SI is a well-known brand name in gaming laptops and has been for the last decade or so. The Prestige series is the top line for MSI and the one that provides you with the most compelling gaming experience. As with laptops, it’s important to know what kind of laptop you want in order to make the right choice. This is important as not all laptops are made for gaming.
Case – Slim 14-inch laptop
MSI manufactured the case for its newest model, the MSI Prestige 14, out of metal. Available in three colors – Carbon Grey, Pure White, and Rose Pink – this new generation has a polish steel edge. The manufacturing is high-quality and there are no perceptible gaps or other malfunctions that could be found. When you open up the lid of the new Prestige 14 laptop, you’ll notice how it lifts up slightly at the back where there’s then a slight incline to favor air circulation on flat surfaces; however, this leaves an awkward bump against your leg if you try using it while seated.
The MSI Prestige 14 is the light-weightiest laptop in our test field – weighing about 2.86 lbs! It has a very thin form factor due to its narrow display bezel, making it ultra-compact.
Connectivity – MSI laptop with two Thunderbolt ports
Without an adapter, the MSI Prestige 14 fails to perform. Despite having two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of them is utilized by the power adapter which only provides battery life when plugged in. Thus, a direct display port such as HDMI was omitted while there are no USB Type-A ports above USB 2.0.
SD card reader
The MSI Prestige 14 includes a memory card reader that can read up to two millimeters off the tip of microSD cards. This makes it easy to extract them because they stick out just enough for you to pull them right out.
The Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC reference memory card is one of the quickest on the market when it comes to data copy and read speeds. When we put it to the test, the card reader reached 148.9 MB/s when copying and 176.5 MB/s when reading data – both of which are well above average compared to other similar devices.
Communication
The Prestige 14 offers both Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity with the new 802.11ax standard for transferring data at up to 787 Mb/s when connected to Netgear’s Nighthawk AX12 Reference Router. Although impressive, the MSI Prestige 15 WLAN capabilities show how it can be even faster; averaging 640 Mb/s when sending or receiving data from a distance of 2 meters away from the wireless router.
Input devices – Laptop with normal-sized arrow keys
Keyboard
The keyboard of the Prestige 14 has an excellent layout, and can be used to write texts very quickly. The feedback from the keys is usually clear and precise enough so that writing becomes an easy task; however, there are some inconveniences such as double assignments between Page Up/Page Down and Home or End.
A three-stage keyboard backlighting can be activated to illuminate the keys evenly in low lighting conditions without blinding oneself.
Touchpad
This provides an accurate navigation path for the pointer; even when excessive movement occurs, our fingers didn’t hit the edges of the pad or interfere with where we were trying to click on it. Touch-activated clicks register reliably every time; also, mechanical activation of input within this device itself works smoothly.
Performance – Good performance that drops sharply in the long run
With the MSI Prestige 14, we are able to target creative professionals who wish to work on a smaller and more mobile laptop. Performances should be as good if not better than those of bigger laptops. Other configurations for displays and storage will also be available soon enough for anyone looking for something different.
Processor
The MSI Prestige 14 laptop includes the Intel Core i7-10710U processor. This six core, twelve thread chip has a maximum clock rate of 1.1GHz and can reach speeds of up to 4.7GHz when necessary under optimal conditions. To regulate this power output, the company provides four preset profiles which adjust CPU speed depending on desired usage.
Graphics card
Within MSI’s Prestige 14 laptop, we see the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 in its energy-efficient Max-Q configuration. This leads to a 10% decrease in performance when compared to other laptops with this specific GPU; but it is still able to handle photo and video editing without much issue at all.
Gaming performance
Even though this laptop has been designed for content creators, it can also be an attractive option for gamers. The MSI Prestige 14 Full HD does a better job at delivering high quality graphics than the 4K model due to its smaller display size of 14 inches. More importantly, the performance from Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q is satisfactory enough to play modern games smoothly without sacrificing detail.
Battery life
In a Wi-Fi battery test, the MSI Prestige 14 achieved an average runtime of approximately 6 hours. This ranking is expected considering it has a 4K screen. Nonetheless, those who choose to purchase the Full HD variant will most likely experience significantly higher runtimes.
Verdict – Good performance with trade-offs
In review: MSI Prestige 14 A10SC-009. Test device provided by: MSI Germany
MSI’s Prestige laptop had some mixed reviews in our testing. It performed well, but it fell short from what we saw earlier this year during our hands-on experience. Though the display was excellent with exceptional contrast and color balance – though its blacks were just ever so slightly darker than most competitors; which offset its other features a bit negatively. The two Thunderbolt 3 ports were good when considering port configuration – but one was blocked by the power adapter cable; while the remaining USB 2.0 ports would only be helpful for connecting peripherals such as external hard drives or mice. Though there is no HDMI port, you could use either of those two Thunderbolt 3 ones for an external monitor if needed – though since they are on opposite sides of each other, both may not work at once depending on how you set up your device (which can be remedied with a docking station).
The MSI Prestige 14 is a powerful laptop, but it also has some drawbacks. For example, the battery life isn’t great, and the screen isn’t as big as some other laptops on the market.
But all of this doesn’t matter because the Prestige 14 proves a decent laptop for what it has to offer. It has a lot of power considering its size, but it lacks in battery life with its 4K display; something you’ll need to take into consideration before making your purchase decision. And while there isn’t many different maintenance options available, you can always fix these issues yourself if they become an issue after your purchase.
This article is provided by an outside source. Therefore, we cannot vouch for the validity of the claims made herein; rather, they are sourced from trusted online resources.
