Notebookcheck Logo

MSI PL62 (i5-7300HQ, MX150) Laptop Review

Saved on the display. While MSI is mainly known for its gaming notebooks, it also offers very affordable entry-level and multimedia notebooks. The MSI PL62 has to prove in our test that an affordable price does not automatically mean a low performance.

The product offerings from MSI were always trimmed towards a lot of hardware for a price that is as affordable as possible. While the notebook specifications always look good on paper, often some faults in the case quality, particular hardware components, or maintenance options see the light of the day during testing. At first glance, our test unit gives a similar impression, bringing an Intel Core i5-7300HQ processorNvidia's GeForce MX150 graphics card, 8 GB of working memory, and a 1 TB hard drive for 600 Euros (~$696; $745 in the US).

We are using devices with a similar price-performance makeup for our test comparison, including the ASUS VivoBook 15, the Acer Swift 3, the HP Pavilion Power, and the Lenovo IdeaPad 320.

MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ (PL62 Series)
Processor
Intel Core i5-7300HQ 4 x 2.5 - 3.5 GHz, Kaby Lake
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce MX150 - 2048 MB VRAM, GDDR5
Memory
8 GB 
, DDR4, single-channel
Display
15.60 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, Chi Mei CMN15D6, TN LED, glossy: no
Mainboard
Intel HM175 (Skylake PCH-H)
Storage
HGST HTS541010B7E610, 870 GB free
Soundcard
Intel Skylake PCH-H High Definition Audio Controller
Connections
1 USB 2.0, 3 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: 1x headphones, 1x microphone (SPDIF), Card Reader: SD
Networking
Qualcomm Atheros AR8171/8175 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000MBit/s), Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.2
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 22 x 383 x 260 ( = 0.87 x 15.08 x 10.24 in)
Battery
41.4 Wh Lithium-Ion
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
Additional features
Speakers: 4x 2 W speakers, Keyboard: Chiclet, Keyboard Light: no, 24 Months Warranty
Weight
2.2 kg ( = 77.6 oz / 4.85 pounds), Power Supply: 600 g ( = 21.16 oz / 1.32 pounds)
Price
600 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case and Equipment - MSI with a simple case

The case of the MSI PL62 is made from simple plastic. The top of the display and base unit have a smooth surface and a design of gray longitudinal stripes, and the bottom and display frame have rough plastic surfaces. We notice uneven gaps at various places in the case, and the material appears to be comparatively cheap.

Looking through the fan vents at the bottom, we can see a free RAM slot. Basically, users could replace the used HDD themselves. However, when in doubt, you should get approval from the manufacturer (warranty).

In terms of its connections, the MSI PL62 7RC offers solid basic equipment. This includes a USB 3.0 Type-C port among others, and there are also separate ports for headphones and a microphone. When inserting cards into the SD card reader, they do not fit fully inside but stick out by about half a centimeter (~0.2 in). The read and write speeds using our Toshiba Exceria ProSDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference storage card are below average, which is not unusual for a device in this price range.

While our test unit delivers WLAN transfer rates that are below those of comparable devices, thanks to the ac standard, they are still okay and the value is acceptable for the price range here as well. However, there are also affordable notebooks which did better in our test.

Size Comparison

383 mm / 15.1 inch 260 mm / 10.2 inch 22 mm / 0.866 inch 2.2 kg4.85 lbs380 mm / 15 inch 251 mm / 9.88 inch 23 mm / 0.906 inch 2.3 kg5.07 lbs378 mm / 14.9 inch 252.2 mm / 9.93 inch 24.1 mm / 0.949 inch 2.3 kg5.05 lbs384 mm / 15.1 inch 255 mm / 10 inch 17.9 mm / 0.705 inch 2 kg4.46 lbs378 mm / 14.9 inch 260 mm / 10.2 inch 22.9 mm / 0.902 inch 2 kg4.46 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connections

Left side: Kensington lock, Gigabit LAN, 1x USB 3.0, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 Type-C, microphone, headphones
Left side: Kensington lock, Gigabit LAN, 1x USB 3.0, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 Type-C, microphone, headphones
Right side: 1x USB 2.0, SD card reader, power connector
Right side: 1x USB 2.0, SD card reader, power connector
SD Card Reader
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs)
Average of class Multimedia
  (17.6 - 205, n=61, last 2 years)
93 MB/s +258%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
68.3 MB/s +163%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
34.3 MB/s +32%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
 
32.4 MB/s +25%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
26.8 MB/s +3%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
26 MB/s
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB)
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
131.7 MB/s +379%
Average of class Multimedia
  (16.8 - 266, n=57, last 2 years)
122.4 MB/s +345%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
 
35 MB/s +27%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
31.1 MB/s +13%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
29.7 MB/s +8%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
27.5 MB/s
Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
Atheros/Qualcomm QCA6174
484 MBit/s +151%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
415 MBit/s +115%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter
325 MBit/s +68%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter
325 MBit/s +68%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168
193 MBit/s
iperf3 receive AX12
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
627 MBit/s +101%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
Atheros/Qualcomm QCA6174
579 MBit/s +86%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter
331 MBit/s +6%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168
312 MBit/s
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter
294 MBit/s -6%

Input Devices - Keyboard with a soft stroke in the PL62 notebook

The keyboard in the PL62 7RC notebook takes a lot of getting used to. The pressure point is very soft and can hardly be felt. While the key size is sufficient, the horizontal split of the Enter key stands out, causing us to frequently hit the Pound key when we really want to hit Enter.

As the mouse substitute, the MSI laptop uses a classical touchpad with separate mouse keys. The surface is very rough and reacts accurately even into the corners. You can reliably trigger left and right mouse clicks with the separate mouse keys which react with a clear click.

Display - Low-cost panel

Subpixel grid
Subpixel grid

MSI uses a TN-LED panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels in the PL62 7RC. Even though the display is still competitive in the price-range comparison, it has relatively low brightness and contrast values, causing the colors to appear not clearly distinct from one another.

The competition does better here. The HP Pavilion Power 15t has a brightness of 241 cd/m² (instead of 200) and still has a contrast of 1219:1 (instead of 493:1). However, not all the competitors have such a good contrast, and the Lenovo IdeaPad 320 and Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF are not much better at about 500:1.

219
cd/m²
198
cd/m²
186
cd/m²
210
cd/m²
227
cd/m²
190
cd/m²
191
cd/m²
195
cd/m²
188
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Chi Mei CMN15D6 tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 227 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 200.4 cd/m² Minimum: 4.6 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 82 %
Center on Battery: 227 cd/m²
Contrast: 493:1 (Black: 0.46 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 10.88 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 12.18 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
63% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
74% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
82.9% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.6% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
85.4% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.58
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
Chi Mei CMN15D6, , 1920x1080, 15.60
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
BOE CQ NV156FHM-N48, , 1920x1080, 15.60
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
BOE CQ NT156FHM-N41, , 1920x1080, 15.60
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Chi Mei CMN15D5, N156HGA-EAB, , 1920x1080, 15.60
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
AUO41ED , , 1920x1080, 15.60
Display
-49%
-51%
-45%
-49%
Display P3 Coverage
85.4
39.59
-54%
37.47
-56%
42.04
-51%
39.28
-54%
sRGB Coverage
99.6
58.5
-41%
56.4
-43%
62.8
-37%
58.9
-41%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
82.9
40.9
-51%
38.71
-53%
43.44
-48%
40.59
-51%
Response Times
2713%
890%
3397%
-63%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
44 ?(23, 21)
46 ?(25, 21)
-5%
41 ?(22, 19)
7%
45.6 ?(24.4, 21.2)
-4%
51.6 ?(26.4, 25.2)
-17%
Response Time Black / White *
14 ?(10, 4)
36 ?(20, 16)
-157%
19 ?(14, 5)
-36%
16 ?(11.6, 4.4)
-14%
29.2 ?(16.8, 12.4)
-109%
PWM Frequency
250 ?(20)
21000 ?(90)
8300%
7000 ?(90)
2700%
25770 ?(60)
10208%
Screen
36%
18%
-6%
30%
Brightness middle
227
237
4%
230
1%
220
-3%
256
13%
Brightness
200
229
15%
221
11%
194
-3%
241
21%
Brightness Distribution
82
88
7%
91
11%
84
2%
88
7%
Black Level *
0.46
0.19
59%
0.45
2%
0.43
7%
0.21
54%
Contrast
493
1247
153%
511
4%
512
4%
1219
147%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
10.88
4.85
55%
3.6
67%
11.8
-8%
5.2
52%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
18.36
8.34
55%
5.59
70%
20.6
-12%
19.3
-5%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
12.18
3.84
68%
3.13
74%
12.5
-3%
3.5
71%
Gamma
2.58 85%
2.42 91%
2.45 90%
2.07 106%
2.35 94%
CCT
14446 45%
6790 96%
7244 90%
14346 45%
6576 99%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
74
37
-50%
36
-51%
40.1
-46%
37
-50%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
63
58
-8%
56
-11%
62.7
0%
59
-6%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
900% / 522%
286% / 169%
1115% / 625%
-27% / 2%

* ... smaller is better

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
14 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 10 ms rise
↘ 4 ms fall
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 29 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
44 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 23 ms rise
↘ 21 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 69 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 250 Hz ≤ 20 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 250 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 20 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 250 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Color-space coverage, sRGB - 63%
Color-space coverage, sRGB - 63%
Color-space coverage, AdobeRGB - 74%
Color-space coverage, AdobeRGB - 74%

The screen of the MSI PL62 7RC displays colors with a relatively good 63% in the sRGB color space and a very good 74% of the AdobeRGB color space. However, the high black value and the low contrast ratio cause the appearance of a gray veil and bland color transitions. As soon as the viewing angle is slightly off, colors get distorted quickly. This tendency is particularly strong when looking from above or below. Looking from the sides, there will only be slight reading difficulties.

Outdoors, the MSI notebook can be used easily, as long as the user remains in the shade. Due to the matte display, reflections of the surroundings hardly play any role. However, the low brightness is unable to overcome direct sunlight.

CalMAN - Color accuracy
CalMAN - Color accuracy
CalMAN - Saturation
CalMAN - Saturation
CalMAN - Grayscales
CalMAN - Grayscales
Viewing-angle stability
Viewing-angle stability
Outdoor use
Outdoor use
Screen bleeding
Screen bleeding

Performance - Good system performance slowed by HDD

LatencyMon
LatencyMon

Our MSI notebook is equipped with an Intel Core i5-7300HQ and an Nvidia GeForce MX150. Combined with 8 GB of working memory and a 1 TB hard drive, this equipment is even suited for video games, although only at low graphics settings. While this equipment is definitely suitable for office and multimedia applications, the HDD will probably slow the system down noticeably. 

Processor

Intel's Core i5-7300HQ processor is a quad-core CPU that cannot handle Hyper-Threading and belonged to the weakest quad-core representatives of the Kaby Lake series in January 2017. The CPU has a clock speed of up to 3.5 GHz and a dual-channel controller. However, since our test unit has only a single RAM unit, the system does not benefit from the increased performance that would be possible, but it could be upgraded by the user.

0102030405060708090100110120130140150160170180190200210220230240250260270280290300310320330340350360370380390400410420430440450460470480490500510520Tooltip
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit

In our endurance test, the MSI PL62 7RC shows that it can maintain its performance even over a longer period of time. Many competing devices that achieve a higher result in a single Cinebench R15 run throttle the CPU after a while and then also end up at the level of our test unit.

Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Multimedia
  (142.6 - 308, n=96, last 2 years)
249 Points +75%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
159 Points +12%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
Intel Core i5-8250U
146 Points +3%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Intel Core i5-8250U
145 Points +2%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
Intel Core i5-7300HQ
142 Points
Average Intel Core i5-7300HQ
  (129 - 149, n=19)
141.1 Points -1%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
140 Points -1%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Multimedia
  (580 - 4703, n=103, last 2 years)
2280 Points +346%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
Intel Core i5-8250U
730 Points +43%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
686 Points +34%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
589 (499min - 552max) Points +15%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Intel Core i5-8250U
542 Points +6%
Average Intel Core i5-7300HQ
  (501 - 520, n=19)
512 Points 0%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
Intel Core i5-7300HQ
511 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
142 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
511 Points
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
87.9 fps
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
99.6 %
Help

System Performance

In the PCMark8 benchmark, the MSI-PL62 laptop achieves exactly the average result of all the systems with the Intel Core i5-7300HQ we have tested. In everyday operation, the PL62 7RC is also able to deliver a good performance, once the programs are loaded. But this takes quite a while at times and can be traced back to the slow HDD. Opening files and accessing data in general also need some patience. An SSD upgrade should alleviate these problems.

You can read on our CPU benchmark page how other systems with the Intel Core i5-7300HQ fared in our test.

PCMark 8 - Home Score Accelerated v2
Average of class Multimedia
  (4484 - 5525, n=9, last 2 years)
5075 Points +48%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
Radeon RX 550 (Laptop), i7-7700HQ, HGST Travelstar 7K1000 HTS721010A9E630
4499 Points +31%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
GeForce MX130, i5-8250U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
3695 Points +8%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
Vega 8, R5 2500U, Intel SSD 600p SSDPEKKW256G7
3450 Points +1%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
GeForce MX150, i5-7300HQ
3424 Points
Average Intel Core i5-7300HQ, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
 
3424 Points 0%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
GeForce MX150, i5-8250U, Ramaxel RTNTE256PCA8EADL
3274 Points -4%
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
3424 points
PCMark 10 Score
3157 points
Help

Storage Solution

Of course you cannot compare the HDD storage in the MSI PL62 7RC to the fast SSDs of some of the competing devices. On the other hand, it offers much more storage. Compared to other HDDs such as that in the HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000, the speeds are slightly better.

You can find out on our HDD/SSD benchmark page how the HDD built into the MSI PL62 7RC does compared to other storage solutions. 

MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
 
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
Intel SSD 600p SSDPEKKW256G7
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
Ramaxel RTNTE256PCA8EADL
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
HGST Travelstar 7K1000 HTS721010A9E630
Global Average -3
 

Average of class Multimedia
 
CrystalDiskMark 3.0
6542%
6927%
7575%
-25%
5826%
Read Seq
118.7
1130
852%
468.5
295%
530
347%
105.9
-11%
603 ?(33.6 - 5063, n=2990)
408%
Write Seq
109.6
601
448%
378.4
245%
497.5
354%
104.7
-4%
455 ?(10.4 - 5683, n=2992)
315%
Read 512
43.73
837
1814%
342.5
683%
392
796%
36.71
-16%
382 ?(11.4 - 3461, n=2979)
774%
Write 512
107.4
606
464%
368.7
243%
253.7
136%
49.86
-54%
365 ?(4.1 - 4354, n=2979)
240%
Read 4k
0.437
20.46
4582%
26.93
6062%
29.67
6689%
0.473
8%
25.9 ?(0.102 - 5814, n=2989)
5827%
Write 4k
8.23
81.7
893%
88.1
970%
78.3
851%
0.547
-93%
58.1 ?(0.009 - 884, n=2987)
606%
Read 4k QD32
0.575
235.5
40857%
247.8
42996%
282.8
49083%
0.903
57%
207 ?(0.015 - 1291, n=2954)
35900%
Write 4k QD32
6.135
155
2426%
246.5
3918%
149.8
2342%
0.757
-88%
161.8 ?(0.033 - 1021, n=2955)
2537%
Transfer Rate Minimum: 33.9 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 255.5 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 223.8 MB/s
Access Time: 3 ms
Burst Rate: 211.9 MB/s
CPU Usage: 3.7 %

Graphics Card - Powerful MX150 in the PL62

In the 3DMark benchmarks, the PL62 7RC places above comparable devices with the GeForce MX150 graphics card, which is also used in a low-power version (lower clock speed and power usage). In this area, MSI offers a lot of performance for an affordable price. Applications with low to medium demands on the GPU run on our test unit without any problems. 

You can find out on our GPU benchmark page which benchmark results other graphics cards achieve compared to Nvidia's GeForce MX150.

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU
Average of class Multimedia
  (3408 - 60250, n=87, last 2 years)
18296 Points +275%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop), Intel Core i7-7700HQ
5557 Points +14%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i5-7300HQ
4876 Points
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i5-8250U
4582 Points -6%
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX150
  (2796 - 4905, n=47)
4191 Points -14%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
3457 Points -29%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
NVIDIA GeForce MX130, Intel Core i5-8250U
2734 Points -44%
3DMark 11 Performance
4974 points
Help

Gaming Performance

With Nvidia's GeForce MX150, you can also play current games smoothly in low settings. Older 3D games can even be played in Full HD resolution. In our test, the five-year-old BioShock Infinite ran at 34 FPS without any drops in the frame rates or such.

You can find out in our GPU games list which games can be played smoothly with the Nvidia GeForce MX150.

low med. high ultra
BioShock Infinite (2013) 194 115 98 34

Emissions and Power - MSI laptop with mediocre battery life

Noise Emissions

Noise characteristics
Noise characteristics

During idle operation, you can hardly hear the MSI PL62 7RC, and the notebook can also be used for office operations in very quiet surroundings without any problems. If the load increases, for example due to 3D applications, the fans rev up and are clearly audible. While the fan noise remains even, it appears intrusive even when external speakers are connected. We therefore recommend headphones for example for gaming applications.

Noise Level

Idle
32 / 32 / 32 dB(A)
Load
38.7 / 48.7 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 30.4 dB(A)
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2032.535.233.432.633.732.52533.133.944.933.934.133.13137.737.746.837.335.737.74032.235.636.733.230.532.25030.933.834.130.937.630.96328.431.732.529.728.728.4803030.131.128.426.23010029.929.831.728.92629.912526.227.32725.726.726.216024.926.326.524.624.824.920024.426.726.623.923.624.425024.825.628.223.323.224.831526.330.230.52322.626.340025.628.730.822.422.725.650024.628.730.820.62024.663024.429.23120.919.324.480025.53032.421.118.725.5100028.734.537.422.118.128.7125027.332.935.620.11827.3160027.633.936.31917.927.6200027.435.938.518.71827.4250027.83639.91917.927.8315027.335.238.718.918.227.3400026.234.337.319.318.526.2500025.932.836.219.318.625.9630028.335.438.519.518.728.380002329.132.21918.9231000021.126.930.119.21921.11250021.124.428.119.219.121.11600021.322.826.119.619.421.3SPL38.745.748.732.13138.7N2.94.961.51.42.9median 25.9median 29.8median 31.7median 20.1median 19median 25.9Delta2.33.74.3222.3hearing rangehide median Fan NoiseMSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ

Temperatures

Stress test
Stress test

The cooling of the MSI PL62 7RC does a good job, keeping the surface temperatures below 50 °C (122 °F) even under load. Our stress test also shows that the CPU only reaches a clock speed of 3.3 GHz instead of the 3.5 GHz that should be possible.

Through the duration of the hour-long test, the clock speed does not drop below the base rate of 2.5 GHz, and the cooling even enables the CPU to maintain an even clock speed of about 3 GHz until the end of the test. It should therefore not come to any limitations in everyday life stemming from high core temperatures.

Max. Load
 41.6 °C
107 F
49.4 °C
121 F
34 °C
93 F
 
 37.4 °C
99 F
43 °C
109 F
32.4 °C
90 F
 
 30.6 °C
87 F
38 °C
100 F
30.2 °C
86 F
 
Maximum: 49.4 °C = 121 F
Average: 37.4 °C = 99 F
27.4 °C
81 F
32.6 °C
91 F
43.7 °C
111 F
30.8 °C
87 F
36.3 °C
97 F
29 °C
84 F
29.4 °C
85 F
27.2 °C
81 F
26.8 °C
80 F
Maximum: 43.7 °C = 111 F
Average: 31.5 °C = 89 F
Power Supply (max.)  41.4 °C = 107 F | Room Temperature 21.9 °C = 71 F | FIRT 550-Pocket
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 37.4 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 31.2 °C / 88 F for the devices in the class Multimedia.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 49.4 °C / 121 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 43.7 °C / 111 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 26.5 °C / 80 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(±) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 38 °C / 100.4 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-9.2 °C / -16.6 F).
Heat map during idle - top
Heat map during idle - top
Heat map during idle - bottom
Heat map during idle - bottom
Heat map under load - top
Heat map under load - top
Heat map under load - bottom
Heat map under load - bottom

Speakers

Pink Noise
Pink Noise

The speakers of the MSI notebook sound rather muffled. All sounds other than the mids are completely lost, so you should prefer headphones or external speakers for playing audio content. The separate ports for headphones and microphone accept the plugs tightly, and they are latched into place with a clear feedback.

The speakers in the Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN sounded better and those in the Acer Swift 3 SF315 are even better than that. In the Acer in particular, the audible range remains linear on average and so does the bass reproduction. Most of the devices in this price range have in common that the speakers are not particularly loud.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2037.133.737.12537.934.137.93140.835.740.84033.730.533.75035.837.635.86331.328.731.38028.826.228.810029.82629.812528.526.728.51602724.82720025.923.625.925035.323.235.331548.422.648.44005322.75350050.32050.363050.119.350.180055.318.755.3100063.718.163.7125066.51866.5160077.617.977.6200076.41876.4250074.317.974.331507018.270400063.918.563.9500062.918.662.963005718.757800055.318.955.31000051.71951.71250045.719.145.71600052.319.452.3SPL82.93182.9N39.51.439.5median 53median 19median 53Delta9.929.935.335.132.931.831.83236.535.132.428.93328.936.328.848.32761.52752.924.860.92462.822.763.32269.521.267.82174.82075.919.472.718.97117.770.117.86917.671.817.668.117.671.417.673.717.670.417.571.617.671.617.669.617.459.717.583.630.662.51.5median 69.6median 17.84.72.4hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseMSI PL62 MX150 7300HQApple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (77.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 20.5% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 10% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (13.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 9.5% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (10.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (37.8% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 99% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 1% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 93% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 6% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 5% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 93% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Power Consumption

In our measurements, the MSI laptop reaches a maximum consumption of about 90 watts under load. The included 120-watt power supply should therefore have no trouble to provide sufficient power to our test unit.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.25 / 0.54 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 9.2 / 13.6 / 14.7 Watt
Load midlight 64 / 89.2 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Battery Life

The battery life of the MSI PL62 notebook is below average. In our realistic WLAN test, the device had to go back to the outlet after 4 h 22 m. Some of the other laptops in this price range last more than two hours longer.

Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing
Average of class Multimedia
  (262 - 1204, n=92, last 2 years)
560 min +114%
Asus VivoBook 15 X542UF-DM143T
i5-8250U, GeForce MX130, 38 Wh
407 min +55%
HP Pavilion Power 15t-cb2000
i7-7700HQ, Radeon RX 550 (Laptop), 70 Wh
341 min +30%
Acer Swift 3 SF315-41-R4W1
R5 2500U, Vega 8, 48 Wh
310 min +18%
Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN 81BG001KGE
i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 30 Wh
270 min +3%
MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ
i5-7300HQ, GeForce MX150, 41.4 Wh
262 min
Battery Runtime
WiFi Websurfing
4h 22min

Pros

+ good CPU performance
+ relatively good 3D performance

Cons

- viewing-angle dependent display
- speakers with a muffled sound
- slow HDD
- simple plastic case

Verdict - Multimedia notebook with limitations

Our test unit was provided by notebooksbilliger.de
Our test unit was provided by notebooksbilliger.de

In our test, the MSI PL62 7RC shows itself as a notebook with an above-average 3D performance. However, the sluggish HDD slows the system down, and the plastic case is not really pleasing either. The performance is sufficient for some games and most multimedia applications. However, you have to accept long load times due to the slow data access. The most important complaint is the display, which offers a low brightness in comparison and is very dependent on the viewing angle. But these are compromises that you also have to make with many competitors in the highly competitive 500 to 600 Euros (~$580 - 696) price range.

MSI PL62 MX150 7300HQ - 06/13/2018 v6(old)
Mike Wobker

Chassis
68 / 98 → 70%
Keyboard
68%
Pointing Device
80%
Connectivity
50 / 81 → 62%
Weight
62 / 20-67 → 89%
Battery
77%
Display
75%
Games Performance
80 / 85 → 94%
Application Performance
77 / 92 → 84%
Temperature
90%
Noise
81 / 95 → 86%
Audio
51%
Camera
45 / 85 → 53%
Average
70%
78%
Multimedia - Weighted Average

Pricecompare

static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > MSI PL62 (i5-7300HQ, MX150) Laptop Review
Mike Wobker, 2018-06-14 (Update: 2018-06-15)