As MSI’s first AI-integrated cheap laptop with an Nvidia graphics card, is the Cyborg 15 2024 with an AI processor as powerful as rumored? Let’s find out in the MSI Cyborg 15 AI review below.
Are you wondering how powerful a cheap gaming laptop with AI configuration would be? MSI Cyborg brings a new visual impression, feel, and user experience. As its body is almost transparent, you can see the components inside it in a very unique way.
Cyborg is a term we can simply understand as a super soldier with a human body but with many machine parts installed in it in science fiction movies. True to its name, although the machine does not have flesh and blood, the “body” is a combination of two types of materials with three different physical parts. Bringing a new sense of use and touch.
MSI Cyborg 15 AI Review
Design
True to its name, the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 has a unique body, with the screen hinge and bottom made of high-quality plastic that is almost transparent. Looking at both sides of the laptop we can see very clearly, the connection port cluster and all of the new internal components are visible at the bottom of the device.
Surely when you see the plastic hinge and the bottom surface below, you will think it is not sturdy, when opened or when there is a collision, it will not be sturdy and easy to crack. However, I can say the opposite, the unique appearance of the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 comes with standard durability, no need to worry about any collision.
The A-side of the laptop is the only part made of aluminum alloy, with the black MSI dragon logo embossed on a matte black background. When looking at the device from different angles, you will see the dragon logo appearing and disappearing, quite eye-catching and cool. Not only that, the aluminum material also helps dissipate heat and keeps the laptop running at a cooler temperature for a long time.
Although it is a gaming laptop, the overall appearance, not to mention the unique screen hinge, the MSI Cyborg 15 AI look more like a massive workstation laptop. Because in our opinion, the radiator grilles on this device are not too sharp and complicated. Contributes to a more professional and elegant appearance.
The weight and thickness of the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 will be 1.98kg and 22.9mm respectively. If you compare the numbers, this laptop is still a bit lighter and thinner than most gaming laptops today, from 1-2mm and about 300g in weight. But if you hold it in your hand, put it in a backpack, and wear it on your back, it will feel a bit lighter.
Opening the lid, the MSI Cyborg 15 AI A1V has a screen with a not-so-thin bezel, but the overall look is still quite harmonious. The bezel of the C-side outside the keyboard is neatly designed, simple, and not too bulky with a few thin cuts. MSI uses clear plastic buttons in the key cluster, enhancing RGB LED dispersion and adding a gaming style.
The D side of the laptop is where the MSI Cyborg is “revealed” the most, with a fairly transparent, translucent PC plastic material. Up close, you can see the heat sink fan cluster and copper pipes inside. From a distance, you can see the MSI True Gaming logo formed by the cut of the heat sink slot, which is very eye-catching. With such a heat sink design, this laptop will always stay cool and work smoothly.
Ports and speakers
The MSI Cyborg 15 AI has several ports that are not too few and not too many. Full of entertainment from USB-A 3.2 to LAN port, Type-C port for data transfer, and image output with DisplayPort standard. Most of the important connection ports, including the charging port, are located on the right side of the laptop. On the left side, there is only a 1x USB-A port and AUX jack.
Regarding the sound quality of the speakers, I do not rate them very highly because the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 does not produce good sound volume, even though I have increased the Volume to 100%. I know that the speakers of normal gaming laptops will not be too loud, but with this device, I hear it is lower than normal.
Display
The screen of the MSI Cyborg 15 AI A1V does not meet the expectations of users with some disappointing parameters. It has a 15.6-inch size, Full HD resolution, IPS level panel, 144Hz, and 45% NTSC color coverage. These are quite normal parameters, not great at all for a gaming laptop priced under $1000.
Not stopping there, the MSI Cyborg 15 2024’s screen also doesn’t have the technology to enhance the gaming experience like G-Sync, Adaptive Sync, and FreeSync. The MSI Cyborg 15 2024’s anti-glare screen has a maximum brightness of 250 nits.
Most gaming laptops have the same brightness but have more technology, the screen has higher color accuracy and color coverage. For example, the Asus TUF Gaming F15 series in the same price range has a screen with 72% NTSC, 100% SRGB, 75.35% Adobe, and finally G-Sync. Meanwhile, the MSI Cyborg 15 AI A1V does not have these things.
Experience watching movies, listening to music, and playing games with brightness of about 80%. I feel that the experiences I have had with this gaming laptop are quite normal, and not too impressive, the colors that the screen gives are quite good and quite realistic. However, I still feel the blurriness of the anti-glare coating, which makes me a bit uncomfortable.
The display has a narrow viewing angle. Viewing from certain angles causes color and detail distortion. Therefore, I rate the screen of this gaming laptop as 7/10, clear and beautiful enough for gaming, working, and entertainment.
The first AI feature I can use on this AI gaming laptop is the webcam with Windows Studio effects. The new Copilot+ PC lines in general, and Intel Core Ultra-powered laptops in particular, will have a unique AI feature set. And the webcam is one of the applications through which we can experience AI.
The default webcam quality is good. The captured and recorded image was bright enough, with stable details and standard skin and clothing colors. If you want to blur the background behind you you can use the Windows Studio Effects feature which we found quite handy.
Keyboard and trackpad
We like the keyboard of MSI Cyborg 15 AI A1V because it is designed very compactly, not taking up the entire C-face area. There are still enough buttons needed for a complete gaming, working, or normal typing experience. The buttons are made by MSI with a transparent body to emit brighter and more beautiful 4-zone RGB LEDs. The power button, located in the top corner, is made of completely transparent plastic.
Not to be missed is the Copilot button located next to the Fn button. This is a small innovation in the layout and button arrangement on the MSI Cyborg 15 2024. This laptop already features the Core Ultra 7 AI CPU. The integration of the Copilot button is perfectly suited for quick access to this advanced AI software.
In terms of the feeling of pressing and typing, it can be said that it is quite complete on the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 because each button gives us enough smoothness and consistency. The key travel is good, creating a feeling of sinking the fingers just enough for smoother typing.
The arrow keys are quite prominent with large icons pointing in all directions. The Space bar radiates a unique quadrilateral LED strip. At the same time, the WASD movement keys are completely transparent plastic, creating a cluster of LEDs that shine brightly on the 4-zone RGB LED background. This is a design that MSI calls Cyberpunk, and we find it quite beautiful.
The trackpad is not placed on one side like other gaming laptops. Because the entire keyboard is smaller and placed right in the middle. It feels comfortable to type while sitting right in front of the laptop. And that is why the trackpad is also placed in the middle to create a harmonious balance. This is a visual plus for someone who likes straight lines like me.
Using the trackpad, I find it to have a “slightly” smoother, softer feel than other gaming laptops. The trackpad surface handles grip quite well, even if your fingers are sweaty. It doesn’t get sticky, which doesn’t hinder finger movement and touch. We find the cursor sensitivity and speed on this trackpad to be good.
Battery life
To test battery life, we turned the screen brightness to 50% and the volume down to 50%. I then surfed the web for a bit, played music continuously on the device, and watched movies and videos.
The results showed the device lasted about 5 hours from a full charge to 10% battery. This is an impressive battery life because most gaming laptops cannot last this long.
Let’s talk a little about why the battery of the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 is so good. Because the Intel Core Ultra 7 is a CPU with 8 power-saving cores and 2 super power-saving cores. So when you don’t play games, but surf the web, watch movies, or chat with friends, it will consume very little battery on this laptop. Stable enough to use confidently without plugging in.
MSI Cyborg 15 AI review: performance test
Our MSI Cyborg 15 AI review unit comes with an RTX 4050. It has a TGP of 45W, which is a bit surprising. This may be lower than competitors like the Asus TUF Gaming F15 and Lenovo LOQ 15IRX9. These competitors have TGPs ranging from 105-120W. It opens up an interesting story about the balance between performance and cooling efficiency.
The highlight of this configuration is the Intel Ultra 7 CPU. It brings a smooth experience to users when playing games or performing heavy tasks. Intel’s NPU and advanced technology enable the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 to handle complex AI tasks. This improves work efficiency and provides a great user experience.
The MSI Cyborg 15 AI review model comes with 16GB of RAM, sufficient for running heavy AAA games with the RTX 4050. It also allows for upgrades up to 96GB of RAM. The NVME PCIE 4.0 SSD has a capacity of 512GB. Its read and write speeds of nearly 5000 and over 3000 for a Gen 4 hard drive are quite good, providing fast enough speed for all requirements.
You can say that the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is not a game changer for powerful gaming laptops. Cutting out the high-performance cores and adding an NPU core that specializes in processing AI tasks makes the benchmark score not outstanding.
However, the NPU on the Core Ultra 7 still has a lot of potential to fully demonstrate the features brought by AI. At that time, Intel’s new generation CPUs will completely change the game. MSI, a brand famous for high-end configuration laptops, will redefine the usefulness of AI gaming laptops.
On Geekbench 6, the MSI Cyborg 15 2024 ranks among the top powerful CPUs, but not at the very top. The RTX 4050 lacks MUX switches. It won’t optimize GPU performance for gaming compared to other laptops in the same price range.
3DMark Time Spy has always been a standard test for testing the power of a discrete GPU. After testing, the score of 6,999 is a pretty good number. And of course, the performance rating is quite impressive. If MSI put an RTX 4050 with a higher TGP of about 60W or 95W for the Cyborg 15 AI, we think this Time Spy score would be much higher.
MSI Cyborg 15 AI vs Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX507VU & Lenovo LOQ 2024
Compare Cinebench R23 scores with the latest 13th generation Core i7 laptops, TUF Gaming F15 FX507VU and Lenovo LOQ 2024. The MSI Cyborg 15 AI A1V’s multi-core performance score lags slightly behind Asus and Lenovo with high-performance Intel i7-13620H CPUs. However, this is still a not-so-low score, demonstrating the relatively strong multitasking power of the Ultra 7 155H.
Next is Geekbench 6, still the story of MSI “setting the default” for single-core and multi-core performance. However, when comparing multi-core, Cyborg 15 2024 is still a few hundred points better than Lenovo LOQ 2024. But Asus still leads in both single and multi-core. Asus has always optimized the CPU power on their laptop models very well.
Finally, the Time Spy score and the story about TGP, also known as the power consumption of the discrete GPU. The MSI Cyborg 15 2024 is a laptop that costs up to $1,000. Despite its high price, the RTX 4050 GPU in this gaming laptop is “not very strong,” consuming only 45W. Compared to the two TGP monsters of Asus and Lenovo, inevitably facing defeat and inferiority in gaming ability is certain.
Here are some basic data of Counter Strike 2 which I tested on this laptop. With 16GB RAM and an additional 6GB VRAM, you can play games on the highest settings smoothly.
We can see that the in-game FPS level is high, always above 100 FPS. The movements are very smooth, the GPU temperature is also very cool at 58 – 72 degrees Celsius. We had a very comfortable and smooth gaming experience. However, we wish the RTX 4050 had a higher TGP so we could test more AAA games.
Final line
The Cyborg 15 AI A1V is MSI’s first AI gaming laptop product. It plays it safe with its design. The laptop focuses more on cooling performance rather than hardware power. But for hardcore gaming, you can also check out the other model of this variant that comes with RTX 4060 GPU, as this MSI Cyborg 15 AI review is based on the RTX 4050 only.
In short, this is still one of MSI’s first pioneering AI laptops, giving gamers a look at the future of gaming laptops. Our MSI Cyborg 15 AI review model, equipped with an RTX 4050, is priced at approximately $1,000. If you are a gamer looking to invest in a new laptop with stable performance, it remains a choice worth considering. Most importantly, you will experience and enjoy the benefits that AI brings in the future.
Currently, the MSI Cyborg 15 AI gaming laptop is available at Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and Amazon.co.uk online stores.
