No brand is reliable

Mind non-upgradeable 8GB RAM? Need decent dGPU/iGPU and high sRGB display?

Prodigy runs hot, would go for Onyx Lite despite lower specs - I would get good cooling rather than better specs

What games?

S540-14API Malaysia model only low sRGB - high sRGB panel not available here

Budget? Preferred max weight and min battery life? Mind 8GB non-upgradeable RAM?

Mind you, metal body doesn't 100% mean good build quality, plastic doesn't 100% mean bad build quality

No preference on battery life?

Suggest upping budget to 2.5k

How long battery life? How light weight? Give range in hours and kg

Then Intel iGPU is OK

Lenovo Ideapad 720s 13 Intel 81BV000BMJ / CMJ
Acer Spin 5 SP513-53N-52HJ, SP513-52N-58QD
Acer Swift 3 SF314-55-54A3/5699, SF314-55G-50AN / 50YA, SF314-55G-547H

I recommend models not brands

Mediocre model

1kg? For your budget there isn't such model

If you see these models are in my regular laptop list then they are fine. But mind you - Asus laptops have poor QC+QA and warranty compared to other competitors

Everything glued together, all soldered parts even storage, issues pop out after a few months usage due to poor QC+QA, questionable after sales. Can throw away if anything goes wrong - that is why Surface is not in my regular laptop list

It's a fairly new thread lol - pinned at first page

You might get a good unit or a lemon (their QC is very inconsistent now) - and if you get a lemon (either with issues out of the box or after several months/a year usage), good luck with Asus warranty. No onsite for Asus. They used to be good - but 'used to be'

Which exact model?

Consumer grade is still consumer grade...they are more prone to QC issues. Still Asus QC is worse than industry average imo

CPU/GPU performance depends on which CPU/GPU, but if got thermal throttling then the performance will be slightly lower. Lower temp also help in longevity

Swift 5 don't have good cooling - below average CPU performance. Also OKish battery life

SF314-55/55G also have limited cooling but not as limited in Swift 5 - GPU might throttle in 55G model

SF314-54/54G is the best all rounder if you don't mind low sRGB display - upgradeable RAM (1 slot), 25w MX150 (will throttle slightly if hit high temp but not that significant), still have good exterior build (slightly better than SF314-55/55G actually) and battery life

Exterior quality is good for the 3 models, but not quite 'excellent' level

knowledge

SF314-55 is high sRGB, SF314-54 is low sRGB. Both Intel iGPU

8265U and 8250U basically no difference

Game for 3 hrs? idk can handle so long or not

Which particular model?

By upgradeable you mean RAM and storage?

With 1660Ti/2060:
Commandos Glock 5 Alpha: i7 and 144Hz out of budget
Commandos Glock 5 Plus (144Hz): i5 only
Lenovo Legion Y540 15 customize: apply code LENXCIMB and Shopback
Level51 Forge 15 Elite: 120Hz low sRGB IPS, ~3 hrs battery but removable
Commandos Carbine Evo 4 Plus: i5 only, no high refresh rate panel, ~3 hrs battery but removable

Consider bumping up budget a bit to get Thinkpad T495 if you want better reliability/durability

Lenovo Thinkpad L590: apply code LENXCIMB
Lenovo Thinkpad E590: apply code LENXCIMB
Lenovo Thinkpad E595

Avoid consumer line if you want best reliability/durability

Or consider Thinkpad E495/E490. Refer to here for more options: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4771316

Laptop models except Thinkpad/Latitude/Elitebook/Precision/Zbook (exclude low end line) (and many)

Would suggest Thinkpad E series even though it's consumer grade