Since Acer’s enormous 21-inch gaming laptop made headlines, it has radically altered the shape that a gaming PC can take. But nobody is going to act as though they would carry a laptop that is as heavy as my labrador around all day.
The MSI Stealth line is designed for those of us who don’t require that level of gaming capability but still need a strong laptop for content creation or the occasional round of intense gaming. After conducting a hands-on evaluation of the MSI Stealth 15M, I was astounded by how much a gaming laptop can resemble a professional device. However, MSI’s new Stealth 14 Studio, revealed at CES 2023, is an even more diminutive laptop that no one would guess is a potent gaming laptop.
Smaller footprint now
While the new MSI Stealth 14 Studio doesn’t dispute the MSI Stealth 15M’s claim to be “The World’s Thinnest 15-inch Gaming Laptop,” MSI did manage to reduce the footprint of the new ultraportable gaming laptop by taking 1.7 inches off the width. Of course, the slightly smaller 14-inch screen contributes to the size reduction, but other significant design modifications were also required to do this.
The ventilation grills above the keyboard, which were one of the few indications the Stealth 15M was a gaming laptop, have been removed, which is the most noticeable modification. The Stealth 14 Studio seems even more like a productivity laptop now that it doesn’t have this apparent tail.
Performance of a Gaming Laptop
The latest 13th Generation Intel Core i7-13700H processor, up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and two RAM slots capable of up to 64GB DDR5 RAM are all included in the Stealth 14 Studio, despite its smaller size. With these specifications, it’s a small giant that will undoubtedly meet the most exacting requirements for both serious gaming and content creation.
OLED Display with 240Hz and QHD+ Resolution
In order for a laptop to be considered a gaming laptop, it must also have an ultra-responsive display, so having powerful processing power is only half of the problem. Starting at age 14, The Stealth 14 Studio “FHD+ (1920 x 1200), which already outperforms its predecessor’s highest refresh rate of 144Hz, with a refresh rate of 165Hz.
However, the Stealth 14 Studio may also be outfitted with a 14-inch gaming monitor for individuals who are serious about their gaming experience “In 2023, a QHD + (2560 x 1600) OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate will likely be the standard monitor requirement for gamers.
Battery and adapter with the most power
The Stealth 15M’s battery life was the one weak spot, but that was to be expected given the device’s form factor and the amount of computational power it contains. With the Stealth 14 Studio, MSI has managed to cram a 4-cell 72Whr battery, an almost 30% increase, despite its smaller size.
The upgrades extended beyond the computers themselves as well. The Stealth 14 Studio comes with a noticeably more powerful 240W compact adaptor, which is almost twice as powerful as the Stealth 15M’s 150W adaptor and will no doubt satisfy the new gaming laptop’s power-hungry high-spec internals.
Final Verdict
Business laptops must often sacrifice processing power in order to be light and portable, whereas gaming laptops place more emphasis on power than form factor. Even more so than the Stealth 15M, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio flawlessly accommodates both uses.
We’re bestowing the Stealth 14 Studio with the IBTimes Best of CES 2023 title because of how much power MSI was able to fit into an ultraportable form factor.