MSI Prestige 14 Evo Laptop Review: Fine-Tuned For Modern Workforce

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1185G7
• Display: 14-inch IPS FHD 1920x1080, 60Hz
• GPU: Intel Iris Xe
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR4
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Battery: 52 WHr
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Design: Thin And Light Laptop

Like most modern thin-and-light laptops, the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is a laptop that has a premium all-metal body. Thanks to that, it just weighs 1.29KG, which makes it easy to carry around. Though I didn't get a chance to carry around this laptop to the office due to WFH, I would be happy to rock this device just considering the weight and the overall form-factor.

The laptop is not just light in weight, but has a proper weight distribution too, so the laptop won't wobble around even if you are typing. On top of that, the selection of ports on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is also great, where it offers 2 USB Type-C ports, a USB-A port, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The USB Type-C ports on the Prestige 14 Evo are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which can attach various accessories, including an external monitor. Overall, it offers a good set of connectivity options, but it is not the versatile I/O on a laptop of this class, as it is missing an HDMI port.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Display

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo comes with a 14-inch IPS LCD screen with a native 60Hz refresh rate. The laptop uses a low-powered panel that helps extend the battery life a bit compared to regular LCD screen laptops.

The device does get fairly bright and can be used indoors without any issue. However, under direct sunlight, the screen looks a bit dull. It is an 8bit panel with good color accuracy. However, there are a lot of laptops that cost less than MSI Prestige 14 Evo and offer more vivid and brighter displays.

While working on spreadsheets, writing a document, making a presentation, even reviewing a software code, the laptop's display works well. Similarly, this is also a great device for content consumption on platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube. However, the speakers on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo aren't that loud and clear, which slightly hampers the multimedia consumption experience.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Keyboard And Trackpad

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo has an excellent low-travel keyboard with a backlight. If you low a keyboard that offers a lot of feedback and doesn't make a sound while typing, you will love the keyboard on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo. The same goes for the trackpad too, which has a built-in fingerprint sensor.

The keyboard's backlight intensity can be controlled, and it offers three levels of brightness. Similarly, the shortcut buttons on the function key row are also well-marked, making it easy to recognize and use them. The F6 key also doubles as a camera button, which shuts the camera, offering a sense of privacy to the users.

Overall, MSI has done a great job when it comes to the keyboard and trackpad, and I loved typing on this machine. If you are a writer, who needs a thin-and-light laptop with a great keyboard, then the MSI Prestige 14 Evo is likely to fit your bill.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo CPU Performance

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo is powered by the Intel Core i7-1185G7, which is the latest Tiger Lake-U series CPU paired with the Intel Iris Xe graphics card. This is also an Intel Evo-certified laptop, which ensures that the laptop offers high-speed internet connectivity (WiFi6), better battery life, and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.

The Intel Core i7-1185G7 is a quad-core processor with eight threads offering a base clock speed of 3GHz and a max turbo frequency of 4.8GHz. It also offers a 12MB smart cache, and the TDP is configurable up to 28W. The CPU is paired with 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD, which offered over 5000MB/s read speed on the DiskMark storage benchmark tool.

We ran multiple benchmark tools on the laptop, where, the laptop scored fairly high, where the device scored 1522 points on single-core and 4400 points on multi-core performance. Similarly, CPU-Z, the processor scores 508.7 points on single-core and 2902.6 points on multi-core performance. Even on Cinebench R23, the device scores 1291 points on single-core performance and 3701 points on multi-core performance.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo GPU Performance

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo does not have a dedicated graphics card, instead, it comes with the Intel Iris Xe graphics, which uses the device's onboard memory. On the Superposition benchmark, at 1080p low settings, the device scored an average FPS of 18.54. Similarly, at 720p low settings, the device posts 41.23 FPS, which should offer fairly smooth gameplay, albeit, at medium graphics settings.

These numbers indicate that you can do casual gaming on the MSI Prestige 14 Evo at 720p and easily get over 30fps without any issue. However, if you are a serious gamer, then, you might have to get a high-end laptop with a dedicated graphics card.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Battery Life: Fascinatingly Good

Going by the specs sheet of the MSI Prestige 14 Evo, I was not expecting much from the laptop when it comes to battery life, as it comes with a 52 WHr. Due to the optimizations and the power-efficient 11th Gen Intel processor, the laptop surprised me with its all-day battery life.

The laptop stayed silent and cool with a normal work-load. The bottom portion did get hot while running the benchmark, just like any other laptop. However, the device tends to run hotter if you use it while charging.

On an average day, the laptop easily lasts over 6 to 7 hours on a single charge with a mixed use-case that includes writing content, browsing social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Not just that, the laptop also charges using the USB Type-C port, which is something that every laptop should adapt, and the device comes with a 65W charger in the box.

MSI Prestige 14 Evo Verdict

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo is a fantastic laptop, and I could say that the brand has built a robust mid-range thin-and-light laptop in its very first attempt. It is light in weight, looks stylish, has a thin bezel display, and offers a lot of modern features like WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity.

However, when we consider the price, the MSI Prestige 14 Evo does feel a bit expensive, especially because the device does not have a touch screen. Not just that, the storage and the RAM is non-user-upgradable, which makes it hard to upgrade or repair in the future.

It is powered by the latest 11th Gen Intel processor, which makes it future-proof, and the Intel Iris Xe onboard graphics also offers best-in-class GPU performance without hurting the battery life.

An office goer, who mostly uses laptops for creating spreadsheets, writing codes, or even doing some light photo editing tasks will appreciate this machine. Those who want a little more should look for a laptop with a dedicated CPU and a more powerful GPU, and MSI does have a lot of them.

The MSI Prestige 14 Evo is a simple yet sophisticated laptop that should work well for most users who wants a modern computer that just works for most regular tasks. If you want something more with features like a touch screen display, then you have to look at the other options.