Handheld gaming PCs have had a moment these past few years. The Steam Deck basically kicked the door open, and then devices like the Lenovo Legion Go and the Asus ROG Ally walked right in behind it. They’re convenient, sure, and there’s something very fun about flopping on the couch and playing full PC games without the weight of a whole laptop. But at the end of the day, those handhelds are still pretty focused on gaming and not a whole lot else. If you want something that can actually do all the normal “computer stuff” and play the games you want, a good gaming laptop still just makes more sense. And right now, Amazon has a solid deal running on the Asus TUF F16. It normally sits at around $1,300, but it’s marked down to $950 at the moment—a nice $350 off.
Let’s talk specs for a minute, because that’s what really makes or breaks a gaming laptop. The TUF F16 comes with a 16-inch display in a 16:10 aspect ratio, and it pushes a Full HD resolution. The refresh rate tops out at 165Hz, which is great if you play anything fast-paced or competitive, and the response time clocks in at 7ms. It also uses Adaptive-Sync, which basically helps keep your games looking smooth by cutting down on screen tearing and random stutters. The bezels are pretty slim too, so you get a surprising amount of screen without the whole machine feeling huge.
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Subtle Styling
The keyboard is full-size with a number pad—which you don’t always get on laptops these days. Asus also gave the WASD keys a gold highlight, which is a small touch but a fun one if you like a little flair without going full RGB explosion.
Under the hood, this particular model is running an Intel Core i5-13450HX paired with an NVIDIA GeForce 5050 laptop GPU. You get 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD for storage. It’s not a monster machine that will play every AAA title at ultra settings, but for the price, it’s more than capable. Indie games will be a breeze to run, and a lot of bigger-budget titles should run just fine at medium settings without you needing to sacrifice too much.
Battery life is solid, too. The 90Wh battery supports fast charging, letting you go from dead to 50% in about half an hour. You also get a 100W USB-C port that can charge your phone or accessories, which is always handy.
All in all, for under a thousand bucks, the Asus TUF F16 is a pretty sweet deal if you want a gaming machine that can also function as your everyday laptop without giving you handheld-level limitations.
