ASUS TUF Dash 15 Ultra Slim 2021 Review

The ASUS TUF Dash 15 is a bit of a puzzle. It's a gaming laptop that's super thin and light, which is great if you're always on the move. But that slim design comes with some compromises under the hood. It's packing an Intel Core i7-11370H CPU and an RTX 3050 Ti GPU, which sounds decent on paper, but the specs tell a more specific story. This machine is really for someone who wants a portable rig for lighter esports titles and general use, not a powerhouse for the latest AAA games. The 144Hz screen is a nice touch for smooth gameplay, but the rest of the package makes you wonder who exactly it's for.

Let's talk numbers. The RTX 3050 Ti GPU lands in the 69th percentile, which is okay. It's not a slouch, but it's not setting any records either. With 4GB of VRAM and a 60W power limit (that can boost to 75W), it's built for efficiency in this thin chassis. You can expect to play games like Valorant or Fortnite at high frame rates on the 144Hz display, but when you push into more demanding titles, you'll need to dial settings down to medium or low to stay smooth. The CPU is where things get tricky. That i7-11370H is a 4-core chip, and its 20th percentile ranking shows it's a weak spot. It'll handle gaming fine, but if you try to stream or run heavy background tasks, you might feel it struggling.

Priced between $1000 and $1037, the TUF Dash 15 sits in a tough spot. You're paying a premium for that ultra-slim form factor, but the internal specs, especially the 8GB RAM and 4-core CPU, feel like they belong to a much cheaper machine. For the same money, you could find chunkier laptops with much better performance. So the value really hinges on how much you prioritize portability above all else. If thin and light is your absolute top requirement for a gaming-capable laptop, this has a case. Otherwise, the price-to-performance ratio isn't great.

Compared to something like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, the trade-off is stark. The Legion will be thicker and heavier, but it'll absolutely demolish this ASUS in CPU and GPU performance, and it'll almost certainly have 16GB of RAM or more. You're choosing between portability and power. Then there's the Apple MacBook Pro. For similar money, you get an insanely better CPU, a stunning screen, and incredible battery life, but you lose out on Windows gaming and the dedicated RTX GPU. The ASUS Zenbook Duo is another interesting one. It might match the portability and even have a more innovative dual-screen design, but its integrated graphics can't touch the 3050 Ti for gaming. The TUF Dash carves a niche by offering a discrete GPU in a very slim body, but that niche has big compromises.

If you're a student or frequent traveler who plays lighter games like League of Legends, CS2, or older titles, and you absolutely need the thinnest, lightest machine possible, the TUF Dash 15 could work. Just plan to upgrade that RAM to 16GB immediately; it's a necessity, not a suggestion. For anyone else, it's a harder sell. If you play newer AAA games, do content creation, or just want a laptop that will last for years without feeling slow, look at more balanced options like the Legion series or even ASUS's own thicker TUF models. The ultra-slim design is cool, but it comes at the cost of core specs that haven't aged well.