Forget MacBook Air: This Windows alternative is just as lightweight and full of features

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• MSI’s Prestige 13 AI Evo provides nice efficiency due to its Intel Core Extremely processor and supporting AI tech.
• This leads to a pc whose efficiency outclasses an M1 MacBook Professional for content material creation.
• For the worth, it does have its quirks, from the middling graphics card to buggy software program.

MacBooks are a few of the most praised laptops amongst shoppers and the tech business. There is a good motive for this. Apple constantly makes top-tier {hardware}. Even after they’re mediocre by Apple requirements, MacBooks are stable picks no matter their quirks. Nevertheless, there are a few issues: A) they are often costly, and B) you might not be conversant in macOS. The system could also be just like Home windows, however it’s nonetheless a unique digital surroundings.

MSI, a model outstanding amongst PC players, appears to pay attention to these points, ensuing within the firm creating highly effective ultraportable laptops with efficiency similar to a MacBook however with out a excessive price ticket or alien working system. 

Additionally: HP’s new Spectre x360 is already one of my favorite laptops of the year. Here’s why

This brings us to MSI’s newest launch, the Prestige 13 AI Evo AM1G; a laptop computer that I like to recommend for individuals on the lookout for a pc that may deal with heavy workloads whereas additionally weighing just a bit greater than two kilos. 

View at Newegg

To begin, I ran the Status 13 by means of two benchmarking checks. That is the primary time I’m making an attempt out a pc with a Meteor Lake CPU, so I needed to see precisely what it was able to from an goal standpoint. And the outcomes have been higher than I believed. 

One of many checks was Cinebench, and on there, the Intel Core Extremely 5 processor earned a rating of 536. Based on the benchmark, this places the CPU proper above the Apple M1 chip by way of efficiency. On the subject of Geekbench, it achieved a rating of 8,477, incomes it a spot between the AMD Ryzen 7 Professional 6850HS and the Ryzen 9 Professional 5945, indicating it has a good quantity of energy behind it. Take into accout I’ve the lesser of the 2 Status builds I must also point out these numbers come from the laptop computer on Efficiency Mode so it is firing on all cylinders.

Additionally: The best laptop cooling pads to protect your device from overheating

What’s fascinating is it seems MSI made the laptop computer able to dealing with gaming too. The Status 13 comes with the Xbox app put in and a surprisingly highly effective cooling system. It is higher than the followers I’ve skilled on some gaming laptops.

On the underside, you will see three ports with a big fan inside. When turned out, the fan can flip an uncomfortably heat Status 13 into a superbly cool machine. It was fairly spectacular. My solely drawback with the followers is that they get loud, nearly like a mini turbine.

Regardless of MSI’s efforts, this isn’t a gaming laptop computer on the finish of the day. It performs nicely, however cannot match the likes of a Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series graphics card. I performed a few video games on the Status 13 simply to see how they ran, with most operating completely advantageous underneath low graphical settings. However the second I pushed towards high-quality graphics, I bumped into efficiency issues. So should you resolve to play video games on this, hold it gentle.

On the optimistic facet, the show on the MSI Status 13, which you will spend all your time gazing, is incredible. It is a 13.3-inch OLED display outputting a 2.8K decision (2,880 x 1,800 pixel) picture. Mix this with its assist of the DCI-P3 shade gamut and you’ve got a pc in a position to exhibit visible content material in beautiful constancy. It is a sight to behold. 

Additionally: Lenovo made a Mac Studio for Windows users, and it might even be better

On the pc is a characteristic referred to as Tobii Conscious. What it is imagined to do is blur the show every time somebody walks behind you to keep up your display privateness. Whereas the characteristic sounds helpful in observe, I could not get it to work. I attempted troubleshooting, shutting it down on Job Supervisor, and restarting the Status 13, however to no avail. The identical could be mentioned for the Ambient Silent AI software which is meant to momentarily quiet the cooling followers in the event that they’re blowing full blast. 

It is fully potential I encountered some random bug and isn’t indicative of the Status 13. Nevertheless, it might be a disservice on my finish if I did not at the least warn you of potential points you might run into.

I did handle to get the Sensible Auto characteristic up and operating. It permits customers to reallocate sources from totally different areas of the pc to no matter app you are utilizing on the time to spice up efficiency. Or if you need a sure app to get the enhance always, Sensible Auto additionally helps you to goal particular software program. It was a nifty little software that I obtained a number of enjoyment out of. You possible will, too.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

All that mentioned, I truly advocate the MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo laptop computer, significantly for inventive professionals on the lookout for a light-weight, decently-priced system to hold round to and from work. Even should you’re not creatively minded, that is nonetheless an incredible machine to have.

Additionally: This Lenovo ThinkPad is so close to being the perfect ultraportable laptop

For the smaller, 13-inch dimension that I examined, you should buy the Intel Core Extremely i5 model of the Prestige 13 laptop from Newegg for $1,049. In order for you the massive brother mannequin, you should buy the Intel Core Extremely i7 rendition of the Status 13 off Best Buy for $1,299. It additionally comes outfitted with 32GB of RAM and a full terabyte of storage, which at that worth, is nicely price it.