MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ overview: 30+ hours (!!!) of battery life

Worth When Reviewed

$1299

Finest Costs At present: MSI Status Flip 14 AI+

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ is among the first few laptops within the new slate of machines working on refreshed Intel {hardware}, bringing some thrilling bumps to graphical efficiency and effectivity. It additionally will get fitted into a brand new design that’s glossy, slim, and a step away from the gamer aesthetic that many prior MSI machines exhibited.

In our testing, the {hardware} held up nicely and the internals held up even higher. With that, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ proves a potent possibility for these in search of glossy efficiency and glorious longevity, although a number of weaker facets finally go away me extra excited for up to date fashions from totally different manufacturers.

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Specs and options

• CPU: Intel Core Extremely X7 358H
• Reminiscence: 32GB LPDDR5x-8533
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc B390
• Show: 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED touchscreen, 60Hz, Shiny, Stylus included
• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD – Micron 2500_MTFDKBA1T0QGN
• Webcam: 1080p + IR
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C with Energy Supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6.0
• Biometrics: Home windows Hi there fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capability: 78.6 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.42 x 8.74 x 0.55 inches
• Weight: 3.02 kilos
• MSRP: $1299 as-tested ($1,299 base)

On the time of writing, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ was supplied in only one configuration. This included the Intel Core Extremely X7 358H paired with 32GB of reminiscence and Intel Arc B390 graphics. That mentioned, MSI’s product particulars alluded to each Intel Core Extremely X9 configurations and lower-end configurations that will not embrace Arc graphics. So, it’s probably extra fashions will be part of the stack, including extra highly effective and extra reasonably priced choices. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Design and construct high quality

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ is a sleekly constructed 2-in-1 laptop computer. It doesn’t do an excessive amount of to be flashy or stand out, nevertheless it has curb attraction. The aluminum alloy chassis is according to its rounded edges and corners, which give it a cushty really feel even when in its pill mode. 

The hinges are the easy 360-degree type we see on most 2-in-1 fashions, not one thing extra lavish or distinctive. They’re useful, however they do let the display screen wiggle a bit after making changes. It may also be somewhat difficult to open the lid with only one hand. 

Regardless that you’re getting an all-metal development for the chassis, it does flex somewhat bit. It’s greater than I’d anticipate, however not a worrying quantity. On the flip aspect, the show lid flexes lower than loads of different laptops. Altogether it’s a good exhibiting for a laptop computer this skinny.

The display screen will get a Gorilla Glass end that extends all the way in which to the sides relatively than swapping over to plastic for the bezels. These bezels are skinny on the perimeters however thicker on the high and thickest on the backside — fairly typical for 2-in-1s. The higher bezel squeezes in a webcam with a bodily privateness shutter that’s simple (however not too simple) to slip into place and two mics. MSI truly inbuilt a 3rd mic on the keyboard deck simply to the left of the Caps Lock key. 

Beneath, the laptop computer sits on rubber toes with one vast foot stretching throughout the again, which helps stop reintake of the recent air exhausted out of the again fringe of the system.

Foundry / Mark Knapp

Between the 2 entrance toes, there’s a charging slot for the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+’s included stylus. The stylus absolutely tucks away into this slot. It pops out utilizing magnetism when a small latch is pulled out of the way in which. Sadly, this method makes it very fussy to get again into place. The magnets wish to push it proper again out and rotate it in order that the charging pins don’t line up proper, and it’s a really tremendous line between absolutely inserted and never fairly inserted sufficient to keep away from having the laptop computer pop it proper again out. 

The stylus is a really skinny, akin to the sort you’d discover for telephones. It tracks precisely and makes for a extra exact enter than the trackpad or fingers for jotting notes or doodling. However it’s not a high-performance stylus with strain or tilt sensitivity. At the very least it triggers hand rejection after it’s been used (however not earlier than). 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Keyboard, trackpad

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ includes a respectable keyboard that some might like. The keys have a brief journey that may make for fast, light-touch typing. The stabilization can also be fairly good. However they lack a lot tactility, and the keycaps are fairly easy and don’t have a lot contour, which I discovered held me again as I had a tough time confidently feeling every key and keypress.

I used to be in a position to stand up to a typing pace of 112 phrases per minute in Monketype, however struggled to maintain my accuracy up above 95 %. The keys get white backlighting, and fortunately MSI stored the keycaps black and legends white, which helps with visibility, although it may be somewhat arduous to inform the backlighting is on (and losing battery) in shiny situations. 

The trackpad is massive and pretty easy, nevertheless it’s in any other case unremarkable. The bodily click on is mild, plasticky, and shortly turns into too stiff above the underside third of the trackpad. The highest corners of the trackpad embrace shortcuts to the calculator and the MSI Heart S software program, which is ok, I suppose, however MSI Heart S has a second shortcut on the F7 key.

The trackpad additionally helps a number of different gestures and customers can arrange three extra gestures. However, crucially, MSI has locked the defaults — no customizing these — and made the entire system all-or-nothing, forcing you to both allow all of its gestures or disable all of them. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Software program be aware

The system comes with Norton pre-installed, which usually I might say isn’t too huge a deal. I don’t look after it personally, however a freebie is a freebie. Nonetheless, on this case, Norton created points.

I discovered many webpages failing to load incessantly with no clear purpose why. I’d go to Amazon, LinkedIn, or Fb — frequent web sites — and the loading wheel would simply spin and spin whilst I ran a pace check in a distinct tab that confirmed a quick connection. After having had sufficient, I attempted uninstalling Norton and as quickly because it completed, these pages completed loading.

Norton additionally seems to have been chargeable for one other annoying habits the place as a substitute of going to sleep when the lid was shut, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ would merely energy down. It was a lot quick as well again up, however this nonetheless closed all my browser tabs. As quickly as I uninstalled Norton, this habits went away.  It’s all of the extra curious that any of this occurred within the first place, as I had a minimum of disabled Norton from the beginning. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Show, audio

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+’s show is a combined bag. On the one hand, it has some beautiful qualities. It achieves 100% protection of the DCI-P3 coloration area and it even proved fairly correct with a measured common dE1976 of 0.57 and a max of 1.41. These are nice outcomes. As an OLED panel, it’s additionally naturally responsive and has an infinite distinction ratio. 

However the show is simply 1920×1200, which is respectable however not tremendous sharp subsequent to the glut of 2880×1800 opponents on this area. The show can also be not impressively shiny. It maxed out a surprisingly low 294 nits. In an workplace area or dimmer interiors, it’s not a difficulty, however that mixed with the shiny show makes it more durable to make use of successfully in shiny areas even with the display screen dialed as much as its max brightness.

There’s a particular draw back to the help for contact and the stylus: You’ll be able to see the digitizing layer. On areas of the display screen which might be one strong coloration just like the white background or a phrase doc, the little dots that comprise the digitizing layer are readily seen, wanting like tiny little speckles on the display screen. It’s refined and hides away higher on darker and non-uniform backgrounds, nevertheless it offers a softness to visuals that impacts tremendous particulars. It might not irk everybody, and it naturally turns into extra refined the additional away you view the display screen, however I nonetheless discover it hurts the general expertise even at affordable viewing distances. 

The laptop computer combines a pair of two-watt woofers and a pair of two-watt tweeters, which give it a nice sound with out being too harsh within the mids or missing fullness. The bass continues to be delicate at finest, and also you’ll miss out on loads of affect if you happen to’re listening to music or watching films. However you’re nonetheless getting loud, crisp audio system that greater than do the job.

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The webcam on the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ helps Home windows Hi there facial recognition, which is a fast and handy method to signal into the system. Past that, it’s form of unhealthy. Even with a 1080p decision for video, it seems to be grainy and like every part it captures is smeared in grease, erasing any form of tremendous element. It will get its publicity proper, however seeing such poor outcomes even in good lighting situations is a disappointment.

Fortunately, the triple mic array performs way more admirably. It picks up my voice fairly nicely, offering a transparent copy of what I say whereas additionally suppressing background noise decently. An ambulance siren and a fan (that began squealing as a result of some fault) throughout my check recording had been each audible in my check, however the siren was hushed and the squealing fan didn’t cease the mics from choosing up my voice clearly. 

Along with facial recognition, the laptop computer features a fingerprint scanner within the energy button, which sits close to the top-right nook of the keyboard. The scanner unlocked the laptop computer shortly after registering my fingerprint, which it did efficiently about 50 % of the time — a fairly good lead to my expertise utilizing laptop computer fingerprint scanners.

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Connectivity

Foundry / Mark Knapp

Different thin-and-light laptops have been warned: there’s no excuse for skimping on connectivity. Even with the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ measuring simply over a half-inch thick, it squeezes in a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, a pair of USB-A 10Gbps ports, a headset jack, and an HDMI 2.1 port. The truth that it even discovered area to deal with its skinny little stylus and cost it’s icing on the cake. Any small laptop computer rocking fewer ports seems to be stingy compared. An SD or microSD card slot may have been a great bonus, however the USB ports are ok for peripheral readers and hubs. 

The system goes heavy on wi-fi connectivity, too, with Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 connections. Each have labored persistently in my testing, offering quick and dependable wi-fi connections. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Efficiency

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ has plentiful efficiency because of its new Panther Lake chip, which mixes each a really succesful CPU and an built-in GPU that goes nicely past what we’re used to seeing. Although, to be upfront, the default energy plan for the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ doesn’t let the system put its finest foot ahead.

With ample reminiscence and quick storage, it’s little shock to see the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ rating excessive marks in PCMark 10’s holistic benchmark, which examines how nicely a pc can carry out routine workplace duties like searching, web-conferencing, spreadsheets, and media modifying. The system will get a robust increase within the photograph modifying sub-test because of its graphics efficiency. 

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ will get nicely forward of current thin-and-light champs just like the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI and the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Version, exhibiting among the profit of getting newer {hardware}. However we are able to additionally see that the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ isn’t at all times going to prepared the ground. By default, the system is available in a balanced energy profile, and that conservative setup might be sufficient to carry it again. 

Working our Handbrake check, which duties the system with a hefty encoding process that slams the CPU lengthy and arduous, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ fell nicely behind the pack. It took nearly twice so long as the Dell XPS 14 working the identical CPU and lagged behind even a last-gen CPU within the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Version. Maybe the one purpose it beat the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI is as a result of that system, too, ran in a balanced energy profile by default. You may assume the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ has weak cooling that throttles it throughout lengthy checks, however that’s not fairly it. As a substitute Handbrake helps exhibit what a vital distinction easy energy settings could make. 

Managing energy use is sweet for battery life, nevertheless it’s value understanding simply how a lot energy the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ is prepared to sacrifice. So I repeated a number of of the checks in a efficiency energy profile and the distinction was stark.

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ truly has loads of pace to supply and a good cooling setup that mixes a vapor chamber and two cooling followers that work fairly nicely with out getting too loud. Whereas its balanced profile once more confirmed so-so ends in Cinebench, narrowly beating some last-gen Intel-powered techniques, the efficiency profile was sufficient to show it into a frontrunner.

It managed a single-core efficiency bump of seven % in Cinebench R23 and 5 % in R24, and a multi-core efficiency bump of 19 % in Cinebench R23 and 49.5 % in Cinebench R24. Not solely did the system show prepared to spice up its efficiency, nevertheless it additionally sustained longer duties higher relatively than shortly throttling beneath a load. 

This efficiency held true for the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+’s graphics as nicely. Even in its balanced mode, the brand new Intel Arc B390 graphics had been sufficient to present it an edge over earlier Intel Arc 140V techniques, nevertheless it nonetheless lagged nicely behind the Dell XPS 14 working in efficiency mode. However as quickly because the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ toggled over to efficiency mode, it leapt forward. Its efficiency even places it in league with some techniques working discrete GPUs just like the RTX 4050 or RTX 3060, although it tended to fall somewhat wanting these, particularly in thicker, higher-wattage techniques. 

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ proved able to some heavier gaming as nicely. It hit a median of 68fps (49fps in Balanced mode) in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p and the Highest graphics preset. And it held a gradual 30-40fps in Helldivers 2 at Native 1920×1200 (no DLSS/XeSS/FSR) and Medium graphics settings. Even whereas working arduous, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ doesn’t get too sizzling or loud. The followers generally is a little shrill, however not horrible. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Battery life

The flip aspect of the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+’s conservative Balanced energy profile is that it might probably chug alongside like no laptop computer I’ve ever seen. We’ve seen laptops leap up in battery life over the past couple years, doggedly attempting to catch as much as Apple’s first-party silicon, and there have been some big successes (Lenovo’s ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 breaking information after we first examined it). And the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Version dazzled with loads of efficiency, a beautiful design and show, and almost 24 hours of runtime in our normal battery check. Even then, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ places it to disgrace. 

Taking part in offline video with the show set to 250 nits, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ ran for an astounding 34:28 (a outcome so staggering I nearly wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t already seen the laptop computer muster 29:45 in the identical check after I had began it from 93 % cost as a result of it was refusing to cost to 100% for an unknown purpose). This not solely blows every part we’ve examined earlier than out of the water nevertheless it additionally trounces the Dell XPS 14 working on the identical chip and an solely barely smaller battery.

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ had nonetheless extra to supply. Working PCMark 10’s built-in battery benchmark, nonetheless at 250 nits and this time with Wi-Fi nonetheless on to raised simulate real-world use, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ lasted 18:14. That noticed it run almost so long as the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI managed in its offline video playback check.

All that mentioned, precise battery life can nonetheless differ fairly a bit. In my common use, which entails a great few Google Docs and Sheets open in a tab-heavy Chrome browser with side-by-side home windows and frequent video or music playback, the MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ was on tempo for 9 to 10 hours of runtime. It’s very respectable, however nonetheless exhibits that situation and utilization play an enormous position. 

MSI Status Flip 14 AI+: Conclusion

The MSI Status Flip 14 AI+ has loads going for it. It’s a properly constructed machine and is surprisingly mild for all it packs inside. It’s all of the extra spectacular to see the degrees of efficiency it might probably eke out because of Intel’s newest {hardware}, particularly with its graphics answer. To pair all that with battery life that tops the charts in our testing merely makes it an astounding thin-and-light possibility. It could have been much more thrilling if it had been paired with a sharper, sooner, and brighter show. And even with its glorious effectivity, battery life in precise use falls again to earthly lengths. Finally, that forestalls it from being a really good machine, nevertheless it has sufficient going for it to be in any other case nice.