MSI Thin MSI GF63 Thin Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD 144Hz, Review

The MSI GF63 Thin is a weird laptop. It's got a gaming GPU and a high refresh rate screen, but it's not actually a great gaming laptop. The one thing you need to know? This is a budget machine that's trying to look like a premium one, and it mostly fails. It's heavy, the specs are mid-range at best, and for the same money, you can do a lot better.

The RTX 3050 is the star here, but it's a dim one. Landing in the 68th percentile for GPU performance sounds okay, but that's against all laptops, not just gaming ones. In real games, you'll be turning settings down to hit that 144Hz target. The Intel 11400H CPU is a bigger letdown, sitting in the bottom third of its class. It's fine for basic tasks, but it'll bottleneck you in anything demanding.

At $1100, this is a bad deal. You're paying for the MSI name and a 144Hz screen wrapped around a bunch of mediocre components. There are much faster gaming laptops and much better all-around laptops for this price. It's not worth it.

Look at the ASUS Zenbook Duo if you want a creative machine with a killer dual-screen gimmick at a similar price. If you must have a gaming laptop, the MSI Vector 16 HX in the same brand's lineup will run circles around the GF63 for not much more money. Even the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s, while not a gamer, is a far more reliable and better-built professional tool. The GF63 loses to all of them.

Skip it. The MSI GF63 Thin is a confused laptop that doesn't excel at anything. It's too heavy to be portable, too weak to be a serious gaming rig, and too expensive for what you get. Spend your $1100 elsewhere. You'll be happier.