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The MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US is part of a long line of gaming laptops from MSI. Running for under a grand (with more configurations available), it’s a gaming laptop for users on a budget, with fewer bells and RGB-light whistles than some gamers may be used to, but at its core, it’s still a decently functional machine.
MSI markets the Thin 15 as primarily a gaming laptop, but the B13VE-2678US doesn’t look out of place at work or in the classroom, which gives it an extra layer of functionality. For professional creatives, however, the MSI Thin 15 falls a little short, making it a less appealing option when it comes to editing tasks. For video editing, you might want to look at the Gigabyte Aero X16 or similar alternatives.
Our review model, the MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US, has been floating around for a little while, meaning it doesn’t pack the latest hardware, but it remains very functional for both work and play. Under the hood, it runs a 13th-gen Intel Core i7-13620H processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics card, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and 512GB SSD storage. Nvidia’s budget GPUs are more powerful than ever, making them an excellent choice for a gaming laptop that won’t break the bank.
In short, this MSI Thin 15 laptop isn’t just a great wallet-friendly pick. But one of the best gaming laptops you can buy right now, especially if you’re on a budget. You’re not getting the latest Nvidia 50-series GPUs, or Intel’s 14th generation chips; instead, you’re getting decent daily gaming and productivity performance than ever before without spending too much.
MSI Thin 15 Specs
- Processor: Intel Core i7-13620H
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050
- Memory: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Display: 15.6-inch, 1080p, 144Hz, IPS
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Weight: 1.86kgs
Design & Build Quality
MSI’s Thin 15 gaming laptop sports a premium aesthetic and design for its cost: the brushed black casing looks chic, and the keyboard and blue backlighting, plus the logos, give the B13VE-2678US some consistency with its predecessors. It looks more refined than the military-inspired Asus TUF Gaming A15 and more polished than the Acer Nitro 5. At this price range, only the Dell G5 15 Gaming looks sleeker, but it packs previous-gen components.
Weighing 1.86 kgs, the MSI Thin 15 is very portable, and the 0.86-inch-thick body is great, too – competitors typically weigh more than 5 pounds and are at least an inch thick.
However, with the slim design, you lose on sturdiness. The part above the keyboard flexes, the plastic on the base moves a little too much, and the display isn’t that solid. If you’ll be using the MSI B13VE-2678US at home, that won’t be an issue, but you’ll need a protective sleeve for your daily commute.
Port selection is decent but within the standard threshold of most gaming laptops. On the left edge, there’s a single full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, while the right-hand side holds a USB-C port and an additional full-size USB connection alongside Gigabit Ethernet. There’s an HDMI 2.0 socket on the rear, and on the inside, there’s dual-band Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
On the top bezel, there’s a 720p webcam, but it doesn’t support Windows Hello. Also, the laptop doesn’t have a card reader or Thunderbolt. While those connections make a laptop more future-proof, for daily gaming, they’re not very necessary. The TUF Gaming A15 arrives with two USB-C ports, while the Nitro 5 gets faster USB connectivity, and the Dell G5 15 comes with a fingerprint reader and HDMI 2.1.
Display, Keyboard & Touchpad
Given the asking price, the screen here is bright and colorful; MSI uses a 1080p IPS panel with 227 nits peak brightness and offers good color reproduction. Granted, its blacks aren’t as sharp as those seen on more expensive laptops like the Alienware m18 R2, but the overall image quality is great. Our review unit, the B13VE-2678US, comes with a 144Hz refresh rate – making it a good choice for esports games.
The keyboard, on the other hand, is pretty standard, offering well-spaced keys that have decent travel and distance. The plastic frame means there’s some amount of flex in the center of the keyboard when pressed firmly, but most users won’t notice this effect during regular use. It doesn’t have a number pad and comes with a single-zone backlight rather than RGB LEDs.
The trackpad is rather an oddity, with a raised lip surrounding the edges of the rectangle, creating immediate tactile feedback when your finger hits the edge of the trackpad. I like it, but a USB mouse would transform your gameplay even if you spend ten dollars or pounds.
Gaming & Graphics Performance
The Nvidia RTX 4050 laptop graphics card inside this MSI Thin 15 isn’t going to compete with more expensive GPUs in this series at resolutions above 1080p, but it’s not trying to. If you’re happy with frame rates that stay above 60fps, you can play most games at 1080p with your graphics settings set to Ultra, which is fantastic.
If you’re willing to drop your settings a little, maintaining 75 frames per second shouldn’t be a challenge. In The Witcher 3 benchmark, the MSI B13VE-2678US averages 59 fps at Ultra and was able to get 72 fps by dropping the graphics preset to High and dialing a handful of settings down to Medium. The game will still look great, thanks to the bright colors of the MSI Thin 15’s display.
The good performance is repeated on Doom Eternal, which runs between 136 to 147 frames per second at both medium and high settings. Thanks to the fluid frame rate and fast 144Hz refresh rate, you’ll not have issues navigating the expansive landscapes and killing anything during gameplay. Cyberpunk 2077 also runs like a dream at 49 to 72 frames per second, depending on your settings.
The MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US laptop lets you play today’s games without breaking the bank or sacrificing too much on performance.
Keep in mind that the built-in MSI Center application automatically sets the laptop to “Extreme Performance” immediately after you launch a game. This frees up system memory to enhance gaming performance. You’ll see an increase of about 5 to 10 fps with Extreme Performance turned on, which is still great if you want to squeeze every possible frame rate out of the game.
Ray-tracing isn’t particularly an option with lower-end RTX cards, so don’t get your hopes high with that feature on the RTX 4050. Enabling it in Cyberpunk 2077 completely tanks the frame rate, even at lower settings, and since already at 1080p, Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling tech isn’t the most effective way to boost ray-traced performance. Nonetheless, ray tracing is quite a niche feature that most users don’t offer, so it’s still a minor complaint here.
Productivity performance is generally decent here; the 13th-Gen Intel Core i7-13620H paired with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage makes for a solid everyday use machine. Performance in CPU-bound tasks like media creation and editing is great, and the addition of an RTX 4050 graphics card makes this a productivity powerhouse for content creators. Given the price tag, I’m thoroughly impressed with the overall gaming and productivity performance here.
Battery Life
With a 51Whr battery, the 2024 MSI Thin 15 offers a little more than previous models, but it’s still very average. The thin chassis means there’s simply not enough room to pack a larger battery, and while you might expect the lower-end internal components to use less power, the Thin 15 can’t manage more than 5 hours of use at 50% brightness.
It’s not worse, but it’s not amazing either. Lasting around five hours of use for general tasks like web browsing is fine, but the Thin B13VE-2678US won’t last over three hours in most games, even in power-efficiency mode. Ultimately, as with most gaming laptops, the MSI Thin 15 is designed to be used for gaming while plugged into a wall outlet.
MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US Review: Bottom line
The MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US is about as affordable as gaming laptops get, and for under $1000, you get an affordable machine that will run modern AAA titles at 1080p smoothly. It handles everyday esports and has the processing power for daily computing. The keyboard is decent, and the MSI is slimmer and lighter than any competitor, at least for now.
Elsewhere, though, it’s not the best option for gamers looking to play AAA titles at 1440p or 4K at the highest quality settings. If you’re happy to spend a bit extra, you’ll find bolder, brighter screens, fast USB ports, better battery life, and more feature-packed enclosures.
The MSI Thin 15 is slim, light, and handles 1080p gaming pretty well – and its price is extremely reachable. It’ll do the job if all you need is an affordable notebook for a combination of work and play, but you’ll need to stay near a power socket. But if you can afford more, certain aspects get a lot better. If you’re on a tight budget, the MSI Thin 15 B13VE-2678US is a great budget gaming laptop that we can easily recommend for both work and play.
Price Comparison
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