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MSI might have the best 14-inch gaming laptop this year

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MSI has just unveiled a slew of new products at CES 2023, including some Stealth Studio laptops. These notebooks, aimed chiefly at creative professionals and gamers, come equipped with some of the latest hardware that could make them highly competitive.

While there are three different variants, the one that stands out the most is the 14-inch Stealth 14 Studio, which could be well on the way to being one of the best gaming laptops this year. Here’s why we think this particular laptop might set MSI ahead of the curve.

The MSI Stealth 14 Studio laptop sits on a table, with its lid half-open.
MSI

The three laptops on the way are the Stealth 17 Studio A13V, Stealth 16 Studio A13V, and Stealth 14 Studio A13V. The 14-inch model sounds rather juicy — MSI itself introduces it as “the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop.” To back up that claim, it provides data that states it will be up to 33% more powerful than other 14-inch laptops. Of course, this kind of data is not very useful, so we’ll have to wait for some real benchmarks to truly compare the Stealth 14 Studio to laptops such as the 14-inch Razer Blade.

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The Stealth 14 Studio, which is a CES 2023 Innovation Awards honoree, features a slim build that houses a lot of goodies. We’ve got a proper gaming keyboard with 83 keys, an IR HD webcam with shutter, and a larger touchpad. Despite the small size of the chassis, MSI promises decent temperatures thanks to the use of vapor chamber cooling.

It only gets more interesting from there. The 14-inch notebook packs a top-quality QHD+ screen with high refresh rates (240Hz), an IPS panel, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. When it comes to the internals, the laptop comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, alongside a choice between two GPUs: the Nvidia RTX 4070 and the Nvidia RTX 4060. We’re also getting a PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD and up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM as well as Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.

MSI's Stealth 16 Studio laptop sits on a table.
MSI / Digital Trends

Let’s move on to the Stealth 16 Studio. Available in UHD+ (3,840 x 2,160) and with a refresh rate of 120Hz, the 16-inch version adds a num-pad for a total of 99 keys and bumps the IR camera up to Full HD. There’s also an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, but the GPU choice is limited to an Nvidia RTX 4070 8GB.

The company doesn’t go into much detail about the Stealth 17 Studio. This will presumably be a 17-inch laptop with features that cater to gamers, but we’ll have to wait and see the specs at a later time.

The keyboard on the MSI Stealth 16 Studio gaming laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Gaming and creator laptops are famously heavy on battery life — you often have to keep them plugged in to get anything done. To limit this issue, MSI equipped them with Discrete Graphics Mode, including a MUX switch on the motherboard. This should help you prioritize battery life or performance depending on what you’re currently doing.

MSI is yet to announce the pricing of these laptops, but both the 14-inch and the 16-inch Stealth Studios sound pretty exciting. Depending on what else comes out this year, the Stealth 14 Studio could turn out to be one of the most interesting gaming/creator laptops that are on the smaller side. With its high resolution and high refresh rates, we expect it to be capable of delivering some top-notch visuals.

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Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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