Before we get into real world use, here's a look at benchmarks, comparing the Prestige 14 Evo to the Acer Nitro 5 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i. But as if often the case with new launches and OEM promises, the performance of the Intel Iris Xe doesn't quite live up to expectations after several hours of testing. It's not to be confused with Intel's Xe Max platform, which is a discrete GPU.
It's a platform that, at least according to Intel, promises 1080p gaming at 60fps and longer battery life thanks to the integrated GPU. But the more interesting part of the internals is the fact that the Prestige 14 Evo is the first laptop I've tested with Intel's Iris Xe graphics platform. Performance and gamingInside the Prestige 14 Evo is Intel's Tiger Lake 11th Generation i7-1185G7 processor, 16GB of LPDDR4X-4267 memory, and 512GB of SSD NVMe storage. I know this is pretty standard, but they make the Prestige 14 Evo look like it's a lower-end laptop. I do have a minor gripe about the large sticker on the right side of the trackpad, and the two stickers on the other side. On the opposite side is where you'll find two Thunderbolt 4 ports, either of which provide what you'll need to connect to Prestige 14 to an external monitor, charge the laptop with the included 65W adapter, or connect a wide range of accessories.
On the right side of the deck is a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD card reader, and a full USB 2.0 port. As for ports, the Prestige 14 has a healthy mix. The matte coating on the screen means you don't have to worry about glare when working under bright dining room lights, or fluorescent bulbs in an office-like environment. The screen's resolution is 1920 x 1080, but the color and clarity makes it feel as if it's 1440p, at least.
The combination of fingerprint reader and IR camera provide multiple options for Windows Hello, which makes it a breeze to log into your computer. The 14-inch display is surrounded by respectably thin bezels, with an IR camera/webcam setup above the screen. You have room to swipe and gesture across the entire pad. It's fairly large, and even though there's a fingerprint reader near the top-left corner of the trackpad, it doesn't get in the way as it does on similar implementations. Perhaps my favorite part of the entire design is the trackpad that's centered along the bottom of the deck. Instead the solid black keys with white text are highlighted with a white backlight across the entire setup. You won't find any fancy RGB lighting on the Prestige 14 Evo. Or maybe a better word for it is hollow? Either way they aren't all that fun to type or game on – there's not a lot of feedback that you've pressed the key. I found the standard 5-degree angle to be comfortable for my typing, but when gaming felt awkward at first.The chiclet keys have some depth to them, but they feel squishy. As you adjust the screen forward or back, that angle is slightly adjusted as well. When you open the display, the first thing you notice is that the hinge actually folds back and makes contact with your desk or table, lifting up the deck of the laptop and putting the keyboard at a 5-degree angle for easier typing.
It doesn't look like a gaming laptop at all, and, I guess, it's technically not. The total dimensions are close to the Razer Blade Stealth I recently reviewed, measuring 12.55 x 8.46 x 0.63 inches and weighing 2.84 pounds. MSI calls it a notebook, and I can confirm it fits the mold. But with the Prestige 14 Evo, that's exactly what it is – sleek and slim. Dimensions: 12.55 x 8.46 x 0.63-inches (WxDxH)ĭesignMSI is known more for powerful gaming laptops that aren't always sleek and slim.
Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 3.0GHz (12M cache, 4.8GHz Max Turbo).SpecsHere are the specifications of the MSI Prestige 14 Evo I've been testing: