MSI is a well-known computer brand in the laptop and desktop sectors. The brand has several laptop product series. This review focuses on the gaming laptop segment. In the gaming laptop segment, MSI has launched around eight series, including the Stealth, Titan, and Crosshair series. We also reviewed the MSI Crosshair 16 HX gaming laptop, which is one of MSI’s top gaming laptops.
The laptop we reviewed is the MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V. The laptop belongs to MSI’s gaming segment, but judging by its name, it can also handle rendering and video editing work. Thanks to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, the laptop also supports AI features that are beneficial in rendering work. Additionally, the laptop comes with an RTX 4060 discrete graphics card, making it a true gaming laptop.
In addition to these features, the laptop has a 16-inch IPS display, DDR5-5600MHz memory, and a PCIe 4.0 SSD, which are standard on current laptops. With these specifications, we can expect it to deliver powerful performance.
Specifications
| Screen | 16” QHD+ (2560 x 1600), 240Hz, IPS |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H with Intel AI Boost (NPU) |
| Wireless Connection | Killer WiFi 7 BE1750, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 8GB GDDR6, Up to 2250MHz Boost Clock, 105W, |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5 RAM Max 96GB RAM Support 2 Slots |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD. 2x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen4) |
| Ports | 1x Type-C (USB3.2 Gen2 / DP) 1x Type-C (USB / DP / Thunderbolt 4) with PD charging 1x Type-A USB3.2 Gen2 1x Micro SD Card Reader 1x HDMI 2.1 1x RJ45 |
| Battery | 99.9Wh, 4-cell, 240W AC adapter |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
| Weight | 1.99 kg (4.38lbs) |
Design
The laptop is only available in star blue. This star blue color is similar to the midnight blue of the iPhone 12 Pro series. Its matte finish is more reminiscent of this color.
The laptop body is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, which can bring a high-end feel when held. The display housing features an MSI Dragon Shield logo. There is a raised area under the display housing, and it is equipped with cooling vents.
The dimensions of the laptop are 355.8 x 259.7 x 19.95 mm, and it weighs about 1.99 kg. In the gaming laptop segment, such dimensions and weight are considered very thin and light. Usually, manufacturers sacrifice portability, as gamers tend to focus more on hardware specifications than on the thin and light design of laptops.
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Display
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V offers two display options. The first option is an IPS display that supports QHD (2560 x 1600) resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate, while the second option is a MiniLED display that supports UHD (3840 x 2400) resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. As a gamer, I always prefer to choose a display with a higher refresh rate.
When you open the laptop, you will see a narrow-bezel display. The display supports a 2.5K resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. According to the official statement, the display covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The laptop is also equipped with MSI True Color calibration software, which provides a variety of preset display modes to meet the visual experience in different scenarios according to user needs.
To test this display, we used the Spyder X. After the tests, we found that the display covers 100% sRGB, 87% AdobeRGB, 98% DCI-P3, and 85% NTSC color gamut. It has a peak brightness of 468.4 nits and a contrast ratio of 950:1. For the color accuracy test of the display, we chose DCI-P3 mode for testing due to the presence of multiple color preset modes, and the results showed an average Delta-E value of 1.07 (minimum value 0.25, maximum value 2.31).
Screen Test Results | |
| sRGB | 100% |
| Adobe RGB | 87% |
| DCI-P3 | 98% |
| Maximum Brightness | 468.4 nits |
| Average Delta E | 1.07 |
On the top bezel of the display, the laptop also integrates an IR camera sensor and two microphones that can record video in 1080p resolution at 30fps. The webcam sensor also supports the Windows Hello feature, which allows you to quickly log in to Windows. The laptop supports 3DNR technology (HDR 3D Noise Reduction), which effectively eliminates noise, making it particularly practical for video conferences. The webcam also comes with a physical shutter that can be slid to cover the camera.
Keyboard and TouchPad
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V comes with an RGB keyboard with a small numeric keypad, which MSI calls the “SteelSeries Per-Key RGB Gaming Keyboard”. After using the keyboard for a while, we found that it has moderate key travel and light key force, but the feel is not soft. When pressing the keys, you can feel a clear rebound feedback and a strong sense of rhythm. The key spacing is also very reasonable.
Each of its keys supports RGB backlighting and can be customized through the SteelSeries GG software. If you don’t like RGB lighting effects, you can also turn off the backlight directly. Below the arrow keys, it has a fingerprint sensor that allows you to log in to Windows with just one touch.
Below the keyboard, there is a sufficiently sized touchpad. The trackpad surface is smooth to the touch, and the control accuracy is good. With its good size, you can freely navigate through the entire window with just one swipe. However, the quality of the trackpad is not important in gaming laptops, as users often use these laptops with an external mouse.
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Ports
Undoubtedly, this laptop has a slimmer body design compared to other gaming laptops. MSI has once again demonstrated its outstanding design capabilities, providing users with a generous number of ports. The laptop has a total of nine ports (including the Kensington keyhole). These ports are sufficient to meet the various needs of a laptop in everyday use.
Starting on the left side, the laptop comes with a Kensington keyhole, an RJ45 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, a microSD card slot, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port. The right side includes a DC-in port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Thunderbolt 4 port supports PD 3.0 charging, while another USB 3.2 Type-C port supports DisplayPort. There is only one USB Type-A port, which may be a bit insufficient for some users. But don’t worry, you can increase the number of ports by purchasing a USB docking station.
Audio
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V features two 2W speakers and four 2W subwoofers, professionally tuned by Dynaudio. The speaker openings are located on either side of the palm rest. MSI has confirmed that these speakers have been certified for Hi-Res high-fidelity audio and are equipped with Nahimic audio software. This speaker configuration provides users with a highly immersive and atmospheric audio-visual experience while gaming.
Battery and Charging
A gaming laptop must be equipped with discrete graphics to be considered a true gaming laptop. However, having these graphics cards will increase power consumption. Therefore, gaming laptops should have a larger capacity battery. In the case of the MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio, the laptop comes with a 99.9 Wh 4-cell battery, which is quite sufficient for a gaming laptop.
MSI did not disclose the battery life, so we conducted a battery test. The test used the PCMark 10 Modern Office benchmark. Before testing, the volume was set to 30%, the screen brightness was set to 40%, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were enabled, and the energy-saving mode was selected in power mode. With these settings, we get 8 hours and 40 minutes of battery life.
MSI provides a 240W AC adapter for charging. If the original AC adapter is unavailable, it can be charged through the Thunderbolt 4 port, which supports charging at 65W or 100W. However, it’s worth noting that MSI recommends using its own PD charger for charging.
RAM and SSD
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V supports the latest DDR5-5600MHz memory. The model we reviewed comes with 32GB of dual-channel RAM (2 x 16GB memory modules). The laptop has two memory slots and supports a maximum of 96GB of memory.
The laptop also comes with a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD. It has two SSD slots, allowing for easy storage upgrades by simply adding an additional SSD. It is worth mentioning that the manufacturer also offers lower memory and SSD capacity options.
The laptop comes with an Intel Killer BE Wi-Fi 7 wireless card and supports Bluetooth 5.4. According to the officials, the new Wi-Fi 7 offers multi-gigabit performance, with peak speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps on the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands. With a bandwidth of 320MHz, its transmission rate is significantly improved.
CPU Benchmarks
The global version of MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor. However, the company also offers a version with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor in some regions. The version we reviewed is equipped with a Core Ultra 7 155H processor.
The Core Ultra 7 155H has 16 cores and 22 threads. The 16 cores include 6 performance cores (base frequency: 1.4 GHz, maximum frequency: 4.8 GHz), 8 energy-saving cores (base frequency: 900 MHz, peak frequency: 3.8 GHz), and 2 low-power E-cores (base frequency: 700 MHz, maximum frequency: 2.5 GHz).
The CPU’s 3D hybrid architecture includes three types of cores that help balance performance with power consumption. This is primarily due to the low-power E-cores, which can handle all small operations and reduce power consumption, thereby avoiding the use of other higher-power cores. In addition to the aforementioned cores, the processor is equipped with 24MB of L3 Intel Smart Cache with a default TDP of 28W. Here are some of the benchmark results for this processor:
CPU-Z: 729.3 on single-core and 7769.7 on multi-core
Cinebench R23: 1,798pts on single-core and 17,921pts on multi-core
3DMark CPU Profile: 967 on single-thread and 7,411 on multi-threads
X264 FHD Benchmark: 77.15 average fps, encoded 2500 frames of 1080p video in 33 seconds
The overall scores represent a good performance from the CPU.
GPU benchmarks
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V offers four graphics options, including the RTX 4060, RTX 4070, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090. The model we reviewed is equipped with an RTX 4060 graphics card.
The RTX 4060 graphics card features 8GB of GDDR6 video memory. The graphics card is based on TSMC’s 4nm process and uses NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture. The GPU supports CUDA acceleration technology to improve graphics rendering and 3D modeling performance. The graphics card features 3072 CUDA cores with a core frequency of 1,545 MHz, a peak frequency of 2,250 MHz, and a power consumption of 105 W. Here are the benchmark results for this GPU:
3DMark Speed Way: 2,587 GPU score
3DMark Port Royal: 5,949 GPU score
3DMark Time Spy: Total 9,752 score, including 9,923 GPU score
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme: Total 11,563 score, including 12,385 GPU score
The entire benchmark performance of the GPU is entirely satisfactory.
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Heat Dissipation and Stress Testing
Before discussing the internal cooling system, it is worth mentioning that the laptop has a cooling vent on the back (under the display housing). On the bottom of the laptop, the cooling fan can be seen even without removing the bottom cover, which is a new trend in gaming laptops right now. After removing the bottom cover, you can see that its cooling system consists of 2 cooling fans and 7 heat pipes. The cooling system is officially named “Cooler Boost 5”, which is a reimagined cooling solution with a shared-pipe design. The shared pipe design means that the heat pipes are connected to both the CPU and GPU, thereby improving the laptop’s cooling performance under extreme loads. We also conducted stress tests on the CPU and GPU.
Stress test: For stress testing the CPU, we used the AIDA64 FPU test, while for the GPU, we used the Furmark application. After running the test for a while, the CPU’s temperature is 76 degrees Celsius, while the power consumption is 70.2 W. Regarding the GPU, the temperature is 78.2 degrees Celsius, while the power consumption is 105.1 W.
Summary:
The MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V is a versatile gaming laptop that can effortlessly handle both gaming and rendering tasks. The laptop is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and RTX 4060 discrete graphics, providing the perfect balance between performance and efficiency. It features a star blue color scheme with a matte finish and magnesium-aluminum alloy texture, which not only highlights the high-end texture but also maintains portability due to its slim design. The display is available in IPS or MiniLED options, supports Quad-HD+ or Ultra-HD+ resolutions. Combined with a high refresh rate and exceptional color accuracy, it delivers crisp visuals and smooth gaming performance. The RGB keyboard, trackpad, and rich port design ensure a great user experience, while the powerful Dynaudio-tuned sound system provides an immersive audio experience. With a high-capacity battery and efficient charging options, the laptop offers extended battery life. Overall, the MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V is an ideal choice for gamers and content creators seeking a powerful and versatile laptop. The model we reviewed is priced at $1800. If you require more powerful performance, you can also opt for a variant with a more powerful graphics card or an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor.