MSI Katana 15 B13VGK

Specifications

Pricecompare

Reviews for the MSI Katana 15 B13VGK

MSI Katana 15 Review (B13VGK-484US)
Source: Digit week
The MSI Katana 15 occupies an upper spot in the budget gaming laptop category. With an asking price of around $15000, the Katana 15 checks all the right boxes with a strong Intel Core i7-13620H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That’s impressive given that most gaming laptops at that price point give you just 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD (or smaller). The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 makes the deal even better, and this is likely to be the new standard for low-priced, midrange gaming laptops, a spot previously reserved for the RTX 3070. On the other hand, the display is mediocre at best, favoring a high refresh rate over image quality. Additionally, the plastic chassis is uninspiring, and the short battery life significantly lags behind its peers. But they are not dealbreakers, but just worth keeping in mind when comparing it with competitors out there.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/18/2023

78% MSI Katana 15 Review (B13VGK-484US)
Source: Digit week
The MSI Katana 15 occupies an upper spot in the budget gaming laptop category. With an asking price of around $15000, the Katana 15 checks all the right boxes with a strong Intel Core i7-13620H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That’s impressive given that most gaming laptops at that price point give you just 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD (or smaller). The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 makes the deal even better, and this is likely to be the new standard for low-priced, midrange gaming laptops, a spot previously reserved for the RTX 3070. On the other hand, the display is mediocre at best, favoring a high refresh rate over image quality. Additionally, the plastic chassis is uninspiring, and the short battery life significantly lags behind its peers.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 06/15/2023
Rating: Total score: 78%

MSI Katana 15 (2023) Review
Source: USA Today
The MSI Katana 15 provides an affordable on-ramp to the newest generation of gaming laptops. There’s no mistaking the RTX 4070 and Intel Core i7-13620H’s potent combination, especially with Nvidia-specific features like DLSS, 144Hz display, and a MUX switch. Getting a new laptop at such an affordable price comes with important trade-offs, though. Battery life is abysmal and you can’t buy a small GaN charger to replace the laptop’s bulky AC adapter because the only USB-C port lacks power delivery. The screen is also quite dim and dull. For another $250, something like the Gigabyte AORUS 15 offers a brighter display and the largest battery possible for about triple the battery life. But MSI’s Katana 15 is still a good option if you want the highest frame rates possible while saving as much money as possible. It won’t blow you away with the screen, battery life, or materials, but it’s an option worth considering.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/03/2023

80% MSI Katana 15 (2023) Review
Source: PC Mag
If you're a strict utilitarian when it comes to gaming hardware, you can go right ahead and buy the MSI Katana 15. This gaming rig has substantial power and a fine price to match. Even if its design leaves a lot to be desired, it's not flimsy or frail or starved for cooling. Finding a similarly configured Lenovo Legion will likely provide a better all-around experience, but it's hard to ignore the price/performance ratio MSI brings to the table here (especially with a lower-end configuration selling for $999 at Micro Center(Opens in a new window)). For that, we highly recommend the 2023 MSI Katana 15...if you can see past the screen shortcomings.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/15/2023
Rating: Total score: 80%

How to open MSI Katana 15 (B13V) - disassembly and upgrade options
Source: Laptop Media
Support, online available, Very Short, Date: 03/29/2023

80% MSI Katana 15 review — Phenomenal performance in a lackluster display
Source: Laptop Mag
The Katana 15 is a beast of a gaming laptop for those who refuse to spend anything over $2,000. With its phenomenal RTX 40-series graphics performance and great productivity scores, it’s hard to say no when faced with such powerful hardware at this price. We were also impressed by its aesthetically alluring design, satisfying keyboard, decent sound system, and its additional functionality that will make nitpicky gamers happy. The $1,599 price tag isn’t some sort of miracle, however, as the Katana 15’s incredible performance comes at the detriment of its battery life and display. Graphics performance is important, but it will feel nowhere near as impactful if the screen it’s attached to presents environments without their luster, while also being held back by shockingly dim peak brightness. Its sub-three hour battery life does it no favors, either. While you could just connect the laptop to a superior monitor or TV, if you’re looking for something with a gloriously colorful display and are willing to deal with worse gaming performance, we recommend the MSI Crosshair 15 R6E. If you don’t particularly care, the Katana 15 is an otherwise phenomenal gaming laptop.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/27/2023
Rating: Total score: 80%

Foreign Reviews

75% MSI Katana 15: la recensione del modello del 2023 con NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
Source: Multiplayer IT IT→EN
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/17/2023
Rating: Total score: 75%

Comment

NVIDIA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU: High-end graphics card for laptops based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. Offers 8 GB GDDR6 (128 Bit) and is configurable with a TGP of 35 - 115W (+ Dynamic Boost). 

These graphics cards are able to play the latest and most demanding games in high resolutions and full detail settings with enabled Anti-Aliasing.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

i7-13620H: Alder Lake based mobile CPU with 6 performance cores and 4 efficient cores. The performance cores offer hyper threading, leading to 16 threads that can be processed. The CPU clocks from 1.8 to 4.9 GHz and supports vPro.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.60":

15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.

The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.

MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

78.25%: This rating is not earth-shattering. This rating must actually be seen as average, since there are about as many devices with worse ratings as better ones. A purchase recommendation can only be seen with a lot of goodwill, unless it is about websites that generally rate strictly.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

Devices from a different Manufacturer and/or with a different CPU

Devices with the same GPU and/or Screen Size

Devices with the same GPU