MSI Raider 18 Series

MSI Raider 18 HX A14V

Specifications

Price comparison

Average Score: 80% - good

Reviews

80% MSI Raider 18 HX review: As powerful as it is heavy
Source: PC World
I’ve come away from with somewhat mixed feelings. The benchmarks are just like my feelings, actually. Mixed and messy. When this laptop excels, it absolutely slays. The display is gorgeous and can get so bright you could feasibly pull off that “hacker in the dark” look Shutterstock is so fond of. You know the one, where somehow the single monitor in the dark room seems to be bright as the sun. That’s this display. Seriously. And for gamers, there’s plenty of great touches. The RGB is everything a gamer could want (everything a business casual person will hate) and the glowing logo that matches your preferences is the cherry on top. I could probably get used to the trackpad placement or, better yet, turn it off in favor of a gaming mouse. But there’s other areas that hold me back.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/05/2024
Rating: Total score: 80%

80% MSI Raider 18 HX review: As powerful as it is heavy
Source: PC World
I’ve come away from with somewhat mixed feelings. The benchmarks are just like my feelings, actually. Mixed and messy. When this laptop excels, it absolutely slays. The display is gorgeous and can get so bright you could feasibly pull off that “hacker in the dark” look Shutterstock is so fond of. You know the one, where somehow the single monitor in the dark room seems to be bright as the sun. That’s this display. Seriously. And for gamers, there’s plenty of great touches. The RGB is everything a gamer could want (everything a business casual person will hate) and the glowing logo that matches your preferences is the cherry on top. I could probably get used to the trackpad placement or, better yet, turn it off in favor of a gaming mouse. But there’s other areas that hold me back.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/05/2024
Rating: Total score: 80%

Foreign Reviews

Đánh giá MSI Raider 18 HX: 1 năm trôi qua, vẫn đánh bại mọi tựa game max setting 4K, Ngộ Không không ngoại lệ!
Source: Cell Phones VN→EN
Positive: Impressive design; powerful processor; great GPU; high gaming performance; rich set of ports; decent ergonomics.good cooling system. Negative: Overheats while using.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/11/2024

Đánh giá MSI Raider 18 HX: 1 năm trôi qua, vẫn đánh bại mọi tựa game max setting 4K, Ngộ Không không ngoại lệ!
Source: Cell Phones VN→EN
Positive: Impressive design; powerful processor; great GPU; high gaming performance; rich set of ports; decent ergonomics.good cooling system. Negative: Overheats while using.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/11/2024

MSI Raider 18 HX AI A2XWIG

Specifications

Price comparison

Average Score: 85.14% - good

Reviews

Why I recommend this Windows laptop to creatives and professionals - even if it's meant for gamers
Source: Zdnet.com
According to MSI, prices for the Raider 18 HX start at $3,319. My review unit's configuration is available at B&H Photo Video for $4,499. As expensive as it may be, it's absolutely worth it. This laptop will provide you with years of excellent performance and a top-notch user experience, even superior to many desktops.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 05/07/2025

90% This MSI Raider gaming laptop costs more than my rent, but it’s worth every penny
Source: Laptop Mag
If you’ve got the money to spend, the MSI Raider 18 HX AI is a gaming laptop worthy of the term “desktop replacement.” The Raider has strong general performance, fluid gaming performance, a bright MiniLED display, a comfortable keyboard, powerful audio, and more ports than you’re likely to need, even with a multi-monitor setup. It’s just expensive. The entry-level Raider costs $3,699. Granted, you aren’t getting entry-level specs with that laptop, which can help offset the sheer magnitude of the price tag. But if you want similar performance, with a bit more portability and a more affordable price tag, you may be better off with the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16, which features similar specs for significantly less money. If you’ve got the cash to spare and portability is your key requirement, then the Razer Blade 16 (2025) is the way to go.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/02/2025
Rating: Total score: 90%

80% MSI Raider 18 HX AI review: A benchmark-breaking beast in laptop form
Source: PC World
The MSI Raider 18 HX AI is a hardware showcase. It has an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX that sets new records in several benchmarks, and an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU with performance close to RTX 4090, and a pair of PCIe 5.0 solid state drives that hit blistering read speeds of just over 13,000 MB/s. It also has a bright Mini-LED display. These advantages come alongside practical downsides. The Raider 18 is heavy, and the battery doesn’t last long. I wasn’t a fan of the keyboard or touchpad, either. The MSI Raider 18 HX is a decent value. That might be hard to believe given the laptop’s nearly $4,500 MSRP, but if you take a tour through Newegg or Best Buy product listings, you’ll find most comparable 18-inch systems with RTX 50-series graphics have less RAM, smaller solid state drives, and often a less capable version of the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/15/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%

Foreign Reviews

80% Extrem flotter Gaming-Laptop mit RTX 5080
Source: PC Welt DE→EN
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/21/2025
Rating: Total score: 80%

90% Ich konnte die Performance nicht glauben
Source: Gamestar DE→EN
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/07/2025
Rating: Total score: 90%

91% MSI Raider 18 HX AI Review en Español (Análisis completo)
Source: Profesional Review ES→EN
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 04/09/2025
Rating: Total score: 91% price: 79% performance: 96% display: 99% mobility: 75% workmanship: 93%

MSI Raider 18 Review
Source: Tweakers NL→EN
Positive: Powerful processor; 64GB RAM; 4T SSD storage; high performance. Negative: Average display; mediocre design; high price.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/07/2025

80% TEST du MSI Raider 18 HX AI (RTX 5080) : le PC de tous les superlatifs… y compris sur le prix
Source: Clubic FR→EN
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 05/01/2025
Rating: Total score: 80% performance: 90% display: 90% mobility: 50% workmanship: 70%

85% Test MSI Raider 18 HX AI (A2XW). Laptop z Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX i NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
Source: ITHardware.pl PL→EN
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 04/11/2025
Rating: Total score: 85% performance: 100%

Comment

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.

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

NVIDIA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU: High-end graphics card for laptops based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. Offers 12 GB GDDR6 (192 Bit) and is configurable with a TGP of 60 - 150W (+ Dynamic Boost). 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop: A fast graphics card from the Blackwell family for laptops that is based on the GB203 chip and uses 8,192 shaders and 16 GB GDDR7 graphics memory (256-bit graphics bus).

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

Intel Raptor Lake-HX:

i9-14900HX: High-end mobile hybrid processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture with 24 cores and 32 threads. Clocks at a maximum of 5.8 GHz (P cores).

Intel Arrow Lake:

Ultra 9 285HX: Mobile high-end CPU for gaming notebooks based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Offers 24 cores consisting of 8 fast performance cores with up to 5.5 GHz and 16 smaller efficiency cores with up to 4.6 GHz clock speed. The CPU can access 40 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache and is specified with a TDP of 55 watts. The SoC integrates a small dedicated NPU called AI Boost with 13 TOPS (Int8) and optionally supports vPro Enterprise.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

3.557 kg:

A laptop with this weight is comparatively heavy and less designed for mobility than for use at the desk. Therefore, the devices tend to shine less with battery life than with a large screen and higher performance.

3.6 kg:

84.07%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.

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

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