(Image Source: MSI)
On 19th January 2021, MSI released an upgrade of its Prestige 14 model, calling it “the essence of elite”. The main upgrade you’ll find here is the new processor, which is the 11th generation Intel® CoreTM i7.
Let’s take a brief look at its specifications before we dive into its features.
Specifications
Thickness: 14”
Width: 12.6”
Weight: 2.66 lbs
Colors: Pure White and Carbon Grey
OS: Windows 10
CPU: 11th Generation Intel® CoreTM i7-1185G7
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX
Display: 14” Full HD, 1080p
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 1 TB SSD
Keyboard: Back-lit
Battery: 52 W
The Look and Feel
Inspired by aesthetics, the MSI Prestige 14 is a thing of art. The laptop is made of high quality materials, having clean edges and a very fine texture. It comes in two new colors – pure white and carbon grey that makes heads turn. Being extremely lightweight, the laptop is highly portable.
The Body
The Prestige has an all-aluminium body that is industrial grade and supposed to withstand high vibration and temperatures. However, it still doesn’t live up to its potential and doesn’t feel rock solid.
The Keyboard
This is something that you will love to use. It’s solid and has enough space between the buttons. The keys are snappy, respond quickly and don’t make a noise when you’re typing. The back edge of the laptop is lifted which makes the keyboard stand at an angle of 5 degrees. This makes your typing experience even more comfortable. To top that off, it is a back-lit keyboard.
The Track Pad
The track pad is spacious enough and it comes with a fingerprint reader. The width of the touch pad mirrors the 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen. The swipes are accurate and all gestures are read with accuracy.
Display
This baby sports a 14-inch screen that supports 1080p and 16:9 aspect ratio. This display is good to watch movies on but scrolling can be a bit dull. The bezels are very thin which line with the current trend of slim bezels. The brightness of the screen is not the best. The colors come out fine but the images don’t look crisp enough. Also, in direct sunlight, viewing can be a bit difficult given the low brightness of the screen.
Webcam
The Webcam supports the “Windows hello” feature allowing face recognition to unlock your device. It feels futuristic and adds another option of unlocking the device. The camera is superb for video calls. The speakers blow downwards which is a bit odd and does not offer a very good music listening capability.
Under the Hood
Don’t let these designs fool you as when it comes to performance, it can take on the heavy weights with ease. The 2021 generation laptops come with the latest Intel chipset that provide high-speed performance.
It comes with the 11th gen Intel Core i7 processor. This is 1.5 times faster than the previous generation processor. The integrated graphics card also gets an update. It now comes with the Intel Iris Xe graphics card that is 4.5 times faster.
If you are a gamer, there’s a dedicated graphics card here too. You get the NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card. It also has a 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD for insane boot speeds. This bad boy can handle anything from gaming to video editing.
Ports
The laptop has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports that allows fast data transfer and fast charging speeds. The thunderbolt ports also allow for HDMI and DisplayPort Connectivity.
Battery Performance
The Prestige 14 comes with a 52 W battery. The latest Intel chipsets offer great batter efficiency and it can be seen in the numbers. The laptop provides a video playback time of almost 16.5 hours. With the ability to fast charge, you can never run out of juice with this machine.
The MSI Prestige 14 in One Glance
The MSI Prestige 14 is an ultra-portable that ticks most of the boxes. The new model will cost you $1,199.99. It’s has a great design and battery backup with the latest computing power. It has a very good keyboard and camera that stands out against it competition.
However, the screen and sound experience put a small dent on the overall experience. Despite these small flaws, the laptop is very easy to carry around and a great buy. The laptop comes in many configurations for different needs for different users.
