Verdict
The MSI Stealth 15 M is a play laptop light enough to be carry around on a even base – which is a sound conception . However , that slant is subvert by poor shelling life , and the light colour saturation is unmanageable to justify even when you view that the Stealth cost less than some of the biggest names in laptop gaming .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The MSI Stealth 15 M is a slight and light gaming laptop – a family of portable that have become far more open over the past couple of geezerhood .
But while the MSI Stealth 15 M is marvellously easy to tote around with you for a laptop computer with an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU , there are a few problems here .
The showing suffers significantly undersaturated colour , making rich reds in particular appear weak . Battery life story wo n’t get you through a full Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of work – not even closelipped . And , like many slim gaming laptops , heating and interference generation are n’t idealistic .
It ’s worth a look if you find the laptop computer sell at a good price , but the screen saturation in special is jarring in a gaming laptop .
Design
The MSI Stealth 15 M ’s design is a bit less bold than other slim and wanton play laptops , such as theAsus Zephyrus G15 . Its case is all - black , and there are no supplementary LEDs , debar those that make up the keyboard backlight .
MSI ’s dragon insignia on the lid and the outsize air inhalation above the keyboard are sign to those in the know that this is a gambling keyboard . But it does n’t jostle that fact in your typeface too much . In some areas of the build , MSI takes inhalation from non - gaming laptops , too .
Its lid and keyboard top - plate are aluminum , adding a touch of style . The underside is plastic , but this is a sensible move ; aluminium would carry hotness faster , and this laptop ’s underside already cause pretty toasty when play game stop up in .
The MSI Stealth 15 M weighs 1.8 kg accord to my scale and is 17 mm duncical . Neither of these come out jaw dropping if you ’re used to the specification of common slim and light laptop .
However , you get a 15 - inch laptop computer with a dedicatedGPUthat has a weight and heaviness comparable with a non - gaming model .
The thick perimeter below the show does n’t give the MSI Stealth 15 M the streamlined appearance , but it ’s only there to match the air intake above the keyboard . Gaming laptops persist in to use 16:9 widescreen displays almost exclusively , and the MSI Stealth 15 M is no different .
Connectivity is fine , but it lacks superintendent - fastThunderboltports . However , they ’re perhaps less of the essence when you get a full - sizing HDMI 2.0 port and a USB - C that patronage DisplayPort . There ’s also an extra USB - C with 10Gbps bandwidth and a two 5Gbps USB - A ports , plus a combi 3.5 millimetre earpiece / mic socket .
Its speakers use Nahimic processing and they do n’t produce astonishing sound . However , if you compare their timber to those of direct peers ( rather than style laptops such as theMacBook Pro 14 , which sound far well ) the MSI Stealth 15 M does n’t come up across too badly .
There ’s almost no real sea bass and the mids sound a bit boxy ; but the sound is n’t solely thin and scraggy . They do the Book of Job for casual use .
MSI scream the Stealth 15 M ’s keyboard a “ spectrum backlight keyboard ” . This means it has a triple - tone colouration backlight that , in an unusual move , deport no control over the colours used . The bulk of the key are blue ; the Function key and bit landing strip up top are pink ; and the flop - most keys are orangish .
While it ’s a bit more fun than plain white , a single - colour arrangment might have been more sensible in what is otherwise a fairly sober - reckon laptop . There are three intensity level levels , as per the norm for less advanced backlights .
The Stealth 15 M fundamental smell is nothing too ambitious , but they have a fast reference . While action is shallower than that of thebest play laptop , long - cast typing is actually quite well-to-do on this keyboard .
The touchpad is nothing exceptional , but matches most other adequate mid - price gaming laptops . This is a plastic launch pad with a classic mechanical clicker , which lead in a depress natural action that becomes much strong up towards the top of the pad . Moving your finger back and forward across the surface is “ squeakier ” than a glass stamp pad , but cuts like this are the norm outside of very high - monetary value gambling laptop .
Display
Display timbre is the most glaring matter of the MSI Stealth 15M. While I do n’t think it looks categoric - out pathetic in person , it ’s significantly bad than I ’d trust for from a £ 1500 - 1600 laptop computer .
Colour is the principal problem . The MSI Stealth 15 M cover a disconsolate 56.4 % of the sRGB colour gamut – you ’d look to see near to 100 % coverage , at the very least , and the shortfall is immediately obvious . Bright red-faced app icons see faint on this screen , and rich nature scenes in movies just do n’t pop up as much as they should .
Maximum brightness of 284 nits is somewhat pitiful , although should still prove enough for indoor looseness – as long as you do n’t do so near a bright windowpane . Like most gaming laptops the MSI Stealth 15 M has a lustrelessness , reflection - disperse filmdom finish .
line is also unsatisfying , hit 781:1 at 150 - nit brightness , and 934:1 at maximal brightness .
All three core component – contrast , colour and smartness – are poor given the MSI Stealth 15 M ’s cost . These are the kind of results I ’d gestate to see in a true budget laptop . Thankfully , this screen door does n’t look as bad as most of those panels in person . The display ’s pixel complex body part is n’t particularly seeable , raising it from “ fearful ” to “ a bit unsatisfying ” .
Note , too , that it ’s a gaming - orient silver screen , with a 144Hz refresh rate . This means it can correctly exhibit figure rates of up to 144fps . unco , you ca n’t really scummy the refresh charge per unit in Windows , which could help when you want to expend the MSI Stealth 15 M as a portable productivity machine . Higher refresh rates typically utilize more battery living .
The 1080p resolving does n’t look ultra - sharp and smooth at 15.6 column inch , either . While we ’d once have allege Full HD is the best set for middle - membership and low - ending gambling laptops , upscaling techniques such asAMD FSRandNvidia DLSSmeans we ’ll now take a higher - reticuloendothelial system screen if we can get it . The Asus Zephyrus G15 has a 1440p display , for example , and is probable to offer superscript double quality in other orbit too .
Performance
The MSI Stealth 15 M is among the first waves of Intel 12th Gen mainframe laptop computer , sport the Core i7 - 1280P chip .
It delivers great termination , net the MSI Stealth 15 M 10,772 points in Geekbench 5 – a roughly 15 % bump over the Core i7 - 11800H while using less power . Marvellous poppycock .
This flake is geminate with 16 GB of RAM , an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and 1 TB PCIe 4 SSD capable of 3633MB / s read and 3471MB / s writes . For all the complaints I ’ve raised in this review , the spectacles make the Stealth 15 M voice a good deal at £ 1499 . A Modern Razer Blade 15 with the RTX 3060 costs £ 2599 , although it does have the higher - specification i7 - 12800H CPU .
You also require to take on board the kind of GPU this laptop features . It uses the crushed - power version of the Nvidia RTX 3060 , which can reach 75W of powerfulness draw rather than the up - to-130W seen elsewhere . You ’ll see these lower magnate graphics identity card in other svelte and swooning models .
The Stealth 15 M scores 7177 in 3DMark ’s Time Strike , where a laptop computer with the punchier version of the RTX 3060 can achieve upward of 8700 – a lift of up to 25 % . “ flimsy and light ” does n’t come for detached in carrying into action terms .
This kind of index offers performance nigher to a desktop - grade Nvidia RTX 3050 than the RTX 3060 . You ’ll be able to get adequate performance at 1080p in most game , but in the majority of cases you ’ll be well pass on those power - hungry ray - tracing firing issue flip off .
The Stealth 15 M appears to draw in cool zephyr from under the laptop and in through the grille above the keyboard , blasting out raging melodic line from its sides and back . It is n’t a hugely quiet system , and one of the fans has a reasonably noticeable higher - pitch whimper .
However , you may switch to a “ mute ” cooling mood that dramatically improves fan noise and , somehow , still allows the RTX 3060 GPU to hunt down at its peak 75W baron draw . Playing Control , the high fan musical mode see the GPU settle in at 71 - 73ºC , or 76 - 77ºC in unsounded mode .
My first take on the Stealth 15 M ’s cooling was that it runs spicy . Indeed , big share of the casing get worryingly hot during play . However , you grow to appreciate it a bit more when you look at that output a lot of hotness from vents is actually a sign of a practiced cool system . The slim and light design here just makes it more difficult to isolate these live areas , and it causes the bottom of the laptop to heat up perceptibly . It is n’t of necessity the cooling at defect , but the way the laptop ’s frame terminate up sucking up too much heat .
Use a Stealth 15 M to typewrite up documents and it will often run completely silent . That say , this is n’t your authoritative ultrabook . Use it resting on your articulatio genus and the fan are likely to rev - up , regardless of what you do , because you ’ll at least partly immobilize the melodic line intakes .
Battery Life
The MSI Stealth 15 M has a 53.8Whr electric battery and a 180W business leader adapter . This capacity is n’t that high for a gaming laptop , which often only last 90 minutes off a charge even with 99.9Whr capacity .
Play sessions with Control , maxing out the GPU but not the CPU , advise a charge may last as small as 52 minutes . How about everyday productiveness ? It live 2hrs 50mins in PCMark 10 ’s Modern Office benchmark – an dead dismal event .
I reckon there must be a way to get this laptop to last longer , so I try YouTube cyclosis . The MSI Stealth 15 M lost 57 % burster in under two time of day , a psychometric test that suggested a full battery is good for 3hrs 30mins . Once again , this is a dismal result .
piteous bombardment life is n’t inevitably a major issue in a vestal carrying into action laptop , but the Stealth is also positioned as an all - purpose portable machine . It ’s a big trouble in this compliments .
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Should you buy it?
The MSI Stealth 15 M is n’t that dissimilar to an ultra - desirable laptop such as the Razer Blade 15 in some respects – a slender and largely tasteful design without extraneous RGB LEDs . And it costs far less , too .
This laptop is weak in a duo of important areas . Its show is short , with low maximum brightness and fallible color chroma . shelling life-time is unretentive , even among punt laptops , which counter the appeal of the slim frame and relatively low weight . It feel hot in exercise , too .
Final Thoughts
The MSI Stealth 15 M looks and feel the part . It has a part - aluminium shell , a moody mordant paint job and capable internals , include a twelfth Gen Intel P - series Core i7 CPU and Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU .
However , it is n’t one of the top options because of some more substantive issues that you may neglect if go off the specification sheet alone . The MSI Stealth 15 M ’s colour saturation is poor ; while the quality of the screen itself is hunky-dory , you ’re just not give way to see those deeper colour tones in games .
Battery living is disappointing , too . While you ca n’t carry a gaming laptop to last at all farsighted , or perform that well when flow off the barrage to play games , the MSI Stealth 15 M feels like it should function as a self-colored all - function semi - portable productivity laptop . When it often lasts less than three 60 minutes unplugged , that clearly has n’t panned out .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every gaming laptop computer we review run through a serial publication of uniform checks designed to gauge key thing including build lineament , public presentation , screen quality and shelling life .
These include stately synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests , plus a series of existent populace checks , such as how well it runs when running a AAA biz .
FAQs
There are no Thunderbolt ports , but one of the USB - C connexion supports DisplayPort .
Our testing suggests it survive around three minute of general use , or 50 - odd minutes of demanding play .
Our review unit has a Full HD exhibit ; at present , MSI ’s website does n’t detail a 4 K version .
