MSI Summit E14 laptop review: GeForce GTX graphics without the GeForce GTX weight
The relatively new MSI Summit series will streamline and eventually replace both the older MSI Modern and Prestige series of laptops. These models are generally geared towards prosumers or office users in the same vein as the Lenovo ThinkBook, Dell XPS 13, Huawei MateBook X Pro, or Microsoft Surface series.
Our configuration in review is the MSI Summit E14 A11SCS equipped with 16 GB of RAM and a 4K display for $1900 USD at Xotic PC. Other SKUs may come with 32 GB of RAM and a 1080p display instead, but all options at the moment have the same Core i7-1185G7 vPro CPU and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU. The model can be best described as a Prestige 14 but with dedicated Nvidia GTX graphics.
More MSI reviews:
potential competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82.3 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | MSI Summit E14 A11SCS i7-1185G7, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q | 1.3 kg | 16 mm | 14.00" | 3840x2160 | |
| 82.2 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 i7-1165G7, GeForce MX450 | 1.3 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82.5 % v7 (old) | 12 / 2020 | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 16 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 87.6 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | ADATA XPG Xenia 14 i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 996 g | 15 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 89.4 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.3 kg | 16.14 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 83.8 % v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | VAIO Z VJZ141C11L i7-11375H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 3840x2160 |
Case — Prestigiously Modern
The chassis is similar to the Prestige 14 but with a short list of superficial updates. The outer lid and clickpad perimeter, for example, are now glossy golden in color for a more luxurious visual appeal while the clickpad itself is now actually smaller and shorter in length. The outer lid also loses the shiny cut edges and corners for a more subdued and flatter look when closed. The updates are minor in the grand scheme of things, but they do help to distinguish the Summit E14 from the older Modern and Prestige models.
What hasn't changed, however, is chassis rigidity. We didn't particularly like the build quality of the Prestige 14 relative to its high asking price and this remains true on the Summit E14.
Dimensions and weight are nearly identical to the Prestige 14 Evo or Modern 14 despite the use of a dedicated GeForce GTX GPU. The system weighs as much as most other 14-inch ULV Ultrabooks meaning you're not sacrificing portability for the faster graphics. A notable exception is the ADATA XPG Xenia 14 which is smaller and over 300 g lighter for users who don't need a GeForce GPU.
Connectivity — USB 2.0!?
Ports are limited to two USB-C ports and a single USB-A 2.0 port. We're not sure why MSI opted for USB 2.0 instead of 3.0 on such an expensive laptop, but at least the USB-C ports each support Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt-based docking stations and monitors are recommended to make the most of the Summit E14.
SD Card Reader
Transfer rates from the integrated MicroSD reader are much faster than the same card reader on the Modern 14. Moving 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II card to desktop takes about 6 seconds here compared to 50 seconds on the aforementioned model.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS (AV Pro V60) | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS (AV Pro V60) | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 (AV Pro V60) | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Communication
Webcam
Though there is no physical webcam shutter, MSI has an electronic one via the F6 key. The feature merely disabled the webcam meaning the camera itself is never covered or turns opaque.
Maintenance
The bottom panel comes off easily with just a Philips screwdriver and sharp edge. The internals nearly identical to the Prestige 14 including the soldered RAM.
Accessories and Warranty
The retail box includes the AC adapter, paperwork, and a USB-A to RJ-45 adapter. The usual one year manufacturer warranty applies in the U.S. while users in the U.K. may get two years. Xotic PC offers additional protection options.
Input Devices — Old Modern Take
Keyboard
Both key layout and feedback are similar to the Summit B15 or Modern 14. Thus, our original comments on the B15 keyboard apply here on the E14 including the firm-but-light feedback with moderately loud clatter. The awkwardly squished Fn and Ctrl keys remain as well but at least the arrow keys are full-size unlike on the Summit E13.
Touchpad
The clickpad is larger than the one on the older Modern 14 (10.5 x 6.5 cm vs. 10 x 5.7 cm). Traction is smooth when gliding at medium or faster speeds for comfortable cursor control. When gliding at slower speeds, however, there is more sticking than on most other laptops including on the Microsoft Surface.
The integrated clickpad buttons are shallow in travel with relatively soft feedback and moderately loud clatter when pressed. Multi-touch actions such as drag and drop are slightly more difficult than it needs to be.
Display — Super Bright 4K
While HWiNFO is unable to identify the exact panel name, we can at least confirm an AU Optronics controller. The 4K panel on the Summit E14 is brighter than expected and of high quality as evident by its respectable contrast ratio of over 1000:1 and deep colors. It suffers from a slight graininess issue, however, due to its overlying matte layer instead of sharper glossy.
Black-white and gray-gray response times are average at best meaning ghosting is noticeable especially if gaming. It's recommended to use an external monitor if the ghosting is an issue.
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Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 593.3 cd/m²
Contrast: 1119:1 (Black: 0.53 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.42 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91, calibrated: 4.3
ΔE Greyscale 3.2 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
99.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
100% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
87.5% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.04
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS AU Optronics AUO123B, IPS, 14", 3840x2160 | MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 BOE CQ NV140FHM-N4V, IPS, 14", 1920x1080 | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 AUO B140HAN06.2 (AUO623D), IPS-Level, 14", 1920x1080 | ADATA XPG Xenia 14 BOE NE140WUM-N63, IPS, 14", 1920x1200 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE NE140FHM-N61, IPS LED, 14", 1920x1080 | VAIO Z VJZ141C11L BOE NE140QUM-N62, IPS, 14", 3840x2160 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -51% | -17% | -16% | -21% | -1% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 87.5 | 39.9 -54% | 68.8 -21% | 70 -20% | 68.1 -22% | 95.7 9% |
| sRGB Coverage | 100 | 58.8 -41% | 99.4 -1% | 99.1 -1% | 91.7 -8% | 99.5 0% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 99.4 | 41.2 -59% | 70.9 -29% | 72 -28% | 67.1 -32% | 86.4 -13% |
| Response Times | 50% | -11% | 3% | -21% | 10% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 52 ? | 25 ? 52% | 59.6 ? -15% | 50 ? 4% | 68 ? -31% | 46.8 ? 10% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 30.8 ? | 16 ? 48% | 32.8 ? -6% | 30.4 ? 1% | 34 ? -10% | 28 ? 9% |
| PWM Frequency | 92 ? | 22730 ? | ||||
| Screen | 5% | 12% | 28% | -7% | 16% | |
| Brightness middle | 593.3 | 347 -42% | 293 -51% | 344.6 -42% | 422.9 -29% | 368.3 -38% |
| Brightness | 571 | 311 -46% | 277 -51% | 321 -44% | 397 -30% | 361 -37% |
| Brightness Distribution | 87 | 81 -7% | 89 2% | 89 2% | 91 5% | 90 3% |
| Black Level * | 0.53 | 0.12 77% | 0.18 66% | 0.22 58% | 0.32 40% | 0.22 58% |
| Contrast | 1119 | 2892 158% | 1628 45% | 1566 40% | 1322 18% | 1674 50% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.42 | 5.05 -14% | 2.95 33% | 1.51 66% | 4.8 -9% | 3.27 26% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 7.16 | 16.98 -137% | 6.03 16% | 4.1 43% | 8.7 -22% | 5.43 24% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 4.3 | 0.9 79% | 0.52 88% | 1.9 56% | 2.33 46% | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3.2 | 1.63 49% | 4.2 -31% | 1.9 41% | 6.1 -91% | 2.9 9% |
| Gamma | 2.04 108% | 2.3 96% | 2.099 105% | 2.17 101% | 2.23 99% | 2.2 100% |
| CCT | 6737 96% | 6666 98% | 6622 98% | 6787 96% | 7635 85% | 6071 107% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 38 | 71 | 76.8 | |||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 58 | 93 | 99.5 | |||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 1% /
-1% | -5% /
3% | 5% /
15% | -16% /
-12% | 8% /
11% |
* ... smaller is better
Color space covers all of AdobeRGB as advertised by the manufacturer to be wider than most Ultrabooks with only 1080p panels.
X-Rite colorimeter measurements show colors to be slightly more accurate at higher saturation levels than on lower saturation levels. Average DeltaE values are still good at only 3 to 4, but additional fine-tuning may be needed to reach 2 or lower.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 30.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 17.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 82 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 52 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 27.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 24.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 87 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Outdoor visibility is better than on most other Ultrabooks due to the bright 600-nit matte panel to reduce glare. The display here is nearly two times brighter than the displays on the Modern 14, XPG Xenia 14, and even Prestige 14. We had no issues reading onscreen content when under shade while brighter ambient lighting can still be tricky.
Performance
The Summit E14 is notable for being one of the few 14-inch laptops to pair a Core U-series vPro CPU with a GeForce GTX GPU. This fact alone will give the MSI system a huge advantage in graphics performance when compared to most other 14-inch Ultrabooks available where slower integrated graphics are much more common.
Our unit was set to High Performance mode via MSI Business Center prior to running any benchmarks below for the highest possible scores. Users should become familiar with the MSI software as key features can be toggled here including Cooler Boost (or maximum fan mode).
Processor — Tiger Lake-U To The Rescue
CPU performance is good with results that are a few percentage points higher than the average laptop in our database equipped with the same Core i7-1185G7 CPU. Models with the Core i7-1165G7 like the Xenia 14 may be slightly faster since they have no vPro overhead, but the difference will be unnoticeable when running most loads. AMD Ryzen CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5500U or Ryzen 7 4700U can offer faster multi-thread performance at the cost of slower single-thread performance.
Performance sustainability is good but not perfect with CineBench R15 xT loop test scores that can fall by as much as 16 percent temporarily before bouncing back. Rerunning this test with Cooler Boost enabled will negate these drops.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14ALC05 82HU002YUS | |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0010nr | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7 (3610 - 6383, n=24) | |
| Infinix INBook X1 Pro | |
| Acer Spin 3 SP314-54N-56S5 | |
| Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7 (1251 - 1532, n=24) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0010nr | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14ALC05 82HU002YUS | |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
| Infinix INBook X1 Pro | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE | |
| Acer Spin 3 SP314-54N-56S5 | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7 (1398 - 1626, n=21) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0010nr | |
| Acer Spin 3 SP314-54N-56S5 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14ALC05 82HU002YUS | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UX434FL-DB77 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14-20U50003GE | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14ALC05 82HU002YUS | |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7 (4620 - 5944, n=21) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0010nr | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14-20U50003GE | |
| Acer Spin 3 SP314-54N-56S5 | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UX434FL-DB77 | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
PCMark 10 scores are generally higher than other 14-inch Ultrabooks including both the Prestige 14 Evo or Modern 14 due to the much faster GeForce GTX graphics. If your daily workloads depend on graphics performance, then the Summit E14 will be the fastest option of the three MSI models.
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q (5288 - 5325, n=2) | |
| VAIO Z VJZ141C11L | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| VAIO Z VJZ141C11L | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q (8566 - 9025, n=2) | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q (7935 - 8088, n=2) | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| VAIO Z VJZ141C11L | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1185G7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q (5616 - 5904, n=2) | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| VAIO Z VJZ141C11L | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 5325 points | |
Help | ||
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows DPC latency issues when opening multiple browser tabs on our homepage and also when the CPU is at 100 percent utilization via Prime95 stress. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise smooth and without dropped frames.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS | |
| MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| VAIO Z VJZ141C11L | |
| ADATA XPG Xenia 14 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our unit ships with a 1 TB Phison NVMe M.2 2280 SSD with sequential read and write rates that are not unlike what we recorded on the Prestige 14 Evo laptop. Its read rate of almost 5000 MB/s surpasses any PCIe 3 NVMe SSD while being slower than the PCIe 4 Samsung PM9A1.
The system supports only one internal drive with no secondary slot.
| MSI Summit E14 A11SCS Phison 1TB SM2801T24GKBB4S-E162 | MSI Modern 14 B11SB-085 Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 Phison 512GB SM280512GKBB4S-E162 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | VAIO Z VJZ141C11L Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS SSD | -36% | 7% | 5% | 28% | |
| Seq Read | 3845 | 1610 -58% | 3760 -2% | 2825 -27% | 5533 44% |
| Seq Write | 2283 | 931 -59% | 2335 2% | 1288 -44% | 3289 44% |
| 4K Read | 54.3 | 36.18 -33% | 66.8 23% | 61.2 13% | 72.5 34% |
| 4K Write | 78.5 | 170.5 117% | 184.3 135% | 190.6 143% | 213.7 172% |
| 4K-64 Read | 1341 | 457.3 -66% | 1801 34% | 1147 -14% | 2128 59% |
| 4K-64 Write | 2143 | 914 -57% | 1754 -18% | 1827 -15% | 2032 -5% |
| Access Time Read * | 0.049 | 0.092 -88% | 0.135 -176% | 0.055 -12% | 0.039 20% |
| Access Time Write * | 0.041 | 0.019 54% | 0.018 56% | 0.019 54% | 0.06 -46% |
| Score Read | 1780 | 655 -63% | 2244 26% | 1491 -16% | 2754 55% |
| Score Write | 2450 | 1178 -52% | 2172 -11% | 2146 -12% | 2574 5% |
| Score Total | 5069 | 2144 -58% | 5500 9% | 4336 -14% | 6629 31% |
| Copy ISO MB/s | 2035 | 1277 -37% | 2235 10% | ||
| Copy Program MB/s | 956 | 438.4 -54% | 796 -17% | ||
| Copy Game MB/s | 1951 | 977 -50% | 1652 -15% | ||
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | -47% | -9% | -18% | 28% | |
| Write 4K | 314.4 | 236.2 -25% | 248.4 -21% | 149.7 -52% | 236.7 -25% |
| Read 4K | 55.9 | 47.53 -15% | 56.4 1% | 64.5 15% | 78.6 41% |
| Write Seq | 2402 | 974 -59% | 2513 5% | 1933 -20% | 3689 54% |
| Read Seq | 2408 | 1043 -57% | 2250 -7% | 2512 4% | 4340 80% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 840 | 603 -28% | 589 -30% | 514 -39% | 646 -23% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 925 | 299.3 -68% | 696 -25% | 475.9 -49% | 717 -22% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 2405 | 974 -60% | 2515 5% | 2968 23% | 4396 83% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 4927 | 1983 -60% | 4915 0% | 3542 -28% | 6804 38% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -42% /
-40% | -1% /
0% | -7% /
-5% | 28% /
28% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Outstanding For The Size
The GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q is one of the slower GTX-based graphics options currently in the current market, but it is still over 2x faster than the integrated Intel Iris Xe that's now become commonplace on most Ultrabooks. While 3DMark results don't properly show this, real-world games like GTA V or DOTA 2 show frame rates to be more than two times higher on our MSI system when compared to Tiger Lake-U laptops running only on Iris Xe.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 11398 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 19479 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 7292 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 3015 points | |
Help | ||