Ever since MSI launched its GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF in India, I’ve been waiting to get my hands on the device and get a decent experience of the thin and light gaming laptop, which packs in impressive hardware in an understated razor thin chassis. The MSI GS65 Stealth is currently available in India at a hefty Rs. 1,84,699 and at this price point you’ll be getting an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H powered laptop with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an Nvidia GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU. Furthermore, the laptop boasts of a 15.6-inch FHD 144Hz display with pencil thin top and side bezels, which gives the device an impressive 82 percent screen-to-body ratio. While the raw specifications coupled with the thin and light architecture make the laptop quite impressive to begin with, it has much more to offer. Curious? Let’s jump right into our review of the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF and find out what makes this laptop one of the acclaimed thin and light gaming laptops out there:
Here’s a quick look at what all the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF has to offer in the hardware department:
Design and Build Quality
Unlike other gaming laptops from MSI, which have a rather mainstream red and black color scheme, the GS65 Stealth sports an understated black and gold color scheme. The sandblasted matte aluminum lid has a clean gold trim all around it with MSI’s dragon logo in gold bang in the center. On the sides, the hinges have a gold trim around them and the exhaust vents also have a black and gold angular grill which looks excellent.
Even though the laptop has a rather thin and light form factor, MSI hasn’t skimped out on the port selection and offers pretty much everything a gamer would require. The laptop features three full-size USB 3.1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt port, an RJ45 Ethernet port, a 4K @ 60Hz full-size HDMI port, and a Mini-DisplayPort port. However, since the laptop goes for an understated design choice, making it a viable option for professionals looking for a powerful machine with which they can game on the side, its lack of a SD card slot is a bit disappointing.
I personally feel that the MSI GS65 Stealth offers a great selection of ports and connectivity options, and except for the SD card slot, I can’t think of any shortcomings whatsoever. It is worth noting, however, that the placement of the power input port might be a bit of an interference, if you’re used to laptops that have the power input port on the back on in one of the rear corners, but I quickly got used to it and you’ll probably do too.
Despite the fact that the laptop has a similar footprint as a 14-inch device, the MSI GS65 Stealth packs in a 15.6-inch display, all thanks to the 4.9mm top and side bezels. Added to that, the quality of the display panel used makes the laptop look remarkably good once its turned on. The 15.6-inch IPS display has a full HD 1920×1080 resolution with an industry first 144Hz refresh rate and a 7ms response time. Quite frankly, the display looks amazing and might even be the best 1080p display I’ve used so far. The color reproduction is pretty good, with MSI’s True Color Technology guaranteeing “exceptional color fidelity of close to 100% sRGB”.
Gaming on the 144Hz 1080p display is absolutely phenomenal, with everything looking buttery smooth at all times. The only possible con that I can think of is the lack of Nvidia’s G-Sync technology, but I value the battery improvements because of its absence much more than the slight difference it makes to video quality, so I wouldn’t really hold that against the laptop.
Coming to what is probably the GS 65 Stealth’s weakest suit, its audio quality. MSI has included two 2 Watt speakers on the GS65 Stealth which are placed on the bottom of the laptop on either side of the rubber feet. While the audio quality from the included speakers is quite satisfactory, the placement of the speakers really takes a big toll on the max output, making the laptop a bit difficult to use in noisy environments. The speakers just don’t get loud enough and they also lack low end, making them sound a bit tinny.
The MSI GS65 Stealth has a well laid out TKL keyboard, featuring standard sized keys that have enough space between them to make the typing experience quite comfortable. Granted the Fn row is a bit thinner than the rest of the keys, I didn’t face any problems because of it in my time with the device. The keyboard has been designed by SteelSeries and it features individually backlit keys that can be completely customized using the SteelSeries Engine software that ships with the laptop. You can play around with endless combinations of colors, patterns and lighting styles, and I personally really liked the customization options on the device.
The trakcpad on the MSI GS65 Stealth is a bit on the smaller side and might not be ideal for people who are used to larger trackpads. However, thanks to Windows Precision Drivers support, it tracks quite accurately and multi-finger gesture navigation works like a charm. I’m not a huge fan of trackpads that have the left and right clicks built in, but I understand that the company’s working with a limited amount of space on the device so I’m gonna let that pass.
Bundled Software
SteelSeries 3 Engine
As mentioned earlier, the SteelSeries 3 engine will allow you to completely customize the keyboard backlighting with a number of preset already in place under the My Gear section. The software’s Engine Apps section also allows you to create even more lighting effects, including an Audio Visualizer effect which is my personal favorite by far.
The MSI Dragon Center is quite a handy utility which will allow you to customize the laptop’s performance and keep a tab on the resource utilization in real time. The System Tuner feature within the Dragon Center utility will allow you to set up custom profiles that you can switch between on the fly using customizable hotkeys.
MSI’s Dragon Center also comes with features like Voice Wizard, which will allow you to completely customize your VoIP settings for the best in-game communications experience. The Mobile Center option will allow you to connect your smartphone to the Dragon Center app and keep a check on the laptop’s real time resource utilization on your phone.
From the looks of it you won’t be able to tell just how well the laptop performs, both in day-to-day use and while gaming. The thin and light form factor is quite deceptive as the laptop’s internals make quick work of absolutely anything you can possibly throw at it. The 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H processor, coupled with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU powers through benchmarks and games alike, with temperatures remaining well under acceptable limits.
Benchmarks
Thanks to the premium hardware specifications, the GS65 Stealth crush synthetic benchmarks and delivers great results. As you can see below, the laptop manages to score 4,837 in PCMark 10, 4,635 in 3DMark Time Spy, 27,595 in 3DMark Sky Diver, and 11,964 in 3DMark Fire Strike. Compared with MSI’s own GE73 Raider 8RF, which packs in the same hardware, except for a standard GTX 1070, the scores are pretty decent.
- Gaming
Gaming on the MSI GS65 Stealth was a sheer pleasure, with the laptop managing to run the latest AAA titles at max settings with relative ease. Starting off with PUBG, the MSI GS65 Stealth was able to maintain an impressive 77 FPS at ultra settings, pushing the 100 fps barrier with ease while playing at high settings. The game worked flawlessly in my use, however, the laptop did get slightly warm to the touch, especially around the top edge of the palm rest. Next, I moved on to Assassin’s Creed Origins and the GS65 Stealth was able to push the 60 fps barrier on an average while playing at ultra settings. On high settings, the laptop comfortably crossed 70 fps and once again, I faced no issues playing the game for a couple of hours straight. The visuals looked stunning and there was absolutely no frame drop or stutter while playing the game.
Gaming
As I mentioned earlier, the laptop packs in a total of three MSI’s Whirlwind Blade fans along with four heat pipes that do a decent job of cooling the laptop under intense load. While the CPU and GPU temperatures remained well under limits during my gaming sessions, the laptop itself got uncomfortably warm around the vents and the top of the palm rest.
However, considering the fact that you’d rarely be playing games with the laptop kept on your lap, the temperatures shouldn’t really pose a problem. Since I’m used to playing games on my bed, with my laptop on my lap, the heat bothered me a bit and I wasn’t able to keep playing after about an hour.
The MSI GS65 Stealth packs in a large 4-cell 82Whr battery, which offers great battery life especially when you consider other gaming notebooks with similar specifications. While MSI claims that the laptop is capable of providing over 8 hours of battery life on a single charge while doing basic productivity tasks, in my testing the laptop lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes on the best battery life preset at 50 percent screen brightness. The battery life may not live up to MSI’s claims but its still pretty great considering other laptops in this price range are barely able to last more than four hours on a single charge.
Pros
- Premium Build Quality
- Excellent Performance
- Tactile keyboard with a great layout
- Fully customizable RGB keyboard backlight
- Remarkable display
- Amazing battery life
Cons
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RF Review: A Class Apart
Priced at Rs. 1,84,699, the MSI GS65 Stealth is arguably the best thin and light gaming laptop you can buy in the market right now. Not only does it offer portability, the included hardware packs a punch and is capable of chewing through any games or demanding productivity tasks that you can throw at it. The 144Hz 1080p display is absolutely brilliant and the battery life is definitely best in class. The 14-inch form factor, combined with the thin-bezels and the understated black and gold design, make the MSI GS65 Stealth a formidable competitor in the race for the perfect gaming laptop. The laptop has a lot going for it and only if it weren’t for the speakers and the missing SD card slot, the laptop would have been the perfect package for both gamers and professionals.
