Top pick
This laptop features powerful Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics hardware and performs better than some of the most expensive models we’ve tested. With a 14-inch display, decent battery life, and a 1080p webcam, it’s also suitable for everyday use.
Recommended configuration
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS | Graphics: | Nvidia RTX 4060 with 8 GB VRAM |
| Memory: | 16 GB | Storage: | 1 TB SSD |
| Screen: | 14-inch 2560×1600 165 Hz | Weight: | 3.22 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 12.2 by 8.9 by 0.67 inches | Tested battery life: | 10.5 hours |
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 (FA401UV-DB74) should play most games smoothly for years to come. It’s equipped with powerful graphics and processing hardware, and it consistently produced high frame rates in our tests. It also has a slim, lightweight build, a decent webcam, and a longer battery life than most gaming laptops offer, making it one of the only models we’ve tested that can reasonably double up as a work or everyday laptop.
It should be powerful enough to play the newest games for the next few years. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 has enough VRAM and processing power to meet the system requirements for the majority of today’s most taxing games. Although video game technology advances quickly, the hardware in this laptop should remain capable of playing games smoothly at 2560×1600 resolution for years to come.
It delivers high frame rates and smooth performance, and it stays cool to the touch while doing so. In our benchmark tests, the TUF Gaming A14 delivered more than 70 frames per second in every game on the highest settings, including an average of 94 frames per second on ultra settings in Assassin’s Creed Mirage. This laptop’s keys and underside never got too hot to touch, and its internal components stayed acceptably cool when we pushed its performance to the max.
The fans aren’t completely silent, but they’re quiet enough to ignore. When you run games on high settings, you’ll definitely hear the whooshing sound of the fans in the background. We didn’t find them loud enough to annoy someone else in the room, and they were unnoticeable once we raised the volume of the laptop’s speakers.
It’s the most portable gaming laptop we recommend. The TUF Gaming A14 takes up about as much space in a backpack as a 14-inch MacBook Pro, and it’s more lightweight than our other picks. Despite its small footprint, it still offers most of the necessary ports: two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, an HDMI port, a microSD card reader, and an audio jack. However, it doesn’t have an Ethernet port, so you’ll have to get a separate adapter for wired connections.
The webcam and battery life are actually decent. Most cheap gaming laptops include low-quality webcams, and run out of charge after just a few hours of basic web browsing. But the TUF Gaming A14’s front-facing camera has a 1080p resolution, making this laptop more ideal for work-related tasks than our other picks. It can also last more than 10 and a half hours on battery power if you’re not running any intensive programs, though setting the display’s brightness and refresh rate higher, and the keyboard’s backlighting brighter, will reduce battery life.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
You can’t upgrade the RAM. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 comes with 16 GB of memory, but that’s the maximum amount this laptop supports. However, this should be more than enough to play the most modern, demanding games.
It doesn’t have RBG lighting. The keyboard has white backlighting, and there’s a button on the function row that cycles between static, breathing, and strobing effects. But you can’t change the color or customize the animations—an unnecessary feature, but one we’ve liked in other gaming laptops.
