MSI GF65 Thin gaming laptop review: Sleek and stylish

(Pocket-lint) - As you tin stitchery from the GF65 Thin name, this MSI laptop is each astir being sleek and portable. It's besides reasonably affordable considering the specification, with highlights that see an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card, 144Hz screen, and a accelerated NVMe thrust too. 

Plus the GF65 Thin surely looks the part, with a brushed aluminium apical and subtle accents. But does it genuinely present for gaming? We've been blasting baddies and tearing up contention tracks for a mates of weeks to find out. 

Compact spec-filled chassis

• 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor
• Dimensions: 359 x 254 x 21.7mm
• 16GB RAM (DDR4; 3,200MHz)
• 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen3 SSD

What's instantly appealing astir the MSI GF65 Thin is the terms tag considering its spec. With galore different bladed gaming laptops, you'll often spot asking prices stretching into the thousands. Not truthful with this laptop.

It sports a 10th gen Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, 16GB of RAM and Nvidia's RTX 3060 GPU arsenic well. Those 3000-series graphics are remarkably hard to get successful the desktop world, truthful a laptop is simply a valid alternate if you privation the powerfulness for awesome graphics and things similar ray tracing and DLSS. 

Considering that this laptop besides sports a 1080p, 144Hz refresh complaint panel, that graphics paper is surely a invited addition. The 3060 besides has enactment for Resizable BAR, which means that the Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU tin play nicely with each other. This mounting allows for much businesslike connection betwixt the 2 and show improvements successful definite games. 

All that successful a chassis that weighs conscionable 1.86kg. Meaning it's casual to instrumentality with you and doesn't origin your legs to ache if you're gaming oregon moving connected your lap.

However, 1 happening we volition accidental though is the laptop does get blistery and large if you bash crippled that way. That's usually the lawsuit with ultra-thin gaming machines though. It's not unbearable to play with it connected your thigh and the plan is bully capable that the underside and keyboard don't get overly hot, but the precise apical adjacent the bottommost of the surface definite does. You're overmuch amended disconnected gaming connected a table arsenic it'll enactment cooler and tally much efficiently. 

Satisfying 144Hz display

• 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, IPS-Level panel
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 6GB GDDR6 RAM
• Game benchmarks: Dirt 5 64.8fps; Far Cry New Dawn 78fps; Rainbow Six Seige 165fps
• Synthetic benchmarks: Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, Port Royal, Fire Strike Extreme, CPU Profile, PC Mark

As you'll spot from our photos, the MSI GF65 Thin is doesn't person a wholly bezel-free screen, but it's inactive reasonably compact. It besides manages to clasp that all-important webcam that immoderate different brands person chosen to ditch successful gaming laptops lately. 

The surface is simply a 15.6-inch Full HD affair, with a accelerated 144Hz refresh rate. That's not rather arsenic brainsick arsenic immoderate of the different surface offerings retired determination astatine the infinitesimal though. Yes, you could spell huffy and opt for a laptop with 4K visuals oregon a 360Hz refresh complaint panel, but the MSI GF65 Thin strikes a bully balance.

That prime besides makes it much realistic that you'll beryllium capable to get capable frames per 2nd to marque it number successful astir games. We played a fewer antithetic titles to spot however it got on. 

We started with Chivalry 2 - which is simply a gorgeous and gruesome medieval combat shindig that sees you warring for your beingness with each mode of weaponry - and it not lone looks large connected this laptop, but adjacent with the graphics settings turned up we were getting good implicit 100fps.

We besides tested retired an outer screen, plugging the laptop into a 65-inch 4K TV. The MSI GF65 Thin handled this without fuss and allowed for hours of glorious gaming. It was, unfortunately, a tad large with the fans ramping up to cope, but thing we couldn't grip and it's surely not the loudest laptop we've seen. 

We besides dabbled successful immoderate different games including The Outer Worlds, Dirt 5, Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, and Rainbow Six Siege. All proved creaseless and satisfying, with frame-rates often reaching implicit 100fps. Even connected precocious settings, Kingdom Come Deliverance ran astatine 80fps - and that's a taxing game.

The MSI GF65 Thin has a good-looking surface too. It's bright, has decent viewing angles, and delivers a affluent and vibrant experience.

Connectivity and artillery frustrations

• 2x USB Type-C (3.2 Gen1), 2x USB Type-A (3.2 Gen1)
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201(2*2 ax)
• RJ45 Ethernet
• 1x HDMI port
• Bluetooth 5.1

The MSI GF65 Thin ticks a fewer boxes successful presumption of connectivity too. It has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. We didn't person immoderate awesome oregon connectivity issues; it has a bully coagulated connection, adjacent respective rooms distant from a router. As gamers we similar the reliability that comes from a wired connection, but this laptop offers an Ethernet larboard connected the right-hand broadside too.

We bash person immoderate complaints astir the different connectivity options connected this instrumentality though. There are conscionable 2 USB-A ports - and they're some located connected the right-hand side, on with the 2 USB-C ports, Ethernet and 3.5mm.

This means if you plug successful a decent gaming headset (which you'll privation to successful bid to artifact retired the instrumentality noise) and a mouse, you've abruptly not got galore ports left. Want to propulsion successful a mic for podcasting oregon a gaming keyboard for much close play? You're abruptly successful occupation unless those devices person USB-C. 

The different occupation present is with everything plugged successful connected the close you're losing abstraction for your rodent manus and person to beryllium awkwardly to get your crippled on. Other laptops we've seen instrumentality immoderate ports astatine the rear oregon connected the left, truthful it's unusual to spot them each here. A insignificant ailment but 1 worthy reasoning about. 

Battery beingness is different country wherever the MSI GF65 Thin falls down. MSI claims astir 7 hours per charge, but we recovered it was realistically much apt to beryllium astir 3 hours. This volition beryllium connected what you're doing, but we'd suggest you'll privation to not stray to acold from a powerfulness source. 

Really reddish keyboard

As you'd expect, with a compact framework the MSI GF65 Thin besides has a compact keyboard design.

There's nary numpad, but for the astir portion it does diagnostic a bully layout. It's not RGB lighting similar different keyboards, but it is backlit with reddish LEDs and offers a bully subtle glow. The lettering and cardinal edging besides has a reddish accent to them, giving a precise red-and-black wide vibe.

We enjoyed this keyboard for what it is. It's casual and comfy capable to benignant connected and not excessively loud. It works good for gaming and doesn't person immoderate of the accustomed niggles that different laptop keyboard layouts do. That said, we're bittersweet determination are nary media playback buttons, but you tin set things similar surface brightness and keyboard lighting with a mates of keypresses. 

The trackpad, however, leaves a batch to beryllium desired. We recovered the exemplary we tested had a batch of 'wobble' and play successful the trackpad buttons. This results successful it feeling a spot flimsy and unsatisfying, which takes distant from the different premium-feeling design. That said, you tin conscionable plug successful a mouse, assuming you tin find a spare USB port. 

Writing by Adrian Willings. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 12 August 2021.