MSI Modern 15 - Nuclear Review

Summary

The video reviews the MSI Modern 15 laptop, highlighting its drawbacks despite decent performance. The laptop features a Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 1080p display, but suffers from poor design choices, including a weak hinge, low-quality speakers, excessive fan noise, and bad thermal management. The keyboard is praised for its quality, but issues like a rattling trackpad, outdated USB ports, and underwhelming battery life detract from the overall experience. Ultimately, the reviewer deems it a disappointing product with planned obsolescence and advises against purchasing it.

Takeaways

• 💻 The MSI Modern 15 is a 15-inch laptop with a 1080p IPS-like display, an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor, and 16GB of RAM.
• 🔧 The laptop is heavy and large for its class, weighing over 2.2 kg, and has significant design flaws, particularly with a weak, uncomfortable left hinge.
• 🎧 The trackpad rattles constantly, making it unpleasant to use, although the keyboard is highly praised for its solid construction, feel, and backlighting.
• 🖥️ The display has decent contrast and color uniformity, but lacks brightness and falls short of covering the basic sRGB color gamut, resulting in washed-out visuals.
• 🔊 The sound system is subpar, with weak and quiet audio from downward-firing stereo speakers, making it the worst sound system the reviewer has encountered recently.
• 🛠️ The laptop's internal design shows quality control issues, such as a poorly seated Wi-Fi antenna and a hinge structure that seems prone to rapid wear and failure.
• 🧊 The cooling system struggles, leading to excessive heat buildup on the keyboard and bottom case, causing uncomfortable skin temperatures during heavy use.
• 🎮 Gaming performance is limited, with older games like *Dying Light* running acceptably at low settings, but newer titles struggle to maintain playable frame rates.
• 🔋 The battery life is unimpressive, with only 6 hours in light use and less than 5 hours under heavy internet usage, along with a lengthy 2-hour charge time.
• ❌ Despite good performance in general tasks and a solid keyboard, the laptop's poor hinge, thermal management, sound, and design compromises make it hard to recommend.

Q & A

What are the key specifications of the MSI Modern 15 laptop?

The MSI Modern 15 features a 15-inch 1080p display (not IPS), an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a Kingston PCI 4.0 SSD.

What is the main issue with the MSI Modern 15’s hinge?

The hinge is poorly designed, leading to loose and unstable movement of the display. The hinges are not tight enough, making it easy for the screen to fall over, and the weak hinge brackets are a potential failure point.

How does the trackpad perform on the MSI Modern 15?

The trackpad is a disappointment due to constant rattling, despite being large and accurate with a positive click mechanism.

What are the standout features of the MSI Modern 15’s keyboard?

The keyboard is excellent, with good key travel, actuation force, and feedback. It is firmly fixed to the palm rest, providing a solid feel with no rattling.

What issues are there with the MSI Modern 15’s build quality?

The laptop has build quality issues, including a poorly seated Wi-Fi antenna, fragile plastic construction, and a hinge that is not properly reinforced.

What is the battery life of the MSI Modern 15?

The MSI Modern 15 has a poor battery life, lasting around 6 hours in idle mode and only 4.5 hours in a heavy internet usage test.

How does the cooling system perform in the MSI Modern 15?

The cooling system struggles to manage heat effectively. Although the CPU's temperatures stay under control, the skin temperatures reach uncomfortable levels, indicating that heat is not being properly dissipated.

What is the display quality of the MSI Modern 15?

The display is decent in terms of contrast and viewing angles but lacks sufficient brightness and fails to cover the full sRGB color gamut, resulting in washed-out colors.

Can the MSI Modern 15 handle gaming?

The MSI Modern 15 can handle older or less graphically demanding games like 'Dying Light' at low settings. However, it struggles with newer games, offering subpar performance at low frame rates and resolutions.

What is the overall verdict on the MSI Modern 15?

The MSI Modern 15 is not recommended due to its poor design, particularly the weak hinge, subpar thermal management, bad audio, and noisy fan. Despite decent performance and an excellent keyboard, the overall experience is compromised.