A play in the life

Some artfully cherrypicked hardware makes the Asus TUF Gaming A15 quite the rare beast: a mainstream laptop for everyday use that can also satisfy gamers

- Tom Morgan-Freelander

£1050/go.stuff.tv/Gaming15 

As the latest GPU generation pushes prices to stratospheric levels, most gaming laptop makers have focused on beefy desktop replacements rather than more portable all-rounders. But Asus is still there for those of us on realistic budgets.

The TUF Gaming A15 is built around a mid-range AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics - a combo with more than enough oomph for 1080p play, even in the latest releases. A high refresh rate and a snappy SSD add even more appeal, while the promise of all-day battery life and 'military-grade' toughness suggests it'll also make a fine travel companion. Elsewhere the spec sheet is kept in check to hit a more wallet-friendly price than most rivals.

It might not have luxuries like a 4K display or the most powerful processor, but you won't need to sell a vital organ to buy one either. When it comes to gaming laptops, what matters most?

Hero of the play

The stamped steel lid (1) isn't just for show: all TUF Gaming machines are tested for shocks, drops and extreme temperatures, so the A15 should easily cope with daily desktop life. It all feels reassuringly sturdy, but isn't so rugged it'll look out of place anywhere but a building site.

The living play-lights