Asus TUF A17 is a beefy 17.3-inch gaming laptop with some of the smallest arrow keys we've seen

Laptops that are 14-inch in size or under tend to have smaller and more tightly packed keyboard keys. Additional concessions such as the lack of dedicated auxiliary keys or NumPad keys are understandable as well given the limited surface area available. For larger 17.3-inch gaming laptops, however, it becomes much more difficult to forgive such cutbacks.

The 17.3-inch TUF A17 FA706 series is Asus' latest gaming laptop designed to replace the aging TUF FX705 series. It's a complete redesign of the older model with significantly faster processor options and improved chassis quality, but the keyboard arrow keys are noticeably smaller this time around. In fact, each arrow key is so incredibly small (~1.3 x 1.0 cm) that even the arrow keys on most subnotebooks are larger than what the TUF A17 has to offer. Key feedback is subsequently weak, spongy, cramped, and just displeasing to use even for short periods.

The substandard arrow keys are a shame because typing on the main QWERTY keys is otherwise satisfactory and roomy while system performance is spectacular given the asking price. If you intend on doing a fair bit of Excel work or anything else requiring the arrow keys, however, then you'd be better off with other gaming laptops with actual full-size arrow keys like the Lenovo Legion Y740-17 or MSI GT76. Otherwise, you're going to want to invest in an external keyboard or NumPad.

Buy Asus TUF Gaming A17 now on Amazon