msi Thin msi Thin Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD 144Hz, Intel Review

The MSI Thin is a budget gaming laptop that gets one thing right: it's cheap. For $649, you're getting a machine that can technically play modern games, but you'll be making some serious compromises to do it. Think of this as a 'starter' gaming rig, or maybe a decently powerful general-use laptop that can handle Fortnite in a pinch.

The RTX 3050 with only 4GB of VRAM is the main story here. It lands in the 68th percentile for a gaming laptop GPU, which sounds okay, but that's mostly because it's beating older or integrated graphics. In reality, that 4GB buffer fills up fast with modern textures. You'll be playing most new titles at medium settings, 1080p, and hoping you hit that 144Hz refresh rate target—which you often won't. The Intel 13420H CPU is fine for the price, sitting in the 43rd percentile, but it's not going to wow you.

At $649, it's hard to call this a bad value, but it's a very specific one. You're trading future-proofing and performance headroom for a low entry ticket. If your budget is absolutely locked at $700 and you need a gaming-capable machine now, it's worth considering. If you can stretch your budget by another $200-$300, you'll find much better options.

Don't even look at the MacBook Pro or high-end Legion/AORUS laptops on the competitor list—they're in a different universe price-wise. The real comparison is to other budget gaming laptops or even a console. For a similar price, something like an ASUS TUF with a newer RTX 4050 would offer significantly better gaming performance. Against the Xbox Series S, this laptop loses on pure gaming value but wins on being a full PC.

This is a 'buy it only if you have to' laptop. If $649 is your absolute max and you need a portable machine that can game, the MSI Thin gets you there. But that 4GB RTX 3050 is already showing its age, and the WiFi 4 and poor port selection are real day-to-day headaches. For most people, saving up a bit more for a machine with a better GPU and modern connectivity is the smarter long-term play.