Like previous generations, this laptop is designed for general use and multimedia, but due to its powerful processor, it can also be used for programming and design. Next, we will review this beautiful and powerful but expensive laptop.
THIS YEAR, the MSI Modern laptop family has entered the market in two 14-inch and 15-inch models with various 13th-generation Intel or 7th-generation AMD processors. This laptop’s most powerful model is equipped with a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of high-speed internal memory. You can see the specifications of this device below.
MSI Modern 15 B13M laptop specifications list
- Polycarbonate body
- 15.6 inch IPS display with full HD resolution
- 13th generation Intel Core i7-1355U processor
- 16 GB DDR4-3200 RAM (not upgradeable)
- 512 GB internal SSD memory of the fourth generation PCIe type
- Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 support
- 39.3 watt-hour battery
- Weight 1.7 kg
Design and build quality
Modern 15 has a standard and simple design. The laptop’s body is entirely plastic but has good-quality construction and cannot be faulted. The laptop weighs 1.7 kg, and its thickness is 2 cm. Therefore, we are facing a relatively thin and light notebook, But not so much that it can be placed in the ultrabooks category. Modern 15 comes in black and a unique dark blue called “Star Blue,” and we have the blue color of this device.
We can see the shiny MSI logo on the back of the laptop. On the lower edge, an appendage raises the device’s body by about one centimeter when the screen is opened so that you have a better typing experience and improve the air circulation under the machine. Of course, this appendage has affected the beauty of the laptop to some extent, but unlike the Asus Zenbook series, it does not wear off after a while. Another advantage of this type of design is that the display remains utterly stable at any angle and does not vibrate during use.
When you open the laptop, you are faced with a display that, like most available products in the market, has relatively wide borders at the top and bottom. The device’s full-size keyboard is equipped with numeric keys and a backlight, which are good features for an available laptop. The device’s touchpad has decent dimensions but could be a little bigger. If you expect little from a general notebook, the design and quality of the modern 15 will satisfy you.
Communication ports
The set of communication ports on the MSI Modern 15 laptop seems satisfactory at first glance, but with a bit of attention to detail, we see some limitations. Fortunately, the ports are divided into two sections on both sides of the laptop to make them easy to access.
On the right edge of the device, we see two USB 2.0 ports. The microSD card reader is also only valid for some users, and it would be more useful if MSI used a full-size SD card reader.
On the left side of the device, we see more variety: power socket, HDMI output, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port, and headphone jack. Fortunately, the USB-C port of this laptop also supports charging according to the Power Delivery (PD) standard and image transfer according to the DisplayPort (DP) standard. Still, the image output of the HDMI port is limited to 30 frames per second for 4K resolution.
Finally, the variety of modern physical communication ports 15 is acceptable; the device is equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Keyboard and touchpad
As we said, the keyboard of the modern laptop 15 is equipped with a backlight and number keys, both valuable features. The keyboard backlight can be seen even in daylight and is adjusted to three levels. Also, the light of the keyboard keys turns off after 10 seconds to reduce energy consumption. Of course, you can turn off this feature through the MSI Center application so that the backlight stays on all the time.
The experience of using the keyboard is quite enjoyable, and you can use it for long hours without getting tired. The movement distance of the keys is 1.5 mm, giving relatively good feedback to your fingers. However, some keys, such as the arrow or numeric keys, are smaller than the standard size, and it takes some time to get used to them. MSI has assigned one of the function keys, F12, to a Flip-n-Share feature. When you open the screen 180 degrees, you can rotate its content with the F12 key so that others can see it more easily.
The device’s touchpad is also relatively large but could have been bigger. This touchpad supports Microsoft Precision drivers and multi-touch gestures and has good accuracy. Although the experience of using it does not reach the high-end products in the market, it can make you unnecessary for the mouse for web browsing and general use.
Display
In terms of display, Modern 15 has yet to make any progress compared to previous generations and uses the same IPS-Level panel with Full HD resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. The display of this device has an acceptable quality, but in terms of color accuracy, it is at a low level. If the specifications of the panel of this laptop Let’s look at the top, N156HCA-EAB manufactured by Innolux, with things like maximum brightness of 250 nits, 45% coverage of NTSC color space, and a contrast ratio of 700:1, all of which indicate the regular performance of this display.
Therefore, the modern display 15 will meet your needs for general use, including web surfing and watching videos and such things. Still, if you do more professional work, such as photo or video editing, it is better to connect a better display to this laptop. The show’s brightness is also sufficient for indoor environments, But outside, even with the matte finish, you can’t see the screen’s content well.
Hardware and performance
Before reviewing the Intel Core i7-1335U processor, we should point out that Intel changes its processors every two years. The most recent revolutionary change occurred in the 12th generation, and the 13th generation should be considered an intergenerational update.
We tested the Modern Laptop 15 with two main benchmark applications, Geekbench 6.0 and Chestbench R23, to evaluate the processor’s performance. For comparison, we chose two Microsoft Surface Laptops 5 laptops with 12th generation Intel Core i5 processor and MSI Summit E13 Flip laptop with 12th generation Intel i7-1280P processor.
According to the results, the i7-1355U processor performs very well in Geekbench 6.0 test in single-core mode. Still, in the same test and a multi-core manner, it performs weaker than the previous generation i5 processor. In the R23 benchmark test, however, the story is different, and this processor can perform as well as the P series processor of the previous generation. We can consider the i7-1355U processor to be about 5% more potent than the last i7-1255u generation, which shows the same strategy as Intel’s mid-generation update. According to our experience at Digiato, the modern laptop 15 has a very smooth and fast performance and can meet all your expectations from a general and student laptop; Of course, except for playing heavy games that require a dedicated graphics card.
For this device, MSI has used Micron’s 4th generation SSD memory, which has a good speed but is at the lowest level of 4th generation memory. The maximum speed of sequential reading and writing of information in this memory reaches 3.4 and 1.8 GB/s, respectively. The device’s RAM is limited to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM with a frequency of 3200 MHz, and since the memory chips are soldered on the board, you cannot upgrade it.
Battery and charging
MSI Modern 15 is produced in two models with a 39.3 and 53.8 Wh battery capacity. The model we received has a 39.3-watt-hour battery, which is insignificant for a 15-inch laptop that is not so thin and light. With a Wi-Fi connection and maximum display brightness, this device can be with you for up to 4 hours for general use and web browsing. The battery test with the PC Mark 10 application for video playback also reached about 3.5 hours, an acceptable result for a public laptop.
MSI Modern 15 laptop with 13th generation Intel processor is made for people always looking for the latest hardware on the market. This device easily meets all your needs for web browsing, video watching, programming, photo editing, and even light editing. Of course, connecting a more accurate monitor to Modern 15 for photo editing and video editing is better.
In addition to everything we said, Modern 15 has limitations mentioned in the previous sections. The most crucial issue is that Intel’s 13th generation processors from the U series are similar in efficiency to the prior generation processors, which goes directly to Intel. So if you want to pay less but buy a device with almost the same level of performance, go for the previous generation modern 15 with a 12th generation processor.
On the other hand, the Modern 15 B7M model with a new generation AMD Ryzen 5 processor is also present in the market, and in terms of price, it is considered a much more reasonable option. This device with an R5 7530U processor and 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of SSD memory is equivalent to the model equipped with an Intel Core i5-1335U processor.