Micro-Star International (MSI) is a computer hardware company based in Taiwan. The company prides itself on producing heavy-duty laptops for tech enthusiasts and gamers. By tech enthusiasts, I mean those who use their PC to drive heavy tech development or modification software. However, MSI gaming laptops are some of the reliable and loveable portable gaming PCs that you can find in the market, even in 2023 and beyond.
Some current gaming laptops that will impress you are the Titan GT Series, Cyborg Series, Katana Series, and Raider GE Series. In this article, I’ll review the laptops below and give you my verdict of each.
MSI Gaming Laptops to Consider in 2023
- MSI Titan GT77 Review
- MSI Cyborg 15 Review
- MSI Katana 17
- The MSI Raider GE78HX Smart Touchpad
MSI Titan GT77 Review
The MSI Titan GT77 (2023), also loosely referred to as the MSI GT77 or Titan GT77, is a member of
The display is impressionable — a 17-inch, 4K display, with a 144Hz refresh rate. The total weight is 3.3kg.
Specs:
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13th Gen Core i9-13980 HX processor
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU (16 GB)
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2 TB of SSD internal storage that enables it to drive heavy games at the utmost settings
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5.5 GHz performance core and 16 efficiency cores
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64GB DDR5 RAM and 4 memory slots, which are upgradeable to a total expansion of 428 gigs
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No HDR support
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Dual 2-terabyte NVME SSD slots.
The
Price: The basic price is around $4,299 and can increase based on your required modifications.
MSI Titan GT77 Gaming Laptop Design:
It has RGB lighting for the keyboard display and the base panel.
The Cherry mechanical keyboard sits pretty in a shallow compartment, with moderately spaced keys. So, it offers a very good typing experience, especially if you derive pleasure from keyboard sounds.
The light is always on display at the back, beaming in its glorious rainbow pride. The MSI badge on the lid also flashes elegantly. The entire back has cooling vents from side to side, all the way. Although the keyboard seems to be forced to accommodate the numbers on the right side.
Ports: It offers two Thunderbolt ports. In addition, there’s a mini-display port connection, an SD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, three Type A USB 3.2 connections, and an Ethernet action port.
Cons:
What you may not enjoy about it is that the fan screams even under normal use, and goes even higher when used to drive heavy applications. Despite the super performance qualities, it still has a 720p webcam. I would have expected more from a computer at that price point. At 15.6 by 12.9 inches, you can expect the weight to be heavy. But hey, what high-performance gaming laptop isn't heavy?
Note: There are different versions of the Titan GT77, especially by year. MSI Titan GT77 2023 is the latest, as of this review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkw8yS04Ryw&embedable=true
The Verdict
Quality design. Rugged. Smart and recent tech, mostly. The camera's display isn't the best. Some other laptops offer at least the 1080p video option. The microphone isn't the best. Does not even come close to a dynamic mic sound. But it's audible enough if that's what you're looking forward to. It offers a webcam shield. If you take Snowden seriously, that's great for you. And automatically disable the webcam. A typical web browsing session and other runs like typing will max out the battery at about 2 and a half hours. So, you can expect less if you are gaming on battery power. But who games on battery power anyway?
MSI Cyborg 15 Review
Overview: The MSI Cyborg 15 is for those looking for a
MSI Cyborg 15 Design:
This one is super light and sleek. Not much design paparazzi. It has a single fan, which means you cannot drive it to the limit that you can push most gaming laptops to. But hey, at an approximately $1000 USD price point, that's not so much of a killjoy.
Specs:
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Intel Core i7 13620H (or 12650H, depending on your option) processor.
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU
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8 GB of VRAM (or 6),
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16GB DDR5-4800 RAM.
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Samsung 1024GB, with only 867GB accessible memory. Extendable SSD slot.
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15.6-inch screen,144HZ refresh rate,
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4 P-cores, 4 E-cores, and a total of 16 total threads.
So the performance is lower in comparison to most of the 2022 and above game machines, whether from the company or other companies. The RAM will make it lag when it runs AAA games; so, it best serves mid power-consuming games, but it will definitely serve video editors.
Ports: USB C port with DP, HDMI 2.0, 2USB-A.3.2, an Ethernet connection port, and a 720p WebCam.
Power: You can’t expect much from a 53.4Wh battery. And that is a disappointment for a portable gaming PC. Even non-gaming devices have 68WH, and even 97Wh battery capacity. But that may be MSI's way of telling you, “hey, your price does not deserve a better power option”.
Although, when it comes to the runtime, it does fairly well, in comparison to some other laptops like the MSI Katana 15, the
Keyboard: The backlit keyboard does not offer much; there is no RGB, just a light blue backlight. The keyboard spacing is not the best, but it isn't too bad, too. It has pretty decent arrow keys, but the number pads are just meh —squeezed in.
Cons:
- No Thunderbolt port
- There is only a single fan
- You have no SD card slot
- The color accuracy is questionable, almost like a blurry version of most color schemes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1NrdAKAHdc&embedable=true
The Verdict
At an entry price of approximately $1000, this is a decent machine, but not worth being named a "cyborg". Honestly, with such mid-range performance and an unmotivating screen quality, this is not a professional gaming laptop. It's like what you'd gift your 10-year-old who is just getting into the world of gaming, but you don't want them addicted.
MSI Katana 17 Gaming Laptop Review
**Overview:**The MSI Katana 17 is one of MSI's GeForce RTX40 series laptops optimized for memorable gaming performance. To be honest, the company tries to impress itself by being dedicated to heavy-duty laptops, which is mostly great, but sometimes exaggerated.
The design is quite smooth; in fact, it is too sleek for a gaming laptop. The base is also thin (not ultra-thin) in comparison to most others. Underneath is the heating vent, which proves effective both as a design and as a heat dissipation system.
Ports: On the side of this 2.795kg (6.08 lbs) machine, there is a Type C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, one HDMI port that supports up to 4k at 120Hz output, a USB 2.0 port, and USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, that will accommodate more recent hardware such as keyboards or a mouse.
Specs:
- 13th Gen Intel 8 Core i7-13700H processor
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 and 16 DDR5 RAM, extendable up to 64GB
- 2 ultra-high-speed NVME SSDs
- Has Bluetooth 5.1
- 720p HD WebCam
Price:The Katana 17 price is €2000 (currently only available in Germany).
Keyboard and Lights: The keyboard backlight gives RGB lighting that can make your dark game room glow, giving the Jedi sword aura. It gives Alienware vibes but is not as strong as some of the company's other devices. The WASD keys and the ARROW keys are translucent, with obvious indicators that they serve gaming purposes. Number pads are available, but like the other ones reviewed here, they barely have enough room to sit on the laptop. By visiting the MSI performance center, as a user, you can select your unique keyboard (backlit) color.
Design: White LED lights indicate that the laptop is using the integrated GPU, and when it is orange, that's the discrete GPU.
With MSI Katana 17,
With this series, MSI introduces the Cooler Boost 5 with dedicated thermal solutions with up to six heat pipes for a double fan system. That is more impressive than the Cyborg 15. This laptop has an extended heat pipe diameter and thermal grease for enhanced performance. You have the option to trigger a turbo cooling mode by pressing the function and the arrow up keys. That way, your fans' speed will increase. Pressing both keys again will return the speed to normal.
The laptop has an accommodating trackpad, but there are no click buttons, which, to me, is not great enough for a gaming PC.
Power: You’d have to question the "3-cell" battery that the MSI Katana series claims when the total wattage is 53.5Wh. When powering up for the first time, you have to plug in the power adapter before you press the power button. The company protected it from turning in case of accidental handling by putting it in shipping mode. So, if you wonder, "Why doesn't my new laptop come on when I press the power button?" then you have to have it plugged in to disable shipping mode. Hold the power button to sleep.
It offers five performance modes that support whatever working condition you want it to have as a user. However, you can customize each of the modes at the MSI Center.
Cons
- Dull Camera
- Some versions come with 512 SSD
The Verdict
The PC is just an ‘average Joe’. There is a version that has a 512 SSD —what’s that for?. So, in performance, this is lower than the Titan G77, even though it is one of the company's recent releases. The power plug port is on the upper left side of the laptop. You have a screen refresh rate of 144Hz full HD. The WebCam of the MSI Katana 17 lacks sharpness and color integrity. There is only 1 display option; you can’t toggle between multiple displays. You would be lucky to have your unit equipped with an HDMI cable.
The MSI Raider GE78HX Smart Touchpad Review
Overview: This PC makes the list because, according to MSI, it is "
The entire laptop weighs in at about 3.1kg and has dimensions of 380 x 298 x 23 mm. For the most part, this is a smart PC, AI-powered, and that seems to be what MSI focused on with the Raider GE78HX Smart Touchpad PC.
Keyboard: The backlit RGB keyboard is sleek. The designs on the arrow keys and the WASD stand out among others, they are more transparent and even with matching colors. You can modify the mystic lights, however, in the MSI center. The power button and function are similar to those of the Katana. A smart design puts out the keyboard lights once they are inactive, and they come back on as the touch panel senses hand movement.
Touchpad: The touchpad is the most obvious component of the PC. The touch panel is elongated, and the entire mouse trackpad and screen functions. It covers about 3/4 of the hand rest. So, that means it is very difficult to do anything on this PC that requires typing, as you would have no palm rest area. While you can toggle off the touch functions of the shortcut keys on the touch panel, there are others that you cannot turn off, e.g., brightness, speaker volume, etc. It is a mixed reaction for me because, how many gamers care about a highly sensitive pad, especially when it can interfere with the gameplay?
The touchpad was intended to foster easy access to special functions, and it has six programmable hotkeys that users can customize to any function you desire. A user can toggle among the three touchpad functions: eco mode, smart mode, and touchpad mode (On/Off). In my opinion, MSI should have allowed the users to max out all of the touchpad modes; sadly, you have to choose each one. And although the mouse has no right and left click buttons, the embedded click buttons beneath the trackpad are still annoyingly noisy.
Specs:
- 24 cores total.
- 13th-Gen Intel ABT/TVB Core i9-13980 HX processor.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU,
- GPU is a 140W dynamic boost 2.0, and the CPU is 75W, bringing it all to a total of 215W.
- Gen 5 SSD storage
- AI-enabled touchpad
- 16GB DDR5 RAM (some with 8GB GB DDR6 RAM) that is extendable up to 64GB.
- Supports Thunderbolt 4.
Design:
Overall, the design is impressive. The PC has a nice venting system that is quite effective, running from one side through the back and to the other side of the PC. Underneath are also vents. The machine drives a double fan with the Cooler Boost 5 system, with 6 heat pipes connecting to both the CPU and GPU. While you can expect this to keep the heat down, you can still, unfortunately, expect MSI's trademark fan noise. However, that shouldn’t be a worry for a gaming laptop.
The PC has a long, thin rubber grip on the front and back for a firm grip onto a table surface. The MSI logo is also on the underbelly of the PC. Despite a good design generally, the hinges are a source of concern. They seem weak and can easily damage, as they hold the screen up only on the very far end of either side and are also small in size.
Ports: The ports are distributed on the sides and the back of the laptop. You have 3 USB 3.2 GenT Type-A ports, and 2 Gen2 Type-C ports. You have HDMI 2.1 (8K @ 60Hz and up to 4K @ 120 Hz). You have the RJ45 port, too. You have a headphone/audio combo jack spot and an SD card slot with a Thunderbolt 4 opening. On the back side is a DC port.
Speaker: MSI loads this machine with 6 speakers on the sides and front. I think that may be an unnecessary burden since most gamers use headphones or monitors anyway.
Display:
17.3-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, a QHD IPS resolution, and an impressive 240Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate even trumps the recent Titan GT77. This time around, MSI stopped hoarding the top WebCam capability by releasing a 1080p camera, and you can expect better quality for on-screen display images during games or even virtual meetings. There is a WebCam shield button that can cover the camera when not in use or to protect it from scratches. While the display promises to be better than most of MSI's products, what you see in pictures, especially on MSI's website, is more exaggerated than the real color hue. So, beware.
Power: It has a 99.9Wh battery capacity, which is fair compared to most of the company's products. Well, although claimed to be 4 cells, the thought is not 'awe-some' enough that the best power a 4 cell could offer is 88Wh.
**Price:**The preorder entry point price is a whopping $4,271 But prices may advance based on specifications and location.
Cons:
- Unnecessary speaker burdens
- Noisy fan
- Too pricey
- Cannot access all touchpad modes at once
The Verdict
If you are going for this, you have made a reasonable choice, considering the technology, AI functionality of the touchpad, too. The MUX discrete graphics mode of this PC allows a user to stretch the PC further than most of its colleagues. If you need loud and plenty of speakers, this is okay. The WebCam is great, too. But the price may be too much for what this product has to offer in comparison to other brands’ offers.
Final Thoughts on the Best MSI Laptops of 2023
MSI is a respected PC creator with many product successes. They boast of recent technology in hardware composition that will impress their customers. The AI advancement of the Raider GE 78HX is something to look forward to in other PCs.
While The Titan GT77 and Raider GE78HX are powerful devices suitable for driving heavy games, the Cyborg 15 and Katana are just mid-range performance PCs that would best serve content creators and non-gaming enthusiasts or beginners.