MSI Prestige 14 Evo Review

Lisa Gade reviews the MSI Prestige 14 Evo 14” Ultrabook with Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake CPUs and Intel Iris Xe graphics. The MSI competes with consumer and business 14” laptops and is Intel Evo certified for long runtimes, instant wake, Thunderbolt 4 and PCIe 4. The Evo is available in 3 colors, has a full HD matte non-touch display, a fingerprint scanner and Windows Hello IR camera. It has USB-A port and microSD card slot unlike some competitors. It’s priced a few hundred dollars less than the premium Ultrabook competition like the Dell XPS 13, Razer Book and 13” M1 MacBook Pro. For those wanting NVIDIA dedicated graphics, there’s the Prestige 14 and 15 non-EVO models.

[@robert4you]

Greetings from Sweden. In 2003 I bought my first laptop, it was a _Compaq Evo N1020v._ Later I bought something else from another manufacturer, it also had the name "Evo" in it. 2-3 years ago I replaced all my HDD in my PC's with Samsung EVO SSD's... And now MSI has this "Prestige Evo". Why are everyone so in love with the name "EVO"?

[@RustyChapman]

Thanks Lisa, I just texted this video to my bro, who lives in the DFW MetroTex. We talked earlier today, and he told me that he wanted a new computer. I told him that my Skylake era MSI WS60 has been rock-solid reliable. Thanks Again.

[@DavidCsMusic]

I've had this laptop for the past 2 months and it has been great! Especially for $900 which you can still find on Best Buy. This is the only laptop I think with pcie 4 nvme so I have a sn850 and get speeds of 6600mbs. And as far as fan noise I have zero complaints because you can just go into the msi settings control panel and turn off the fan until it reaches a specific temperature.

[@anthonya.jumelles7103]

Intel's WiFi 6/Bluetooth 5.1 card is best in class. Seamless support on Windows + Linux.

[@ningyuanwang600]

Thanks to intel's tiger lake we have thundebolt controller integrated into cpu. I guess this doesn't even have a PCH chip. That might be the reason why we see usb 2.0 here. MSI can save the PCH cost and put some crappy usb 2.0 controller there and call it a day.

[@suntzu1409]

Yup

[@gamingwithkev8208]

This laptop is gorgeous as hell!

[@alexeiz]

A review of the new LG gram 16 would be great.

[@mini9503]

Also LG Gram 16 2-in-1, with a Wacom AES pen.

[@WanderingAroundAZ]

I think a "business laptop: should have at least a 16:10 aspect ratio. Wow! Did Pepto Bismol sponsor that pink one!?

[@magnat7]

For 16:10 look for Hp Envy 14 ;)

[@suntzu1409]

@@magnat7 xps series, macbooks

[@vladdx]

Prestige is the budget content creator line, not targeted at business users like MSI Summit series

[@kayagyei2710]

Hi, I think your reviews, are the best, by far, on the internet, full stop. Been following you, for years now, to be able to make that bold statement.👍😊

[@strat0caster124]

Basically half of the motherboard is empty with component layouts for dedicated GPU and VRAM slots.... sigh If they're serious about ultrabook product lines I do hope one day they start designing dedicated motherboards to get rid of that huge unused space. And then they can put in larger batteries to bump up the battery life which makes them much better sells. I understand that this is their way to cut down the cost, by reusing motherboard designs (and to some extent using a smaller battery, but the difference shouldn't be much). But still, this currently feels to me half-assed and not right.

[@Adit422]

The Evo certification is a bit iffy though. If you want to have a dedicated GPU, then you lose the Evo certificate because your battery life is going to take a hit. But I recently see KZbin review of Lenovo ThinkPad Nano and the battery life is only on 9 hours range, so it isn't Evo ready. What gives?

[@strat0caster124]

@@Adit422 At current technology battery capacity will always be in the 50-70 Wh range, and to get 9hrs you'd have to keep power consumption around 5-8W avg which is a hell lot to ask, as the screen would already take up a large chunk if not all of it. I don't think most laptops today are physically capable of reaching 9 hours if the screen is always on at 300 nits, so I just ignore all the Evo certification stuff and directly look at specs such as battery capacity and CPU power consumption, to some extent also cooling design. Maybe for the certification it's technically allowed to have screen-off time or even OS sleeping time in between workloads so the 9 hours has to be taken with a grain of salt.

[@Adit422]

@@strat0caster124 That's a really neat explanation. I wonder why Intel on the first place giving such a high standard for manufacturers, eventhough Intel themselves knew that these standards is hard to achieve? I work as sales representative at PC Retail on my country and let me tell you, these Evo cert. doesn't mean a thing here in Indonesia. Tech savvy people won't look back and bashing Evo because "the specs isn't cutting to their hardcore editing/gaming needs" and the casual don't give a damn thing for Evo laptops because "vague standards and it's for a very 'niche' products". I myself currently running T440S and this laptop serves me fine (eventhough i had to charge it on my lunch and continue to to use it unplugged until 5pm) and I don't want to buy Evo laptops, I want Asus G14s. So do Intel really had to be blamed for such a vague standards from get-go?

[@strat0caster124]

​@@Adit422 I can only say that apparently the Evo certificate didn't become a successful marketing term, since not many recognize it as something useful. I do think it's going in the right direction for ultrabooks, but it came at a bad time, where Intel chips are just losing to Ryzen in terms of raw horsepower and X86 architecture chips are just losing to Apple M1 chips in power efficiency (which heavily impacts both heat and battery life).

[@alexeiz]

I was ready to pull the trigger on this laptop, but a subpar quality full hd display killed it for me. I've had 4K laptops for three years now. Not going back to full hd, unless it's really exceptional.

[@KA-jx2pe]

Another great review Lisa.

[@djsnowpdx]

My friend’s 10 year old MacBook had socketed RAM and the sockets eventually failed from being moved and tossed around so much. I do think that RAM sockets being a common point of failure might have something to do with the annoying industry trend of soldering the stuff. I feel soldering is justified in M1 devices because the RAM is on-die. I’m not sure about this. It’s in that middle ground where I want to hear from the manufacturer why they did it.

[@chrisbullock6477]

WOW...intel and MSI surprised me with this pricing...and that RAM Speed!

[@aashishshrivastav9531]

Loved your video.... Though.... I am very interested in laptop with OLED Panel..... Positively looking forward for that video.

[@DavidNkwa]

Is this laptop good for video editing with premier? am think of getting one, I need your advise

[@JuJu-rt5bc]

basing from my experience, it's a good laptop! the only downside is it gets really hot to the touch and the fan is loud when its rendering, but this could be solved with a cooling pad.

[@ameliabuns4058]

4:02 damn half of that motherboard is empty pins for different parts

[@redemedy8602]

thats a very nice review thanks for posting :)

[@tentringer4065]

If you're going to get the Prestige, you really should buy two of them.

[@thenotred]

wait, USB 2.0?

[@rdeh1678]

When it comes to laptop reviews nobody does it better then Mobile Tech reviews

[@valhallaoutfitter]

Great job on this. I couldn’t handle the keyboard flex. Just got an Inspiron 13 and it’s about the same. I see refurbished Elitebook G6s but with limited processing power… any suggestions for a 500-1000 book with a good keyboard (13-14”)? My G7500 is great but a behemoth to carry… Thanks again!!

[@jeffhale1189]

👀 Blessings on your day 👍🏻👍🏻

[@ShinTensaZangetsu]

Awesome

[@doomtomb3]

USB 2.0 o_O

[@AymanAssaf]

I have a last-gen one 15insh, build guilty is not a thing after few months, overheating is a big problem, performance decreases after few months! it was a bad decision to buy it. I7 10gen 32gb 1tb gtx 1650 mq screen brightness is not enough.

[@Coksnuss]

Excellent Review. As always.

[@a4andrei]

This MSI laptop looks ok but the design is a far cry from the mature and elegant aesthetic of the Dell XPS. That said, tastes vary and some people will prefer this over the Dell.

[@c732n7]

looks like empty spot for a dedicated graphics on the non-evo model.

[@ShawnBuckingham]

This is getting a lot of hate - and I see why. I think maybe $1200 is a bit steep. Ethernet dongle is a real shame. Rocking a Dell 7480, and in my opinion it is so close to perfect.

[@noelwade]

Sadly, in the past the "non-EVO" Prestige with a dedicated GPU had *terrible* thermal performance and would throttle heavily after just a few minutes of gaming. :-( The integrated Intel GPU in the EVO is probably the right way for them to go with this chassis. A dGPU really needs a second fan with what they're trying to push on this thing.

[@kohenm]

I think the evo standards that intels pushing only allowes them to have 1 fan... which is sad because having less fans isn't always the better option

[@amjonnigin]

Hello mam, I want to know whether msi prestige 15 i7 11th gen is better choice in the same price point?

[@benv.4036]

Oh Snap! :-O

[@ledcityusa]

Good report

[@nathanlayman]

So even though this has an I7 graphics card this probably wouldn't be great for gaming?

[@ukabah2910]

it depends. Default settings work fine for your standard games. The problem (what she did not mention) is that it gets realy hot. One fan, even if it is 'beefy', is not enough

[@luxumvadens]

So no touchscreen still?

[@lesterhung7467]

USB A port is 2.0, so the Ethernet adapter is going to be SLOW

[@Noodles.FreeUkraine]

Yep. It just had to have a nice chin because 16:10 isn't even a thing. Oh, wait...

[@theinktician]

What's with all these "Business" laptops with 16:9 aspect ratios? This getting sad Samsungs Galaxy Book "Pro" is going to have the same issues. 13.3 and 15.6 inch screen sizes gave it away

[@gyozakeynsianism]

Do business users need anything else?

[@jore5410]

Hello, what do you think about it speakers? Is it worth?

[@Good_angel123]

Is this a touch screen display?

[@JuJu-rt5bc]

nope, its not touch screen

[@TravellLove]

Am I the only one who hates that bluish color? or even all the color offerings by MSI?

[@soniyakhanal9028]

Hey Lisa could you please suggest me a good laptop for accounting at around $1200

[@od8466]

HP envy 14

[@soniyakhanal9028]

@@od8466 Thank you so much!! I'll definitely take a look at it!

[@srinivasareddybada7475]

@@soniyakhanal9028 I am also looking for a good laptop and confusing with lot of options.. please help if you are able to figure out :-) my budget is also in same range

[@soniyakhanal9028]

@@srinivasareddybada7475 Yeah sure! And if you find please tell me too.

[@premkrishna2326]

Dell Xps 13 is worth all the penny

[@bigjourie4167]

Honesty, by the named "Prestige", I expected to see at least GTX1650 Max-Q inside. Without GPU, it is.. another Modern series.

[@Tech1Tv]

USB 2.0 on a 2021 laptop lmao 🤣

[@ApolloVIIIYouAreGoForTLI]

it has Thunderbolt 4

[@gyozakeynsianism]

It doesn't even have a Touchbar lol

[@romeozor]

Problem is, MSI doesn't have competent RMA/repair, not something a business is looking for.

[@gerardoavila8294]

grande viejaaa

[@timalma]

Hello girl All the love from Arabia

[@jotu173]

An IMPORTANT FYI to anyone considering purchasing this... After viewing a different disassembly video about this computer, anyone considering it should know that it appears that the memory is NOT upgradable in this (it is SOLDIERED to the motherboard). SHAME ON YOU MSI !!! In other words, 32GB (or whatever it comes with in your purchased configuration) is the MOST memory you can ever have with this. I am 99.9% sure that I am correct about this IMPORTANT FACT. I am also pretty certain that was NOT mention in this video (but I did not watch the whole video, so I could be wrong about that). If I am incorrect, then please let know with a reply (along with SPECiFICALLY WHY you think I am).

[@stanislavtihohod]

FF to the middle, see 16:9 screen, lose interest to the rest.

[@fadyNUFC]

I'm fed up with oems using Intel no matter what 👎

[@darkmanx2g]

My only complaints about this laptop is battery life and speakers. The speakers are horrible for it's price range. Even a phone has louder speakers than this laptop.

[@ninernation7170]

What is the battery life?

[@osbert]

nice review as always but lol at the state of this thing.

[@korodski]

😎

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

The design sure is bland, but that logo though is just straight ugly

[@Mamo878]

16:9 FAIL It ain't a freakin' gaming laptop.

[@RaviRaj-jx2ib]

USB 2.0 😒😒

[@motoadrenaline1006]

First

[@Cccoast]

Someone great computer.... unless something is wrong... which happens.... TERRIBLE warranty, TERRIBLE customer service.

[@leadwhite1249]

I have a prestige 15 - had a hinge issue, I needed it sent in for repair, and was happy with the process. Bought in the US, but did the repair in Canada. 2 weeks later it was back to me looking brand new.

[@ardychris5894]

@@leadwhite1249 i was considering the msi prestige 15 a11scx until i read people talking about their hinge issues so it's true then

[@leadwhite1249]

@@ardychris5894 i wouldn't dismiss it completely - yes I had an issue, but they fixed it without fuss, and I'm otherwise happy with it. But definitely thing they should use beefier hinges.

[@fcfliper2999]

design sucks

[@besweeeet2]

Another Intel laptop. *skips*

[@gyozakeynsianism]

But you commented.

[@besweeeet2]

@@gyozakeynsianism And? I skipped the video, not the comments.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

@@besweeeet2 You're living up to your avatar, that's all.

[@suntzu1409]

@@gyozakeynsianism XD