Verdict
humble - frills performance at the right monetary value , and a design that does n’t call " cheap " , the MSI Modern 15 laptop computer is a sound steal if you’re able to get on with its undersaturated display .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The MSI Modern 15 is a budget laptop that do likewise for daily job and tough productivity tasks to some models cost twice the Leontyne Price .
It ’s a authoritative “ essence and murphy ” laptop – but , as the name suggests , those potato are more dauphinoise than bare boiled spuds . The MSI Modern 15 ’s casing count sleek for what is a fairly hardheaded computer . And , for the most part , it feel just too .
Intel 12th Gen CPU power and a 512 GB SSD is a wakeless deal at £ 500 . So where ’s the snap ?
The MSI Modern 15 ’s colour replication is poor , and battery life wo n’t stretch out to a full day of work . In add-on , if you ’d rather a slim , lightheaded , aluminium laptop , then you should also watch out theAcer Swift 3line – although at the time of recap , the Leontyne Price of Intel 12th Gen models is unknown .
Keep your expectations in check and the MSI Modern 15 is a good manner to get solid execution without spend a circumstances . It cost £ 499 with a Core i5 CPU , £ 599 with a Core i7 .
Design
MSI prognosticate the Modern 15 an ‘ radical - slender ’ , ‘ ultra - swooning ’ laptop . But that may be a reach : it weighs 1.7 kilo and is 20 millimetre compact . That ’s slight and light for a gambling laptop , but an ordinary one like this ? Not so much .
However , I think MSI approaches that ‘ ordinary ’ dash from just the right slant . This is an all - charge plate laptop , but I do n’t think it search much less silken than the far higher - endMSI Summit E16 Flip Evo .
Its keyboard dental plate is smooth dim plastic , as is the palpebra . This can often feel cheap , but does n’t here because of the almost soft - pinch close . The rigidity of the screen and bottom half is great , too .
MSI uses rougher charge plate for the underside , but this is n’t really a vexation .
The MSI Modern 15 features a single USB - C embrasure . There are also two very slow USB 2.0 ports – utilise these to plug in a shiner and keyboard for a desktop - dash setup , but not external repositing . Having just two somewhat fast connections feels a bit meager .
A HDMI larboard sits on the left side , and lets you plug in a television receiver or monitor well – but , again , it ’s a somewhat low - specification connector . It ’s tell on for up to 4K/30 output only , evoke it ’s a HDMI 1.4 port , and not the far unspoilt HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 2.1 type . There ’s also a microSD one-armed bandit .
The MSI Modern 15 has a 720p webcam . loads of manufacturers have started upgrade to 1080p this yr , but there was no chance of that in an affordable laptop computer such as this . The image is quite balmy , and becomes desaturated in anything but bully lighting . However , I ’ve look worse in laptop that are importantly more expensive . Noise treatment in poor ignition is solid .
Not amazingly , the loudspeaker are n’t great . There ’s very little bass and maximum volume is bourgeois . However , as long as you direct clear of the phone - murder EQ choice , the MSI Modern 15 does at least sound consistent and inoffensive . It is n’t super - boxy or harsh ; it ’s just a bit of a wallflower .
The lower you descend in price , the more renowned features that we take for granted in in high spirits - end laptops become . Take the keyboard backlight . The MSI Modern 15 has a three - stage blanched backlight that shine through the translucent side of the keys . Some laptops at the price have no backlight at all .
The MSI Modern 15 ’s keys palpate decent , too . They have a solid 1.5 millimetre travel ( which is above average in 2022 ) , do n’t seem too squashy , and have a quiet depress response . No complaints here .
MSI also fits in a NUM pad of paper without making the main subdivision of the keyboard too off - middle , using minuscule weighing machine keys .
The touchpad is more obviously compromise by cost . It ’s a credit card stamp pad and , perhaps thanks to the internal grammatical construction of the Modern 15 , the click resonance experience a second hollow .
However , for a cheaper laptop it ’s dead seemly . The surface is smooth , and it does n’t have any pre - get across wobble . This is n’t a bully touchpad , by any mean value , but it could have been a whole spate worse .
Display
The slim borders of the 15.6 - inch liquid crystal display screen also add staggeringly to the “ modern ” looking at that MSI is take for here . However , the quality of the MSI Modern 15 panel is mixed .
color reproduction is hapless ; it treat only 58 % of sRGB . This degree of undersaturation is immediately obvious if , say , you have app icons on your desk that you also see regularly on your earpiece . The MSI Modern 15 simply ca n’t render bass , pictorial bolshy , greens and so on , give the display a slimly weak , pastel flavour .
Maximum brightness is fairly low-toned , too , at 270 nit . The MSI Modern 15 has a matt display , preferred for out-of-door habit , but with such limited brightness , it will likely fight when there ’s sight of ambient Christ Within .
These should be stack - breakers for many – but , I have to say , I ’ve found some ultra - vivid , 15.6 - inch OLED screens far more unsatisfying than the Modern 15 ’s blind .
There ’s no obviously visible pixel anatomical structure , even though the 1080p resolution leads to a lowly pixel density at 15.6 column inch . And contrast is as good as you could ask for in an LCD laptop computer , at around 1300:1 .
The MSI Modern 15 showing is miserable in a twain of key respects , but I still wish it – at least in the context of a laptop computer that starts at under £ 500 .
Performance
The MSI Modern 15 ’s whole reason to exist is to provide good performance for sensible money . You could spend this much and still end up with a Chromebook , a Windows manakin with 4 GB of RAM , or – tremor – an Intel Pentium mainframe .
There ’s none of that in the Modern 15 . My review laptop total with the Core i7 - 1255U CPU , 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD .
The similarly pricedAcer Swift 1rival comes with a relatively runty Pentium N6000 CPU . In Geekbench 5 , that laptop computer might score around 1300 points . The MSI Modern 15 scores 6900 point – a disparity so wide it ’s almost comical .
While you ’ll find similarly powerful laptop at this cost months ( and month ) after I ’m reviewing the MSI Modern 15 , it ’s really quite rare to see such pure laptops with an “ RRP ” this abject . Take theMicrosoft Surface Laptop Go 2as an object lesson . It ’s a nicer - finger laptop than the Modern 15 , with prices begin at £ 529 . tantalising .
However , that ’s with 4 GB of RAM and a dismal 128 GB SSD . You reach £ 729 before you get close to the £ 499 Modern 15 , and it still has half the storage , and a much older mainframe .
The Modern 15 would make a great laptop for someone looking for a pretty affordable estimator for more taxing jobs such as video and photograph redaction . However , if you care about color performance then you ’ll want to secure in a monitor . The built - in display is just too undersaturated for semblance - vital work .
I would n’t recommend the Modern 15 for gambling , either . It utilize Intel Xe integrated art , like last - gen models . In addition , a 3DMark Time Spy grade of 1508 is lower than that of an Intel Core i7 - 1165G7 laptop , by about 15 % . I felt this conflict when trying to playControl ; it just about mark by on proficient last - gen systems , but here dip significantly below 30fps seems pretty much ineluctable .
If gaming is a priority , look at budget models such as the Asus TUF series . you may find framework online with sr. - generation processor , but right discrete artwork carte du jour , for similar money .
take note that the MSI Modern 15 ’s buff disturbance can become annoying when the laptop computer is under strain . It suffer the classic high - pitch auditory sensation of a small diameter buff , and I ’ve noticed it spinning up and down with no provocation .
However , as is the type with its higher - end laptops , MSI offers great control over the Modern 15 ’s fan behavior and general public presentation . There are AI , High Performance , Balanced , Quiet and Super Battery modes . The last one more than halve the maximal big businessman draw of the CPU , while the Quiet modality is still more than powerful enough for light study and does seem to for the most part avoid any fan - related irritation .
Battery Life
I ran PCMark ’s Modern Office bench mark using the default AI functioning mode , and the MSI Modern 15 lasted 5hrs 23mins . Using Super Battery , it lasted 5hrs 28mins .
This is n’t what I look for in a laptop computer . Eight hours plus is a comfortable minimum , and we ’re not even close here . But this sort of length of service is also what I be given to find in these low - frills , good performance computers .
MSI sells the Modern 15 with two dissimilar battery capacities , although if you ’re in the UK then you ’re likely to get what I have here . I cracked open up the back to see the capacitance : it ’s a 39.3Wh unit , while the higher - capacity version has a 52Wh social unit . The latter will last importantly longer , but I do n’t fancy your chances of finding that model in the UK .
The MSI Modern 15 uses a cylindrical charging socket , not aUSB - C. But that does mean that one USB - light speed port is spare for other uses . It ’s a slow USB 3.2 Gen 2 port , not a Thunderbolt one , meet the speed of the fatter USB - A connection .
Some good news show : you could use the USB - C to charge alongside the power socket . This means that if your battery charger dies , or you fall back it , you do n’t ask to get a potentially costly “ prescribed ” one ; just a gamy - power USB - atomic number 46 adapter .
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Should you buy it?
:
This is a solid no - frills laptop offering unspoiled general functioning , and the plan does n’t seem or finger too cheap , which earns it bonus points at this budget - constrained level .
color saturation is arguably too low for a lot of paradigm - touch on jobs and it does n’t last all that long off a billing as a issue of a relatively low - capacity barrage fire .
Final Thoughts
The MSI Modern 15 is a budget laptop with enough power and storage for assess productivity jobs . ADell XPS 13with standardised internals costs double as much . And unlike a lot of basic , pragmatic laptops , the MSI Modern 15 has a depressed - primal sensation of style ; it does n’t immediately search or feel too cheap .
There are a couple of payoff that a lower price ca n’t overshadow , however . This laptop ’s colour saturation is poor , and while the sieve looks remarkably good considering how light the color is , photo editor and video creator should deal whether this is too big a hurdle to get over .
The MSI Modern 15 ’s battery is n’t fit for all - solar day use , either – although MSI does have a higher - electrical capacity model in some countries for which lasting the 24-hour interval should n’t be a job . Other tinny Windows laptop computer options include theSurface Laptop Go 2andAcer Swift 3 , but the MSI is nevertheless an excellent selection if you image a 15.6 - inch display .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop we review proceed through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things include build quality , performance , screenland quality and barrage life .
These admit formal synthetical benchmarks and scripted trial , plus a series of real creation checks , such as how well it runs pop apps .
FAQs
The RAM is soldered to the motherboard , so it is n’t upgradable .
It uses Intel Xe artwork , which can handle honest-to-god games reasonably well . It does n’t have a discrete graphics add-in , so is n’t idealistic for play .
It has a non - touch display with a lustrelessness cultivation .
Test Data
Full Specs
Sustainability
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As part of this mission , whenever we review a production we send the company a serial of questions to help us guess and make transparent the impact the gimmick has on the surround .
We currently have n’t receive answers to the questions on this product , but will update this pageboy the moment we do . you’re able to see a detailed breakdown of the dubiousness we ask and why in oursustainability information Sir Frederick Handley Page .
