- Model: MSI Stealth 15M (A11UEK-010US)
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD 144Hz (1920 x 1080)
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11375H 3.3GHz (12M cache, 5.0GHz Max Turbo)
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU with 6GB GDDR6
- Memory: 32GB DDR4 3200MHz
- OS: Windows 10 Pro
- Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
- Webcam: 720p
- Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 4 with Power Delivery, 1 x USB-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 with DisplayPort, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 x HDMI, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 x microSD port
- Connectivity: WiFi 6 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1
- Dimensions: 14.10 x 9.76 x 0.63-inches (WxDxH)
- Weight: 3.73-pounds
- Price: $1,899
Design
The Stealth 15M comes in two color options. I tested the carbon gray model, but there's also a pure white model. Looking at the photos, I think the white version looks slick. The gray housing has a slight blue tint to it. The downside to that color is it shows every little bit of oil from my hands. Measuring 14.10 x 9.76 x 0.63 inches and weighing 3.73 pounds, the Stealth 15M is clearly made for portability and power. Even though it has a 15.6-inch display, the footprint of the 15M is small enough you don't feel like you're toting around a huge laptop. As a point of reference, the MSI GP66 Leopard also boasts a 15.6-inch display while measuring 14.09 x 10.51 x 0.92 inches and weighing 5.25 pounds. In other words, the 15M is not only slightly thinner, but MSI trimmed 1.5 pounds off of the weight. When we get back to regularly traveling or trekking across campus, it'll be easy to carry this around in a backpack without breaking your back. With the lid open, you'll see a honeycomb pattern above the keyboard, and if you look close enough, you can see the fans just underneath it. That same pattern is found on the bottom of the laptop's housing, allowing air to freely travel through the housing. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=7f641133-bc67-4967-a524-f0ee696f3955"] The 84-key keyboard has single-zone RGB lighting you can adjust in the Dragon Center app. Single zone lighting means you can't do anything terribly fancy, but it does provide a gaming look and feel to the otherwise standard-looking laptop. The trackback is centered on the housing. It's small for my liking, especially with the extra space that's left available, but it gets the job done. Either way, most people will want to plug in an external mouse for gaming. Just above the display is a 720p webcam, making the bezel that goes along the top of the screen slightly thicker than the bezels on either side. The webcam looks OK, not great. As is the case with most built-in webcams, the picture is overexposed. It’s good enough for Zoom work meetings and calls with loved ones and that’s about it.
There's a wide variety of ports on the 15M, giving gamers enough spots to plug-in accessories, but also use it for assignments or work tasks. On the left side of the deck are a microSD card reader, the charge port, a standard USB 3.2 Gen 1 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Flanking the opposite side of the deck you'll find two USB-C ports, one with Thunderbolt 4 and Power Delivery support, the other with DisplayPort support. There's another USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and finally an HDMI port with 4K@60Hz support. 
It's a welcome mix of old and new ports, allowing for high-speed hubs and accessories thanks to Thunderbolt 4 support, while still providing standard USB support for things like wireless mic or headset adapters. The only thing I would change about the 15M's design is the keyboard, as I’d prefer firmer keys more like the ones MSI used on the GP66 Leopard. The 15M’s keyboard is okay for quick typing, but it's far too easy to get lost when gaming or typing long-form documents. 
Performance and gaming
The 15M checks all the boxes you want to look for in a gaming laptop spec list. It has an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11375H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU with 6GB GDDR6, 32GB of 3200MHz memory, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. As I do with every gaming laptop that lands on my desk, I took a look at the boost clock speed of the 15M's GPU in GPU-Z (and the Nvidia Control panel). It registers at 1282MHz, instead of the 1357MHz MSI's spec sheet lists, with a base clock speed of 817MHz. Part of the transition away from Max-Q nomenclature is that manufacturers are supposed to list the max graphics power on the spec sheet. MSI honored that by listing the 65W maximum for the RTX 3060 in the 15M. What does all that mean? Well, look at the benchmarks below:| Benchmarks | MSI Stealth 15M | MSI GP66 Leopard | Acer Predator Triton 300 SE |
| Price as tested | $1,899 | $1,799 | $1,399 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-11375H | Intel Core i7-10870H | Intel Core i7-11375H |
| GPU | Nvidia RTX 3060 | Nvidia RTX 3070 | Nvidia RTX 3060 |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 6294 | 10266 | 6377 |
| 3DMark Fire Strike | 14091 | 21626 | 14416 |
| 3DMark Night Raid | 28015 | 47377 | 30238 |
| Total War: Three Kingdoms | 56 | 84 | 54 |
| Borderlands 3 | 61 | 87 | 60 |
| Metro Exodus | 48 | 69 | 48 |
| Hitman 3 | 110 | 158 | 93 |
| Unigine Heaven 4.0 | 85 | 126 | 85 |
| PCMark 10 | 5698 | 6499 | 5892 |
| PCMark 10 Battery Test | 3:00 | 2:20 | 6:30 |
In real-world use, the 15M feels fast. Apps open and are ready for use without any hesitation. Browsing with multiple tabs open doesn't cause any slowdowns. All the while, gaming performance was surprisingly positive. I spent a lot of time digging into the deluxe edition of Need For Speed: Heat for the first time, along with Call of Duty Warzone. I played both games without the performance-boosting gaming mode turned on to get a feel for what the core experience is like, and then turned on gaming mode. I used the Xbox Game Bar app to monitor the average frames-per-second over the last 60 seconds, sporadically recording the average at least five times, then averaging those numbers. This is the first time I've spent time racing around in Need for Speed on a review laptop, so I can't make any direct performance comparisons. However, I have played it on my personal gaming PC with an RTX 2070 Super. Maybe it was a placebo effect, but the experience on the 15M felt smoother with faster loading times. As for Call of Duty's Warzone, the 15M's average frame rate was 94 FPS with Normal graphics settings. I originally had it set to High, but Warzone warned me that I had gone over the safety limit for VRAM and that I would see degraded performance. Looking back, I should have taken that chance, just to see how big of an impact it had on performance. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=You're%20not%20going%20to%20get%20anywhere%20near%20the%20screen's%20144Hz%20refresh%20rate%20in%20any%20AAA%20games"] However, I opted to stay under the limit. My Warzone experience on the 15M wasn't overly impressive, but it wasn't poor, either. That is to say, it was quick, responsive and free of any tearing or hiccups. You're not going to get anywhere near the screen's 144Hz refresh rate in any AAA games, but nonetheless, you're getting a solid gaming experience. Lastly, I did play with gaming mode disabled to see how much of an impact it had on overall performance. As I experienced with the GP66, the difference was negligible. The frame rate dropped only a few points. What surprised me the most about gaming on the 15M was the clarity in the display. Even though it's still just a 1080p screen, the color reproduction in Need for Speed was clear and crisp. The rain hitting the car and the road had a glossy sheen to it that I enjoyed. The Stealth 15M comes in either 512GB or 1TB storage configurations, and I’m thankful the review unit I was sent came with the larger option. Trying to squeeze several AAA games and personal files on 512GB of storage feels like playing Tetris, trying to decide which files and games can go on internal storage, and which need to remain on an external drive. 
Battery life
With less space to cram full of spare cells, battery life always seems to suffer when I'm testing gaming laptops as thin and light as the 15M. After putting the 15M through the PCMark 10 battery life test, my skepticism was confirmed. The 15M powered through exactly three hours of use before powering down. Compared to the Predator Triton 300 SE's 6.5 hours of battery life in the same test, I can't say I'm all that impressed with battery performance in the 15M. Just like the GP66 Leopard, the 15M does have an extended battery performance mode that should limit power usage, but testing in balanced mode didn't return impressive results.Software
I've opined numerous times about passive-aggressive preinstalled antivirus software and how annoying it is when random popups interrupt what you're doing to let you know your free trial is about to expire. But nothing annoys me more than when a popup is able to interrupt me mid-game. That's exactly what happened when Norton butted into a Warzone match. I had to alt-tab out of the game, close the small popup, and then go back into the game. By that time, I was dead and on my way to the Gulag. Why does this continue to happen? How is this still a thing? Sigh. I'll stop there, but I really wish PC makers would think about the overall user experience before preinstalling software that obviously cares more about using scare tactics to get people to sign up for a paid plan. Outside of Norton security, the 15M had the core Windows 10 apps, along with MSI's gaming app Dragon Center. In Dragon Center, you can see system stats customize the color of the RGB keyboard, and switch between the various power modes the 15M offers. Out of the box, Game Center will automatically switch to a dedicated gaming mode that boosts performance (and the fans) to squeak out every last FPS it can. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-laptops&captions=true"]from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2PV1sYI
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming
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