Forget the MacBook Air: This Windows alternative is lighter and more capable

MSI caught my attention when they demoed their stylus at CES. write on both paper and screenThat’s also when the company gave us a taste of the lightest laptop ever. MSI Prestige 13 EvoWeighing just under 2.2 pounds, it’s hard not to compare the unloaded framework to Apple’s. mac book airThe M2 variant of the Apple laptop remains my go-to for mobile computing, but in many ways the lesser-known MSI outperforms the ultraportable.

again: This handy $24 kit can help troubleshoot USB issues

The Prestige 13 Evo comes with a frosted, glare-free 13-inch display, a webcam with privacy shutter that supports Windows Hello, up to 32GB of RAM, and all the ports you need. HDMI And USB-A. MSI says the $999 base model (13th Gen Intel Core i5 with 16GB RAM) will be available by the end of this month, so wait until then if you want to save money. , I recommend choosing high end Core i7, 32 GB RAM, and 1 TB model, priced at MacBook Air out of spec However, the storage size is doubled.

Testing MSI laptops over the past few weeks has been refreshing.As someone who needs a reliable work machine on the go Dock to external monitor At home, I lean towards the efficiency and no-frills performance of Apple’s M1 and M2 laptops. Benchmarks suggest that the Prestige 13 Evo’s Intel system isn’t as efficient as devices with Apple silicon, but the laptop’s overall user experience is good enough to replace them.

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Flexibility is what makes MSI laptops attractive, from the numerous ports to the duality of biometric support (face scan and fingerprint sensor).switch gears from Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra In my recent review, I was pleasantly surprised to see similar features such as HDMI support, MicroSD card slots, and USB-A ports extending to cheaper MSI laptops. It’s rare to find them in a 13-inch build, let alone one built with lightness in mind.

Even more impressive, MSI has packed the Prestige 13 Evo with a 75 Wh battery, giving it a rated endurance of 15 hours on a single charge. I got about 12 hours of use before using the included 65W charger, but still impressive when compared to similarly sized laptops that range from 8 to he 10 hours and sometimes less target.

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The increased battery life is primarily due to the 75 Wh capacity, but the vents that extend out from the back of the laptop and the low-resolution 1080p display also contribute. The latter is in no way a deal breaker. Most of the content we consume today is in 1080p resolution, and you’ll hardly notice any visual difference from a 2K panel on a 13-inch screen. It’s most useful outside the compact laptop market, where 2K and 4K displays are more prevalent.

MSI specializes in gaming laptop, the Prestige 13 Evo is anything but. No super-clicky RGB keyboard or his 144Hz display here. Instead, laptops want portable, compact Windows computers that can run the latest pro-grade apps and services, last up to two days on a single charge, have plenty of ports for creators, and don’t cost a fortune. It’s for people who are… Relatively speaking, arms and legs.