06-08 at 19:50 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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