MSI has three new thinner and lighter laptop designs this year,
and they’ve sponsored this video for me to show you what’s coming!
We’ve got the Cyborg 15, Stealth 16, and Prestige 13 EVO.
Let’s start out with the Cyborg 15, which is meant to be a more budget friendly gaming laptop design.
My configuration has Intel’s 13th gen Core i7-13620H processor with
Nvidia’s new RTX 4050 graphics paired with a 1080p 144Hz screen.
The Cyborg has a translucent plastic around the edges, on the back of the screen,
front of the lid and underneath, so you can kind of see some of the insides. The
WASD keys and power button also get a similar treatment, giving the Cyborg a unique look.
It’s got a nice matte black metal lid, and although the interior is all plastic,
it feels nicer compared to older plastic MSI laptops I’ve tested. There’s not much flex at all.
Alright, this laptop isn’t quite as thin as the others,
but it’s still on the lighter side for a gaming laptop, and that’s because the
RTX 4050 graphics running at 45 watts just doesn’t need a whole lot of cooling. This
also means that the laptop only needs a small 120 watt charger, helping it remain portable.
Even at 45 watts the RTX 4050 was still able to run Cyberpunk 2077 at
1080p high settings close to 60 FPS, and that’s without DLSS or frame generation,
which could be used to boost FPS much more.
Otherwise inside we’ve got the 54Wh battery down the front,
two memory slots, one PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage slot and removable Wi-Fi.
Air only comes out of one side on the back due to the smaller cooler,
as well as the left side, so no hot air on your mouse hand. The
left also has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack.
The right has a second USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port,
a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port with DisplayPort support, HDMI 2.1 output,
gigabit ethernet facing the preferred way so it’s easy to pull out, and the power input at the back.
The screen looks a little dim,
but it looked alright while running the games. This is an early engineering sample,
so I’ll save my full testing for the upcoming detailed review once we’ve got final hardware.
If MSI’s Cyborg 15 comes in at a lower price,
I could see it being a cheaper option for casual gamers or students who still need portability.
Up next up we’ve got the Stealth 16,
which is a more premium design with nicer build quality and higher specs,
so better performance, so also expect a higher price tag compared to the Cyborg 15.
My Stealth 16 has Intel’s Core i7-13700H processor and Nvidia
RTX 4060 graphics with a 16 inch 165Hz screen.
The screen looks nice and bright, but there’s also high refresh 1440p or 4K 16:10 options.
Despite having more power than the Cyborg, it’s also thinner and lighter too, but the
extra power means a larger 240 watt charger. The battery is almost twice as large though,
so more time away from the charger is expected.
The Stealth has support for charging with the right Type-C port too, so you
could use a much smaller adapter when on the go.
I’ve got the Pure White finish here, but it’s also available with a Star Blue finish.
The magnesium-aluminum build looks and feels nicer compared to the Cyborg,
and its clean design wouldn’t look out of place in an office, but make no mistake,
those specs are also capable of gaming once you’re done with work.
It’s even got a MUX switch so you can get optimal performance in games.
Other nice features include a per-key RGB backlit keyboard, front facing speakers,
a fingerprint scanner, and this cool Stealth lighting on the back,
which you can turn off in software if you prefer.
The smooth touchpad feels really satisfying to click, and typing felt nice too.
The left side has an air exhaust, 2.5 gigabit ethernet port facing the preferred way,
HDMI 2.1, a MicroSD card slot, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort support.
The right has a 3.5mm audio combo jack, Thunderbolt 4 port which can
be used to charge the laptop, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port,
and the rectangle at the back is the power input, not another USB port.
Inside we’ve got the big 99.9wh battery down the front, two M.2 storage slots for
SSDs just above it, two memory slots in the middle, and wi-Fi card to the right.
Our next laptop is MSI’s Prestige 13 EVO, an extremely thin and lightweight laptop. Compared
to most other laptops I review, it almost feels like I’m not even holding anything.
Obviously I am because it’s here and it actually exists, but yeah my point is it’s lightweight.
This 13 inch device weighs just 985g or 2.17lb, or under 3lb with
the tiny 65 watt charger. At just 0.67” or 1.7cm thick, it feels super portable.
To be fair, there’s no discrete graphics, but with Intel’s new Core i7-1370P processor,
it’s still able to pack 14 cores and 20 threads in a small package.
I mean just look how it compares against MSI’s older gaming laptops,
and all of these are also larger 15 or 17 inch designs. The GE76 Raider from 2020 was
a powerful 17 inch beast, and now this new 13 inch model has a 38% higher single core score
and a similar multicore score thanks to Intel’s new hybrid P and E core design - crazy stuff.
This one has a magnesium aluminum chassis like the larger Stealth 16, so it feels good.
Despite the thinner size, the keyboard still has 1.7mm of key travel, and it
feels nice to type with, but I’d consider the darker stellar gray finish instead of
the pure white finish I’ve got, as that would make the white backlit keys easier to see.
The touchpad was great too, only a little smaller than the one in the larger Stealth 16.
The screen looks good, as it’s 16:10 there’s not really a bottom bezel,
and when you open the lid the back lifts up a bit to give you a slightly better
angle for typing and to better help cool air get inside from underneath.
There’s a fingerprint scanner in the power button,
and a 1080p infrared camera for Windows Hello face login, as well as a privacy shutter.
It uses Microsoft’s Modern Standby as well, which basically means that even when it’s asleep,
it instantly wakes up when you open the lid, no waiting. Combined with
face unlock you can go from asleep to logged in and working very fast.
Most of the inside is taken up by the 75 watt hour battery,
which MSI claims can last up to 16 hours in these conditions.
Otherwise inside we’ve just got a single PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage slot for the SSD,
which is about as much upgradeability as you’ll find in a thin 13 inch laptop like this. RAM is
soldered, but with up to 32 gigs of memory I think it’s going to be plenty for most people!
The left side has a power connector, however the 65 watt Type-C charger that mine came
with was used to charge it with either of the two Thunderbolt 4 ports. There’s also
HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm audio combo jack, while the right has a MicroSD card slot,
Kensington lock, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port.
In addition to the Stealth 16, MSI also have a smaller Stealth 14, Stealth 15,
and a larger Stealth 17, so plenty of thinner options within the Stealth series.
And likewise there are also bigger versions of the Prestige laptop too with 14 and 16 inch options.
So if you need super portability above all else and don’t really need GPU power
for gaming or video editing, MSI’s Prestige 13 EVO is the way to go out
of these laptops. The Stealth 16 is bigger in comparison, but still quite portable,
and it does give you much more power along with nice extra features,
while the Cyborg 15 provides what’s necessary for that core gaming experience for less money.
Out of these three options, personally I liked the Stealth 16 the most. The build just feels
great and it’s got the power inside that I would want for video editing or gaming on
the go. But let me know which of these three laptops you would pick down in the comments!
You can find more details on all of these laptops with the sponsored link below the video,
and you can check out the rest of the new laptops coming out from MSI
this year in this video next! They have a lot of new models coming out, so definitely ch