// PC GAMER — GAMING
MSI Stealth 16 AI+ B3W review
This is the most luxurious and satisfying laptop I've ever used, and by my reckoning it has cemented itself firmly alongside the likes of the Razer Blade as a premium, sleek gaming machine. Unfortunately, it is also incredibly expensive and has one particularly pesky problem in the form of audio latency from its default audio device, making it a big ask for the price unless you only use your own USB headset/earphones.
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If there were ever a laptop design to be right "up my alley", as we brits like to say, it would be this one. That's because it makes its sacrifices in exactly the right places to deliver something genuinely portable, sleek, elegant, and satisfying to use both for gaming and work.
The MSI 'Stealth' laptop looks to have been reimagined along these MacBook or Razer Blade-esque lines—and successfully so—featuring a giant touchpad, thin aluminium form factor, subtle upward-facing speakers, and a spacious screen.
It's not just a looker, though, as MSI has crammed an RTX 5080 mobile GPU into it, making for genuine high-end performance. It has, however, had to be power-limited to play nicely with the slim chassis, meaning you're not getting quite the performance you could get out of a chunkier laptop for the same very expensive price or cheaper.
✅ You use your laptop in public: This thing definitely looks the part alongside MacBooks and other such suave devices, with its aluminium frame and giant trackpad.✅ You use a USB headset: I didn't have any of the audio latency issues I noticed when using USB earphones/headset.
❌ You like to game using the laptop speakers: I noticed definite audio latency over the default audio device with this laptop, which can be annoying in shooters, for instance.❌ You just want raw performance: This laptop looks gorgeous and is very portable for a 16-inch machine, but you can get more high-end horsepower for less if you don't mind something chunkier.
This is the most luxurious and satisfying laptop I've ever used, and by my reckoning it has cemented itself firmly alongside the likes of the Razer Blade as a premium, sleek gaming machine. Unfortunately, it is also incredibly expensive and has one particularly pesky problem in the form of audio latency from its default audio device, making it a big ask for the price unless you only use your own USB headset/earphones.
1x 3.5 mm audio (combo), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen2, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI 2.1, 2.5 Gb Ethernet
After powering on the laptop for the first time, I was immediately impressed by how it feels to use. The trackpad doesn't require much force to press but just enough so you're not accidentally pressing it, and it has a very satisfying click. I didn't have many problems with accidentally moving the cursor while typing because of the size of the trackpad, but it did happen occasionally.