Gaming laptops should have discrete graphics cards. Outside of the RGB lights, it’s what classifies a laptop made for gaming. All attempts to do otherwise have largely been disasters. The Asus TUF Gaming A14 wants to rewrite that script. It uses one of AMD’s new Max+ chips, which come with impressive integrated graphics instead, not unlike Apple’s high-end MacBook chips. After loading up some games, I was impressed how quickly I forgot about this laptop's lack of GPU. I wish it were cheaper though, as its performance can't compete with more powerful gaming laptops at this price. The Asus TUF A14 is an enigma. First of all, it’s a 14-inch gaming laptop. It's hard to get these components into a smaller package, so these are usually rare and usually reserved for high-end gaming laptops, like the Razer Blade 14. Second, the A14 is in Asus’ “TUF” brand, which are its most price-conscious options. Last, there’s the aforementioned AMD chip. All that is to say, the TUF A14 was one of the gaming laptops I was most excited to test this year. In the past, I’ve stayed away from Asus TUF laptops, as it was the bottom-tier in terms of design. That meant chunky chassis, poor displays, and thick bezels. The models from 2025 looked more modern, but the prices weren’t competitive with some of my favorite cheap gaming laptops like the Lenovo LOQ 15 and Acer Nitro V 16. But again, the TUF A14 is something new, and the design is impressive. It’s right around the same thickness and weight as the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and the bezels around the sides of the screen are really trim. The bottom bezel is thick, primarily because the A14 uses a 16:9 aspect ratio screen. I won’t belabor that point, but it means less screen and more bezel in the same footprint. Overall, it’s very subtle. The gaming aesthetic is heavily downplayed, with only a few elements left, such as the typeface on the keycaps and the shape of the vents below the hinge. There’s not even per-key backlighting on the keyboard.