MSI is primarily known as a manufacturer of gaming computers. But in recent years, the Taiwanese PC manufacturer has become popular in other parts of the market, particularly among creative professionals who need powerful graphics but prefer 4K resolution on their monitors rather than lightning-fast screen refresh.
We’ve also seen machines aimed at the home office, as with the sensible Modern series. But it was still surprising to see the new MSI Commercial 14H, which is a pure office machine. It doesn’t have flashing RGB lights or blazing fast 3D graphics.
In fact, MSI has kept its cards so close to its chest that even MSI’s product specialist, who showed us around the stand, was surprised by the Commercial series. He first heard about the series just a few weeks before Computex 2023.
The hardware includes an Intel Core i7 processor and a 14-inch FHD+ display (1920 x 1200 pixels) with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics. These aren’t specs that will make gamers jump out of their chairs. But it seemed solid enough, and with a chassis made from recycled materials, it’s eco-friendly enough to get through the eye of the needle. It will be exciting to see if MSI can establish itself in such a competitive market. A rather useful feature was a built-in NFC reader for chip cards or mobile phones.
The MSI Creator Z17 is a significantly more powerful machine aimed at graphics professionals. We tested an earlier version of the Z17, but the model has naturally been updated. A clever detail was the pen that could write on both the screen and paper – without changing the tip!
The Prestige series consists of ultrabooks in the luxury class. Here MSI presented the Prestige 13 EVO A13M, a compact laptop in a chalk-white magnesium chassis. The weight was 10 grams under the magic kilo.
