CES 2020 | Ultra-thin MSI GS66 dares to be thicker and heavier in the name of performance

One of our biggest complaints about the older GS65 was its flexible chassis. As lightweight and thin as it may be, MSI went a bit too far in that direction for the GS65 and chassis rigidity suffered. Competing ultrathin laptops like the Razer Blade 15, Dell Alienware m15, or Asus Zephyrus S would feel comparatively sturdier and more well-made in the hand.

MSI will be addressing these issues directly with the upcoming GS66. The redesigned chassis will be marginally thicker (0.78-inch vs. 0.69-inch) and heavier (4.6 lbs vs. 4.19 lbs) than the outgoing GS65. In return, the GS66 will be incorporating thinner fan blades (0.1 mm vs. 0.2 mm) for 10 percent more airflow and a thicker skeleton that's less susceptible to warping. We can actually feel the increased weight and size over the GS65 during our short time with the GS66 demo unit. Still, the GS66 definitely has the stronger first impression than its predecessor. Note that the Razer Blade 15 will now be the thinner machine at just 0.70-inches.

Beyond size and cooling, the GS66 will ship with Intel 10th gen Comet Lake-H CPUs, 300 Hz 1080p options, and an updated SteelSeries keyboard with deeper 2.5 mm key travel compared to ~2.2 mm on the outgoing GS65. The newer keyboard feels softer than the keys on the GS65 based on the demo unit, but we'll reserve judgment on a final retail unit.

Much like HP and its Spectre x360 15, MSI will be shipping the GS66 with "up to the latest Nvidia GeForce series graphics" in the next few months. The OEM wouldn't specify the exact GeForce SKUs involved meaning that the next generation of GeForce GPUs will likely come sooner rather than later.