MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Top-notch performance in a truly portable, compact package

Pros:
- Stunning 14-inch, 240Hz display
- Uncompromising performance
- Well-tuned speakers
- Sleek design considering the performance
- Easy to carry around as a daily driver

Cons:
- Misses out on an SD Card
- Average battery lie
- 720p camera at this pricepoint is disappointing
- Thermals could have been managed better

Price: Rs 1,75,890/-
Rating: 4/5

When it comes to gaming laptops, MSI tends to stand in a league of its own. The two MSI Titan GT77s that we tested last year and the year before that, are hands down, the best gaming laptops, money no object. However, like all other manufacturers, MSI too tends to struggle to make a full-fledged gaming laptop that is portable. That is unless you try out their Stealth series.

As the name suggests, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V isn’t just for hardcore, serious gamers — it is also for serious content creators on the go, who want virtually limitless performance. The Stealth 14 Studio is a cool laptop that looks great and works well. It’s slim and stylish, but it’s also really powerful, which makes it perfect for use at home or in the office. Plus, it’s awesome for creating content like videos or artwork, and it’s great for playing games too.

With a rather clever package of the Intel Core i7 13700H and NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 laptop GPU, what we have here is a performance beast that just blasts its competitor out of the water. Plus, we also get to a rather spiffy QHD+ IPS display, with a refresh rate of 240Hz.

Having said all of that, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio, is afterall, a gaming laptop, and has some of the drawbacks that are common to most high-performance portables. Does that take away from the allure of this performance beast in any way though? We find out.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Design and Build
The MSI Stealth 14 Studio keeps its design simple, which I find refreshing. It’s a gaming laptop with a minimalist aesthetic that really appeals to me. Personally, I’m not a fan of too much RGB lighting on my laptop. If you’re like me, you’ll appreciate the understated design of the MSI Stealth 14 Studio.

The MSI Stealth 14 Studio has a sleek design, featuring a white lid with the MSI dragon logo on a magnesium-aluminium alloy chassis. The bottom of the laptop is also white, while the interior is a striking semi-gloss black. When you open the lid, you’ll notice the black Chiclet-style keys with white font and per-key RGB lighting.

The design and RGB setup don’t scream “gaming,” so you can comfortably use it in professional settings without attracting too much attention. That being said, there are still some touches of RGB lighting here and there, but MSI has struck a good balance

On the back of the laptop, where the display hinges are, there’s an all-black grill for cooling and RGB lighting that identifies it as a Stealth 14. You’ll also notice subtle pink and blue RGB hues at the rear corners. MSI calls these the Afterburner Lighting, which is integrated into the rear grille. The grille also features the word “Stealth,” which shows up thanks to the RGB lights. As ironic as this is, it is a pretty nifty design feature which tells you that after all, this is indeed a gaming machine.

As for the built quality, the Stealth 14 Studio is as solid as a tank. Measuring 12.4 x 9.69 x 0.75 inches and weighing about 1.7 kg, the Stealth 14 Studio is compact and lightweight thanks to its magnesium-aluminium alloy chassis.

Its metal build contributes to its light feel, making it convenient to carry in a laptop bag without feeling cumbersome. Its sleek design and contrasting exterior and interior attract attention, whether you’re working at a cafe or on the go.

As for ports and I/O the Stealth 14 offers a good selection of ports that should meet the requirements of many users. On the right side, you’ll find a 3.5mm combo audio jack, a USB Type-A port, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. On the left side, there’s a USB Type-C port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and an AC power port. Additionally, you’ll also get a couple of air vents on both sides for ventilation. However, you still don’t get a card slot or a MicroSD Card slot, which, in a machine designed for gamers and especially for content creators.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Keyboard and trackpad
The MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V comes with a rather compact keyboard due to its sleek design, which may be expected given its size. Straight out of the box, the keyboard’s RGB lighting is set to Disco Mode, which some users might find a bit flashy and triggering. Users, however, have the option to personalise the per-key RGB backlighting to their liking using the included SteelSeries GG application. The software simplifies the process of creating and managing custom profiles and makes it much easier to switch over the vibe of your setup when you’re gaming and streaming.

As for the keyboard itself, the keycaps are well-sized and evenly spaced out, and offer somewhat satisfying feedback with snappy key switches. While it may take some getting used to, typing becomes enjoyable once you get the hang of it. Unfortunately, there’s some noticeable keyboard flex, which takes away from the laptop’s premium feel. And while we are on it, the default colour mode of the RGB lighting doesn’t look that elegant — rather it feels a little too gauche and cheap. Also, MSI could have gone for slightly brighter RGB lights for the keys. with less vibrant colours.

Although designed as a gaming laptop, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V surprises with its decently sized trackpad. Positioned towards the left side to allow for comfortable typing, this layout offers extra space on the right side. The trackpad delivers precise tracking and sensitivity, making it easy and accurate to use. While it’s suitable for everyday tasks, gamers might opt for an external mouse, minimizing any minor trackpad concerns.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Webcam and speakers
The webcam quality on the MSI Stealth 14 Studio is average at best. It’s a fair bit worse than what you get out of most Windows laptops at this price point, simply because it is a 720p/30FPS webcam. The image quality is disappointing for a laptop in this price range. There’s noticeable noise even in well-lit environments. For video calls, it will just be adequate, if you have pretty good lighting.

However, it does feature a privacy shutter, offering peace of mind against accidental activation during video calls. The microphone set-up, on the bright side, delivers clear and well-balanced audio.

On the audio front, the Dynaudio-tuned four-speaker system enhances the overall audio experience. The MSI Stealth 14 Studio supports SteelSeries’ Nahimic audio software, offering similar features to DTS-X audio and Dolby Atmos. Users can adjust spatial audio and presets to their preferences, including options like Music, Movie, Communication, and Gaming presets. The Smart Profile setting automatically tunes the audio for specific tasks, providing additional customization options.

The end result is that the speakers produce rich sound with good depth, strong bass, and decent treble, providing a balanced output. They can get quite loud without distortion, easily filling a room without needing to max out the volume.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Display
The 14-inch display on our test unit of the Stealth 14 Studio feels larger than it actually is, thanks to its 16:10 aspect ratio. It has a crist, QHD+ resolution of 2560X1600. While it may not boast the sharpness that we get to see in 4K panels like high-end workstation laptops, it’s still pretty sharp enough for on-the-go tasks and still media work, especially gaming.

Speaking of gaming, what really sets the display apart is its impressive 240Hz refresh rate. There aren’t many gaming laptops in the market today that offer such high refresh rates. This high refresh rate ensures that visuals on the MSI Stealth 14 Studio are smooth, without tearing or any other artefacts. Seriously, playing a fast-paced game, like Valorant feels very fluid and is an incredible experience.

Because this is an IPS display, you do miss out on the crushing blacks and vividity of the colours. Having said that the colours are still pretty good enough to enjoy your favourite OTT show. That’s because the display offers full coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, ensuring accurate and vivid colours across the spectrum. Although we wish it had HDR or Dolby Vision support, the display’s sharpness and accuracy are commendable.

With almost 450 nits of peak brightness, visibility indoors is exceptional. Even outdoors, the display remains visible when brightness is maxed out, sparing me from squinting in the sunlight.

Viewing angles are also pretty commendable since colours usually retain their vibrancy even at odd angles. You also get MSI True Color which allows users to fine-tune and calibrate the laptop display according to their preferences. There are about 7 or so modes to chose from to choose from, but you also get additional settings for really getting down to it.

The display has great potential and will really need you to hone things, to fine-tune them. But once you do, both content consumption and gaming are incredibly enjoyable experiences. But even though It’s pretty accurate and vibrant, and can be used in most professional content editing, Although you can colour grade your videos and colour correct your photos, you will need to set the display up and calibrate it properly.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Performance
The MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V is equipped with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700H Processor, capable of boosting up to 5 GHz. With 6 Performance cores and 8 Efficiency cores totaling 14 cores and 24M Cache, paired with 16GB DDR5 RAM in a dual-channel configuration running at 5200 MT/s, it delivers impressive performance.

Handling graphics is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, operating at 2250Mhz with 8GB of GDDR6 Memory and a 128-bit bus. This combination ensures that the Stealth 14 Studio excels in performance, especially considering its price point.

The i7-13700H processor excels across various synthetic benchmarks, striking a balance between high-performance tasks and everyday applications, particularly excelling in single-threaded performances thanks to its peak boost clock of 5GHz.

While benchmark scores offer insight, real-life usage paints a clearer picture. In gaming, the Stealth 14 Studio performs admirably, offering one of the best experiences within its price range. Tests were conducted in Discrete Graphics Mode, with power and performance settings maximized. Games ran smoothly at 1920x1200 resolution and the highest available settings, consistently delivering excellent frame rates without stuttering or significant drops.

We conducted gaming tests with titles like Forza Horizon 5, GTA 5, Control, F1 2022, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and the results were consistent with our synthetic benchmarks. The testing was performed under the performance mode while the laptop was plugged in.

In Shadow of The Tomb Raider, we achieved an average of 133. Forza Horizon 5 ran at an average of 139 fps. Grand Theft Auto 5 maintained an average of 160 fps. Even in F1 2022, we saw an average fps of 122. Fast multiplayer like CS: GO and Valorant saw an average of 315 fps and 280 fps, respectively.

Considering the hardware prowess of the Stealth 14 Studio, these numbers are indeed impressive. By slightly tweaking settings, such as opting for high instead of ultra graphics or disabling antialiasing, users can achieve even higher frame rates without compromising much on visual quality.

Coming to how the MSI Stealth 14 Studio deals with thermals, you can expect it to be just like any high-end gaming laptop that packs some serious hardware. The keyboard, especially near the top does get hot when you really push it in games and benchmarks. Still, the Stealth 14 Studio has a rather clever venting system.

Two outflow vents are positioned on each side of the chassis, while an additional one is located at the back, behind the hinge. For inflow, you get a large vent at the bottom of the laptop. Furthermore, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V uses a Vapor Chamber which significantly improves heat dissipation.

Plus, MSI Centre allows you to choose different kinds of performance levels as well as fan speeds. During our synthetic and gaming benchmarks, we turned the fans all the way up using the Cooler Boost mode which kept the temperatures within ranges that we would normally expect for the Intel i7 13700H & RTX 4060 package. The fans do get loud, but if you’re wearing a pair of headphones, it shouldn’t be an issue.

All in all, the Stealth 14 Studio is a beast of a machine and behaves just like a beast would. It has immense grunt and offers a pretty impressive performance package, especially when you consider the footprint of the laptop.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Battery Life
The MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V comes with a 72W 4-cell battery, which comes with a sizeable 240W charging brick. For a gaming laptop that has a dedicated GPU and blazing fast CPU, it has a fairly decent battery life, mainly because of how it balances the GPU usage and switches between Intel’s onboard GPU and the RTX 4060 if you allow it to. Run it completely on the discrete graphics and the battery life does fall off of a cliff.

Having said that in an average working day which involved a ton of writing, some photo editing, a whole lot of browsing, and quite a bit of content consumption on YouTube and Netflix, we got about 4-5 hours at about 60 per cent screen brightness, which is good enough. We ran the same tests and usage scenarios, this time under discrete graphics only, and saw the battery last barely just over 3 hours.

Luckily, we have a 240W charger included, so keeping the device charged all the time isn’t exactly an issue. However, do keep in mind, that it takes the charger well over an hour to charge the laptop to 100 per cent, from zero.

MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V Review: Verdict
The MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V strikes the perfect balance between performance, portability, and productivity.

While it excels in many areas, there are some notable omissions. We would seriously have loved to see better HDR support and a better webcam certainly wouldn’t go amiss. Plus the lack of an SD card slot seems very strange for a laptop that is targeted to content creators who rely on such features. However, the laptop’s impressive performance compensates for most of these shortcomings.

For gamers and on-the-go content creators, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V, in the configuration we tested, proves more than sufficient. We neither saw any dropped frames, or screen tearing, nor did we face any issues in scrubbing through 4K timelines when working on video projects. Throughout our testing, we never felt the need to complain of needing more computing power.

What sets this laptop apart is its exceptional performance within a truly portable footprint. Although a better battery life and improved thermal management would be welcome, the sheer power offered by the Intel i7 13700H CPU and NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU is undeniable.

Yes, there are other slightly better and cheaper options, especially if you’re willing to go for something larger than the 14-inch screen size. However, if you’re looking for an option that offers a 14-inch panel with a refresh rate of 240Hz at a resolution of more than 1080P, and one that has all the performance you would ever need, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13V is the way to go.