Contents
- 1 Before we dive in, let’s get one thing out of the way: This laptop is gorgeous.
- 2 Unlike the more expensive MSI GT75 Titan, which lets you choose between a 4K HDR display and a 1080p 144Hz panel, the GS65 only comes with a Full HD screen.
- 3 The screen has a maximum brightness of over 300 nits, which makes it bright enough to work comfortably outdoors in direct sunlight.
- 4 The keyboard on the GS65 is comfortable to type on and has an RGB backlight that illuminates each key with an individual glow.
- 5 You can create macros that run when you hit a certain key combination and change the color of the backlight for each row of keys
- 6 In real-world use, the system feels snappy, thanks to its speedy SSD (which is upgradable if you’d like more storage).
- 7 The built-in speakers are just okay – not as loud or powerful as I’d like, but better than most laptops.
- 8 The included Nahimic software lets you play around with some audio settings and create custom profiles
- 9 Conclusion: If you need a gaming laptop that doesn’t look like a gaming laptop and don’t want to spend too much money, this is it.
Before we dive in, let’s get one thing out of the way: This laptop is gorgeous.
The GS65 Stealth Thin is a thin, light laptop that’s stylish and sleek. It’s available in gold or black with either an Intel Core i7-9750H or Core i9-9980HK processor. Both are 15.6″ laptops with 144Hz display options, but only the high-end model gets an RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card option and a larger battery (93Wh vs 82Wh).
The screen is gorgeous at 1080p resolution on our review unit, with wide viewing angles and vibrant colors that pop off the screen thanks to MSI’s “Dragon Eye” screen technology. The panel supports 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut and has excellent contrast ratio of 1,000:1 or higher when measured using a Spyder5Elite colorimeter test tool we used to get these measurements—the best results we’ve seen from any gaming laptop so far this year!
You’ll need good sound if you want to enjoy your games like they were meant to be played; fortunately for us gamers out there who don’t want something bulky in order for us listen clearly through our headphones while playing games like Fortnite then MSI has you covered too because they have partnered up with Dynaudio – one of Europe’s largest manufacturers specializing in designing speakers since 1968 – so now anyone can enjoy crystal clear audio without having anything extra attached via USB ports or having any extra wires running through their house/apartment while still being able
Unlike the more expensive MSI GT75 Titan, which lets you choose between a 4K HDR display and a 1080p 144Hz panel, the GS65 only comes with a Full HD screen.
The GS65 doesn’t have the 4K HDR display option that the more expensive MSI GT75 Titan does. This means you can only choose a Full HD screen, and there are no other options for settings like color gamut or contrast ratio.
The screen has a maximum brightness of over 300 nits, which makes it bright enough to work comfortably outdoors in direct sunlight.
It’s also great for gaming, as higher brightness means better color accuracy and less eye strain when playing games that have darker scenes.
The downside is that the display’s color accuracy is only average, with a Delta E of 5.34 at 100% brightness. This means that colors look slightly off compared to what they should be if you were viewing them on another computer or TV with more accurate colors.
The keyboard on the GS65 is comfortable to type on and has an RGB backlight that illuminates each key with an individual glow.
The keyboard is also full-sized, with a chicklet style similar to what you’d find on a Macbook or other laptops from Apple.
The keys are mechanical, which means they’re less likely to get sticky or dirty over time compared with their non-mechanical counterparts. They’re also anti-ghosting, meaning you can press as many keys simultaneously as you like without having any problems. There are dedicated media buttons for volume control and play/pause music playback along with WASD keys highlighted for gamers who want them highlighted.
You can create macros that run when you hit a certain key combination and change the color of the backlight for each row of keys
For example, I have one that turns off my monitor and launches Spotify when I press Ctrl+F2. You can also automate macros to run at specific times—like turning on your webcam when you start up your laptop in the morning, or launching your favorite game as soon as you sit down at home each night.
In real-world use, the system feels snappy, thanks to its speedy SSD (which is upgradable if you’d like more storage).
The GS65 comes with a 256GB SSD, which is upgradable. This means that you can replace it with a larger drive if you want more storage space.
The SSD (solid-state drive) is an internal hard drive designed to hold your operating system and programs. It’s considerably faster than the usual type of hard drive, which stores data on spinning discs inside its case—a much slower method than flash memory used in SSDs like this one. While there’s not much real-world difference between 120GB and 256GB in terms of performance, upgrading to 512GB or even 1TB will give you plenty of room for games and other files without sacrificing speed.
The built-in speakers are just okay – not as loud or powerful as I’d like, but better than most laptops.
The sound quality isn’t what it could be, and there’s not much bass to speak of. However, they’re good enough if you’re looking for something portable; if you want something that can fill a room with sound, look elsewhere.
The included Nahimic software lets you play around with some audio settings and create custom profiles
Nahimic provides the option to customize your audio experience with a number of settings and presets. You can choose your output device, which includes both speakers and headphones. The software also lets you create custom profiles for different games or situations, or even just switch between different profiles when you want to do so.
The GS65’s sound is actually quite good out of the box: I’ve enjoyed listening to music through its built-in speakers on more than one occasion, although I’ve found that it sounds best when connected via Bluetooth.
Conclusion: If you need a gaming laptop that doesn’t look like a gaming laptop and don’t want to spend too much money, this is it.
If you want a high-end gaming laptop without the flashy looks, this is your best option. The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 is a thin and light gaming laptop that offers excellent performance, a comfortable keyboard and touchpad, great display quality and long battery life. Its low price makes it an attractive choice for anyone looking to get into PC gaming without breaking the bank.
The GS65’s relatively understated design — which features black plastic on top with gold trim around the keyboard — means that it won’t stand out as much as some of MSI’s other models with more elaborate designs or colors (like their particularly bold GV62 8RD). But if you’re worried about how others might react to a bright yellow laptop or logos plastered across its lid like some other laptops on the market have, then this may be one of your better options for blending in at work or school without looking like someone who owns nothing but gaming hardware (though we’d argue there’s nothing wrong with being a proud gamer!).
High-end specifications are part of what make this model stand out from other thin-and-light laptops in its class: It includes Intel Core i7 CPUs paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards up to 1670 Max-Q. If you need more power than that provides but don’t want to break your budget on an expensive desktop rig (or invest in multiple GPUs), then this could be exactly what you’re looking for: It offers plenty of grunt while maintaining an affordable price tag compared against competitors such as Dell’s XPS 13 ($1K+) or Alienware’s AW15 ($2K+).