We’ve tested AMD’s Strix Halo platform in desktop form, and now it arrives in a 14-inch laptop courtesy of Asus’ TUF Gaming A14. This compact laptop delivers abundant CPU performance from its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 and proves well-rounded in many areas beyond raw speed, from battery life to input devices. However, for $2,199.99 as tested, the question is whether its integrated Radeon 8060S graphics can deliver the gaming performance needed to justify its premium price, let alone make it one of the best gaming laptops.

Design of the Asus TUF Gaming A14

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The laptop feels sturdy, with a mostly plastic build except for the aluminum bottom panel and lid backing. It seemed impervious to flex even when I picked it up by a corner. Measuring 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.67 inches and weighing 3.26 pounds, the TUF Gaming A14 is similarly sized yet slightly lighter than the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI (12.68 x 8.84 x 0.71 inches, 3.5 pounds).

The practical port selection starts on the left with HDMI 2.1, USB4, USB-A (10 Gbps), and 3.5mm audio, plus the proprietary power jack for its rather compact 200 W adapter. The remaining ports on the right include a MicroSD card reader and USB-C and USB-A ports (both 10 Gbps). The only area for improvement is wireless; the Realtek 8852CE card supports Wi-Fi 6E, not 7.

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Asus TUF Gaming A14 Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

We tested the TUF Gaming A14 with a Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor with Radeon 8060S graphics and 32GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory. The Radeon 8060S promises strong performance for an integrated GPU featuring 40 cores, though whether it stacks up to a dedicated card in an entry-level gaming laptop remains to be seen.

Playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at a 2560 x 1600 resolution with Epic settings, I saw between 55 and 75 frames per second (FPS), with smooth performance throughout.

Our comparison lineup starts with Acer’s Predator Triton 14 AI featuring a “Lunar Lake” Core Ultra 9 288V and a GeForce RTX 5070 (110 W), which retails for $2,499. Lenovo’s Legion LOQ 15ARP9 follows, delivering a Ryzen 7 250 and RTX 5060 (115 W) for $1,299. The last spot is filled by the Framework Desktop, which seems like an unequal comparison, but it’s one of the only other Strix Halo systems we’ve tested. Its Ryzen AI Max+ 395 offers 16 cores and a 5.1 GHz boost versus the 12 cores and 5 GHz boost of the Max+ 392 chip in the TUF Gaming A14, though the Radeon 8060S GPUs in both chips feature the same number of cores and run at the same frequency. That said, The Framework Desktop offers a substantially more powerful 400 W power supply and has more thermal cooling capacity, differences we expect to show in the benchmarks.

Our charts focus on the 1080p numbers, but we also test at the system’s native resolution if different, which is 2560 x 1600 for the Asus and a slightly higher 2880 x 1800 for the Acer.

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In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the Highest detail preset, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 67 FPS at 1080p, well behind the Framework Desktop (87 FPS) and significantly trailing the Acer (102 FPS) and Lenovo (105 FPS). Performance fell to 37 FPS at native resolution, which is only marginally playable.

The results worsened in Cyberpunk 2077 at Ray Tracing Ultra, where the TUF Gaming A14 managed just 16 FPS at 1080p. While the Framework Desktop fared slightly better at 22 FPS, neither system delivered a playable experience. The Acer (30 FPS) and Lenovo (32 FPS) performed much better thanks to their dedicated Nvidia GPUs.

Playability improved somewhat in Far Cry 6 at Ultra settings, where the TUF Gaming A14 reached 66 FPS at 1080p, though it still lagged the other systems: Lenovo (73 FPS), Framework (83 FPS), and Acer (84 FPS) all did better.

In Red Dead Redemption 2 at the Medium preset, the TUF Gaming A14 posted 49 FPS at 1080p, trailing the Acer and Framework (both 57 FPS) and falling well short of the Lenovo’s leading 68 FPS.

The TUF Gaming A14’s standings didn’t improve in Borderlands 3 at the “Badass” preset, where it delivered 54 FPS at 1080p – 34 FPS slower than the Lenovo’s 88 FPS, its closest competitor in this test.

Stepping back, the TUF Gaming A14 is capable of modern gaming in most titles at 1080p, though running games at its native 1600p resolution may require dialing back the detail settings for smooth performance. However, as the Lenovo LOQ 15 demonstrates, even entry-level gaming laptops can deliver substantially better performance.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 49.8 FPS across all runs, starting at 54.2 before dropping to around 49 FPS by the fourth loop, where its numbers remained steady for the remaining iterations. The Ryzen AI Max+ 392 averaged 1.92 GHz while the Radeon 8060S averaged 1.84 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Our TUF Gaming A14 review sample features an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. With 12 cores, the CPU should deliver strong performance for any task.

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In Geekbench 6, the TUF Gaming A14 delivered competitive single-core performance, scoring 2,867 points to slot between the Acer (2,806 with a Core Ultra 9 288V) and Framework (2,966 with a Ryzen AI Max+ 395) while the Lenovo trailed at 2,548 (Ryzen 7 250). It stood out in multi-core, posting 17,334 points, effectively matching the Framework (17,574) and decisively outperforming both the Acer (10,974) and Lenovo (9,713).

Storage performance was middle-of-the-road. In our 25GB file transfer test, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 1,520.83 MBps, edging out the Acer (1,232.68) and Lenovo (1,378.45), though falling well short of the Framework Desktop’s 2,976.46 MBps.

The TUF Gaming A14 also showed strong performance in Handbrake, completing the 4K-to-1080p transcode in 2 minutes and 45 seconds. That result tied the Framework (2:45) and comfortably beat the Lenovo (4:56) and Acer (6:03).

Taken together, these results indicate the TUF Gaming A14’s value proposition is strongly skewed towards CPU performance. From a productivity standpoint, its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU is substantially stronger than a standard Ryzen 7 laptop CPU based on the Lenovo Legion, making it highly capable for content creation and multi-threaded workloads.

Display on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The TUF Gaming A14’s 14-inch display will satisfy most buyers. Its 2560 x 1600 resolution is well-suited for productivity yet not out of reach for gaming with its Radeon 8060S graphics. Its smooth 165 Hz refresh rate, anti-glare surface, and IPS wide viewing angles also earn it good marks.

The image quality is satisfactory but doesn’t stand out. Watching Blade Runner 2049, the display’s ample contrast allowed for good detail in shadowy scenes and enough brightness to make firefights immersive, though an OLED screen would have punchier contrast and greater color depth.

With a peak brightness of 390 nits, the TUF Gaming A14 easily outshined the Lenovo (315 nits) and the Acer (359 nits), though the latter’s OLED panel doesn’t require the same luminance to appear as bright as the Asus’ IPS. With 82.1% DCI-P3 and 115.3% sRGB coverage, the Asus practically tied the Lenovo in color reproduction. Neither could match the Acer, which covered an astounding 135.7% of DCI-P3.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Ample throw, a cushioned rubbery feel, and comfortable key spacing provides a satisfying typing experience on the TUF Gaming A14. The layout offers no surprises and includes convenient dedicated keys above the Function row for volume, microphone, and launching the Armoury Crate app. Its only real miss is lack of backlighting color customization. Though the white lighting is bright, adjustable in four levels, and offers breathing and strobing effects, this price point virtually mandates RGB customization.

Meanwhile, the touchpad is excellent, offering an appropriately sized surface and quiet, responsive physical clicking action.

Audio on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The Asus’ downward-facing speakers produce a subpar audio experience. They sounded strained with the music I sampled, particularly bass-heavy dubstep, producing almost no bass. Volume is also sufficient only for personal listening. Additionally, there’s no app for tuning equalizers. They can suffice for basic gaming, but the lack of bass means the immersion factor isn’t there. For an entertainment-focused laptop, Asus has a lot to improve here.

Upgradeability of the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The TUF Gaming A14 offers moderate upgradeability: two M.2 2280 drive slots, an M.2 2230 wireless card, and the battery are all serviceable. The RAM is soldered.

The bottom panel is secured by 11 Philips-head screws. Oddly, the one under the corner of the right palmrest is retainer-style while the one on the opposite side isn’t, and both of those screws are shorter than the rest, all of which are uniform length. I didn’t need to use a pry tool to pop the clips securing the bottom panel, using just my fingers to pop the clips along the back edge and working my way around the edges.

Battery Life on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Our battery test consists of web browsing, running OpenGL tests, and streaming videos with the screen at 150 nits while connected to Wi-Fi. The TUF Gaming A14 lasted 9 hours and 7 minutes for the longest runtime in the group, edging out the Acer (8:16) and leaving the Lenovo LOQ (6:50) far behind. While it lands a few hours shy of a premium ultraportable, the TUF Gaming A14’s impressive CPU performance is a worthy tradeoff.

Heat on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Asus’ dual-fan cooling system exhausts air out the rear edge, producing steady streams of heat under load while maintaining an acceptable noise level – it didn’t become bothersome or distracting in my testing.

We measure the surface temperatures of gaming laptops during the Metro Exodus stress test. The peak temperatures on the TUF Gaming A14 were more than acceptable, peaking at 99 degrees F between the keyboard’s G and H keys, 77 F on the touchpad, and 108 F on the underside. Internally, the Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU averaged 58 degrees Celsius.

Webcam on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

The A14’s webcam offers a disappointing picture. Its 1920 x 1080 sensor produces a soft picture with muddy details and suffers from grain in low-light environments. It also struggled to handle background windows and light, underexposing my face. It offers an IR sensor for biometric facial logins but lacks a privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the Asus TUF Gaming A14

Asus includes two main apps on the TUF Gaming A14. The first is Armoury Crate, which provides performance profiles including Performance, Silent, Windows Default, and a manual mode.

By default, the system automatically switches to Performance when plugged in and Silent on battery. Manual mode is a technical deep-dive, with wattage settings for CPU power states and customizable fan profiles. The app also provides control over the amount of system memory dedicated to the GPU, which defaults to 4GB. Even if left at the minimum, the system can still requisition up to 14GB on demand. More memory can be allocated, but it reduces the amount available to Windows. With the default 4GB, Windows can access 28GB of the 32GB total memory.

Armoury Create also includes user preferences: toggles for turning the Windows and Armoury Crate keys and touchpad on or off, keyboard backlighting settings (four brightness levels and static, breathing, or strobing effects), display settings for color temperature and various profiles, such as FPS and RTS/RPG modes for gaming and an eyecare mode to reduce blue light. Most of these settings can be stored in profiles, which can automatically be applied when a specified app is opened.

The other app is MyAsus for diagnostics, support access, and system updates. It also provides a battery care mode to limit the charge to 80%.

There is some bloatware, namely a McAfee Premium + Individual app.

Asus includes a one-year warranty on the TUF Gaming A14.

Asus TUF Gaming A14 Configurations

Our TUF Gaming A14 review sample included a 14-inch 2560 x 1600 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor, Radeon 8060S graphics, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It was $2,199.99 at Best Buy as of publishing.

This is the only configuration available with the Ryzen AI Max+ CPU. Best Buy also offered a $1,699.99 model featuring a Ryzen AI 7 350, RTX 5060 and 16GB of RAM, which ought to provide superior gaming performance.

Bottom Line

The TUF Gaming A14’s ultimately succeeds or fails on the strength of its Ryzen AI Max+ 392 CPU. On the upside, it delivers exceptional CPU performance for demanding productivity workflows at a level rarely seen in a 14-inch chassis, yet still maintains respectable battery life. Paired with comfortable input devices, a competent if unremarkable display, and a solid selection of ports, it presents itself as a capable productivity machine.

The problem is that its Radeon 8060S, while impressive for an integrated solution, simply doesn’t deliver near the level of gaming performance expected from a laptop positioned and priced as a premium gaming system. Even entry-level models, such as the RTX 5060-equipped Lenovo LOQ we used for comparison, provide substantially greater performance at a significantly lower cost, making the TUF Gaming A14 a tough sell as a gaming-first laptop. While its strong CPU performance may suit niche workflows, gamers will find far better value in a laptop with a true dedicated GPU.

Charles Jefferies is a freelance reviewer for Tom’s Hardware US. He covers laptop and desktop PCs, especially gaming models.