Asus TUF Sprint F15 (2022) Assessment: A trendy powerhouse

The TUF Sprint F15 is a well-rounded gaming laptop computer for the value.

In regards to the Asus TUF Sprint F15

Listed here are the specs of the laptop computer we examined:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-12650H
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6
• RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800 MHz
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Show: 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080p @ 144Hz show, 62.5% sRGB (measured)
• Ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x RJ45 Ethernet, 1 x headphone/microphone jack
• Wi-fi connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Digicam: 720p
• Battery: 76Whr lithium-ion battery
• Weight: 4.41 kilos
• Measurement: 13.94 x 9.88 x 0.78 inches
• Guarantee: 1-year restricted guarantee

The Asus TUF Sprint F15 is out there in a number of configurations. You too can select an Intel Core i5-12450H processor or as much as the Intel Core i7-12650H we selected; an Nvidia RTX 3050, 3050Ti, or 3070 GPU; a 300Hz 1920 x 1080p show with 100% sRGB coloration gamut protection or a 165Hz 2560 x 1440p show with 100% P3 coloration gamut protection; 8GB TO 16GB of DDR5 reminiscence; and 1TB SSD storage. The configuration we examined retails for $1,300, whereas different variations begin at $1,000.

What we like

The refined, elegant aesthetics

The Asus TUF Sprint F15 has loads of traditional gamer stylings. That features the white WASD keys in opposition to an in any other case black keyboard, an edgy design for the grille and energy button, and a thickness that offers it sufficient house to accommodate highly effective followers. It could have admittedly been good to have programmable RGB-backlit keys, however the white glow is a minimum of nice to take a look at.

Nonetheless, the matte-black physique and the shortage of intrusive logos and non-optional RGB elevate the look above a primary gaming laptop computer.

Higher but: whereas it can not outcompete related midrange laptops with insane cooling (see the Dell G16), the Sprint F15 remains to be notably thinner and lighter than those self same laptops with out dropping a lot efficiency.

It’s loaded with options

The Sprint F15 has a number of options that make it extra helpful than only a gaming rig. On the edges, you will discover an Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, a Thunderbolt 4 port, one USB-C knowledge port, and an HDMI 2.0b port (though it could be good if the port distribution have been a bit of extra even—all besides one USB-A port are on the left facet of the PC).

The trackpad is massive, clean, and aware of enter, making navigation and multi-touch gestures a breeze. In the meantime, the full-size keyboard has massive, springy keys that really feel nice to press in opposition to the laptop computer’s sturdy chassis. Though the numpad feels cramped, the principle QWERTY keys are massive and painless to navigate.

The TUF Sprint F15 just isn’t afraid to let its customers tinker with the graphics and processor settings. The TUF Sprint F15 comes with a MUX swap, which lets customers toggle between the built-in graphics (iGPU) and devoted graphics card.

If the iGPU is enabled, the laptop computer will use the GPU most applicable for the duty—that is nice for battery life, however it comes on the slight price of efficiency if the laptop computer wants to make use of some overhead to determine which GPU to make use of. When you flip off the iGPU, then the F15 will at all times use its RTX 3060 graphics card for graphics; gaming efficiency will get a slight bump however at the price of battery life.

The TUF Sprint F15 comes with a MUX swap, which lets customers toggle between the 2 graphics choices.

You too can configure the fan profiles to customise your cooling if you need the followers to gear up in the end than their defaults. You may’t overclock the processor or graphics card, however you possibly can alter whether or not it makes use of full energy or optimizes battery life (and the graphics card can use as much as 105W).

That mentioned, you gained’t need to preserve your laptop computer glued to the ability outlet. After we ran our battery check, which simulates a median workday’s load by biking by means of internet pages at 200 nits brightness from full cost to depletion, the Sprint F15 lasted about six hours and 16 minutes. It’s not a stellar quantity for a gaming laptop computer (the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Benefit each sport nine-plus hours of battery life), however it’s sustainable for a day’s price of workplace work or lectures.

That is with the laptop computer’s graphics set to “optimized” mode within the included Armory Crate software program, which toggles the discrete GPU on and off relying on the depth of the duty being carried out—on this case, it ran on the built-in GPU for the battery check. When you set the graphics mode to “final,” you’ll get considerably worse battery life because the laptop computer will often default to the extra power-hungry discrete GPU.

“Eco mode” utterly disables the discrete GPU, which supplies the longest battery life, however you’ll have to flip the graphics again to one of many different modes if you wish to run something graphically intensive.

Nice gaming efficiency

When you’re on the lookout for a PC that may deal with eSports video games at 1080p with excessive graphics settings at 144Hz, the TUF Sprint F15 is a superb alternative. Its Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card and Intel Core i7-12650H processor put it squarely within the midrange of gaming laptops—a step above finances laptops just like the HP Victus 15, however beneath high-end laptops just like the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE or the Asus ROG Strix G15 Benefit.

In graphics benchmarks, the TUF F15 scores effectively for its {hardware}. In 3DMark’s TimeSpy, it scored 8701 factors, and in Firestrike it scored 18935 factors. The Dell G16, which additionally runs an RTX 3060 graphics card, scored 8809 factors in TimeSpy and 18935 factors in Firestrike. Their in-game performances are par-on-par with one another, too.

After we ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a reasonably graphically intense sport, at its highest 1080p graphics setting, the Sprint F15 ran at 104 frames per second (fps) and the Dell G16 ran at 108fps. The MSI Stealth 15M, one other laptop computer with an RTX 3060 graphics card and a extra efficiency-driven Intel Core i7-1280P processor, ran at 103 fps.

Different video games have been related. On every of their highest graphics settings at 1080p, the TUF F15 ran Whole Struggle: Warhammer III at 62 fps and Cyberpunk 2077 at 62fps (with out ray tracing enabled). With ray tracing enabled, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 26fps. The Dell G16 ran Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing at 23fps, however it ran at 73fps with out ray tracing (about 10fps greater than the Sprint F15). Warhammer III ran at 63fps.

Its processing efficiency isn’t any much less spectacular. The Sprint F15 is amongst our best-scoring laptops in artificial benchmarks. In Cinebench R23, the laptop computer scored 12993 factors within the multicore check and 1794 within the single-core check. By comparability, the Dell G16, which has a barely extra highly effective Intel Core i7-12700H processor, scored 16331 within the multicore check and 1752 within the single-core check. Whereas the Dell G16 squeezes out extra efficiency in processor-intensive duties like 3D picture rendering, each laptops carry out just about the identical in the case of extra mundane, single-core duties like browsing the online or watching movies.

Geekbench 5 exhibits an analogous story. The Dell G16 barely outperforms the Sprint F15’s 11522 factors within the multicore check by about 1000 factors, however their single-core efficiency is just about similar (the Dell G16 scored 1770 factors and the Sprint F15 scored 1812 factors). By comparability, the Asus ROG Strix G15 Benefit’s AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor scored 7715 factors within the multicore check, and 1505 factors within the single-core check, each scores notably decrease than the Sprint F15’s, however the Strix G15 makes up for it with its Cinebench rating of 13332 factors.

What we don’t like

The display screen might be brighter

A 144Hz refresh charge display screen is nice for gaming, however not if it comes at the price of coloration and brightness. The Sprint F15’s panel hits a most of 311 nits and covers about 65% of the usual RGB coloration gamut—that’s high-quality in a finances laptop computer, however at $1,300, that is hardly that.

You may improve to a 300Hz panel with full protection of the sRGB vary or to a 2K panel with full P3 coloration protection, however you’ll need to pay further. We examined the 144Hz, 1920 x 1080 panel, and it carried out as anticipated: a usually disappointing expertise in comparison with different laptops in its value vary just like the Asus ROG Strix G15 Benefit. It gained’t destroy your expertise with the laptop computer, however you possibly can do higher.

It will get loud and sizzling

Unsurprisingly, the Sprint F15’s followers roar when the {hardware}’s working at full energy. It retains the {hardware} from throttling, however if you happen to like listening to what you’re enjoying, you’ll need to have some headphones useful.

Equally, the underside of this laptop computer will get sizzling, so ”lap”-top is a little bit of a misnomer. With temperatures north of 110 levels Fahrenheit, it’s simply too sizzling to maintain on laps for lengthy earlier than getting uncomfortable.

The shoddy webcam and audio

The Sprint F15’s 720p webcam offers off a darkish and grainy picture and lacks any kind of privateness options—there isn’t a shutter or software program disable button of any type. It’s an odd exclusion to make on a laptop computer with devoted buttons to toggle fan modes and efficiency modes.

In the meantime, the audio system are nothing to fawn over, both. The sound is skinny and tinny, missing any kind of bass, depth, and sound stage. Monitoring place in an FPS can be troublesome with the built-in audio system, so that you’ll need to convey your personal headset to take advantage of it.

Must you purchase the Asus TUF Sprint F15?

Sure, it’s a stable gaming laptop computer for the value

The TUF Sprint F15 just isn’t the quickest performing laptop computer for its configuration (to date that’s the Dell G16), however it’s not far behind. It retains a lot of the efficiency whereas shaving off loads of weight and thickness. Particularly if you happen to see this beast on sale, you’ll get so much out of this modern, adaptable package deal—though it retails for $1,300, you possibly can customise efficiency with options usually reserved for higher-end fashions.

On the similar time, there are some things holding the Sprint F15 again. Its mediocre base display screen, webcam, and audio really feel inappropriate for a laptop computer this costly. When you’re after one of the best efficiency doable, the Dell G16 and Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Benefit blow the TUF Sprint F15 away and have vibrant, vivid screens with 100% sRGB coloration protection. When you’re after a extremely cellular gaming laptop computer, the all-AMD Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a way more compact machine with higher efficiency, a a lot better show, and 9 hours of battery life.

Finally, the TUF Sprint F15 is an efficient alternative if you wish to spend $1,500 or much less on a gaming laptop computer, with acceptable efficiency and options throughout the board (even when none are excellent). It’s notably far improved over its predecessor, the Sprint A15, and it gives a singular mixture of ergonomics, portability, and adaptability which are tough to nail at this value level.

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Costs have been correct on the time this text was revealed however could change over time.

Meet the tester

Adrien Ramirez

Employees Author

@itsaramkat

Adrien is a employees author for Reviewed, primarily targeted on reviewing laptops and different shopper tech. Throughout his free time, he is often wandering round Hyrule.

See all of Adrien Ramirez’s evaluations