MSI Titan 18HX Hands-On: First Impression

The Titan 18 HX 2024 surpasses and leads a new high-end segment, setting it apart from the MSI Raider GE78HX laptop model. This MSI Titan 18HX hands-on unit has undergone significant improvements in performance, hardware, heat dissipation, and most notably, the screen features the world’s first 4K Mini LED panel.

Having experienced the MSI Titan 18HX hands-on, I can confidently say that this impressive laptop has exceeded my expectations. If you’re looking for a unique and extraordinary computing experience, look no further than the Titan 18HX. Let’s dive into this remarkable new offering from MSI.

MSI Titan 18HX Hands-On: First Impression

Bold design

A powerhouse designed for ultimate performance and durability. With its thick and sturdy build, weighing 3.6kg, and equipped with a 400W adapter, the Titan lives up to its name by incorporating top-notch components, cooling systems, and materials typically found in separate PC desktops.

Crafted from a combination of magnesium alloy and high-quality plastic, the Titan exudes a sleek and modern design. The A side features a single MSI dragon shield logo with an impressive RGB LED strip that offers a captivating visual effect. Choosing between this and Alienware’s glowing logo design becomes a tough decision.

One standout feature of the Titan is the modern and eye-catching radiator slot on the back of the device. The laptop has an elegantly designed bottom in a glossy silver color, reminiscent of the mesh armor of dragon warriors from Game Of Thrones. It’s truly a unique and striking design.

Underneath the laptop, you’ll find a remarkable 6-speaker system tuned by DynAudio, consisting of 4 woofers and 2 tweeters. Additionally, the laptop supports 3D Noise Reduction+ for the microphone and offers sound fine-tuning with Nahimic Audio Enhancer, ensuring an enjoyable listening experience.

The back of the laptop houses a sturdy plastic heat sink with a sharp design, complemented by shiny silver tones and cool blue stripes. The heat sink integrates various connection ports such as HDMI, DC charging port, and LAN port seamlessly. The overall construction is solid, tight, and precise, including the joints between machine parts like the screen.

The laptop’s edges boast a silver vein pattern, giving it a futuristic spacecraft appearance. The left edge features 2 USB-A 3.2 ports and an SD memory card reader slot, while the right bezel contains 1 USB-A 3.2 port and 2 Type-C ThunderBolt 4 ports (including 1 PD 3.1 port).

Cooling system

To ensure optimal cooling during high-power operation, the MSI Titan 18HX A14V utilizes a Vapor Chamber cooling system, accompanied by 4 air vents and 2 large radiator fans. It also boasts MSI Overboost Ultra technology, which optimizes power consumption, allowing the CPU to perform at its maximum capacity for tasks that heavily rely on its power.

Mechanical keyboard and hidden trackpad

The MSI Titan 18HX offers an exceptional typing experience, thanks to its mechanical keyboard designed in collaboration with Steelseries and Cherry MX Low Profile. Cherry mechanical switches with Low Profile keycaps provide a 1.8mm key travel, resulting in a satisfying and comfortable keystroke. Note that only the primary key cluster has Cherry switches, while the Numpad set has Chiclet keys.

Upon opening the laptop, you’ll immediately notice the hidden RGB LED trackpad, a unique feature of MSI laptops. This lighting system is visually impressive and automatically activates when in use. The Titan 18HX features a flat design, matte coating with Haptic Touch technology, providing users with an enjoyable experience.

World’s First Laptop with Mini LED 4K Display

While many laptop models utilize Mini LED panels, they usually max out at Full HD resolution. However, the MSI Titan 18HX A14V sets itself apart as the first laptop model equipped with a Mini LED panel boasting an impressive 4K resolution and a size of up to 18 inches. With a bright 1000-nit backlight, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and factory pre-balanced colors, this screen delivers stunning visuals.

Our MSI Titan 18HX hands-on unit features a 2.5K OLED 120Hz screen that scored a perfect 10. With the upgraded resolution and utilization of the Mini LED screen, it’s difficult to find any faults with this laptop.

The Mini LED 4K display boasts a full border design, resulting in thin and sleek screen edges. Combined with its 16:10 aspect ratio, the laptop provides an immersive audio-visual experience. At the top is an IR camera with facial recognition capabilities, and the webcam offers a crisp FHD 1080P resolution.

Extremely powerful configuration

The MSI gaming laptop offers a remarkable configuration. It features an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU and RTX 4090, both of which consume up to 270W of electricity. This surpasses the capability of the manufacturer’s top gaming laptop, which only uses 30W for the CPU.

Additionally, it can be equipped with up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 4TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD. Users can further upgrade these components. With this powerful configuration, the laptop can effortlessly handle AAA max-setting games and smoothly run models and AI-related projects. MSI has truly integrated the most advanced configuration into this high-end Titan laptop.

The Titan 18HX also offers wireless connectivity with support for Wi-Fi 7 (Intel Killer BE1750) and Bluetooth 5.4 LE. 99.9Wh battery allows for worry-free travel, providing up to 2hr and 40 minutes of continuous usage before needing a recharge. However, it’s important to charge the battery fully to achieve maximum performance, given the laptop’s powerful configuration.

MSI recognizes the AI trend and has integrated AI technology to enhance the user experience. The laptop includes MSI Engine and MSI Artist, which increase productivity for content creators. Additionally, AI Noise Cancellation Pro ensures studio-like recording quality, even in noisy environments.

Fina line

This year’s MSI Titan 18HX A14V is truly a serious competitor in the ultra-high-end laptop segment. Furthermore, it brings an almost complete change in hardware and experience to users, with a 4K Mini LED panel and an extremely interesting hidden trackpad. As a result, this product promises to win a lot of hearts from those who play games, do heavy graphics, and engage in creative work with AI.

Price and availability

The high-end model of the Titan 18 HX is currently available on Amazon.com and Bhphotovideo.com for $5,399, and on Amazon.co.uk for £5,499.