Best Asus gaming laptops in 2023

What’s the best Asus gaming laptop? That depends on your budget and needs, but we’ve tested the best Asus laptops for gamers – read on to find the best model for you.

Asus gaming laptops are sleek, well-designed, high-performance devices offering a wide selection of options. From its high-end ROG (Republic of Gamers) devices that boast the latest gaming CPU and screen technology to the more keenly priced TUF (The Ultimate Force) machines that focus more on quality internals rather than style, there’s something for everyone within the Asus gaming range.

The key to choosing the right gaming laptop is understanding how you’ll use it daily. Do you need killer battery life, or will you be plugged in most of the time? Will you be using external peripherals, like a gaming mouse, keyboard, or monitor? How important is sound to your experience?

So which of the latest Asus gaming laptop crop do we rate, and which are worthy of your consideration? We’ve rounded up our top picks below to help you get to grips with the wide range of options.

These are the best Asus gaming laptops for 2023: 

1. Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 – Best overall
2. Asus TUF Dash F15 – Best Asus TUF gaming laptop
3. Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE – Best performance
4. Asus ROG Flow X16 – Best flexibility
5. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 – Most portable

1. Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (2023)

The best Asus gaming laptop all-round.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 specs:

Pros:

• Dazzling 240Hz screen
• Distinctive looks
• Powerful graphics card options
  

Cons:

• Plastic chassis
  
• On the bulky side
  
• USB positioning make cabling messy

The ROG Strix Scar 16 is an outstanding gaming machine. As one of the most highly-specced gaming laptops in the Asus arsenal, it packs some impressive features that elevate it above the rank and file. One example is the vivid and detailed 16-inch Nebula Mini-LED display with its super-smooth 240Hz refresh rate and 2500 x 1600-pixel resolution. Teamed with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (or 4090 in the step-up model) graphics card, it’s one of the best laptop screens we’ve encountered.

While the case is formed from plastic rather than sumptuous CNC-milled aluminum, this is a distinctive-looking package with a semi-transparent chassis that lets you take a peek at what’s happening under the hood. There’s also plenty going on in the lights department, with customizable RGB lighting for individual keys and light bars across the front and rear of the chassis. An imposing ‘ROG’ logo on the lid completes the look.

Given the volume of high-performance components in the Scar 16, it’s no surprise that it’s not the leanest or lightest gaming laptop on the market. It’s more a desktop replacement than a portable powerhouse, but the performance is well worth the compromise.

If you are looking for a do-it-all desktop replacement machine, it’s worth bearing in mind that the ports are mounted down either side of the chassis. That means peripheral cables can get untidy if you plan to keep the laptop in situ semi-permanently.

The Scar 16 is powerful enough to take on all comers and versatile enough to handle video editing, image manipulation, animation, or any other processor-intensive task you care to mention.

2. Asus TUF Dash F15

The best value Asus gaming laptop.

Asus TUF Dash F15 specs:

Pros:

• Solid battery life
• Quiet fans
• Understated style

Cons:

• Lackluster trackpad
• Average speakers
• Screen struggles with deep blacks

Yes, some of the higher-spec TUF 15 models break the magic $1000/£1000 barrier, so it’s no budget gaming laptop, but the base spec models are powerful enough to run all but the most processor-intensive games and are still priced comfortably. For that, you get a laptop stripped of many of the frills to maximize the performance of its internals. The question is, does skimping on price mean compromise where it matters?

Build quality is fine. You don’t get a unibody design for this money, but you do get a variety of aluminum elements with a plastic underbody, which is perfectly adequate and looks far more premium than the price suggests.

The screen isn’t the brightest but can handle fast-paced cut scenes creditably, and although it doesn’t deliver the deeper blacks of some of the higher-end laptop screens on test here, neither does it cost as much as a high-end Swiss watch.

The large trackpad delivers plenty of finger-sliding real estate, but button clicks are less than positive–not Acer Nitro 5 bad, you understand–but not up there with Asus’s higher-end models. We recommend opting for a proper gaming mouse to alleviate the issue.

The F15s speakers are adequate at lower volumes but push them to the louder end of the spectrum, and they become shrill and distort relatively quickly, which will have you reaching for a pair of headphones. Battery life is respectable, delivering around 6-8 hours of mixed use.

The F15 is an affordable but powerful entry point into the world of dedicated gaming laptops with an extensive spec list to suit most users.

3. Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE

The best-performing Asus gaming laptop.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE specs:

Pros:

• Solid battery life
• Quiet fans
• Understated style

Cons:

• Lacks new Mini Nebula screen
• Styling is a touch bland
• Not the most portable option

The new-for-2023 Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE is among the pick of Asus’s gaming laptops. Styling is understated compared to the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, with some of the more striking touches from last year’s machine subtly toned down. The Scar 17 also lacks the highly regarded Mini LED Nebula display of the larger Scar 18, but its 17.3-inch screen does a solid job of delivering detailed gaming visuals, even if it isn’t the most cutting-edge display here.

A powerful processor is a crucial element of any laptop, gaming or otherwise, and the Scar 17 SE is a beast, making this machine the choice for gamers who want no-compromise gaming performance. This 2023 iteration has switched from Intel’s Core i9-12950HX to AMD’s Ryzen 9 7945HX, and performance has benefited exponentially. Not only is it now one of the most powerful gaming laptops on the market, but the efficiencies gained mean less heat generated and less fan noise to interrupt your gaming.

That efficiency translates to better battery life, too. The battery woes that afflicted the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (2022) are absent from this newer version. Where that model managed just an hour of gaming on battery alone, the 2023 incarnation clocks in at over twice that figure.

The Scar 17 lacks nothing in the audio department, with Dolby Atmos-certified speakers providing plenty of grunt for music and in-game effects and the virtual surround system producing effective directional sonics.

This is one of the most powerful gaming laptops we’ve come across. While not the most portable, it makes up for that by offering cutting-edge, big-screen laptop gaming with few compromises.

4. Asus ROG Flow X16

The most flexible Asus gaming laptop.

Asus ROG Flow X16 specs:

Pros:

• Thin and light
• Powerful i9 processor
• Great screen

Cons:

• Limited graphic ability
• Expensive
• Compromised connectivity

At first glance, the Asus ROG Flow X16 looks like any other gaming laptop. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that this machine has other things on its mind. Yes, it’s billed as a gaming laptop, but the 360-degree hinge that allows it to operate in various form factors makes it unique among this company.

Introducing flexibility into a device often limits its potential in one or more disciplines. In this instance, we were surprised to find the punchy Intel Core i9-13900H under the hood. However, the X16 is modestly specced in other areas compared to the other machines in this test. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card is a mid-range rather than a high-end model, for example. If graphics performance is an issue, you can always opt for an external GPU for increased performance–the ROG XG Mobile external GPU dock is available in both NVIDIA and AMD trim. Rounding out the spec list are 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

The X16 is no mobile gaming powerhouse, but where it does excel is its ability to be all things to all people. In ‘kiosk’ or ‘tented’ form, it’s a fantastic multimedia entertainment workhorse. It’s also the only machine here that can function as a giant screen with a controller or a touchscreen gaming device for casual, sofa-based play.

So, while it can’t hope to compete with the most powerful gaming machines out there, it does offer an awful lot of options for those who want an all-round entertainer for the kids, to take away on holiday or as a machine that can handle all but the most processor-intensive games but also turn its hand to music, movies, intuitive touchscreen web browsing, and even the odd spreadsheet. Provided the hefty price tag doesn’t put you off, of course.

5. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 

The most portable Asus gaming laptop.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 specs:

Pros:

• Incredibly compact
• Impressive spec for its size
• Great battery life

Cons:

• Can’t compete with bulkier high-end gaming machines
• Premium price for portability
• Can get hot under load

Gaming laptops and hulking screens don’t always go hand-in-hand, as demonstrated by the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, a machine that packs power and finesse in a compact chassis.

You’d be forgiven for thinking a laptop this compact couldn’t possibly contain the necessary elements for cutting-edge gaming performance. You’d be wrong. The Zephyrus G14 packs some serious processing and graphics firepower courtesy of AMD’s Ryzen 9 7940HS processor and a choice of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090, 4080, or 4070 in the base model. The display is stunning; featuring a native resolution of 2560 x 1600, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 3ms response time, it’s a more than capable foil for the graphic processing power on offer.

As we’ve already mentioned, this is a compact machine, but what’s most impressive is that the battery life is still excellent, delivering a class-leading 10-hour stint of video playback. It’s mighty impressive for a high-performance gaming laptop.

The Zephyrus G14 is an incredible combination of power and portability that defies what’s possible for genuine, no-compromise gaming. It’s not cheap, but this is the closest thing to desktop power in a compact chassis you’ll find from any manufacturer.

How we chose the best Asus gaming laptops

With such a massive range of laptops to choose from, we picked our contenders based on the following criteria:

• Power: it’s not necessarily all about processing power, but the overall package needed to be able to keep pace with current games and include an element of future-proofing.
• Style: gaming laptops aren’t meant to be slabs of grey plastic. We picked some of the best-looking for the Asus laptop range.
• Flexibility: a combination of portability and all-around ability. Yes, we’re looking for a great gaming machine, but if it’s also a decent music and film player, so much the better.
• Price: we know that everyone’s opinion of what’s expensive or good value differs, so we picked a variety of devices that would appeal to a variety of wallets.

Find out more about how we test and select hardware like the best Asus gaming laptops for our buying guides.

Asus ROG vs Asus TUF – what’s the difference?

Asus gaming laptops belong to one of two sub-brands: the Republic of Gamers ( ROG) or The Ultimate Force (TUF). ROG[a] laptops tend to be higher-specced and more flamboyant in appearance. TUF laptops[b] are generally utilitarian machines designed to perform well at keen price points.

Is the Asus ROG Strix series worth it?

If you’re serious about gaming, the high-end ROG Strix series is where you should focus your attention. These cutting-edge machines offer the best components in the most thoughtfully designed packages. Put simply, these are the best-of-the-best gaming laptops that Asus has to offer.