Best Budget Gaming · Laptops

ASUS TUF Gaming A16

The TUF Gaming A16 is a tough, no-nonsense gaming laptop that delivers smooth 1080p performance at a price that undercuts most rivals. A big 16-inch screen and solid cooling round out a great value package.

Brand: ASUS
Best for: Gaming on a budget
Price range: Budget
Our score: 8.0/10

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Our take

The ASUS TUF Gaming A16 is a tough, no-nonsense gaming laptop that delivers smooth 1080p gaming at a price that undercuts most rivals. A large 16-inch screen, solid cooling and a big battery round out a great-value package.

Performance

The TUF A16 pairs AMD Ryzen processors with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series graphics. With an RTX 5050 or 5060, it runs most modern games at high settings on its 1920 x 1200 screen, and DLSS 4 helps in demanding titles. The cooling system keeps the graphics card running at a decent power level, though the fans get loud under full load.

Display

The 16-inch screen has a 16:10 shape, giving a little more vertical space than standard 16:9 laptops, and a 165Hz refresh rate for smooth gaming. Brightness and colours are average: fine indoors, but less punchy than the OLED screens on pricier laptops.

Build and durability

TUF laptops are tested to US military MIL-STD-810H standards for drops, vibration and temperature extremes, and the A16 feels sturdy. At around 2.2kg it's heavy, so it's better suited to a desk than a daily commute.

Battery

Most configurations have a large 90Wh battery, which gives longer battery life than many gaming laptops for everyday tasks, especially as the AMD processor is efficient when the graphics card is idle.

Windows laptops are sold in many configurations under the same name, with different processors, graphics, memory and screens. Check the exact specification in the listing before you buy.

Who should buy it

Buy the TUF Gaming A16 for an affordable, durable gaming laptop with a large screen. If you want a sharper, brighter screen and more power, the Lenovo Legion 5 costs more. For the cheapest RTX gaming, look at the Acer Nitro V 15.

Key specifications

Processor	AMD Ryzen (configuration dependent)
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series (configuration dependent)
Display	16-inch, 1920 x 1200, 165Hz (typical)
Memory	16GB DDR5 (typical)
Storage	512GB-1TB SSD (configuration dependent)
Battery	90Wh (typical)
Build	Military-grade durability tested (MIL-STD-810H)
Weight	Approx. 2.2kg