MSI Thin MSI Thin A15 B7U Thin A15 B7UC-473US 15.6" Gaming Review
The MSI Thin A15 delivers basic 1080p gaming at a very low price, but makes big compromises on portability and future-proofing to get there.
Overview
The MSI Thin A15 is a budget-friendly gaming laptop that tries to do a lot for not a lot of cash. It packs an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS CPU and an RTX 3050 GPU into a 15.6-inch frame, promising decent 1080p gaming on its 144Hz screen.
Performance
For the price, the performance is okay. The RTX 3050 lands in the 68th percentile for GPU power, so you can play most modern games at medium to high settings at 1080p. The AMD 7535HS CPU is a bit of a weak spot, sitting in the 46th percentile, so don't expect blazing-fast productivity work. The 144Hz screen is smooth, but its overall quality score is only in the 40th percentile, so colors and brightness are just average.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Affordable entry point for 1080p gaming. 93th
- 144Hz display makes gameplay feel smooth. 71th
- Comes with a decent 16GB of RAM out of the box.
- WiFi 6 and a backlit keyboard are nice touches.
Cons
- The RTX 3050's 4GB of VRAM is limiting for newer games.
- Bulk and weight at 2.95kg make it far from portable.
- CPU performance is middling for the class.
- Only 512GB of storage fills up fast with games.
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS |
| Cores | 6 |
| Frequency | 3.3 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 16 MB |
Graphics
| GPU | RTX 3050 |
| Type | discrete |
| VRAM | 4 GB |
| VRAM Type | GDDR6 |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 16 GB |
| RAM Generation | DDR4 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD |
Display
| Size | 15.6" |
| Resolution | 1920 (Full HD) |
| Refresh Rate | 144 Hz |
Connectivity
| HDMI | 1 x HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 6 |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 1.9 kg / 4.1 lbs |
| OS | Windows 11 Home |
Value & Pricing
At around $700, it's hard to complain too much. You're getting legitimate gaming hardware for the cost of a basic productivity laptop. The value is solid if your expectations are set correctly. You're paying for the core gaming experience, not premium build quality or cutting-edge specs.
vs Competition
It's in a different universe than premium picks like the MacBook Pro M4 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, which cost three times as much. A closer budget rival is the ASUS Zenbook Duo if you need portability and a killer screen for work, but its gaming power is weaker. The MSI Vector 16 HX is a more direct step-up from this, offering much more powerful CPUs and GPUs for several hundred dollars more. This A15 is for when the Legion or Vector are just out of reach.
| Spec | MSI Thin MSI Thin A15 B7U Thin A15 B7UC-473US 15.6" Gaming | Apple MacBook Pro Apple 14" MacBook Pro (M5, Silver) | ASUS ROG Zephyrus ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G14 14" 3K OLED 120Hz Gaming | Lenovo Legion Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 10 Intel Laptop, | MSI Creator MSI Creator M14 A13V A13VF-081US 14" 2.8K Laptop, | HP ZBook HP 14" ZBook Ultra G1a Multi-Touch Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS | Apple M5 | AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series | Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX | Intel Core i7 13620H | AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 385 |
| RAM (GB) | 16 | 32 | 32 | 16 | 32 | 32 |
| Storage (GB) | 512 | 4096 | 1000 | 1024 | 2048 | 1024 |
| Screen | 15.6" 1920x1080 | 14.2" 3024x1964 | 14" 2880x1800 | 16" 2560x1600 | 14" 2880x1800 | 14" 2880x1800 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 | Apple (10-Core) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 | AMD Radeon |
| OS | Windows 11 Home | macOS | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home (MSI recommends Windows 11 Pro for business) | Windows 11 Pro |
| Weight (kg) | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.6 |
| Battery (Wh) | - | 72 | - | 80 | - | 74 |
Verdict
Buy this if you're a new PC gamer on a tight budget and your main screen is your desk. It gets you in the door for modern gaming. Don't buy it if you travel a lot, need serious CPU power for work, or want to future-proof your gaming library for the next few years.