Asus TUF Dash F15 Review

The Asus TUF Gaming 15 was one of our favorite affordable gaming laptops of 2022, boasting a combination of good looks, reliable performance, and a low price that was just irresistible.

The only small issue was balancing the display and GPU, something that was a result of Asus’ decision to restrict some combinations to certain markets. Now, a more serious successor has arrived – the Asus TUF Dash F15 – with a refreshed design and the latest 12^th-generation Intel processors on the inside.

At around $1500, the latest TUF Dash F15 sits right between true-budget gaming laptops such as the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and kickass gaming rigs such as the Asus ROG Scar Strix 15. That means you get top-tier gaming performance and build quality for little money compared to similarly-configured competitors.

About the Asus TUF Dash F15

With the TUF Dash F15, Asus is offering an evolution rather than a revolution of last year’s model, and that should not be an issue since the 2021 model was still a charmer. Over everything else, the new models are fitted with the latest 12^th Gen Intel Core i7 CPUs and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with everything maxed out. It also comes with decent displays with up to 165Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 color reproduction, up to 32GB RAM, and up to 1TB, along with a fairly fine keyboard with a numeric keypad.

Our review unit packs an Intel Core i7-12650H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with 8GB of video RAM, and a 144Hz FHD (1,920 x 1,080) display. It also comes with 32GB of quad-channel system RAM and a 1TB SSD.

Here are the specs of the laptop in this review:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-12650H
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6
• RAM: 32GB DDR5-4800 MHz
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080p @ 144Hz display, 62.5% sRGB (measured)
• Ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x RJ45 Ethernet, 1 x headphone/microphone jack
• Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Camera: 720p
• Battery: 76Whr lithium-ion battery
• Weight: 4.41 pounds
• Size: 13.94 x 9.88 x 0.78 inches

As with the 2021 (FX506) model, the 2022 (FX507) TUF F15 is available in different iterations: You have a choice of either Intel Core i7-12650H or Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, 3050 Ti, 3060 or 3070 GPU, and you can get to choose from three different screen types, all 15.6-inches across the diagonal: a 144Hz Full HD unit, a 300Hz Full HD screen or a 165Hz QHD screen.

What We Like

Sleek Aesthetics for Gamers

The TUF F15 is one of the best-crafted gaming laptops at this price, with an unobtrusive styling that makes it a perfect fit for work and play. Like its predecessor, it’s made from a combination of aluminum and plastic and feels very sturdy. At 13.94 x 9.88 x 0.78 inches and weighing 4.41 pounds, this newer model is certainly narrower and shorter than most 15-inch gaming laptops and is fairly portable.

Apart from the basic design, the TUF F15 bears a lot of classic gamer stylings. The white WASD keys against a black keyboard are a particular stand out, and the edgy design for the grille and power button looks great, and the thickness gives the machine enough space to house powerful fans. We’d have loved to see programmable RGB-backlit keys, but the white glow is still great to look at.

Again, the matte-black body and lack of LEDs and any other intrusive logos and other non-optional RGBs elevate the laptop’s look above a basic gaming laptop. Both the keyboard deck and the lid of the laptop are cut from aluminum with a gorgeous colorway, so it doesn’t sacrifice rigidity for portability.  The laptop’s bottom is still plastic, so don’t expect a unibody design or anything – that’s something still reserved for high-value gaming devices.

The Asus TUF Dash F15 boasts a plethora of ports, with two USB-A ports on the right of the left. On the left side, you get an extra USB-A, along with a Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, Ethernet, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a dedicated charging port. You can also charge the USB-C for charging the TUF F15, though it’s not quite as fast.

Solid midrange gaming performance

Most midrange gaming laptops are designed to run eSports games at 1080p with all settings maxed out, and the TUF Dash F15 does exactly that at 144Hz refresh rates. The Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card and Intel Core i7-12650H processor make it a great choice – better than budget gaming machines like the HP Victus 15, but still below beasts like the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE or the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage.

It scores well in graphics benchmarks, which is something we expected for the hardware packed inside. In 3DMark TimeSpy tests, it scores 8816 points and in FireStrike it scored 19314 points. That’s fairly higher than the Dell G16, which runs an RTX 3060 GPU, and its in-game performance is equally higher.

In real-world gaming, the Dash F15 runs Shadow of the Tomb Raider – a moderately graphically intense game, at its highest 1080p graphics at 162 frames per second (fps) while the Dell G16 runs the same game at 109fps. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro boasts an 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor and a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card and performs better than both the Dash and G16, averaging 186 fps at the same settings.

Other games are similarly impressive. At each of their highest graphics settings at 1080p, the TUF F15 runs Cyberpunk 2077 at 94 fps (without ray tracing enabled). The Dell G16 runs Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing at 24 fps but runs the same game at 74 fps without ray tracing, while Warhammer III runs at 65 fps.

Under the hood, the Asus TUF Dash F15 packs a 12th-generation Intel Core i7-12650H processor, 32GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage. This is a solid feature set, meaning you can squeeze more performance in processor-intensive tasks like 3D image rendering, and for single-core tasks like surfing the web or watching videos, it won’t stutter even for a minute.

This laptop is more than enough for gaming – you won’t run into any problems with the GPU being bottlenecked or anything – but for professional creatives that are looking to use this laptop as a workstation, as it’s becoming more and more popular, you may want to look elsewhere.

Decent battery life on a gaming laptop

Gaming laptops are never strong when it comes to battery life, though we’ve seen tremendous improvements recently. Most notably, the 2020 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 came out with an AMD Ryzen 4000 processor and an RX 2060 and managed to deliver an amazing 8 hours of battery life in our playback tests.

The latest Asus TUF Dash F15 is even better, clocking almost 10 hours of battery life, with an even more powerful GPU and a 144Hz display. Even in PCMark 10 battery tests, which simulate a wide range of different computing workloads, the Dash F15 lasts around 9 hours, meaning the gaming laptop should have no issue getting you through a full workday. Also, considering how heavy the charging brick is, being able to last a full day is a huge plus.

What we don’t like

The Screen Could be Brighter

While a 144Hz refresh rate screen is great for gaming, but that comes at the cost of color and brightness. The Dash F15’s panel hits a maximum of 250nits and covers about 65% of the standard RGB color gamut – that’s fine for a budget laptop, but at around $1,500, this is a little underwhelming.

With a little more money, you can upgrade to a 300Hz panel and full sRGB range coverage or a 2K panel with full P3 color coverage. For this review, we have the 144Hz, 1920 x 1080 panel, and it performs as expected, but it offers a disappointing experience compared to other laptops in its price range like the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage. We can’t say the 144Hz is worse, but we believe at this price you can do better.

Keyboard lighting can’t be changed

The Asus TUF Dash F15 debuts with a keyboard that’s comfy to type on, with lots of key travel, considering the thin profile of the laptop. Key spacing is also impressive, but we just wish the lighting on the keyboard was a bit different. There’s no RGB lighting here, again a possible compromise for the price.

Instead, Asus offers just teal backlighting, and it’s not the most attractive color we’ve seen on a keyboard out there. It looks gaudy around the WASD keys which are clear. It makes a lot of sense that these keys would be highlighted, because, this is still a gaming machine, but the backlighting makes it look kind of brazen.

In a laptop as gorgeous as the Dash F15, these clear keys are a real standout, and we just wish Asus made it optional or not there at all. Still, some dedicated keys just above the keyboard are certainly useful – you can control the volume without having to awkwardly click the Fn key and the function keys, along with a dedicated mic mute button and one that opens the Asus Armoury software.

Should you buy the Asus TUF Dash F15?

Yes, for the price, it’s a solid gaming laptop even though the competition offers better, especially for anyone looking for a gaming and work machine.

The TUF Dash F15 in this review isn’t the most powerful gaming laptop in this price range, and it isn’t the most stylish, but it does what it’s set out to do fine. If you can buy it on a sale, you’ll squeeze a lot of value out of this sleek, adaptable package – and even at its current price, it offers peppy performance with features normally reserved for top-tier models.

Again, the few things holding the Dash F15 from being the absolute gaming beast don’t affect gaming. Its mediocre base screen and uninspired audio can be remedied by a pair of gaming headphones and the screen isn’t completely gross.

However, if you need the best performance possible, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Advantage blow the Dash F15 out of the woods with bright, vivid screens with 100% sRGB color coverage. Elsewhere, if you need a highly portable gaming laptop, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a much more compact machine with better performance and packs a much better display and up to nine hours of battery life.

That said, if your budget dictates that you can only spend $1,500 or less on a gaming laptop, the Asus TUF Dash F15 is a good choice, and offers decent performance and features across the board. It’s notably far better than its predecessor, and with the RTX 3070 GPU, it offers a unique combination of power, ergonomics, and flexibility that are not easy to nail at this price point.

Last update on 2024-05-17 at 19:14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API