Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2022)
A high-quality and powerful gaming laptop that sacrifices style and slenderness in the name of value
Over the past three months I’ve reviewed numerous Asus gaming laptops, including the gorgeous ROG Zephyrus M16 ( see issue 331, p59). Where that cost
£2,600 and included all the gaming mod cons, this 2022 update to the TUF Gaming F15 is focused on value.
That means the F15 won’t include top-end components. For example, the Core i7-12700H here is as fast as the TUF Gaming series gets, while the graphics card peaks with the RTX 3070. Compare that to the Core i9-12900H and RTX 3070 Ti of the M16.
My test F15 featured an RTX 3060 mobile graphics chip, and together with that Core i7 processor and 16GB of DDR5 RAM it returned strong figures in our gaming tests. At the panel’s native resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 we saw 99fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 58fps in Metro: Exodus and 77fps in Dirt 5. Those are all with High settings and DLSS/ray tracing where offered.
The screen goes up to 165Hz but you’ll need to upgrade to an RTX 3070 (the top chip in this range) to see such returns in most games. Even at 1080p, its best result was 156fps in Metro: Exodus with Low settings, with 138fps in Dirt 5 and 152fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
All of these results relied on the fan running at full and loud pelt, which you activate with Asus’ Armoury
Crate software. This squeezes the most out of the i7-12700H’s 14 cores: eight Performance, six Efficiency. To give an idea of the difference the extra fans give, it scored 468 in the PC Pro benchmarks with them on full blast and 433 when kept at their more demure, default setting.
It’s always great to see a 1TB SSD in place, and while it’s a Gen 3 device, with sequential read and write speeds of 2,594MB/sec and 1,450MB/sec, that’s plenty for gaming. You can replace it easily enough, with 13 crosshead screws keeping the laptop’s plastic bottom securely in place. This also provides access to two SODIMM sockets, both of which are full as supplied.
Considering this laptop’s focus on price it’s good to see Thunderbolt 4 on offer, sitting on the left-hand side next to a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port. Asus provides a sticker to identify which is which. The Gigabit (not 2.5Gb) Ethernet port needs no such introduction, nor the HDMI output, USB-A port and 3.5mm jack that also sit on the left. It makes the solitary USB-A port on the right seem all the more lonely. If you ever need to call the F15 into action on a Zoom call then you can rely on the 720p webcam, which captures surprisingly solid videos with a fine set of microphones.
At this point, you may be wondering why even consider the Zephyrus if you’re happy with RTX 3060 or RTX 3070 graphics. Much of the answer boils down to bulk and styling. For example, where the Zephyrus’ lid offers texture and detail, the TUF Gaming F15’s lid is simply an expanse of grey metal with a raised logo. It’s unlikely to strike awe or wonder into opponents. Perhaps more tellingly, the F15 is a chunk heavier (2.2kg versus 2kg) and 5mm thicker at 24.9mm. Not that either machine is geared towards mobility: they share similarly poor battery life, despite a 90Wh battery, lasting for around six hours in light use and a miserly 54mins when gaming.
Another omission here is per-key RGB backlighting, with the F15 making do with effects that work across the whole board. You can pick any colour you like, though, and the transparent WASD keys add a dash of style. It isn’t a mechanical keyboard but has plenty of travel and a definitive key action, so you won’t feel short-changed. And the trackpad is both slick and large.
A 15.6in IPS panel is its partner in crime, and this covers 95% of the DCI-P3 gamut with an excellent average Delta E of 0.51. In other words, perfectly accurate. Where it falls behind the Zephyrus is brightness, peaking at 339cd/m 2 to that laptop’s 480cd/m 2 .
So this isn’t a luxury machine. Rather, it’s a laptop built to excite bargain-hunters rather than the style-conscious, and it extracts all the necessary juice from the core components. We still await confirmation of a price for this exact specification, but when you can buy the RTX 3070 version from Scan today for £1,699 ( pcpro.link/334TUF) I see no point in waiting.
“It’s a laptop built to excite bargain-hunters, and it extracts all the necessary juice from the core components”
SPECIFICATIONS
14-core (6 P-core, 8 E-core) Intel Core i7-12700H processor 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics 16GB DDR5-4800 RAM 15.6in non-touch IPS display, 165Hz, 2,560 x 1,440 resolution Bluetooth 5.2 1x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 HDMI 2.0b Gigabit Ethernet 3.5mm combo jack 90Wh battery Windows 11 Home 354 x 252 x 24.9mm (WDH) 2.2kg 1yr C&R warranty