Professionals, forget the MacBook Air and get the MSI Prestige 13 Evo


At CES, MSI caught my eye by showcasing a stylus capable of writing on both paper and a screen. On this occasion, the manufacturer then made me discover its lightest laptop (barely 1 kg) to date: the MSI Prestige 13 Evo.

Impossible of course not to compare it to the famous MacBook Air, the model equipped with the M2 chip being a reference in terms of laptops. However, we must face the facts: the MSI model, although less known, does better than the Apple model.

A future business model

The Prestige 13 Evo is equipped with a matte 13-inch anti-glare screen, a discreet webcam that supports Windows Hello, up to 32 GB of RAM and all the necessary connections, including ports HDMI and USB-A.

The base model, equipped with an Intel Core i5 13e generation and 16 GB of RAM will be available at the end of the month. If your budget is your priority, I advise you to wait.

For now, I recommend the high-end model with an Intel Core i7 processor, 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. In terms of price, it matches a well-equipped MacBook. But with twice the storage.

A flexible model

I spent a few weeks testing MSI’s laptop. I need a work machine that’s as reliable on the go as it is when hooked up to an external monitor at my home. Up to now, I’ve mostly turned to Apple’s MacBook M1 and M2 for their efficiency and no-frills performance. Although benchmarks suggest that the MSI Prestige 13 Evo’s Intel system isn’t as efficient as Apple Silicon-equipped devices, I find the overall user experience of the laptop to be good enough to replace them.

The strength of this computer is its flexibility, from the multitude of ports to the duality of the biometric identification support (face scan and fingerprint sensor). For my test, I switched from the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra to this model, and was surprised and delighted to discover that the MSI laptop had similar characteristics. Including HDMI support, a MicroSD card slot and a USB-A port. It’s rare to find these features on a 13-inch laptop. And even more on a model designed to be handy.

Even more impressively, MSI managed to squeeze a 75 Wh battery into the Prestige 13 Evo, giving it 15 hours of battery life per charge. During my test, I was able to last for about 12 hours of use before having to get out the supplied 65 W charger. Quite impressive battery life compared to similarly sized laptops that boast 8-10 hours of battery life or less.

Impressive autonomy

The improved battery life can be attributed mainly to its 75 Wh capacity. But we should also note the generous distribution of vents on the back of the laptop, as well as the lower resolution 1,080-pixel screen. Most of today’s content is 1080 pixels, and you’ll barely notice the visual difference with a 2K display on a 13-inch screen. But if you’re into creative work that requires attention to detail, it’s best not to stick to the compact laptop market, where 2K or even 4K displays are more prevalent.

Even if MSI specializes in gaming computers, you can imagine that the Prestige 13 Evo has nothing to do with this market. No flashy RGB keyboard or 144Hz display, this laptop is more aimed at professionals who want a portable and compact Windows PC capable of running professional-grade apps and services that can last up to two days per charge , which has a huge number of ports for creators and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, relatively speaking.

Source: ZDNet.com





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