ASUS FX506HF-ES51 TUF Gaming F15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD Display, Intel Core i5-11400H, GeForce RTX 2050, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB Gen 3 PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FX506HF -ES51
I bought it to replace my suddenly broken Dell Inspiron. I want a laptop with dedicated graphics, a backlit keyboard, good system specs, and expandability at an affordable price.
Don't forget that ASUS offers 1 year accident insurance, which is a win!
Although I've only had this laptop for a few days (edit: a few weeks), I'm not disappointed with the purchase.
Here are my first impressions, pros and cons.
feature:
Sound: The built-in speakers are excellent. While it's not the "loudest," it's more than enough for watching YouTube, listening to system alerts, listening to music, making video calls, and more. I haven't tried the speakers while playing. [Edit] Well, these headphones get really loud. When I watch YouTube, the speaker volume is at 50% and the video volume is at 5%! I'm afraid the people in the lobby are awake and I can't sleep through the night. Plus, the fact that these are laptop speakers means they are of a very high quality. I listened to MP3 files on this unit and it was very satisfying. I had a speaker on my old "gaming" laptop because the speakers were dingy. This is definitely not the case here.
Screen: The screen resolution is very good, very bright and easy to read. Whether in daylight, in a bright room, or in the dark. I haven't tested it for games yet.
Cons: The screen is small. This is perfectly suitable for a 17.3 inch laptop. The screen edges are very thin and small, giving you the most screen real estate possible. However, as someone who does a lot of video and text editing, this isn't really what I'm looking for. When working with 3D models, I definitely need an external monitor or two.
It also does not fold flat. This is not a problem for me at all. But for those looking for a device that can do just that, that's not all. [EDIT] I'm looking for settings to adjust saturation, color balance, etc., I just can't find it! When I was editing photos this screen had a very high level of yellow saturation. So unless I can find or download something that lets me see colors the way they should, an external monitor comes with another hefty price tag. (Edit: After doing a lot of research online, I've solved the problem with oversaturated yellow. This is a Windows 11 problem, not a hardware problem. Microsoft's implementation of color schemes in Windows 11 is poorly documented.)
Manufacturing quality. This machine has been very powerful thus far. The material is beautiful and I don't think I'm going to spoil it. Or I'm worried that something is wrong with my bag. Everything fits perfectly. Even though I removed the small case to get into the machine, I don't feel any cracks or anything like that when I use the spreader to loosen the clamps. I recommend the right tool for the job. Do not attempt to disassemble the device after all screws have been removed.
Keyboard: As with any new laptop, it's always hard to get used to key mapping. There is no standardized private key mapping. Just to write, the design is very nice. The keys are well spaced and don't cause as many typos as on my larger machine where the keys are farther apart.
They are very tangible and make little noise. They do not have the feeling of mechanical keys. These can be membrane switches or a combination of these. [edit] Membrane replacement. Personally, I prefer this switch because it won't get replaced if only one or two switches fail. But on this machine they work great.
Except when the device is awkwardly on my lap, I have no problem typing on this device and can hit the keys I want very intuitively, with the device making very few typos.
The backlighting is great. Without the light, I can see and read the keys very clearly. I want them to use mixed colors so that I can have parts of the keyboard in one color and different parts in a different color. This is very useful for games with hotkeys. But for me, that's not a deal breaker. I can read it in the dark, that's what I want.
The private key layout is "fairly" standard. Given the F11 sleep mode keys and especially the F12 launched flight mode, this is not a good choice as these are very common shortcuts for many programs.
Mouse: The mouse works right out of the box. I want to place it a little to the left just to balance out the style. While running the tip of my thumb on the pad. But for a laptop this size, you get what you get. The pointer glides smoothly and effortlessly across the screen once it's ready to use. Big Plus. Hard mouse buttons are also used. Do not click the corners of the mouse pad. Honestly, I think it's a huge win. I never liked the click system in the corner, it is an area where dirt and mud collect and need to be cleaned. Like it or not, it's a matter of taste;)
Cons: This mouse pad absorbs oil. The oil really builds up.
Weight: The device is very portable. Very light weight. I was really surprised when I opened the box. I almost wondered if something was missing.
Between the device itself and the power supply, it's completely lightweight. My Sager laptop is a brick. Solid bricks are massive and weigh up to a ton. This machine is definitely a very welcome upgrade!
Noise: I was surprised there was no ( ) fan noise on this machine. I used a fan cooling pad that was on top of the cooling system inside
This machine! Asus has outdone itself when it comes to the cooling system. As mentioned, I haven't tried playing with this thing yet. But so far the noise level
Very gentle and not picky. [edit] Well, here we are, the fans. It's not that loud compared to some other laptops I own. It's actually pretty dark for a laptop enthusiast.
Others have mentioned that they look a bit like airplane turbines. Yes! They do! :D It's awesome! But here, too, they were silent. I highly doubt they would bother anyone other than a relatively light sleeper.
Heat: Pleasant surprise again! I've reliably run this machine for 24 hours and the fans have never been too loud. There is no hot air escaping from the side gussets and lying on the lap is very comfortable. (One of my HP laptops has bald spots on my legs from the heat!)
Boot: The operating system is installed on the SSD and the device boots very quickly. Windows can really slow down if you decide to force an update.
But without it, I hit the power button and within seconds I type in my password. very happy! EDIT 3/23/25: After installing 32GB of RAM the first boot was very slow due to a BIOS update for the new system spec. but. after that. Oh, my God! I pressed the power button and was able to connect to the device almost instantly.
Speed: The processor/RAM/SSD is by far the winner. Even Adobe Photoshop CS6 works fine. I haven't tried it in the game yet, but so far I haven't experienced any lag, stuttering, or lag in my intensive programs. My browser is an exception. When I surf the web, I manage a lot of tabs. And the browser is very memory intensive. Yes, one of my regular browsers. But when I upgrade the memory this problem goes away. EDIT 3/23/25: I just installed 32GB of T-Force Zeus DDR4 3200 CL-22 memory on the computer. It's very easy on the computer. The usb drive is giving me more trouble than plugging it into my laptop lol. However, since I'm also a computer engineer, your mileage may depend on your experience level.
The device is now running at 9% memory usage. The reported clock speed is 2933. This is not a laptop error. This is a BIOS that is not automatically configured to run memory at higher speeds. You can find instructions on how to do this online. It will take a few minutes. However, please do this on a different device as you will need to read the instructions when your laptop is on.
Search for "How to enable XMP to run RAM at full speed".
shortening
Size: As I said before, this is a very small and portable machine. In this regard, it's great! but. The palm rest is so small that when using an external mouse there is very little space on the palm rest to put the mouse let alone use it. Hover over the arrow keys and part of the numeric keypad. This is causing me problems because the buttons interact with the program and I don't want that! This is a huge drawback for me, since I use a laptop on my lap anyway.
The screen is also small. Even though my eyes aren't that good anymore, they are still clear and easy to read. However, some of the apps I'm running on the device require a larger external screen.
Windows 11: This is a personal choice. Personally, I think Microsoft's latest OS has gone in a very bad direction. I'm downgrading this machine to Windows 10 for the first time. [edit] I really hate this operating system. It has a similar shape, but it differs in many ways, which I don't like. I also don't like the way the new Microsoft taskbar works. The right-click context menu is also very different and less than satisfactory. [edit] While searching for it on the web, I found how to get back to the context menu.
Mainly because the changes they made to the right-click context menu are not compatible with most programs I use.
Disassembly: OK. This is Pro/Cheat mode. It is easy to disassemble this machine to understand its inner workings. The base plate is attached with 11 screws
Machine. Easy to remove and the panel is easy to remove.
but. All these screws are different lengths! So you need to know where to go!
Non-removable external battery: This is an obvious trick. Not only can you carry spare parts, but you also can't easily replace existing ones when they are broken. [Edit] As you mentioned, while the battery is replaceable, you will need to open the small case. It's not the hot-swappable battery we've used in older devices.
sites. Well, this really disappointed me. I will remove the ram from the broken device and put it here to upgrade the low 8gb ram
It comes with. it does not fit! ! The pinout varies and the gaps on the board are left wide apart. I need to research what memory this thing needs and buy a new mobo to do the upgrade.
but. that's awesome. The device comes with a single 8GB RAM stick. Not paired with 2x 4GB storage. This means I can put another 8GB stick in here and double the memory. You don't have to sacrifice any of the sticks you already have. Because it does not exist! Or I could just pop in a 16GB stick and instantly triple the RAM, all on a much smaller scale. I have read conflicting information about the level of device support. Most say 32GB, some say 64GB.
I'd like 32, but I'm not sure.
Expansion Slots: Almost all of the USB ports, as well as the audio and video outputs, are located on the left side. This results in the need for an external monitor
Some scheduling issues. This can cause problems for people who use it at a desk. The only thing I love about older Dell laptops is that they have it
One of the aforementioned ports is located on the back of the device. or in the back corner.
More USB ports is also a very nice addition.
There is no optical drive. I may just be a dinosaur, but I miss my optical drive. Watching DVDs or burning discs is a thing of the past. Or just remove the tray and replace the 2.5 SATA drive via an adapter, which is also a very good option. Ah, haha, progress has been made.
8GB RAM: Integrated with Win11, load ASUS branded software, McCaffee pre-installed unwanted software... Running machine memory occupies about 50%. Asus monitoring software and the bloated Goat OS take up a lot of system memory. After uninstalling the useless MacCafé, I reduced it to about 40% with 8GB of RAM.
As mentioned earlier, this device uses a different RAM card than devices used a few years ago.
512 GB solid state storage: ok. This is Pro/Cheat mode. Compared to similar devices, the 512 is very good, if only half as good. At the same time
The price of such machines. As mentioned above, the device supports up to 1 TB storage disks or SATA hard drives. So this machine definitely has room to grow. However, this involves additional costs. If you plan to add a lot of games, you'll definitely want to expand your storage! Fortunately, it has a SATA slot. This means you can add a 1TB SATA drive for less money.
In general, I can only complain about the size of the palm rest. It is my pleasure to write. However, like most applications I use, I need short and precise mouse movements. The problem would be that there is no space on this machine to use a mouse.
This and the need to purchase Windows 10 and reinstall the drivers. But again, it's a personal choice.
- Supercharged RTX graphics - up to 4GB (70W) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 with Dynamic Boost for ultra-smooth gaming graphics.
- Ready for It All - Easily stream and stream with your gaming laptop thanks to the Intel Core i5-11400H processor with 12MB cache, up to 4.5GHz, 6 cores and 8GB DDR4 RAM that clocks at blistering speeds of up to 3200MHz Powered by Windows 11 for multitasking.
- SWIFT Visuals - Stay ahead of the competition with a 15.6-inch 144Hz (1920 x 1080) IPS display.
- Plenty of Storage for All Your Games - Store and quickly load your entire game library onto this 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD for the full RTX gaming experience.
- Military Durability - The TUF series meets the MIL-STD-810H military rugged standard, which tests devices for drops, vibration, moisture, and temperature extremes to ensure reliability.
- Connect it all - 1 RJ45 LAN port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 USB Type-C (supports Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort)