ASUS TUF Gaming F15 review: Powerful and worth spending for!

The Taiwanese giant has launched the 2022 variant of its successful ASUS TUF Gaming F15 gaming laptop, powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake processors. So, this brings next-gen performance onboard by these beastly 12th Gen Intel SKUs that help to give the best frame rates in any new modern games.

As usual, the CPU is paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series graphics, here our review unit is the top-of-the-line one, using an RTX 3060. These gaming laptops are a bit pricier than before but have a new design, and updated hardware which has raised the price significantly.

Now the RTX™ 3060 Laptop GPU comes with up to 140W max TGP and so, you can expect good gaming performance out of these gaming laptops. While in terms of a display too, ASUS has got you covered with either QHD 165Hz or FHD 300Hz options with Adaptive-Sync and an 80% screen-to-body ratio.

Obviously, using features like DDR5, Thunderbolt™ 4, and a bigger 90Wh battery has made ASUS increase the prices a bit, however, it’s worth it considering the performance bump. I was a lot excited to review this new TUF Gaming F15 gaming laptop as I liked the predecessor and the new one with 12th Gen Intel CPU looks really powerful on paper.

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So, is it worth going for in 2022? Do the new 12th Gen Intel processors live up to the hype in the real world? Let’s find out:

Specifications of ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022)

• Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H, 14 cores (6 P-cores and 8 E-cores), 2.3 GHz Base Speed, Up to 4.7 GHz Max Turbo Speed, 24MB Cache
• Memory: 16GB (8GB SO-DIMM *2) DDR5 4800MHz, Support Up to 32GB | Storage: 1TB SSD M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GDDR6 6GB VRAM, with MUX Switch + Optimus, 1752MHz* at 140W TGP (1702MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 115W+25W Dynamic Boost)
• Display: 15.6-inch, WQHD (2560 x 1440) 16:9, anti-glare display, DCI-P3:100, Refresh Rate:165Hz, IPS-level, Adaptive-Sync, MUX Switch + Optimus
• Operating System: Pre-loaded Windows 11 Home with lifetime validity | Software Included: Pre-loaded Office Home and Student with lifetime validity | McAfee Anti-Virus (1 Year Validity)

• Keyboard: RGB Backlit Chiclet Keyboard
• I/O Port: 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x RJ45 LAN port, 1x Thunderbolt 4 support DisplayPort, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort / G-SYNC, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.0b
• Audio: Dual Speaker, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res certification, Built-in array microphone, AI noise-cancelling technology
• Battery: 90WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion battery with 240W AC Adapter
• Other: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2*2 + Bluetooth 5.2 | Built-in array microphone | 720P HD camera
• Weight: 2.20 Kg, Dimensions(W x D x H): 35.4 x 25.1 x 2.24 ~ 2.49 cm (13.94″ x 9.88″ x 0.88″ ~ 0.98″)

Design & Build Quality

This time, ASUS has given a very premium aesthetic look to the 2022 TUF Gaming F15 laptop, and gone are those days when it was called the budget gaming laptop. One can either choose between embossed (Mecha grey) or laser-sculpted versions (Jaegar grey) on the solid aluminium lid, granting the laptop a sleek yet solid appearance.

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Here we have the Jaegar Grey variant and it looks great with a solid build quality yet weighing a nominal 2.2kg. ASUS has still kept the laptop MIL-STD-810H certified to ensure a long-lasting, durable device for users always on the move. As I noted comparing this one with last-gen, this has a more compact footprint than last year (4.5% smaller).

The new logo design gives a bold look to this gaming laptop and delivers enthusiast-level performance in a slimmer & portable package. Overall, in terms of both design & build quality, ASUS has done a great job and indeed owning a new TUF Gaming F15 gaming laptop will significantly boost your lifestyle.

Display

ASUS has upgraded the display of this new TUF Gaming F15 and now you can choose between an FHD 300Hz panel and a QHD 165Hz panel that too with high color accuracy. In 2022, the best variant which we are reviewing covers 100% of the DCI P3 color gamut and yes it looks great, a great upgrade for gamers who want a better quality display.

You can also opt for the FHD panel with a 300Hz refresh rate if you want to enjoy those extra frame rates in games, especially competitive shooters. Or else for most people the QHD display will be a joy to use every day and play games as well, also, for productivity works the display is good enough as it goes bright enough for indoor usage.

Here are some of the display analysis results with our Datacolor SpyderX Pro:

As you see in the tests, as a gaming laptop this TUF Gaming F15 (2022) has a good display which is more than enough for high-performance gaming. It covers 100% sRGB color gamut and 98% DCI-P3 color gamut, which until now couldn’t even be imagined that too still retaining a QHD resolution with 165Hz refresh rate.

The peak brightness is limited to 334 nits and the contrast ratio could have been better but I am not complaining, overall, in games, the display performs really good with no lags or stutter. For indoor gaming, it’s adequately bright and even for casual work or entertainment, you have a nice display to work or play on.

Performance

The key highlight of this ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022) is the incredible performance these 12th Gen Intel processors boast of. Here you have a 12^th Gen Core i7 – 12700H sporting 14 cores and 20 threads, making it a desktop-calibre performer, paired with an NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3060 GPU.

The key difference between the predecessor and this new variant is the fact that the GPU was limited to 95W last year while now the RTX 3060 uses up to 130W TGP (115 + 25W TGP). Now, add the single-core performance improvements that the Core i7 12700H brings, you get insane gaming/productivity performance in real life.

ASUS has used a dedicated MUX Switch at the bottom of the laptop whose basic work is to switch between the discrete GPU and the integrated GPU. As modern-day gaming laptops use powerful, dedicated graphics chips for high performance, not always such power is required and CPU’s integrated graphics is enough for daily work.

In terms of raw performance, the Core i7 12700H really shines in both single-core and multi-core scores across various benchmarks. Also, in productivity applications too, Intel’s architectural improvements make a difference, here are some of the benchmarks we have taken with this ASUS TUF Gaming F15:

As you see here across a wide range of benchmarks, the new ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022) just rips apart all the gaming laptops we had tested before, scoring phenomenally well whether be it single-core or multi-core. The new Intel Core i7 12700H comfortably beats its predecessors and tops our chart in almost all benchmarks except the PC Mark 10 where it falls behind its predecessor we don’t know why.

Apart from that if you just compared the Core i9-11900H powered TUF Gaming F15 of last year, we see a huge 36% improvement in multi-core and a minor yet effective 6% increase in single-core as of Geekbench, the story remains the same in other benchmarks as well. So, you can guess how powerful these new Intel CPUs are and if your gaming laptop own one, you definitely will have a beast at your hands.

Here are some of the 3DMark benchmarks for your reference:

In all of these 3DMark benchmarks, you see the gaming laptop perform impressively well, totally sucking the increased TGP of the RTX 3060 and shining with good scores.

Also, talking about the storage performance, that is quite unexpected because ASUS has used a PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD, though the best one for its category but a Gen 4 SSD would have been much better for daily work and faster game load speeds. However, if you want to expand the storage you are free to do so as the Core i7-12700H will support faster Gen 4 drives easily.

Gaming

Coming to gaming, the new ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022) performs really well at QHD even with an RTX 3060 laptop GPU. This is because of the increased TGP and the incredible single-core performance gain these 12th Gen Intel processors brings does help in gaming at max settings.

In most games, at QHD you get good frame rates and I did enjoy playing at max settings because the laptop handed it pretty easily. However, if your game does support DLSS, which is an added bonus, suppose Cyberpunk 2077 you can play games at QHD with Ray Tracing enabled, giving you over 60 FPS and a great view as a gamer to enjoy at.

If you are interested in how this new ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022) performs here are a wide number of benchmarks in modern games:

As you see in all of the games, the fiersome combo of Core i7 12700H + RTX 3060 makes QHD gaming possible at high settings without any hiccups. Even in heavy games like Control or Cyberpunk 2077 you are getting good frame rates even without DLSS and with it, you can comfortably enjoy games with highest fidelity without scrificing on frame rates.

Keyboard & Trackpad

The keyboard layout hasn’t changed a bit from the traditional one seen on the TUF Gaming F15 traditionally, so you have a desktop-sized keyboard optimized for gaming with 1.7mm of satisfying travel distance. The keycaps are soft to press or type on and I enjoyed writing articles on the gaming laptop, however, the distance between each key could have been shorter.

Also, you have RGB backlighting that lets you express your own unique style and the highlighted WASD accents to focus on during gaming. Overall, the keyboard is good for normal usage as well as gaming, nothing extraordinary. Talking about the trackpad, as ASUS says there’s now a 26% larger touchpad and I did notice it to be quite big this time.

The trackpad is smooth and clicky, pretty usable for daily work, however, for gaming or serious stuff, you will use a dedicated mouse anyways. Also, I feel the new four-way indicator built into the keyboard deck is pretty handy as it allows you to quickly monitor your key system information.

I/O & Connectivity

As you expect from a gaming laptop, this ASUS TUF Gaming F15 features a quite a lot of ports and on the left-hand side you have the DC power connector, RJ-45, HDMI 2.0b, Thunderbolt 4 with DP 1.4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DP 1.4 and GSYNC support, also you have a much-needed USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and a headphone jack.

On the right-hand side, you have a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and a Kensington lock while the right-hand vent gushes all the air out during gaming to keep the laptop cool. In terms of connectivity, you have both Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2*2 + Bluetooth 5.2 for quick internet downloads or access along with the freedom to use any Bluetooth device with the laptop.

Thermals & Upgradability

Another area where ASUS had to work has to be the thermals of the new TUF Gaming F15 because to tame a 14-core monster that too into a sleek and slim package you need clever engineering. Now you have five dedicated copper heat pipes along with the new 84-blade Arc Flow fans™ that draw heat away from the CPU, GPU, VRM and VRAM.

These new fans dissipate heat quickly through four heatsinks and fan outlets, keeping component temperatures at optimum levels. In real life too, the fans are very silent during normal work and only start kicking in if you open a game or resource-intensive application or suppose you are using the Performance or Turbo mode.

We used the Turbo mode (45W + 115W) to test all the benchmarks and if you do not intend to push your gaming laptop to Performance mode
(35W + 100W) most of the time to extend the longevity of this TUF Gaming F15. Now, coming to the upgradeability, ASUS has indeed maintained an easy-upgrade design.

You can quickly take off the back of the laptop to reveal its components and as you see you have extra SO-DIMM and SSD slots, accessible beneath the bottom panel, making upgrading very easy if you plan to use the gaming laptop for years down to come.

Audio & Webcam

ASUS has used a dual-speaker audio system on this new 2022 TUF Gaming F15 and the overall sound quality has improved a bit from last year, thanks to the Dolby Atmos support and Hi-Res Audio certification. I did enjoy playing music or watching movies on this gaming laptop and if you want to play games enjoying the loud sound of the game, this laptop delivers effortlessly.

I am also impressed that even if you plug-in headphones, this laptop can provide an immersive experience thanks to Dolby Atmos if it supports so. Also, thanks to Advanced Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation, gamers can talk during gaming sessions clearly and while talking about the webcam, you have no such key improvements as you still have a 720p webcam.

Battery Life

Last but not the least, the battery life of the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 has not improved drastically as it still rocks the same 90Whr battery. However, the advantage that 12th Gen Intel processors bring is the mix of having efficient cores and performance cores, so when not needed the laptop is very silent.

Use the MUX switch to disable the discrete GPU to further extend the battery life of the laptop when you are not doing anything intensive. Overall, I can see you can expect extra 1-hour battery life from last year and I was getting somewhere around 4-5 hours of usage (not gaming or discrete GPU intensive tasks), which is average.

Verdict

Now, it’s the judgement time, whether you should buy the new ASUS TUF Gaming F15 (2022) or not, well, to be honest, yes you should. ASUS has made some key improvements to make it more powerful than last-gen and deliver better frame rates even with the same RTX 3060 it used last year.

With new design changes, a bolder look makes it a modern-day 2022 gaming laptop and is beyond the budget “TUF” assumption we had previously. The top-of-line 12th Gen Intel processors are indeed really powerful and better than last-gen, so ASUS has done a great job in utilizing the performance of these chips within thermal limits.

Accompanied with a great display, modern connectivity and decent battery life you cannot go wrong with this gaming laptop. I used it for over 2 weeks and I did play a lot of games at night regularly while using it for my work during the day, it never slowed nor showed any signs of lag or choppiness.

It’s all about performance with the new 12th Gen Intel chips while still retaining the Intel benefits like Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 6 to name a few. You can use it both for gaming and productivity, overall, this is a highly-recommended gaming laptop for all the Indian gamers who need the absolute best performance for the price you pay.

Buy from here: https://amzn.to/3riIXwz, or get the slightly more affordable Core i7-12700H and RTX 3050 Ti powered variant for ₹1,14,990: https://amzn.to/3IBc2tb