Asus TUF Gaming F16 2025 Review: Best mid-range gaming laptop?

What we have here today is the new, fantastic Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2025), featuring the latest NVIDIA RTX 5060 mobile graphics card. This is also my first time using the TUF lineup, so this was also a fresh start for me. But the main thing we want to see is whether this laptop is worth it, and there might be a clear answer to this question. Let’s find out everything in my Asus TUF Gaming F16 2025 review.

Asus TUF Gaming F16 2025 Specifications

• Dimensions: 354 x 269 x 17.9 – 27.3 mm
• Weight: 2.20 kg
• Display: 16″ FHD+ IPS panel, 165Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB colour gamut
• Processor: Intel “Raptor Lake” Core i7-14650HX (Intel 7 process)
  • 16C/24T, 5.2 GHz max turbo frequency, 55W base power
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (8GB GDDR7 VRAM, 115W TGP)
• Memory: 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Ports: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x LAN (RJ45), 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Battery: Li-ion 90 Wh battery (Charges via a 280W Adapter)
• Webcam: 1080p FHD IR Camera
• Audio: Dual Speakers
• Keyboard: Full-size chiclet backlit keyboard, 1-zone RGB backlighting
• Touchpad: Windows Precision Touchpad
• Security: TPM 2.0 chip, Windows Hello login

Buy Asus TUF Gaming F16 here

Asus TUF Gaming F16 2025 Review:

Design and build

• 354 x 269 x 17.9 – 27.3 mm, 2.20 kg
• Aluminium lid, 180-degree hinge, plastic trackpad

First, let’s start with my unboxing experience. It takes some time to unpack, but the experience is very entertaining. The box opened like a suitcase, with the laptop looking directly at me. And as soon as I got hold of the laptop, I knew I wouldn’t be carrying it around a lot. Don’t get me wrong, the laptop feels very premium; it’s just not one you would carry around with you, especially with the extra weight of the power brick.

My overall experience with it was pretty good; it didn’t wobble a lot, and the keyboard flex was also not bad, especially for a plastic build. However, I have one complaint with this build, which is that it is very prone to fingerprint marks. Not even a second of touching the lid, I could see the stains. Other than that, it has one of the best build qualities.

Plenty of ports!

What I like about this kind of bulky laptop is the selection of ports I can get. I am the type of person who plugs in every single device I can get, and this laptop surprisingly never gives me any complaints about it. You want to add an external display, use the HDMI port. To plug in your keyboard and mouse, use the 3 USB Type-A ports or the Type-C port. For Wi-Fi, use the LAN port. For an even faster USB connection, use the Thunderbolt port. Although the capable management was a hassle, so yeah….

Display

• 16-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS panel
• 100% sRGB, 165Hz, 300 nits (typical), 3ms (Panel Overdrive)
• G-Sync, MUX Switch + NVIDIA Advanced Optimus

Although there is a better display option, the variant I have here only supports FHD+ resolution, and it’s decent. I would have loved a QHD+ display, as the Full HD+ type of display can even be found in budget notebooks. Even laptops in the same price range offer significantly better display quality than what Asus provides here. Not to mention that nowadays, many are even switching to OLED displays, which offer better display quality as well as unbelievably low response times, making them perfect for gaming.

I tested the display, and the data were exactly what Asus mentioned; it achieved 100% sRGB as well as 77% AdobeRGB. Additionally, I found that it also covered 72% of the NTSC and 79% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. It’s decent for gaming. The brightness is also not something I would have thought to be. It can only reach 300 nits, which is now essentially the bare minimum to expect from any budget gaming laptop.

Keyboard

• Full-size chiclet backlit keyboard, 1-zone RGB backlighting

I have a love-hate relationship with the keyboard. It is, by far, one of the best keyboards; however, the keys are arranged in an oddly unconventional manner. Usually, you would expect the Delete key to be just above the Backspace key, but no, instead, you get the F12 key. This is the case with most ASUS gaming laptops, and I have had numerous mis-clicks when I just wanted to delete one letter.

Even as I wrote this review, I probably pressed the F12 key more than 100 times. Nevertheless, you can change the RGB lighting within the Armoury Crate Software. I also like that clear WASD keys, which further symbolise this as a gaming device.

Trackpad and extra mouse

• Plastic trackpad with Windows Precision drivers

One of the things I loved about this Laptop is definitely the Trackpad, it just felt so smooth. Although there were times when it was a bit rigid, nonetheless, 90% of the time, it felt phenomenal. It is simple, without any gimmicks or extras, but it is pretty large, so there might be some accidental touches that result in the Cursor jumping around or Random clicks.

The packaging list also contained the Asus TUF Gaming M3 Gen II mouse. It’s a nice touch by ASUS to include a gaming mouse in a gaming device. Additionally, the mouse is programmable, allowing you to create your own profile, just like any other programmable mouse. The lighting also syncs with the Aura Sync software inside the Armoury Crate App. Any update regarding the mouse will also be highlighted in the software.

Webcam

• 1080p FHD camera with Windows Hello

The camera is a disappointment. Look, I know it is a gaming laptop, but a 1080p camera should not look like this. The quality appears to be more like 720p in practice. Although I must say having an IR sensor is very convenient whenever I don’t want to type the password to unlock the device. You will know when the IR sensor is in use with the rapidly flashing red light on the right side of the primary camera. However, there is neither a physical shutter nor an E-shutter, but you can manually disconnect the camera from the settings.

Audio and battery life

• Stereo Speakers
• 90 Wh battery with 280W charging

Regarding the quality of the speakers, they got pretty loud, if I may say so myself. I placed my hand where the speakers were located, and when the bass hit, I could feel it in the palm of my hand. I would say they are suitable for watching movies and TV shows, but for intense first-person shooter games, I think you should stick to a headset.

The microphone quality was decent; it wasn’t bad, as it felt clear and captured the audio perfectly, enough for an everyday use case scenario. It does have a slightly crisp, processed tone, but that’s normal for laptop mics, even on premium models. For casual calls or voice chat, it gets the job done reliably.

Although gaming laptops are designed to be used while plugged in, there comes a time when you need to browse the internet casually. I then checked if this laptop could meet those needs. The first time I used it unplugged, I was using docs and opening a few websites, which resulted in a 10% decrease in battery percentage from 100% in around 40 minutes. Then I streamed a 4K video on YouTube for about 50 minutes, which ultimately got the battery down to 60%.

Performance

• Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU
• NVIDIA RTX 5060 graphics (115W TGP)
• 16GB DDR5, 512GB NVMe PCIe M.2

The variant I have here is the one with the 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, the i7-14650HX. Throughout the period I used this laptop, it consistently performed well, whether I was working or doing casual tasks. I could load multiple browser tabs at once without even noticing a performance drop. I even checked if there would be any changes when I was on battery power, but I couldn’t find any difference when browsing the internet or editing photos. There were times when it would take a few seconds to load something, but it was not a major issue.

Benchmark results

Through the benchmark, we can see that the single-core performance is comparable to that of Apple’s M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M1 chip. However, in the multi-core testing, it lags behind them, but that doesn’t mean it is bad; in fact, it is still one of the best results you can achieve in the benchmark.

The NVMe storage was also pretty fast, getting over 6000 MB/s on read and over 4000 MB/s on write. This means the test measures how fast your drive can read or write large, continuous blocks of data, such as downloading 4K videos or installing large games.

Gaming time

So, finally, what you all have been waiting for, the gaming test. I downloaded a total of 3 games to test how much of a powerhouse this laptop is, and it did not disappoint. Let’s start with Forza Horizon 5. I didn’t notice a single lag or stutter in 1080p high settings. The graphics card was also using most of its power. Although switching to a higher setting resulted in a considerable drop, it remained very much playable.

Next up was our beloved first-person shooter game, CS 2. It’s not a heavy game to run, so yeah, I didn’t notice any stutter or any lag at all. This is one of the smoothest experiences when playing CS 2. But it wasn’t a massive leap from laptops with the RTX 4060, the average fps I was getting was almost the same. However, the 1% low had an increase of 20% which made the gameplay smoother.

Lastly, I played Cyberpunk 2077, and it was better than expected. In the graph, we can see a vast difference between using and not using frame generation. The gameplay involved heavy shooting scenes with the cops, and these are the times we experience stutter and frame drops. But this was not the case at all. Although the game did randomly crash once when I was just driving.

I also got the Black Myth Wukong benchmark tool running and tested it using both with and without frame generation, and the results were very satisfactory. Not to mention, the results in the native 1200p were also similar to when testing at 1080p.

One thing I noticed is that the laptop didn’t even feel hot throughout the time I used it. Even while gaming, the maximum temperature I captured was just around 36 degrees, which was also observed at the centre of the keyboard; otherwise, you don’t even feel the heat in the WASD key area.

Expansion options

The 16GB of RAM was sufficient for any everyday task you would do in any laptop. Although if this isn’t enough for your needs, you can add another 16 GB card or add two 32 GB cards for a total of 64GB of RAM. The storage is also expandable in the same way, featuring two M.2 slots. However, I did not unscrew the laptop to check the ease of upgrading.

• Always consult a computer specialist before upgrading. If you are a beginner, several factors should be considered when upgrading.

Asus TUF Gaming F16 2025 Review: Conclusion

So, in the end, I would say that although this laptop is quite good for gaming, its pricing is not justified. I know I’ve praised this laptop a lot, but ultimately, it all comes down to the price. A laptop can be great, but if the cost is higher than what you can get at a cheaper price, it is never a good option. What I mean by that is that you can get better options in by paying slightly more, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 with Ryzen 7 8745HX and RTX 5060, with a way better display, or get something similar, like the Lenovo LOQ 15IRX10 with i7-14700HX and RTX 5060, a similar display, and more memory and a little better processor.

However, if you don’t care about the visuals and want pure, raw gaming performance at the maximum number of frames, then this laptop is one of the best RTX 5060 laptops that you can get.

My suggestion would be to get the Lenovo Legion 5. Why? Because it gets the job and provides you with better display quality, which is very important if you are playing single-player games or just using the laptop in general. The difference can be spotted very easily, and sometimes a worse display can make you change your mind.

Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2025) Review: Pros and Cons