New Asus TUF FX505DT review: At Rs 81K, this gaming laptop offers the right balance of price & performance

While Asus' ROG series has focused on over-the-top gaming performance; the TUF series offers a more affordable alternative. We recently got our hands on the new Asus TUF FX505DT gaming laptop, updated with the latest AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia GTX 16 series graphics.

While the new and improved TUF gaming laptop is by no means a hardcore gaming machine, it does offer the mobile gamer an excellent value for money proposition.

The FX505DT we received was equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor and Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU with 4G GDDR5 VRAM, a considerable improvement over the previous generation GeForce 1050 Ti and RX 560 cards. Additionally, the 8GB DDR4-2666MHz and 256GB NVMe SSD combine to deliver unparalleled performance at this price point.

Performance

Most games we tested on this machine delivered an average of 60 fps and above on ultra-settings. The more recent titles like Battlefield V and Apex Legends saw frame rates drop on high settings with the former averaging at 40 fps and the latter at 58 fps. We recommend turning the settings down to medium if you're opting for multiplayer in Battlefield V to ensure higher fps. The average 58 fps on Apex Legends didn't really affect gameplay, so there's no need to worry.

Our Cinebench R15 test also yielded satisfying results, earning a 153 single-core and 771 multi-core score. The improved Nvidia Turing architecture offered a significant bump in performance from last year's Pascal-based GTX 1050Ti and 1050, receiving a 7857 score on 3DMark's Fire Strike and a 12921 score on 3D Mark 11's benchmark tests.

Cooling

This Asus gaming laptop utilises HyperCool Technology to keep the laptop cool at all times. We put the FX505DT under tremendous pressure when running titles like Battlefield V on high graphics settings, but the machine remained relatively cool.

We also found switching between fan modes to be quite useful. The Silent Mode keeps the fans generally quite and was effective while browsing the web and completing office work (Like writing this review). Hitting FN + F5 lets you switch between fan modes in an instant; we used the Turbo Mode while gaming as it allowed us to fully exploit the power of the system.

Display

Asus adopts a 15.6-inch IPS-Level NanoEdge Display on the new TUF gaming laptop. 'NanoEdge' seems to refer to the slim bezels on the three sides of the display. One of the best features of this IPS panel is its 120Hz refresh rate. The high refresh rate screen really allowed us to take full advantage of the high performance and on every game that averaged above 60 fps. Apart from the 120Hz refresh rate, the panel offered colour consistency, regardless of our viewing angle.

Design

The build quality of the new Asus TUF gaming laptop is pretty solid. The Gunmetal Gray aluminium lid coupled with a Stealth Black chassis ensure that the TUF FX505DT looks like a premium machine. Asus's TUF series is thoroughly tested to withstand extreme environments, accidental drops you name it.

Keyboard

The keyboard on the new TUF laptop isn't over-the-top, or anything new we've seen in Asus gaming laptops – The Function keys are divided to make shortcuts more intuitive, The W, A, S, D keys are highlighted, Each keycap is gently curved to cradle your fingertips. The keys have a nice travel distance of 1.8mm, the switches are durable and rated lifespan of 20 million presses, the numpad seems forced, you know the usual Asus design.

In our view, if the keyboard design isn't an aberration, then it's better not to change it. Our model featured an RGB backlit keyboard, but the lighting is pretty dim, and there's not much you can do in terms of customisation.

Audio

Audio quality on the TUF FX505DT is quite impressive. The fans on Turbo Mode couldn't really drown out the sound while playing Apex Legends. Additionally, DTS Headphone: X technology brings 7.1-channel virtual surround sound to stereo headsets or speakers that are plugged in.

I/O

We found a host of I/O ports on the TUF FX505 including a USB 2.0, 2xUSB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, an HDMI 2.0, an RJ-45 and a 3.5mm Headphone Jack, pretty much all you need. The TUF FX505 also featured one of the fastest Wi-Fi standards available, the Intel 802.11ac Wave 2. The HD webcam tucked away in the slim bezel on the top of the screen is just about decent.

Battery

In terms of battery, our machine came with a 48Whr battery. You are by no means going to get a good battery life on this device, the best you can hope for is around 4 hours on Silent Mode. Gaming without power will give you less than an hour if you drop settings. On Silent Mode while undertaking regular office tasks on MS Office and Chrome, we saw little over 3 hours of battery life.

Price

Lastly, we come to the price; 'saving the best for last' as the saying goes. The Asus TUF FX505DT model we received is priced at Rs 81,990. The refreshed TUF gaming laptop offers a pretty substantial bump in performance over the last generation, which is why we believe that at this price the FX505DT is an excellent value for money proposition.

Final Verdict

In the new TUF FX505DT, Asus has found the right balance of price and performance. The TUF gaming notebook can run most AAA titles on high-settings, which is a significant improvement from last generation TUF laptops that could only be trusted to run E-sports titles on high-settings. The only areas where this laptop fails to deliver is battery life.

The Good

• FHD 120Hz display looks great
• Notable performance bump from the last generation
• Excellent cooling system
• Good value for money
• Solid design and build quality

• Poor battery life, even by gaming laptop standards
• Webcam could be better