MSI Cyborg MSI Cyborg - 15.6" GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU - Review

The MSI Cyborg is a decent budget gaming laptop that gets the basics right, but you're definitely paying for that 'budget' part. The one thing to know is that its RTX 4050 GPU punches above its weight class for the price, landing in the 73rd percentile for graphics performance. That means you can play most modern games at decent settings, which is the whole point. Just don't expect a premium feel or any standout features beyond that raw gaming power.

The RTX 4050 is the star here, and it's surprisingly capable for a budget card. It's paired with a solid Intel 13620H CPU, so you won't get bottlenecked in most games. The 144Hz screen is nice, but it's only in the 43rd percentile overall, so colors and brightness aren't anything special. The real surprise is the storage, which sits in a lowly 34th percentile with just a 512GB SSD. You'll be uninstalling games to make room for new ones pretty quickly.

Prices swing wildly from $460 to $900. At the low end of that range, around $500, this is a steal for the gaming performance you get. If you're seeing it near $900, walk away immediately, because you can find much better laptops for that money. The value is entirely tied to finding it on a deep discount.

Compared to a Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, the Cyborg feels like a toy. The Legion has better build quality, a far superior screen, and more powerful components, but it costs a lot more. The real competition is other budget options. The ASUS Zenbook Duo isn't a gaming machine, so ignore it for this purpose. The MSI Vector 16 HX is a closer competitor, often offering a better GPU and screen for a similar mid-range price, making the Cyborg only worth it if the Vector is significantly more expensive.

Buy it if you find it for under $600 and your only goal is to game on a budget. The RTX 4050 is good enough. But if you care about build quality, a good screen, or not constantly managing storage, you should save up a bit more for something like an MSI Vector or a discounted Lenovo Legion. This is a machine that does one thing okay, and everything else is a compromise.