TriangleUpBuy Now

Multiple Buying Options Available

$2,200 at Best Buy

$2,350 at Amazon

$2,200 at B&H Photo

$2,350 at Walmart

CommentLoader-

Save StorySave this story

CommentLoader-

Save StorySave this story

Rating:6/10

Open rating explainerInformation

WIRED

Compact and thin, yet comfortable to use. A sharp, fast, and colorful display. Really responsive keyboard and touchpad. Decent battery life.

TIRED

Not powerful enough for the price. Last year's RTX 5060 model is a better buy.

Gaming laptops should have discrete graphics cards. Outside of the RGB lights, it’s what classifies a laptop made for gaming. All attempts to do otherwise have largely been disasters.

The Asus TUF Gaming A14 wants to rewrite that script. It uses one of AMD’s new Max+ chips, which come with impressive integrated graphics instead, not unlike Apple’s high-end MacBook chips. After loading up some games, I was impressed how quickly I forgot about this laptop's lack of GPU. I wish it were cheaper though, as its performance can't compete with more powerful gaming laptops at this price.

Can't Pin It Down

Photograph: Luke Larsen

The Asus TUF A14 is an enigma. First of all, it’s a 14-inch gaming laptop. It's hard to get these components into a smaller package, so these are usually rare and usually reserved for high-end gaming laptops, like the Razer Blade 14. Second, the A14 is in Asus’ “TUF” brand, which are its most price-conscious options. Last, there’s the aforementioned AMD chip. All that is to say, the TUF A14 was one of the gaming laptops I was most excited to test this year.

In the past, I’ve stayed away from Asus TUF laptops, as it was the bottom-tier in terms of design. That meant chunky chassis, poor displays, and thick bezels. The models from 2025 looked more modern, but the prices weren’t competitive with some of my favorite cheap gaming laptops like the Lenovo LOQ 15 and Acer Nitro V 16.

But again, the TUF A14 is something new, and the design is impressive. It’s right around the same thickness and weight as the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and the bezels around the sides of the screen are really trim. The bottom bezel is thick, primarily because the A14 uses a 16:9 aspect ratio screen. I won’t belabor that point, but it means less screen and more bezel in the same footprint. Overall, it’s very subtle. The gaming aesthetic is heavily downplayed, with only a few elements left, such as the typeface on the keycaps and the shape of the vents below the hinge. There’s not even per-key backlighting on the keyboard.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

You’d never know this was a gaming laptop based on the usability of the keyboard and touchpad; on gaming laptops versus work ones, these can often be afterthoughts. Here, they’re both excellent. The touchpad, in particular, is oversized and surprisingly precise. Although the laptop is made of plastic, it handled the pressure I was putting on it around the lid, keyboard, and palm rests without too much give.

The TUF A14 has a helpful assortment of ports. On the left side, you get a USB-A 3.2 port, USB-C port, HDMI 2.1, headphone jack, and proprietary power jack. You get an additional USB-A and USB-C (USB4) port on the right side, alongside a micro SD card slot. I really like the decision to put the USB4 port on the right side, as it means you can both charge the laptop or connect to an external display from the right side too. Only being able to charge from one side is one of my pet peeves, so good job, TUF A14.

More Than Gaming

Photograph: Luke Larsen

Once I saw the resolution of the display, I knew the TUF A14 was no longer a real “budget” device. It’s 2560 x 1600, a big step up from the typical cheap gaming laptop. It also has a 165 Hz refresh rate, which is useful for when playing in 1200p—and let’s be honest, that’s the go-to the vast majority of the time. The higher resolution, though, plays into why the A14 is a solid hybrid device that can work as well for gaming as it does for school or work.

It goes up to 411 nits according to my colorimeter, which is plenty bright for both gaming and taking work on the go. While the color performance won't knock your socks off, it's better than many gaming laptops I've tested.

The webcam and speakers aren’t anything special. The camera is 1080p and has an IR camera built-in for Windows Hello. The image quality will get the job done, but if you’re in daily video calls, you and your coworkers may not love the quality. As always, the quality of your own lighting has a larger impact on image . The stereo speakers are perhaps the weakest aspect of this laptop’s multimedia package. The bass is pretty pathetic, and there’s a lack of body to the sound. But that’s nothing too surprising.

No GPU Required

Yes, the Asus TUF A14 successfully recreates the gaming performance of a discrete GPU with only AMD’s gigantic Max+ 392 chip—also known as Strix Halo. You can see how that performed in

Asus TUF Gaming A14 (2026) Review: GPU-Less Gaming Laptop | WIRED