Asus TUF Gaming A17 review

Asus TUF Gaming A17 review – Gaming laptop with new Ryzen 7 4800H CPUs

At CES 2020 Asus revealed the updated gaming laptops of the TUF Gaming series. They replaced both TUF FX505 and FX705. The new flagships are called Asus TUF Gaming A15 and A17. The names have become simpler, but today I’ll tell you how the laptops themselves have changed. Let’s take a look at Asus TUF Gaming A17 model, which is also known as FX706I.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 FX706I specs

Type	Gaming laptop
OS	Windows 10 Pro
Diagonal, inches	17,3
Coating	Anti-Glare
Resolution	1920×1080
Matrix Type	IPS-level
Touch	–
Screen refresh rate. Hz	120
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
Frequency, GHz	2,9 – 4,2
The number of processor cores	8 cores, 16 threads
Chipset	AMD
RAM, GB	32
The maximum amount of RAM, GB	32
Memory Type	DDR4
Memory Frequency, MHz	3200
SSD, GB	1024
HDD, GB	–
Graphics, memory	Discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 4 GB, GDDR6 integrated Radeon Graphics
External ports	LAN RJ-45, HDMI 2.0b, 2×USB 3.2 1Gen Type-A, 1×USB 3.2 2Gen Type-C, 1×USB 2.0 Type-A, 3,5 mm combo audio jack, Kensington Lock
Card Reader	–
WEB-camera	HD
Keyboard Backlight
Fngerprint scanner	–
Wi-Fi	5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2×2))
Bluetooth	5.0
Weight, kg	2,6
Dimensions, mm	399,2×268,9×23,9
Case Material	Plastic and Aluminum
Color	Black
Battery, Wh	48

Asus TUF Gaming A17 configurations

Since Asus TUF Gaming A17 is very fresh, I do not have information about all the available configurations and their markings. Therefore, here I will simply list the variations of hardware that can be installed in A17. Let me remind you that the hardware configuration of my test model is in the table above.

Screens: 17.3″, Full HD, IPS-level with 60 or 120 Hz
AMD processors: Ryzen 5 4600H or Ryzen 7 4800H
Discrete NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards: GTX 1650 (4 GB, GDDR6), GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB, GDDR6) or GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB, GDDR6), RTX 2060 (6 GB, GDDR6)
RAM: DDR4, 3200 MHz to 32 GB
HDDs: without HDD or with 1 TB
SSDs: 256, 512 or 1024 GB
Batteries: 48 or 90 WH
OS: Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro

I think, looking at the list, some readers may have a question about the battery. After all, you must admit that laptops of the same model with such varying batteries are a rarity.

This indicator is directly related to the HDD. There are versions that come with a terabyte of storage, there are with free places for a 2.5-inch drive, but there are those where there is no disk or space for it. And it is in the latter that a 90 Wh battery is installed.

Since we touched on the topic of hardware, it would be logical to develop it and tell you which components are subject to replacement or upgrade. You can install a big SSD-drive, and GTX 1660 Ti also has a second free M.2 slot. There are two slots for RAM, but the main thing here is that the RAM is not soldered and, again, you can put more. In short, there is the opportunity to make a full upgrade, which is undoubtedly a plus of the laptop.

What’s in the box

A sample of Asus TUF Gaming A17 arrived with a charger, but from the ROG series. It’s okay, since it’s also 180 watts.

Design, materials and build quality

TUF Gaming series laptops are known for Asus’ unusual approach to design, the essence of which lies in the fact that the manufacturer offers two versions to choose from. And Asus TUF Gaming A17 was no exception. This laptop is available in Fortress Gray or Bonfire Black design. The main difference is essentially the design of the cover.

My sample is a gray, with an aluminum cover, the TUF logo in the center and decorative cogs in the corners. But the second one has a plastic cover, with bright red edges and visual separation of the brushed metal texture and the usual one. I think it is clear that the second option looks aggressive, in the spirit of gaming laptops.

But these are all the differences, for the rest, the first and second options are identical, and are made in the TUF style with chopped corners, a lot of polished “metal”, as well as diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines. Design is recognizable, for sure.

You can’t call the frames around the screen thin; the upper area will be thicker than the side ones, but the lower one is almost two fingers thick.

I don’t know why, but on the manufacturer’s website it is indicated that the surface of the topcase is metal. Of course, I understand that grinding is done very soundly, but plastic is plastic. You have to be realistic, TUF Gaming is a relatively affordable series, and therefore you should not expect premium materials here.

The case is distinguished by high reliability, as usual, and complies with the American military-industrial standard MIL-STD-810H. In practice, everything is not bad, but as always when using plastic, the area with the keyboard bends a little. But I was pleased that the surface (almost) does not collect fingerprints and stains.

The dimensions of Asus TUF Gaming A17 are quite normal, as for a powerful laptop with a 17-inch screen, namely: 399.2 × 268.9 × 23.9. Don’t expect comfortable work on the go, of course, but if there is an urgent need, you can put it in a backpack. It weighs 2.6 kg.

Element configuration

On the cover in the center is the TUF Gaming logo. In the corners there are decorative plastic elements that mimic the screws. The underside looks quite aggressive. The textured cover uses 11 screws, there are 5 rubberized legs for stability, a pair of plastic protruding elements, slots for speakers and in the center a large area of honeycombs, some of which contain slots for cooling internal components.

On the right side is Kensington Lock, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, and on the bevel there is a small cutout with a speaker. The left one is equipped with a second speaker. There’s a power connector, RJ-45, an HDMI 2.0b port, a pair of USB 3.2 1Gen Type-A, one USB 3.2 2Gen Type-C with DisplayPort support and a combined 3.5 mm audio jack.

What shows a definite advantage of this arrangement is the concentration of all the main ports on one left side. On the right is the usual USB 2.0, which is ideal for connecting a mouse. And they did hear us: now there is no blowing hot air on the right side, cheers. TUF Gaming FX505GM model had this issue which made it uncomfortable to use a mouse during the game.

There is a small ledge on the front to help you grab and open the laptop, but due to the rather tight hinges at the back, the laptop opens reluctantly with one hand. In addition to the hinge mechanisms, there are many slots in the back for blowing hot air.

There are rubberized strips around the display, microphones and a camera with an LED on top in the center. At the bottom there is glossy embossing with the Asus logo.

At the top of the case there is a decorative ledge with embossed TUF Gaming and four LEDs displaying the current status of the device. And this strip is visible even with the lid closed, which allows you to make sure that it is charging or in standby mode without opening the laptop.

Under it there are holes for air intake, and on the right side there is a hexagonal button for powering on the laptop. Further in a small recess is the keyboard unit, under which is a rather large touchpad with two separate keys under it.

Screen

Asus TUF Gaming A17 comes with a 17-inch display with an 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of Full HD (1920×1080). The refresh rate in my configuration was 120 Hz, but more affordable options have 60 Hz panels. There is support for Adaptive Sync is in both cases, as well as 45% coverage of NTSC.

In the specifications you won’t find the type of matrix, but in promotional materials it is indicated that it is IPS. I personally think this is an IPS-level display, just like in previous generations. The matrix itself offers wide viewing angles, but the color rendering is as calm and neutral as possible. For everyday tasks, screen saturation will be enough.

But seriously working with color? Probably not. over, you can connect as many as two external monitors via HDMI and Type-C. I tested both connection options with the AOC Q2790PQU/BT, Philips Brilliance 272B7QUPBEB/00, and even with the most appropriate Asus TUF Gaming VG27A. Everything works as it should.

Colors are okay, but brightness, on the other hand, is severely lacking. Of course, it is still enough for indoors, but it’s right on the edge. My desktop is located next to the window, and in the afternoon I mostly use the maximum level. Slightly less often reduced to 70, when the weather become cloudy. And this, I remind you, is in the room. On the street, even in good shade, brightness will not be enough.

As for the software, the laptop has a preinstalled utility called TUF GameVisual, where you can select one of the display modes and change the color temperature.

Sound

The laptop has a pair of speakers, which are directed downwards, but the case has additional slots, which positively affects the overall sound quality. The manufacturer notes that, compared to previous models, this one sounds louder by 1.8 times and the bass is 2.7 times more saturated. In terms of volume, I would not say that there is a serious difference, but the low frequencies really got better.

There is an DTS:X Ultra add-on and the corresponding utility is already installed on the laptop; if you turn it off, the sound of the speakers becomes very inexpressive. When you activate any mode, such as auto or music, the sound normalizes and becomes not only louder, but also more voluminous. Although even so, most often I set the volume above 80%, because the speakers are not very loud themselves.

In the utility, of course, there are other presets, with an emphasis on voice, optimization for films and certain genres of games. There is also a graphic equalizer with 10 bands, if none of the presents suit you.

Editor’s Note: We generally don’t recommend laptops older than 2 years. For our top picks, check out the Best Laptops, or answer a few simple questions in our Laptop Finder to get personalized recommendations

Laptop Mag Verdict

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 offers powerful performance and solid battery life for a mainstream gaming laptop, but it’s hard getting over its dismal display.

Unboxing the ASUS TUF Gaming A17 (2023)

Pros

Strong performance and graphics
Solid battery life
Comfortable keyboard
1TB SSD

Cons

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Asus‘ TUF Gaming notebooks were always a decent alternative as cheap gaming laptops, but the company is pushing for that competitive edge with the Asus TUF Gaming A17.

It’s a 17-inch, gaming laptop with a strong AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU combined with long battery life and a comfortable keyboard. However, you might be put off by its absolutely dismal display and quiet speakers. Despite that, for the price of 1,099, you do get a 1TB SSD, which is uncommon to find for the price, and the chassis is even Mil-Spec tested.

Overall, the TUF Gaming A17 is one of the best gaming laptops around if you’re willing to overlook the display.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 price and configuration options

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 I tested costs 1,099 and comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe SSD and a 1920 x 1080, 120Hz display. Netting a 1TB SSD in a gaming laptop at this price is actually quite a deal.

Price: 1,099 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB SSD Display: 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, 120Hz Battery: 7:41 Size: 15.7 x 10.6 x 1.0 inches Weight: 5.7 pounds

Unfortunately, this is the only configuration of the Asus TUF Gaming A17. There is an Intel variant called the Asus TUF Gaming F17, but that’s not on sale right now

If you’re looking for something even cheaper, then take a look at our best cheap gaming laptops page.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 design

Just because the Asus TUF Gaming A17 is an affordable gaming laptop doesn’t mean it’s cheaply made. Its aluminum lid and plastic deck withstood multiple MIL-STD-810H tests against drops, vibration, humidity and extreme temperatures.

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 sports a machined design, and its gunmetal lid features four black faux screws in each corner. At the center of the lid is the TUF logo, which smartly omits the letters. There’s also a cutout in the lid that reveals the black deck. The mixture of textures on the revealed deck combined with the TUF Gaming logo makes the laptop look like a piece of military machinery.

The interior gives off more of the same vibe. The keyboard is surrounded by a soft curve in the chassis that dips downward, and just above the keyboard sits cutouts for the vents. The power button is located in the top-right corner of the chassis, not on the keyboard, so don’t worry. The display bezels are relatively slim, and the webcam is even on the top bezel thanks to a small lip adjustment.

At 5.7 pounds and 15.7 x 10.6 x 1.0 inches, the Asus TUF Gaming A17 is a decent size for a 17-inch laptop. Of course, the Dell G5 15 SE (5.5 pounds, 14.4 x 10 x 0.9 inches), HP Omen 15 (5.4 pounds, 14.2 x 10.2 x 0.8 inches) and Lenovo Legion Y545 (5.3 pounds, 14.2 x 10.5 x 1~1.1 inches) were smaller and lighter, but that’s no surprise.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 ports

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 has a decent number of ports, but it would have been nice to see a Mini DisplayPort.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 display

The Asus TUF Gaming A17’s 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 display boasts adaptive sync technology and a 120Hz refresh rate, but it’s incredibly dim and dull for a gaming laptop.

In the trailer for Bill Ted Face The Music, the titular characters’ blue and red shirts looked washed out, as if they ran it through the wash one too many times. In the scene where Bill Ted visit their ripped future-selves, the lighting is relatively dark for being day time, and the scene didn’t pop because the display wasn’t as bright as it should’ve been.

In the opening cinematic of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Leonidas’ red cape was muted and thus made him look less bold or threatening due to the dull panel. In the same sequence, it was difficult to FOCUS on the battle at hand, as the night-time skirmish didn’t favor the Asus’ dim screen. Turning down some of the settings yielded some smooth frames thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate.

On our test, the TUF Gaming A17’s display covered 64% of the sRGB color gamut, taking a dive against the average mainstream gaming laptop (106%). The G5 15 (108%), Omen 15 (102%) and Legion Y545 (99%) were at least close to or even above 100%.

At 248 nits of brightness, calling TUF Gaming A17 bright would be giving it too much credit. Meanwhile, the G5 15 SE (301 nits), Omen 15 (320 nits) and Legion Y545 (300 nits) all killed the 292-nit category average.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 keyboard and touchpad

For a mainstream gaming laptop, the TUF Gaming A17 has a super comfortable keyboard. It wasn’t clicky, per se, but it required some force to actuate the keys and they provided a meaty albeit, unfocused feedback.

I nailed 80 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which slides past my new 78-wpm average (I’m getting faster and will hit triple digits one day). The keys are decently spaced.- I’ve felt keys with worse feedback on premium gaming laptops, so these keys are pretty solid in comparison.

Given the price point, you won’t see per-key RGB lighting on this keyboard, instead you’ll get one-zone RGB lighting. You can customize the lighting via the Aura Sync tab in the Armoury Crate app. You can use basic effects like Breathing or Color Cycle and even adjust the speed and brightness.

The touchpad is relatively soft and offers two discrete clickers with mediocre feedback. With Windows Precision drivers, Windows 10 gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger tabbing were responsive.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 audio

Unfortunately, the TUF Gaming A17’s bottom-firing speakers weren’t very loud and didn’t have enough bass to do music or gaming enough justice.

In Kailee Morgue’s cover of “Black Sheep,” the opening bassy beats sounded stunted and as they continued throughout the song. The groove was never fully realized due to the lack of bass. However, when the vocals kicked in, her soft melodic voice came off just as intended with a splash of crisp detail and fullness. Despite that, the cymbals in the background still remained muted.

In the opening of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, King Leonidas’ voice was soft and low, making it difficult to make out what he was saying without subtitles. When Leonidas went after some fools with his spear, the piercing sound effect was dull and muted. Even when he straight-up snapped someone’s neck, it didn’t sound very satisfying.

The only real audio software this machine has is DTS Sound Unbound and it only works for headphones, so the speakers are out of luck.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 gaming, graphics and VR

In the belly of the Asus TUF Gaming A17 lies an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU with 6GB of VRAM. It was able to run Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at 45 frames per second on Ultra, 1080p as I skipped across some rooftops and landed face-first into the ground for a not-so-epic landing.

On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (Highest, 1080p), the TUF Gaming A17 reached 50 fps, sliding past the 47-fps mainstream gaming laptop average. With the same GPU, the Omen 15 landed at 45 fps, while the Legion Y545 matched the TUF Gaming A17, at 50 fps. The G5 15 toted an AMD Radeon RX 5600M GPU and scored 45 fps.

The TUF Gaming A17 hit 86 fps on the Hitman benchmark (Ultra, 1080p), matching the category average exactly. It beat the G5 15 SE (83 fps) and Omen 15 (78 fps), but the Lenovo Legion Y545 nailed a solid 95 fps.

On the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (Very High, 1080p), the TUF Gaming A17 averaged 60 fps, which is just short of the 62-fps mainstream gaming laptop average. It still excelled over the G5 15 SE (56 fps) and even matched Omen 15 (60 fps), but was ultimately defeated again by the Legion Y545 (62 fps).

When running Metro: Exodus (Ultra, 1080p), the TUF Gaming A17 got 41 fps, which is one frame off from the category average (42 fps). However, it matched the Legion Y545 (41 fps) and surpassed the Omen 15 (40 fps), despite being second-paced by the G5 15 SE (46 fps).

Asus TUF Gaming A17 performance

Toting around an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor with 16GB of RAM, the TUF Gaming A17 juggled 40 Google Chrome tabs and five 1080p YouTube videos while Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was running in the background.

asus, gaming, review, laptop, ryzen, 4800h

On the Geekbench 4.3 overall performance benchmark, the TUF Gaming A17 scored 24,568, sailing past the mainstream gaming laptop average (22,421). With the same CPU, the G5 15 blasted off with a score of 29,253. Meanwhile, with Intel Core i7-9750H CPU, the Omen 15 and Legion Y545 achieved a measly 19,956 and 23,868, respectively.

The TUF Gaming A17 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 6 minutes and 52 seconds on our HandBrake benchmark, crushing the category average (9:59). It sped past the Omen 15 (12:34) and Legion Y545 (8:51), but fell short against G5 15 (6:43).

The Asus’ 1TB SSD copied 4.97GB of data in 8.7 seconds, translating to a transfer rate of 585 megabytes per second, which slides past the mainstream gaming laptop average (471 MBps). It was faster than the G5 15’s 512GB SSD (410 MBps) and the Legion Y545’s 128GB SSD (189 MBps), but couldn’t match up to the Omen 15’s 512GB SSD (728 MBps).

Asus TUF Gaming A17 battery life

Once again, AMD has proven that it has the best handle on battery life for gaming laptops. The TUF Gaming A17 continuously surfed the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness and lasted a meaty 7 hours and 41 minutes, sailing over the 5:11 mainstream gaming laptop average. It also toppled the G5 15 (7:14), the Omen 15 (3:05) and the Legion Y545 (3:38).

Asus TUF Gaming A17 webcam

The 720p webcam is on the top bezel, which is nice, but as per usual, it’s crap.

In the test shots, I saw strands of my hair blur into pixels and blend into my headset. As far as the color goes, it picked up the blue label on the water bottle behind me, but it was incredibly dull. Meanwhile, the poor contrast caused the window behind me to be completely blown out and half of my face was in a shadow. If you plan on streaming, pick up one of these best webcams.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 heat

Thanks to its plastic underside, the TUF Gaming A17 doesn’t get as hot as many fully aluminum gaming laptops. After gaming for 15-minutes, the underside hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit, which is above our 95-comfort threshold. The center of the keyboard and touchpad hit 101 and 77 degrees, respectively. The hottest this machine got was 111 degrees at the bottom bezel of the display, just above the status lights.

When streaming a video for 15 minutes, the underside only got up to 101 degrees, while the keyboard and touchpad measured 91 and 78 degrees, respectively.

Asus TUF Gaming A17 software and warranty

As with other Asus gaming laptops, the TUF Gaming A17 features the Armoury Crate app, which you can use to manage the performance of the CPU, GPU and fans. In the same app, you can also customize the key lighting, aggregate games from other launchers, and create profiles for performance and lighting based on what you’re playing or doing.

The GameVisual app adjusts the color of your display. There’s also the MyAsus app, which can run system diagnostics and hardware checks on your system.

There’s also some Windows 10 apps, like Disney Magic Kingdoms, Candy Crush Friends and Farm Heroes Saga.

The TUF Gaming A17 comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how Asus performed on our tech support showdown, best and worst laptop brands and best and worst gaming laptop brands ranking.

Bottom line

The Asus TUF Gaming A17 is packed with a ton of neat specs and features for a decent price. For 1,099, you get strong performance and graphics, decently long battery life for a gaming laptop, a Mil-Spec tested chassis, a comfortable keyboard and a meaty 1TB SSD. However, if you’re like me, it’s going to be incredibly tough to look over that super dull display.

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that also has good battery life, but a better display, consider the Dell G5 15 SE (2020). For just 100 more, you get comparable performance and battery life, but a display worthy of a gaming laptop plus a bumped up refresh rate.

However, if you’re looking for a 17-inch laptop similar to the Asus TUF Gaming A17, you’ll be hard pressed to find one, especially with a 1TB SSD for the price, which is why it’s one of the best gaming laptops you can get.

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Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HC-HN115W, Gaming Notebook mit 15,6 Zoll Display, Intel Core i5 Prozessor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, Grau

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Lieferung 31.05.2023. 01.06.2023