Review: MSI GS66 Stealth – Work and Game Stealthily Packed into One

The MSI GS66 Stealth is a portable laptop packed with the 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 Processor. MSI is known as one of the best laptop brands out there when it comes to gaming laptop. We got a unit of the MSI GS66 Stealth, so let’s take a look at what it has to offer.

Design

The MSI GS66 is 1.8cm thin and weighing a at 2.1kg. It comes with a core-black chassis and has a laser-etched logo on the cover. Its blacked-out chassis gave it a sharper, sleeker and solid look. The texture of the chassis gives off a smooth and solid feel when holding the MSI GS66.

Lifting the display, the 15.6″ display is hold up by a thin bezel with a 84% screen-to-body ratio. Despite the Thin bezel, MSi maintained the IR webcam on the top of the display and their logo at the bottom of the display. The display panel is hold up by a metal rivet hinge where you are able to lay the display down as much as 180 degrees when you need to share the view with people around you.

The laptop comes with sufficient IO ports for you to work with without any additional adapters needed. On the left side, we have the charging port, Thunderbolt 3 w PD charging Port, HDMI 2.0 and a Type A USB 3.2. While on the right side we have, Ethernet port, 2 Type A USB 3.2 port, Type C USB 3.2 and an audio combo jack port. Having all the basic port’s available, we are able to connect any external devices at ease.

Performance

Packed in the MSI GS66 model we have would be the 10th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super to power great performances on heavy-loaded tasks. When it comes to storage, the GS66 carries 32GB RAM and 1TB M.2 SSD. Which is quite sufficient for average users. Shall you need to upgrade your storage, you can just remove the cover by taking the screws out and add in a M.2 SSD and DDR4 DRAM Memory with ease. However, I did realize that the cover is not easy to open and you’ll risk scratching and denting the chassis.

Here’s some benchmark test we ran on the MSI GS66.

User Experience

The MSI GS66 Stealth’s display is backed with a True Colour technology, it is able to display close to 100% sRGB and has up to 6 Factory Calibrated Colour modes. Videos and game graphics lookes surreal with the FHD display. Gaming on the display that supports 300Hz IPS-level display the refresh rate offers an extremely smooth graphics without screen lag/ screen tear for more precise and fast response especially during a FPS game.

Pairing with the Dynaudio sound system with speaker holes placed on the C-side of the keyboard panel, it provides an immersive experience no matter when watching a movie or while gaming. Booting up the Nahimic Audio software enables you to control the treble and bass to suit your audio preference as well as boosting the surround sound for a better gaming experience.

Apart from that, the Bluetooth enable you to connect up to two Bluetooth headphones and share the audio of the laptop using the sound sharing feature to enjoy movie times in private with your friend even in public without disturbing anyone else.

Gaming and typing on the MSI GS66 feels comfortable with the 1.3X longer key travel on keys in comparison with previous models.

The touch pad on the device is wider compared to standard laptops with a smooth silky anti fingerprint surface to it. The width of the touch pad made it easy to switch hands to provide more control.

The Steelseries keyboard on the laptop offers a Per Key RGB feature making it fun to customize each key to your liking with ease. The GS66 keyboard packed in shortcuts to launch assisting apps like the Dragon Center, Cooler Boost, and Steelseries Engine to enable gamers to access easily just with a simple key combination. FPS can also bring the crosshair for more precise aiming with by the ease of pressing the FN + F6 button.

The device is powered by a 99.9 Whr battery capacity to support its high performing hardware. In short, the battery is able to sustain your daily use as without gaming or entertainment need for about 7 hours on battery saver mode on. However, for heavy duty use it would only be able to support you for up to 4 hours depending on what you are using it for. While on battery saver mode, it is not recommended for gamers to game while the device is running on its built in battery as it lowers the performance of the device drastically. It is still better to have your charger plugged in to ensure your gaming experience is seamless. The MSI GS66 supports secondary power charging via the USB- C PD port in case you don’t have your charger with you. The power brick is quick heavy to bring around for work use or when travelling, so you can opt to bring along a smaller 65W PD adapter to charge up the device. It is able to charge up to 60% using the PD port within an hour which is quite a good option for those whom travel around.

Last but not least, lets get into the cooling system of the GS66. MSi introduces world’s thinnest fan blade design with 0.1 Sharp-Edge Blades. It run on 3 fans and 7 heat pipes to ensure that the hardware does not overheat to affect its performance. However, throughout the period while using the device. The cooling only fits works for productivity and entertainment usage. While gaming, the keyboard panel overheat even with the turbo fans on, making it uncomfortable to game over long hours with the built in keyboard.

Price and Availability

The MSi GS66 Stealth is now available in the Malaysian Market with the price marked at RM16,999.

Those whom are interested to purchase can buy it through here.

MSI GS66 Stealth Specifications