Lenovo LOQ Review: Fantastic gaming performance at the cost of high surface temps

After looking at the gaming performance on the Lenovo LOQ, it is without a doubt one of the best gaming laptops you can pick up under the 1.2 lac mark, at least so far this year. The gaming numbers are the best we’ve seen, and it’s also got one of the best displays we’ve seen in this price segment. The battery performance is definitely a bit lacking and the SSD speeds are on the lower end, but those are compromises we’re totally fine with considering the performance we’re getting. Surface temps get pretty high, which is a bit concerning, but that’s really the only drawback the Lenovo LOQ has going against it.

It seems to be a trend of sorts that gaming laptop manufacturers are coming up with new budget laptop series. We've already seen Acer's new Predator Helios Neo 16, and MSI's Cyborg, which both sit snugly in between budget and premium. Now, we have the new Lenovo LOQ lineup from Lenovo which promises to spice things up in the gaming laptop segment. Considering everything the Lenovo LOQ has to offer paired with its pricing starting at 73,990 and going up to 14,990 for the top-end variant (which we're reviewing here), the Lenovo LOQ just might just be the new best budget gaming laptop you can get your hands on. Let's dive into the complete review to find out!

Lenovo LOQ Specs

Processor: Intel Core i7-13620H (6P + 4E)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB VRAM), TGP: 115W

RAM: 16GB DDR5-5200

Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD storage (2 M.2 SSD slots)

Display: 15.6-inch WQHD (2560x1440) IPS display, 165Hz, G-Sync

Lenovo LOQ - Build and Design

At first glance, the new Lenovo LOQ looks a lot like the refreshed lineup of Lenovo's IdeaPad Gaming 3 from last year. You can clearly see the design inspiration drawn from Lenovo's premium gaming lineup, Legion, as well. In many ways, it makes sense for Lenovo to split IdeaPad and IdeaPad gaming, and it does look like that is what is happening with LOQ, but we don't know for sure yet.

Coming back to the design, the Lenovo LOQ features a fairly subtle design that won't look out of place in a professional setting. It is fairly bulky, which is common with gaming laptops. You've got LOQ emblazoned on the corner of the lid. There's no RGB on anything other than the backlit keyboard, so the laptop as a whole doesn't draw too much attention. You have turquoise accents on both the side and back vents which are trademark IdeaPad Gaming 3; and the only dash of colour on this otherwise muted device. This increasingly seems to be the preference with more buyers looking for laptops to both work and game on.

Coming to the keyboard, you've got a full-sized keyboard on the Lenovo LOQ, something we're accustomed to seeing in Lenovo gaming laptops in general. The key travel distance on laptops is something I've never been of a fan of, but the overall typing experience is pleasant, with good spacing and feedback. We would personally prefer using a separate keyboard and mouse and there are more reasons for this which we will get to shortly. 

Lenovo LOQ - I/O

Coming to I/O options, the LOQ certainly isn't lacking. You have 3x USB-A 3.2 ports (two Gen 2, one Gen 1), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with support for PD and DisplayPort 1.4, you have an HDMI 2.1 port, an RJ-45 ethernet port, an audio combo jack, a hardware e-shutter switch for the webcam, and the power connector. The only thing missing we'd say is a Thunderbolt port, but we're not really complaining.

Lenovo LOQ Performance

With that out of the way, we jump straight into the performance. We received the top-end variant of the Lenovo LOQ, which features a 13th gen Intel Core i7-13620H, paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU with a TGP of 115 W. On paper, this thing already beats everything else in this price range, but let's see how it actually performs.

Gaming performance

We'll start things off with the gaming performance, that is after all what you're buying a gaming laptop for, isn't it? It doesn't really come as a surprise, but the RTX 4060 on the Lenovo LOQ gives us the best synthetic and real-world gaming performance numbers we've seen in any gaming laptop that we've tested this year under Rs 1.2 lac. 

In our synthetic GPU benchmarks, for which we use 3DMark, the Lenovo LOQ handily beats its competition, which in this price range mostly consists of RTX 4050s and RTX 3060s. We're comparing the benchmark scores of the LOQ with a recent RTX 4050 Laptop GPU and an RTX 3060 Laptop GPU from last year. 

The numbers speak for themselves. This continues when we move to real-world gaming performance as well. The Lenovo LOQ is far ahead in all of our real-world gaming tests. You could comfortably play these and newer titles at WQHD and get reasonable FPS numbers. However, do keep the 8GB of VRAM in mind, which is a little on the lower side, if you're planning on playing at higher resolutions.

Processor performance

Next, we come to the processor. The Lenovo LOQ features a 13th gen Intel Core i7-13620H. This processor comes with 10 cores and 16 threads, of which 6 are performance cores and 4 are efficiency cores. We compared the processor with a 12th gen Intel Core i7-12650H, which also features 10 cores and 16 threads and a similar TDP. However, despite a higher base clock on the 13th gen processor, the 12th gen processor managed to outperform the 13th gen processor in almost all benchmarks, albeit by a small margin.

For general productivity, for which we use the PCMark 10 benchmark, both processors are very close in overall scores.

Coming to R23, we can see the 13th gen processor falls short of the 12th gen processor by roughly 200 on single-thread and 2000 points on multi-thread performance.

This continues in encryption and decryption as well, with the 12th gen processor winning out a small margin every time.

This ultimately doesn't hamper the gaming performance as we've already seen, and at the end of the day, this is still a pretty fast processor.

The 16GB of DDR5-5200 RAM in the Lenovo LOQ is the fastest we've tested in this price segment. However, the 512GB of NVMe SSD storage could be better. We saw read and write speeds of 2700 MB/s and 2000 MB/s respectively, which is on the lower end, even in this price segment. It's still more than enough for your gaming needs. However, you have two M.2 slots so you can replace or expand storage as per your needs.

Lenovo LOQ Display

Next, we come to the display. The Lenovo LOQ features a 15.6-inch, WQHD (2560x1440) IPS display with a refresh rate of 165 Hz. If that wasn't enough, the display is pretty bright with an advertised peak brightness of 350 nits. We actually tested 367 nits of peak brightness. We also got 96% sRGB coverage and 72% DCI-P3 coverage during our display testing which makes this a pretty solid laptop for your content creation needs, packing both a great display and powerful hardware. 

Lenovo LOQ Heat and Noise

Probably the only drawback of the Lenovo LOQ is the heat. This laptop can get uncomfortably hot. While internal temps seem to be fine during stress tests; the CPU hit a peak temp of 86 degrees Celsius. Surface temps can go over 45 degrees in some places which is HOT. One hotspot in particular lies just between the trackpad and spacebar, which radiates heat during intense workloads. This is the other reason we were talking about when we suggested using a separate mouse and keyboard during the build and design section.

The laptop can get loud during intense sessions, but it’s not too bad and does a decent job of keeping the internals cool. 

Lenovo LOQ Verdict

After looking at the gaming performance on the Lenovo LOQ, it is without a doubt one of the best gaming laptops you can pick up under the 1.2 lac mark, at least so far this year. The gaming numbers are the best we’ve seen, and it’s also got one of the best displays we’ve seen in this price segment. The battery performance is definitely lacking and the SSD speeds are on the lower end, but those are compromises we’re fine with considering the performance we’re getting. Surface temps get pretty high, which is a bit concerning, but that’s really the only drawback the Lenovo LOQ has going against it.

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Infinix Zerobook - Intel 13th Gen Review: More Power, Less Price But Whats The Catch

With the clever use of product engineering and possibly black magic, Infinix has managed to make its already affordable Zerobook more powerful and even more value for money. The new generation of Zerobook irons out a lot of quirks but still misses some important ones that really need some attention in a laptop design that’s beginning to show its age. Also crucial components like a dedicated GPU or even an AMD model are the much needed options which the brand needs to deliver in its upcoming iterations.

Infinix Zerobook - Intel 13th Gen Review - More Power, Less Price But What’s The Catch?

You might not know this but Inifnix is a brand that’s really killing it in the laptop game! For instance, the Infinix Inbook x1 Slim, the Y1 Plus, and many more offer really good value for money for budget buyers! But what about high-end users? Well, Inifnix has something for them as well. The Infinix Zerobook is an Intel Core i9-powered laptop that’s really capable of a wide variety of demanding tasks. 

My colleague had previously reviewed the Intel 12th gen variant of the Zerobook sometime ago and it was pretty impressive. In fact, it was one of the most affordable Core i9-powered laptops with some serious performance. And today we have the 13th gen variant of the Infinix Zerobook so we will try to find out what all changed, what all remains the same, and most importantly, whether is it a good deal for you or not!

Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) - Specifications

Processor: Intel® Core™ i9-13900H, Intel Iris® Xe Graphics

RAM: 32GB LPDDR5X

Storage: 1TB NVMe PCIe4.0 SSD

Display: 15.6 inches IPS 16:9 display with 1920*1080 max resolution, 400 nits brightness, 100% sRGB coverage, 178 degree viewing angle

Weight: 1.80 Kg

Battery Size: Lithium polymer 70 Wh

Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) - Design, Keyboard And Trackpad Review

Now if you’ve been paying attention until now, you might have noticed that both the 13th Gen and the 12th gen variant of the Zerobook look almost identical! Both have the same keyboard, the same trackpad, the same I/O ports and also the same screen size! Even the charger is identical. 

Also Read: Razer Blade 14 - RZ09-0482 Review: Small body, big power

But don’t let this fool you because there are differences. Firstly, the hinge feels a lot smoother in this variant. Like if you try to open the laptop’s lid on the previous version, you will at some point end up lifting it up from the base, but in this variant you can easily lift the lid and the laptop will stay in its place! And the second difference is in terms of performance, about which I’ll tell you a bit later in the article. 

Visually, the Ininfix Zerobook Ultra will remind you of a Macbook but with some minor differences. Like, the trackpad, despite the laptop being a 15.6-inch in size, still is relatively small. Because if we’re comparing it with a MacBook, you can see side by side, how big the trackpad on the latter is. But in functionality it works well. Try clicking on either the left or the right side and the Zerobook’s trackpad will be pressed down at an equal level. That is to say, the trackpad is installed with high precision. 

I have similar issues with the keyboard too, the keys feel a little bit cramped for a laptop of this size. Just take a look at how it compared to an HP Envy 15, one of the upcoming laptops, and you’ll see the difference more clearly. The keys have good travel and even the laptop’s chassis is pretty solid to make for a good typing experience. But it is just that the keys themselves are a bit small. 

Also Read: MSI Cyborg 15 A12VE Review

One of the reasons why the keyboard is like that is because of Infinix’s decision to place the speaker grille right next to the keyboard. Now, I love upward firing speaker grille more than MS Dhoni loves expanding his motorcycle collection. But if Infinix has already gives us upward firing speakers, there really was no need to put two additional speaker grille under the laptop. Now I might think that I can place this laptop on my bed and watch movies with a good sound output but I won’t be able to do that because the soft surface of my bed would cover up the downward facing speaker. Mind you, the speaker output is great if you keep the laptop on a solid surface.

The I/O port selection is identical to the previous generation and so is the “Zerobook” engraving on the laptop’s lid along with some additional etching all around it. One sort of visual carry over from previous generation is that when you put the laptop in “Over Boost” mode a red light starts to glow under the hinge. So overall, the build is quiet solid and boasts some improvements but still this design has some quirks to iron out. 

Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) - Display Review

Also carried over from the last year in the Inifinix Zerobook Ultra is the same 15.6-inch FHD 60Hz “glossy” display. In Digit’s display test I found the screen to be almost identical to the previous generation and it is a good thing. Mainly because last year’s Zerobook display had good brightness and punchy colours. 

It is not the most colour accurate display of the bunch but it is great for watching movies, scrolling through web or watching YouTube. I’d rather not recommend you perform colour grading using this display particularly due to low DCI-P3 coverage and a not so colour accurate colour projection. Now, it is not as inaccurate as PC gamers thinking the problem with gaming industry will solve itself out even if they don’t stop pre-ordering videogames, but I’d still not recommend it for professional grade colour grading. 

Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) - Battery Performance Review

My main uses for this laptop included research, internet browsing, and content creation. With these activities, the laptop could easily last over 6 hours on a single charge. It's worth noting that I mostly used this laptop in Economy mode, which is designed to conserve power. The laptop is equipped with a 70Whr battery, and if you choose to use it in Balanced or Over-boost mode, you should expect a bit more power consumption and slightly less battery life.

Although the laptop supports fast charging via a USB Type-C port, it was a bit of a letdown to see that it came with a 100W proprietary charging tech.

One of the standout features of this laptop is its hybrid CPU. It combines P-cores and E-cores and uses thread director technology to allocate tasks efficiently. This means that basic tasks like web browsing and content consumption are assigned to the low-powered cores, while the P-cores are put to work when you're doing something more intensive, like rendering a photo or a video.

Inifninx Zerobool Ultra (2023) - Performance Review

The Infinix Zerobook Ultra is a top-performer. It is more powerful than any literally any other laptop in its price and class range, in terms of outright CPU performance. Ok, now, before I get too excited let me walk you through its spec sheet once again. The 2023 variant of the Infinix Zerbook Ultra comes with 32GB LPDDR5 RAM running at 6400MHz and it is paired with a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD as well. 

Powering the laptop, and our main point of focus, is the Intel 13th Gen Core i9-13900H CPU featuring 14-cores and a boost clock speed of up to 5.40GHz. And Infinix has done its bit to further customize the laptop’s performance by giving users the choice between the different power modes namely - ECO, BALANCED and OVERBOOST. And here is a breakdown of how much power the laptop consumes in each mode and also the performance it delivers. 

And the best part is that the power delivery remains fairly consistent across the board. You do not get the 54W of power all the time in OVERBOOST mode but you can expect the processor to deliver 50W consistently even under heavy loads. But I’d still ask you to use the ECO mode for as far as possible during everyday tasks. Because by just sipping 33W, the laptop easily delivers as good as or even better CPU performance as a gaming laptop powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H at full power, which is pretty impressive. 

Meaning you can do all kinds of power hungry tasks like photo editing, video editing, 3D animation, photoshop, and much more. My only recommendation to Inifinx for future interactions would be this - “please install a dedicated GPU.” In a laptop as powerful as the Zerobook Ultra, a dedicated GPU would sit right at home. Not just that it’d also expand the notebook’s capability to also being a quiet capable gaming laptop. 

And if installing a dedicated GPU is not something Infinix can do then an AMD version with a powerful iGPU would also immensely benefit the overall feature set of this machine.

Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) Review - Verdict

The Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) with Intel's 13th Gen Core i9 processor is an impressive offering, especially for its affordable price point. In terms of design, the laptop resembles a MacBook and its solid build showcases a few improvements from its previous generation. While the keyboard and trackpad may feel a bit cramped, they function well, and the speaker output is commendable on solid surfaces.

The display is decent, providing good brightness and punchy colors but is not suitable for tasks that require color accuracy like professional-grade color grading. When it comes to performance, the laptop stands out among its competitors. Powered by a 14-core i9-13900H CPU, it delivers powerful performance for demanding tasks such as photo editing, video editing, 3D animation, and Photoshop.

However, the Zerobook could benefit from a dedicated GPU to enhance its functionality, especially in terms of gaming. Alternatively, an AMD version with a powerful iGPU could also expand its feature set. Overall, the Infinix Zerobook Ultra (2023) delivers high performance and good value for money. It is a robust offering for budget-conscious consumers but leaves room for improvements, particularly in terms of its design and the inclusion of a dedicated GPU.

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Razer Blade 14 Review: Small body big power

The Razer Blade 14 is a solid step-up from last year's variant, with better internals, a larger 16:10 display, removable RAM modules, and better cooling as well. The accompanying display is excellent, and the new 7000 series AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS performs exceptionally with the RTX 4070. The 14-inch form factor makes this an extremely portable laptop offering, and the port options are also decent. It's quite a bummer that the laptop isn't officially available in India.

In this review, we're going to be taking a look at the 2023 variant of the Razer Blade 14. While there was no significant upgrade between the 2021 and 2022 variants of the Razer Blade 14, the 2023 variant sees some major changes, both with the hardware and the externals of the laptop. The unit we received came with the new 7000 series AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, paired with the NVIDIA RTX 4070. Other than that, it came with 16GB of DDR5-5600 RAM, 1 TB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch 2560 x 1600 resolution, 240 Hz IPS panel. We should point out that this laptop is not officially available in India, but if you are planning to pick the laptop up abroad, it will set you back by USD 2,699. Definitely not cheap, but as you can see from the specs, it certainly packs a punch, at least on paper. Let's dive into the full review to see just how well the new 7000 series Ryzen 9 and the RTX 4070 perform.

Razer Blade 14 2023 specs breakdown

Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS

TDP: 35W

GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070

TGP: 140W

RAM: 16GB DDR5-5600

Display: 14-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz IPS panel

Storage: 1 TB SSD

Ports: 2 USB-A, 2-USB-C, 1 HDMI 2.1

Razer Blade 14 2023: Build and Design

I personally have not tested the previous model of the Razer Blade 14, however, a cursory glance will tell you that they look pretty similar, at least on the outside. The new Razer Blade 14 uses the same aluminium body as last year's model with similar branding. The overall look and feel of the laptop remain the same; you know that this is a Razer Blade laptop without a doubt. The laptop features excellent build quality, it felt very sturdy and reliable in our hands. The base is strong with little to no flex upon application of pressure, and even the laptop lid and hinge feel extremely reliable with barely any flex or wobble.

With the display now being 16:10 instead of 16:9 from the previous Razer Blade 14, the laptop is slightly larger to accommodate the extra screen space. As such, we see that even the touchpad on the new Razer Blade 14 is slightly larger than last year's model. Another new thing Razer has incorporated in the Razer Blade 14 starting this year is a webcam shutter slide and removable RAM modules. This is fantastic from a consumer's point of view, and while the Razer Blade 14 ends up being around 1mm thicker than last year's variant, it's a minor sacrifice.

Razer Blade 14 I/O

With this being a 14-inch laptop, ports are understandably limited. There are no ports on the front or back of the machine. On both the left and right side you have a single USB-A and USB-C 3.2 Gen. 2 port for a total of two each. On the right side, you have an HDMI 2.1 port and a Kensington lock and on the left side, you have the AC adapter port, and the combo audio.

Razer Blade 14 2023 - Display

The display on the Razer Blade 14 is great. The 16:10 240 Hz IPS panel offers high peak brightness. We tested 552 NITS average peak brightness during our display test. It's also very colour accurate making it excellent for your content creation needs on the go. We tested an sRGB coverage of 99.6 percent and a DCI-P3 coverage of 98.3 percent. The only drawback we would say is that it's not an OLED panel, which honestly isn't all that much of a drawback.

Also read: MSI Cyborg 15 A12VE Review: RTX 4050 for under Rs 1 lac (digit.in)

Razer Blade 14 2023 - Performance

With that, we come to the performance on the Razer Blade 14 2023. Quickly going through the specs once again, the new Razer Blade 14 comes with the new 7000 series AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor with a base TDP of 35W, which is paired with the NVIDIA RTX 4070 with a TGP of 140W. For this review, we'll be comparing it with the HP OMEN Transcend 16, which also features an RTX 4070 (with a TGP of 130W), and an Intel Core i7-13700HX, which features a base TDP of 55W.

Starting things off with processor performance, looking at general productivity with the PCMark 10 benchmark, we can see that the new Ryzen 9 actually performs better than the 13th gen i7 almost across the board, save one field.

We use the Cinebench R23 benchmark to test single-thread and multi-thread performance. Here, while the 13th gen Core i7-13700HX performs better in single-thread performance, the Ryzen 9 ends up scoring higher in multi-thread performance.

When it comes to encryption and decryption, for which we use WinRAR and 7-Zip's benchmark tools, the 13th gen Core i7 slightly inches ahead of the Ryzen 9 in the WinRAR benchmark, but with 7-Zip, the Ryzen 9 takes the win by a landslide.

Overall, the Ryzen 9 7940HS comes out as the better-performing processor of the two.

Razer Blade 14 2023 - Gaming performance

Next, we come to gaming performance. Both laptops feature NVIDIA RTX 4070s, however, the TGP on the HP OMEN Transcend 16 is slightly lower at 130W compared to the 140W on the Razer Blade 14.

That said, the difference in scores isn't all that big. As you can see, the 3DMark scores for both laptops are very close, but the higher TGP on the Razer Blade 14 does seem to have made a difference.

The same translated to real-world gaming as well. We tested both laptops across a range of games, both CPU and GPU intensive. The FPS numbers for the most part are very close, but the Razer Blade 14 inches ahead in most games. Except for Valorant. Valorant is weird.

Either way, the NVIDIA RTX 4070 is an excellent laptop GPU, and you should have no trouble running the latest AAA games with ease, even at the higher resolution display offered by the Razer Blade 14.

Also read: Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 Review: The premium gaming laptop experience (digit.in)

Razer Blade 14 2023 - Thermals and Battery

Usually, laptops with small form factors, like the Razer Blade 14, tend to heat up a lot more than their larger gaming laptop counterparts. Surprisingly, the Razer Blade 14 handles heat exceptionally well, especially when compared to last year's model. This is thanks to both the slightly larger size, and the presence of the new Max Fan mode profile in Razer Synapse, which keeps the laptop surprisingly cool under stress. Of course, the Max Fan mode also makes the laptop pretty loud.

During our CPU stress test, we recorded a peak CPU temp of 76 degrees Celsius, which is great. Similarly, surface temps across the laptop never went across the 40-degree Celsius mark. Do keep in mind that all of our thermal testing is done in an air-conditioned environment, so the laptop would run hotter sans the AC.

At approximately 90 minutes, the 68Wh battery on the Razer Blade 14 has the best battery life we’ve tested in a gaming laptop this year. That’s 90 minutes of just gaming. This is of course with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. At 240 Hz, the battery drains a LOT quicker. General productivity tasks, web browsing, etc will net you a lot more time on the Razer Blade 14 while unplugged.

Razer Blade 14 2023 - Verdict

The Razer Blade 14 is a solid step up from last year's variant, with better internals, a larger 16:10 display, removable RAM modules, and better cooling as well. The accompanying display is excellent, and the new 7000 series AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS performs exceptionally with the RTX 4070. The 14-inch form factor makes this an extremely portable laptop offering, and the port options are also decent. It's quite a bummer that the laptop isn't officially available in India.

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MSI Cyborg 15 Review: RTX 4050 for under Rs 1 lac

We've tested enough RTX 4050s this year to say that it's a solid step up over the RTX 3050 or even the 3050 Ti. If you're in the market for an RTX 4050 gaming laptop, the MSI Cyborg 15 is probably one of the cheapest ones you can pick up right now at Rs 99,990. It's got a great design going for it, decent I/O options, a decent 144 Hz display, and solid hardware under the hood. The only flaw we would say is that it runs a bit on the hotter side. Definitely worth considering if you're looking to pick up an RTX 4050 laptop under Rs 1 lac.

The MSI Cyborg was first revealed during CES 2023, and it's cool cyberpunk design and the specs on board were certainly pretty appealing, however what was even more appealing was the fact that you could get all of that for just Rs 99,990, at least as of writing this review. We're talking a 12th gen Intel Core i7 paired with the new 40 series NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU. There's also a 13th gen variant that isn't available in India yet. Let's do a quick breakdown of the specs on board before we get to the in-depth review.

MSI Cyborg 15 specs

Processor: 12th gen Intel Core i7-12650H

GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU

Display: 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB

Ports: 2 USB-A, 1 USB-C, HDMI 2.1, RJ45 Ethernet, 3.5mm audio

MSI Cyborg 15 - Build and Design

Let's start things off with the build and design. The MSI Cyborg 15 immediately distinguishes itself from other gaming laptops with its rather unique looks. The sides, the lip and the base of the laptop are all translucent. This gives the laptop that cyberpunk look we were talking about earlier, but at the same time, it's not so flashy that it might draw attention in public. The same translucent design is present on the WASD keys as well.

Unsurprisingly, the laptop features a plastic chassis. This is fairly common with budget laptops, but you do still get an aluminium metal lid. The laptop feels pretty sturdy overall, and even the hinge didn't give us too much flex. Most of the laptop features a matte black finish.

The laptop features a backlit keyboard, with no RGB. Which we didn’t really mind at all. We found the keys to be well-spaced and the overall typing and gaming experience was pleasant. The touchpad doesn't get in the way of typing.

Also Read: Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 Review: The premium gaming laptop experience (digit.in)

MSI Cyborg 15 - Display

The MSI Cyborg 15 comes with a 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD IPS display. As far as displays are concerned, it's pretty decent. During our testing, we got a peak average brightness of 307 nits, an sRGB coverage of 65.9 per cent, and we tested 48.7 per cent DCI-P3 coverage. All in all, we'd say the display on the MSI Cyborg 15 is slightly above average, we would not however recommend this for professional editing work, but you should have great visuals while gaming.

MSI Cyborg 15 - Thermals and battery

Gaming laptops don't usually come with long battery lives, and the same applies to the MSI Cyborg 15. DUring our PC Mark 10 gaming battery benchmark, the Cyborg 15 lasted 65 minutes, so a little over an hour. 

Coming to the thermals; the MSI Cyborg can run pretty hot. During our stress test, we recorded CPU temps of 94 degrees Celsius. Surface temps can also get pretty high, especially the centre of the laptop, which hit around 43 degrees during our gaming stress test. WASD was on the slightly warmer side at 35 degrees, while the palm and touchpad stayed cool at around 26 degrees. Regardless, you'll want to keep this laptop on a desk when you're gaming, and not on your lap. Note that we do all of our thermal testing in an air conditioned environment, so the laptop could run even hotter in non-AC environments.

MSI Cyborg 15 Gaming Performance

Finally, we come to the performance. We'll start things off with the gaming performance.

The MSI Cyborg 15 features an NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, which in our tests so far has managed to outperform the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU in most real world gaming benchmarks. However, compared to the RTX 4050 in the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 we recently tested, the 4050 in the Cyborg falls short by a pretty large margin.

In synthetic GPU benchmarks, for which we use 3DMark, the MSI Cyborg 15 has surprisingly low scores. 

However, it's a different story in real-world gaming benchmarks where the MSI Cyborg more than makes up for the low synthetic GPU scores. Ultimately, real-world gaming performance is what matters, so in this case, the RTX 4050 onboard the MSI Cyborg 15 delivers.

MSI Cyborg 15 general performance

Next we come to the processor performance. The 12th gen Intel Core i7-12650H performs pretty well in most processor benchmarks, namely R23 for single and multi-thread performance, and in our encryption and decryption tests. However, general productivity scores were a bit on the lower side as can be seen in the PCMark 10 benchmark.

The 16GB of DDR5 RAM on the Cyborg 15 is clocked to 4800 MT/s, and tested pretty well in the AIDA64 benchmark, especially in this price category.

Coming to the storage, we saw decent read and write speeds of 3600 MB/s and 2500 MB/s respectively during our CrystalDiskMark benchmark; it's not the fastest or the slowest storage we've tested, but should more than suffice for your gaming needs.

Also Read: MSI Titan GT77 HX 13VI 13th Gen Core i9-13950HX Review (digit.in)

MSI Cyborg 15 - Verdict

We've tested enough RTX 4050s this year to say that it's a solid step up over the RTX 3050 or even the 3050 Ti. If you're in the market for an RTX 4050 gaming laptop, the MSI Cyborg 15 is probably one of the cheapest ones you can pick up right now. It's got a great design going for it, decent I/O options, a decent 144 Hz display, and solid hardware under the hood. The only flaw we would say is that it runs a bit on the hotter side. Definitely worth considering if you're looking to pick up an RTX 4050 laptop under Rs 1 lac.

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