MSI Stealth 15M evaluation: Coasting on its attractiveness | Engadget

It’s solely pure that an individual’s tastes and preferences change over time. So after years of thirsting for large, beefy gaming laptops with shiny lights, I’ve began gravitating in direction of extra understated all-rounders that do not scream “Look at me.” And for the previous few generations, MSI’s Stealth 15M line has been top-of-the-line at balancing good efficiency with a discreet look. But sadly, it appears like MSI is coasting with the 2022 mannequin. While there aren’t a ton of main flaws, issues just like the Stealth’s show, battery life and audio simply aren’t fairly as good as I might’ve preferred.

Design

For a gaming pocket book, the Stealth 15M is about as incognito because it will get. It’s acquired a easy, considerably boxy construct with a matte black end (which is a little bit of a fingerprint magnet, by the way in which). The solely visible aptitude, at the very least on the skin, is MSI’s dragon brand, which will get a brand new holographic therapy for 2022.

Then you open it up and also you get MSI’s pretty Spectrum backlit keyboard, a giant speaker grill that runs the width of the deck and a smallish touchpad. Along its sides MSI contains a wide selection of ports together with 4 USB 3.2 ports (two Type-A and two Type-C, one in every of which helps DisplayPort), a full-size HDMI 2.1 connector and a combo headphone/mic jack. And with a weight of just below 4 kilos (3.96 lbs), the Stealth is definitely a contact lighter than quite a lot of different 15-inch gaming laptops (and a few 14-inch methods too).

Display, sound and webcam

On paper, the Stealth 15M’s display appears like an ideal match for its specs. It’s a 15.6-inch IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh charge. It even has a matte end to assist stop distracting reflections. The challenge is that as a result of it has considerably uninteresting colours and a examined brightness of round 250 nits, films and video games look form of lifeless. Sure, when you like gaming in darker environments, it is not a giant deal. But its mediocre gentle output additionally implies that in sunny rooms, it may be tough to learn textual content, particularly when you’re somebody who prefers darkish mode apps.

As for audio, the Stealth options twin two-watt audio system that may get fairly loud, although they’re missing a little bit of bass. Don’t get me flawed, they’re completely advantageous, I used to be simply hoping for a little bit extra contemplating the scale of its grille. And then perched above the show is a 720p webcam which is serviceable nevertheless it does not ship the form of high quality you’d need for dwell streaming. It’s extra so you possibly can present your face throughout Zoom conferences, and that is about it.

But as soon as once more, whereas nothing is egregiously unhealthy, I really feel like MSI is doing the naked minimal right here. Its audio system are simply okay, its webcam does not even seize full HD and that large chin beneath the show makes the entire laptop computer look type of dated.

Performance

When it involves efficiency the Stealth has loads of oomph due to an Intel Core i7-1280P CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU. Our evaluation unit even comes with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM, the latter of which is arguably overkill given the remainder of the system’s specs. However, you may wish to be sure to determine the place the Stealth’s fan pace settings are within the MSI Center app, as a result of when this factor spins up, you are in for greater than only a refined whoosh.

In Shadows of the Tomb Raider at 1920 x 1080 and highest settings, the Stealth averaged 106 fps, which is only a tiny bit higher than the 102 fps we acquired from the similarly-sized Alienware x14. Meanwhile, in Metro Exodus, the Stealth tied the Alienware’s efficiency, with each machines hitting 55 fps at full HD and extremely settings. So not precisely face-melting horsepower, however nonetheless greater than sufficient to play fashionable AAA titles with loads of graphical bells and whistles enabled.

Keyboard and touchpad

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

One factor I actually like concerning the Stealth 15M is its Spectrum keyboard. Not solely do the keys have a gentle, soft press, they let simply the correct quantity of sunshine to leak out the perimeters, including a little bit razzle dazzle with out searing your retinas. And in fact, you possibly can flip all the pieces off if you wish to go absolutely undercover. Below that you just get a touchpad that measures simply 4 inches extensive and two and half inches tall, which might really feel a bit cramped at instances. That mentioned, having an undersized touchpad is not as large of a deal because it is likely to be on a extra mainstream pocket book. Most players will most likely carry an exterior mouse since touchpads actually aren’t supreme for gaming.

Battery life

Perhaps the most important weak point of the Stealth 15M is its battery life. It comes with a 53.8Whr energy cell, which feels frustratingly small in comparison with the Alienware x14, whose battery is 50 p.c bigger at 80Whr, regardless of each methods being about the identical dimension. That ends in some fairly disappointing longevity, with the Stealth lasting simply 4 hours and quarter-hour on our native video rundown take a look at versus 9:45 for the x14 and 5:42 for the extra highly effective Razer Blade 15.

Wrap-up

After utilizing the Stealth 15M for some time, I’m probably not mad, I’m simply disillusioned. I really like the overall design and aesthetic and the Stealth delivers an important stability of efficiency and portability. In quite a lot of methods it appears like a extra grown-up tackle thin-and-light gaming laptop computer.

The challenge is that it virtually appears like MSI has uncared for the Stealth line. Compared to earlier years, the principle upgrades for 2022 are a refreshed CPU and GPU together with a brand new badge on its lid. That’s not nothing, however I do know MSI can do higher and I’m actually hoping to see the Stealth get a full redesign someday quickly.

Ultimately, assuming you possibly can abdomen the quick battery life, the worth of the Stealth 15M hinges rather a lot on its value. I’ve seen this factor listed as excessive as $1,700 from retailers like Walmart, which is just too a lot. At that time, you are a lot better off going for a pocket book with a barely smaller display just like the Alienware X14 and getting very related efficiency, or choosing Asus’ Zephyrous G14 whereas additionally saving a pair hundred bucks within the course of. But when you can nab the Stealth for under $1,400, quite a lot of the system’s trade-offs grow to be much more palatable. I simply want this model of the Stealth felt extra like James Bond and fewer like Agent Cody Banks.