Taking a leaf out of its ROG Zephyrus line-up, Asus has reintroduced the TUF Gaming A14 laptop at Computex, equipped with the latest AMD has to offer. Packing Ryzen AI 300 series processors, these are tailor-made for efficiency and artificial intelligence (AI) with 50 TOPS apiece.
Sporting a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU under the hood, it packs the same 12-core (four Zen 5, eight Zen 5c) power as the other newly introduced TUF Gaming A16 but in a smaller form factor. It’ll also offer you the choice of an Nvidia RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070 laptop GPU depending on your budget.
It’s all about portability, as a laptop should be. Asus has crafted it between 16.9mm at its thinnest end when closed and 19.95mm at its thickest. A 1.46kg weight is also reasonable, considering the hardware underneath. Bezels are the narrowest they’ve ever been on the series at just 3.75mm on the sides and 7.15mm on the top to include a Full HD IR webcam. As a point of pride, the brand boasts this is also the first time you can use full biometrics with face unlock on a TUF variant.
The screen is no slouch, either. Like the others in the series, it offers a 16:10 aspect ratio across 2560×1600 resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and 400nits brightness. There’s even an MUX switch so you can keep it glowing for longer.
You might wonder how it received the same TUF rating as others in the series, considering it’s so dainty. After all, this badge of honour says it can withstand vibration, altitude, varying temperatures, and shock from a drop or two (not that I’d recommend it). This is largely thanks to both the bottom and the lid using aluminium, a first for the line-up and something that keeps it light and rugged. Generally, it looks a treat, too, with a sleek aesthetic.
The cooling is similarly impressive, eliminating the usual 15W to 54W and pushing the CPU up to 70W under full load. RTX 4050 and 4060 options can reach 100W TGP (110W using turbo) for up to 35W dynamic boost. Hopefully, it won’t heat your lap too much, but we haven’t had the pleasure of testing it just yet.
One of the more curious choices is to omit RGB on the keyboard. You get plain white lighting with smokey letters, which will please many of the people who’ve answered our latest question of the week on X, Facebook, and Instagram. Fortunately, you can take solace in the fact it has easy access hotkeys. I can’t live without my volume buttons, even if it’s just an extra function key press away on ordinary layouts.
Asus TUF Gaming A14 will be available from £1,299 at Currys with availability targeting July 22. Asus TUF Gaming A16, which features all the same smart design decisions and releases on the same day will start at £1,799 at Asus eShop.
