Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2022) Review: A versatile gaming laptop with performance at its core

The Asus TUF Gaming F15 laptop has officially been dropped in India. The new TUF F15 gaming laptop uses the latest 12^th Gen Intel CPU hardware and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics.

The Asus TUF Gaming F15 laptop features a starting price of Rs 1,14,990 in India. However, our model with the 12^th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU will set you back Rs 1,40,990. Unlike the company’s top ROG series, the TUF Gaming series is targeted towards delivering the best performance at the best price. So, read on and find out if the Asus TUF Gaming F15 laptop can stand up to scrutiny.

In terms of the design, not much has changed, the new TUF F15 has a slightly lighter and thinner portfolio. The laptop weighs 2.2 kg and is 24.95mm thick. The laptop comes in Mecha Grey or Jaegar Grey (our model) finishes with a brushed metal lid. The rest of the chassis is made of plastic, although the quality of plastic is solid with comparatively less screen and keyboard flex as compared to last year.

There are vents on both the sides and the back of the laptop for cooling. The laptop has passed the Military Garde MIL-STD 810H test, which offers “some” drop protection, although I’d still be worried if I dropped this machine. The new Asus TUF F15 (2022) is quite bulky, although the build quality is solid.

The TUF Gaming F15 laptop features a strong assortment of ports. On the left, you get one full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, an HDMI port, an RJ45 Lan port, an audio jack, the power output, and two USB Type-C ports, one of which offers Thunderbolt 4 support. On the right side, all you get is a Kensington Lock and another full-size USB port. The TUF F15 also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. The main difference from last year’s TUF F15 is replacing a full-size USB port with a USB Type-C port.

As far as keyboards go, not much has changed from previous TUF laptops, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I found the keyboard to be quite comfortable to use both for gaming and typing. The keys offer a nice travel distance, while the spacing between the keys is adequate enough despite the addition of a Numpad. Additionally, the WASD keys also feature transparent keycaps.

While the white characters on the keys are bright enough to use without a backlit, the new TUF gaming laptop does have a single-zone RGB backlit keyboard. Additionally, the lighting can also be customised using Asus’ Armoury Crate software. The TUF F15 also comes with a mid-sized trackpad with physical left and right buttons. The trackpad was quite smooth and responsive, but I stuck to the mouse for the most part. Additionally, it also supports gesture navigation and Windows Precision Drivers.

The new TUF Gaming F15 laptop can be equipped with a 15.6-inch FHD or WQHD IPS display. Our model came with the WQHD model, which features a 165Hz refresh rate and a 3ms response time. The screen also features 300 nits of brightness, which is plenty bright for a gaming laptop. You also get 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage for some content creation. Additionally, the screen also boasted accurate colour reproduction and offered excellent viewing angles.

The display also supports Adaptive-Sync, which synchronizes the refresh rate with the GPU’s output to reduce lag, minimize stuttering, and eliminate visual tearing. I think the display on the new TUF gaming laptop is perfect if you opt for the RTX 3060 card. Not only does the laptop sport a solid panel for gaming, but it can also be used by creators, making it perfect for a gaming laptop.

For performance, the TUF Gaming F15 (2022) is equipped with a 12^th Gen Intel Core i7 -12700H CPU paired with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 1TB of NVMe SSD storage. The laptop features Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics or a discrete Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU with up to 140W power. Additionally, PCIe Gen 4 enables faster SSD storage. I tested all games on the TUF gaming laptop on high settings for the best visuals to fps ratio.

In Overwatch, the TUF laptop managed 145fps on average, while Apex Legends saw the machine reach the 130fps mark on average. Another multiplayer title tested was Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, where the machine maintained a steady 105fps average. Battlefield V managed 85fps on average. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ran smoothly on Quality mode, while I also tried a bit of Horizon Zero Dawn on Ultra settings.

#CallofDuty on the @ASUSIndia TUF Gaming F15 (2022)

12th Gen Core i7 + RTX 3060 #NoobGoesPro#CallofDutyBlackOpsColdWar#Asus#GamingLaptopspic.twitter.com/osqrrKB3mR — Carlsen Martin (@Carlsen0491) March 15, 2022

It is worth noting that all the titles here were tested in 1440p resolution, and I’d recommend switching to Full HD resolution for higher frame rates. However, single-player games should be played in 1440p resolution to take advantage of the QHD display. Additionally, the new MUX switch can be used directly in the software which increases performance by around five percent in games.

#GuardiansOfTheGalaxy on the @ASUSIndia TUF Gaming F15 (2022). #NoobGoesPro#GamingLaptopspic.twitter.com/1uiWZ8AcV6 — Carlsen Martin (@Carlsen0491) March 15, 2022

Looking at some benchmarks and the new Intel Core i7 CPU managed a single-core score of 1580 points and a multi-core score of 11038 points. In Cinebench R23’s 10-minute Throttling Test, the CPU scored 1677 points in the single-core test and 11297 points in the multi-core test. In the regular Cinebench R23 test, the single-core score remained more or less the same, but the multi-core hit 14044 points, which was higher than the 12505 points recorded by the Legion 7 with the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU.

The CPU ran anywhere between 85 to 95 degrees in Turbo Mode, while the GPU temperatures averaged between 70 to 80 degrees. And while the TUF Gaming F15 (2022) laptop runs hot under pressure, it ensures that the heat gets nowhere close to the surface of the notebook. The new cooling system is designed to offer the best performance while ensuring the heat stays away from your hands. I’d say the Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU combination here is pretty solid for both gamers and content creators.

The new TUF gaming laptop packs a large 90Whr battery and comes with a 240W power adapter. Last year, Asus managed some impressive battery results on its ROG Zephyrus G series. However, that didn’t seem to be the case with the new TUF F15 laptop, but it did manage to get pretty close. In our real-world test, the TUF F15 (2022) lasted almost six hours of multi-tasking between Chrome (Only two tabs opened) and MS Word. I also got around six and a half hours running YouTube videos continuously.

It is worth noting that these results were achieved on 35 percent brightness and in the case of the YouTube test, external headphones were connected to the laptop via the USB port. Additionally, the MUX switch disables Nvidia Optimus enabling better performance in games, although it is best to switch it off when your laptop is being in battery mode. Gaming on the laptop’s battery is a bad idea as you’ll only get an hour of game time with a major hit to graphics. Overall, the new TUF F15 (2022) offers solid battery life for a gaming laptop, it’s not insane, but well-above average.

The Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2022) laptop comes with dual speakers that feature Dolby Atmos support and Hi-Res Audio certification. Sound quality is decent when using the laptop speakers, while the overall volume is high enough that dialogue in videos is audible even when sitting in a room with a noisy fan. I’d recommend using a headset for gaming as the fans can get loud and mess up the audio experience.

The new TUF gaming laptop also comes with a 720p HD webcam for video calls. The notebook is also equipped with two-way AI Noise Cancelation that works for both upstream and downstream connections, letting you remove noise from your mic input and incoming feeds.

All things considered, the TUF F15 gaming laptop is an excellent machine. Apart from build quality, there is really nothing to complain about here. The TUF F15 (2022) offers superb performance, a vibrant display, a comfortable keyboard, and powerful audio while maintaining good battery life and offering a solid assortment of ports. While the build quality is not top-class, it is still pretty sturdy with its aluminium lid and military-grade certification. The MUX switch was another great addition to help boost gaming performance. With a price tag of Rs 1,40,990, the Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2022) laptop doesn’t come cheap.

It is worth noting that the chip shortage and supply chain constraints will have played a major role in this new pricing, and this does seem to be the trend with all major OEMs. To conclude this review, I’d have to say that the Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2022) is an excellent gaming laptop that prioritizes performance above all else, which is just what you’d want from a gaming laptop. But the new pricing does make last gen’s TUF F15 an easier sell than the current one.