Buy the best MSI gaming laptop for an incredible gaming experience

Top MSI gaming laptop online store? “Bravo,” all right! MSI’s Bravo 15 (starts at $929; $999 as tested) is an all-AMD-powered gaming notebook and the successor of the Alpha 15. This time around, it more than compensates for its predecessor’s lack of CPU grunt with a new “Renoir” Ryzen 4000 series chip, which is head and shoulders faster than comparable Intel silicon you’ll find in laptops in this price range. Although the Bravo 15 falls a touch short in overall gaming performance next to notebooks packing Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, its strong CPU, ample memory, good-size dollop of storage, and a high-refresh AMD FreeSync display make it an excellent value at or just below the four-figure mark, where you’d be hard-pressed to find a GTX 1660 Ti-based notebook equipped the same.

High-end gaming laptops have all the bells and whistles, but truth be told, you don’t need RGB keyboard lights to play or enjoy today’s games. MSI’s GL65 ($699 as tested) is a value-oriented gaming laptop that proves that in spades. This 15.6-inch rig’s hardware for the money is as good as it gets in late 2019, including a 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, a speedy Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, and a surprisingly roomy 512GB solid-state drive. The whole package is topped off by a bright full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) display, making the GL65 a stellar example of entry-level notebook gaming and our new Editors’ Choice among bargain gaming laptops.

The GE66 and its more diminutive cousin, the GS66 Stealth, are both revamped for 2020, though they’re not clean-sheet designs. The GE66 replaces last year’s GE65 Raider, bringing many external and internal changes and improvements. The most visually obvious changes include an additional measure of design restraint in the display lid, which ditches the red-striped ridges in favor of a completely smooth surface. It’s a welcome improvement for people who cringe at the gamer aesthetic. MSI also toned down the shield logo on the display lid, removing its color so it blends in with the dark silver surface. Read additional information at MSI gaming laptop.

My test unit (model A4DDR-023) is the better value of the two United States-bound Bravo 15 models because of its stronger processor and extra memory (16GB versus 8GB). The storage for both is a single 512GB solid-state drive with Windows 10 Home, and they also share the 4GB Radeon RX 5500M graphics chip that was used in the Alpha 15. The laptop is backed with a one-year international warranty.

That said, it’s not the strongest chassis build on the market. The lid is adequately stiff, but the chassis’ lower half flexes without too much effort. I’m not apt to complain, however, since this is not unusual for a gaming notebook in this price range. The Bravo 15’s 120Hz screen is a strength at its price. The Alpha 15 offered a 144Hz display, so it’s technically a downgrade, but the reality is that the Radeon RX 5500M doesn’t have the horsepower to drive into triple-digit frame rates in most of today’s demanding titles, as the benchmarks will show. The display is otherwise nicely appointed with IPS technology for wide viewing angles, a glare-killing matte surface, and AMD FreeSync adaptive-sync technology for smoother gameplay. (Try finding Nvidia’s G-Sync tech in a machine at this price.) The colors don’t pop, but the picture isn’t undersaturated or lacking for brightness. It’s a solid-enough screen for a laptop in this range. Discover more details on here.