MSI Modern 15

amazon MSI Modern 15 reviews

Although it has not made a breakthrough enough to “sweep” ASUS, Acer, or HP in the low-cost segment, MSI is making pretty solid moves at this always-fertile price range. One of them is creating products like Modern, with the ability to pack the qualities of higher-end models (Prestige and Creator) at a reasonable price.

When I first heard about this balance on Modern, I was quite excited about the experiences it could bring. It can be said that almost all of my expectations have been met (in the price range). I get a nice appearance and completeness in the experience, but I will also have to suffer some trade-offs due to the price factor.

Exquisite appearance, but not yet finished.

In terms of appearance, the MSI Modern 15 2020 will not have too many changes compared to its predecessor, with a typical minimalist shell aimed at Business users. No introductory labels, no flashy scratches. All are streamlined to the maximum to make the machine look as “clean” as possible. Combined with aluminum material covering the entire chassis, MSI Modern 15 is still as usual – giving me both visual and tactile sympathy whenever I have the opportunity to experience it.

In addition, with this cleanliness, I can quickly get to work without being distracted by external factors. That is an element that I like on MSI’s Ultrabooks, from Prestige, Creator to even cheap products like Modern.

Besides, the product’s color is also a plus, when Urban Silver and Carbon Gray options are suitable for the minimalist design. According to my research, Modern 15 also has more disruptive colors like Beige Mousse or Bluestone, perhaps suitable for women or brothers who like to stand out. This paint is also lightly sanded, combined with aluminum for a cool smooth touch. However, you will need to pay attention to the problem of fingerprints or sweat.

The MSI logo on Modern 15 is no longer a dragon-like predecessor. Instead, we will have a more minimalist, stylized icon, perhaps to match the design philosophy of the machine.

In terms of appearance, in general, MSI Modern 15 2020 possesses many advantages in the price range of less than $900. But also because it is a cheap product, we will have to make some trade-offs. The first is about the build quality; the device will slightly creak every time I pick it up because the body is not monolithic. Then there’s the thinness of the aluminum layer, which leads to flex on the A-side even with moderate force applied. If you are a person who moves a lot or carries a lot of things in a backpack, you should get a shockproof bag to ensure product safety.

Hinge many things worth mentioning

The hinge will still be two-sided, giving an average opening and closing feeling. When opening the device and leaving it still, this hinge can hold the screen quite firmly; but when folded down, it could not bear the weight of the curtain assembly and collapses quite quickly. So when opening and closing Modern 15, you should do it with both hands to ensure the safety of the screen. In addition, making the air vent directed directly to the bottom edge of the machine also makes me not very satisfied. When operating strongly, the device emits quite a bit of heat, adversely affecting the upper screen border.

Another point that makes me confused with the hinge is that the two sides have uneven joints. At least, that is the phenomenon seen on the reviewed product; it is not clear if the quality control when processing is not good or not.

Practical screen, enough to use

Regarding the screen, the MSI Modern 15 still leaves a good impression with four rather thin bezels, thereby helping me have an airy and spacious using experience. That will be a beneficial point for students or office workers, should have a large space for convenience in work. The top will still have enough room for the webcam cluster, which is quite convenient when remote work shows signs of increasing. Unfortunately, the brightness of this screen is quite low, with 243 nits, which will only be appropriate if you work in moderate lighting conditions.

The screen of Modern 15 2020 will use IPS panels and have FullHD resolution, thereby giving a good visual experience. In terms of color quality, the machine will stop at an average level, with a parameter set of 64% sRGB, 47% AdobeRGB, 47% DCI-P3, and DeltaE 2.07 color aberration. It will be difficult for multimedia brothers to take advantage of this screen, but if you only have a basic office and entertainment needs, this is still a good set of parameters.

where can you get a MSI Modern 15 online

MSI Modern 15 Thin and Light Daily Laptop: 15.6″ FHD 1080p, Ryzen7-5700U, UMA, 8GB, 512GB SSD, Win10PRO, Carbon Gray (A5M-072): Buy it now

2021 MSI Modern 15 A10M-656 (i5-10210U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, 15.6″ FHD, Windows 10) Content Creation Laptop – Black: Buy it now

MSI Modern 15A Thin and Light Daily Laptop: 15.6″ FHD 1080p, Intel Core i5-10210U, UMA, 8GB, 512GB SSD, Win10, Black (A10M-656): Buy it now

Keyboard cluster with many strong points

The machine’s keyboard still retains many of the inherent advantages of the series: Large key size, clear fonts, bright backlighting, and pleasant rough surface. In addition to the deep typing stroke (1.5mm) and bright backlight, the experience of using the keyboard on the Modern 15 gives me a sense of satisfaction – both comfortable and accurate. The Modern 15’s keyframe is fortunately not as creaking as other areas, making the high-speed input experience more solid.

However, I wouldn’t say I like how the Ctrl key is longer than usual, which takes the place of the Fn key and makes it jump to the right of the Space button. That may take some time to get used.

The Touchpad of Modern 15 2020 has a sufficient size to use, but unfortunately, it is only covered with roughness, so the swipe experience is not satisfactory. However, it will still have Windows Precision drivers to ensure stable tracking for you.

New generation configuration with high performance

In terms of configuration, the version I have on hand will use Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU with four cores and eight threads, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 512GB of NVMe SSD, and Intel Iris Xe Graphics graphics card. Although it’s a pretty basic combo, I can still do most basic tasks without too much difficulty. From using Word to type, Excel to synthesize data, to popular graphics software like Lightroom or Photoshop, things are still pretty smooth overall on this configuration. Scoring with PCMark10 software, the machine scored 4236 – quite good for a pure office product.

If you have more entertainment needs with games, Iris Xe Graphics graphics card will be a good choice. With popular esports games like League of Legends, FO4,…; The machine still gives good performance with high graphics options. But with some games with higher graphics quality (CS: GO or VALORANT); You will need to tweak the resolution or graphics settings for the best experience.

The machine generally gives a pleasant experience when performing basic tasks in terms of temperature. When rendering videos, 3D drawings, or playing games, I measured the temperature would fluctuate in the range of 75-85 degrees depending on the task. You will also have a Cooler Boost fan mode to partially limit this problem, which can be activated inside the MSI Center software. The temperature will be reduced by about 2-3 degrees of CPU compared to usual, but the fan will now run quite noisy, affecting people around.

Internal memory is good, can be upgraded.

MSI Modern 15 uses Micron’s 512GB NVMe SSD for internal memory. The fast read and write speed with Crystal DiskMark software is also at a good level compared to other products on the market. If required, the machine also has an additional PCIe slot to expand storage space, suitable if you want to store high-capacity movies or media sources.

Full connection port

Targeting high-performance office needs, the MSI Modern 15 also comes with various connections to take advantage of 1 USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support, 3 USB-A ports, 1 HDMI port, and an ear jack listen to 3.5 combos and one microSD card slot. The most prominent feature of this product, in my opinion, will be Thunderbolt 4, which supports Type-C charging and ensures stable output at 4K. The only regrettable point for me is probably the SD card slot, which is not effective if you use devices with SD cards such as cameras, recording microphones, etc.

Battery life is good.

Finally, battery life, the Modern 15’s 52Wh battery can give me about 5.5 hours with mixed office tasks and 50% brightness. This number can last longer (additional 30 minutes – 1 hour) with Super Battery mode – which can also be activated in the MSI Center software. But with this mode minimizing screen brightness (which already has very low brightness even at 100%), I rarely use it.

Ending

If you accept some trade-offs in terms of finishing ability, what MSI Modern can bring is still worth considering at this popular price range: A clean, elegant appearance; A good performance is made up of many factors,… What Modern has is still quite basic, but it is enough for this machine to go further in the future, especially in the current time, when minimalism in design covers all price segments and uses.