MSI Katana 15 review: Cuts corners, but delivers where it counts

MSI is a brand known for its value-focused gaming products as an alternative to more mainstream and expensive brands, such as Dell’s Alienware and Razer. The MSI Katana 15 is built to continue that tradition, offering powerful gaming performance and a 15-inch display at a starting price of under $1,000. Of course, to reach that price point, you would expect the company to have to make some sacrifices, especially compared to the truly premium models that offer all the latest bells and whistles. But are the compromises for the lower price worth it? I’ve been using the MSI Katana 15 for a while now to find out.

Unboxing and first impressions of the MSI Katana 15

The unboxing experience of the MSI Katana 15 is perfectly fine — no better or worse than any other Windows laptop I’ve reviewed. You’ll open the box to see the laptop in a soft protective covering next to a box that contains the power cable. You’ll find the power supply under the laptop. That’s all you’ll get in the box, apart from the documentation for things like the warranty.

When you first take the laptop out of the box, you’ll find that it’s reasonably well-built, though not as solid-feeling as some of the newer ultrabooks out there. The laptop is made largely from plastic and it can feel slightly cheap. However, that’s simply one of the tradeoffs associated with buying a cheaper gaming laptop, and besides, what’s inside is powerful.

Key specifications

• Dimensions: 14.13 inches long x 10.20 inches wide x 0.98 inches high.
• Weight: 4.96 pounds.
• Ports: Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, one USB-A 2.0, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, 3.5mm audio, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet.
• Screen size: 15.6 inches
• Display resolution: 1920 x 1080.
• Display type: IPS.
• Display refresh rate: 144Hz.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-12450H, Core i7-12650H, Core i7-13620H, Core i9-13900H.
• RAM: 16GB, 32GB, DDR5.
• Hard drive type: SSD Gen4x4.
• Hard drive capacity: 512GB, 1TB.
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce, RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RTX 4070.
• Graphics memory: 6GB, 8GB.
• Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2.
• Operating system: Windows 11 Home, Windows 11 Pro.
• Battery size: 3-cell 53.5Whr.
• Power adapter: 200W.
• Webcam: 720p.
• Speakers: Two 2-watt speakers.

Our review model is technically the MIS Katana 15 B13VEK-1675US, which means that it has a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and 16GB of RAM. It’s the entry-level current-generation model, though MSI also sells an older-gen model.

Key features of the MSI Katana 15

Port selection

The port selection on the MSI Katana 15 is fine, but I can’t help but wish there were more USB-C ports to have additional options, like connecting to an external display. On the left side of the laptop, you’ll find the power input and two USB-A ports, one of which is USB 3.2 and the other USB 2.0.

The rest of the ports are on the right. There’s an ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 port, a lone USB-C 3.2 port, a second USB-A 3.2 port and a headphone jack.

I understand that many people still have USB-A accessories lying around, but the world is moving towards USB-C. Keeping one or two USB-A ports might make sense for some buyers but at this point, any new laptop should have more USB-C ports than USB-A ports. Some manufacturers have gotten around this by including an adapter with extra USB-A ports in the box, but regardless, I wish MSI adopted USB-C a little more aggressively.

Keyboard and touchpad

The MSI Katana 15 keyboard is clearly built for gamers. It has full RGB backlighting, highlighted WASD keys and more. It’s also a large-format keyboard with a full number pad, which could be handy in particular gaming situations such as traditional roguelikes. MSI did move some keys, like the mathematical keys usually found to the right of the number pad, and that will require a bit of a learning curve.

That said, the keyboard feels great. The keys offer a good amount of travel, are well-spaced and have a good click. Typing longer articles was easy and it took me almost no time to get used to the feel of the keyboard. I don’t love the font of print on the keys, but that’s a personal preference, and you might disagree.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is pretty low-end, which is disappointing considering the quality of the keyboard. The trackpad is pretty small and feels cheap, especially when you click it in. Thankfully, the edges and corners seem mostly responsive, but the size and feel of the touchpad really takes away from the experience of using it. Obviously, many gamers will use a mouse instead of a touchpad, but that doesn’t mean laptop manufacturers can ignore touchpads. It’s probably worth using the laptop with one of the best gaming mice for a better experience.

Display and webcam

The display on the MSI Katana 15 is on the low end, too. It’s an IPS display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, so don’t expect to get a fancy new OLED screen here. The screen isn’t touch-sensitive, though many people won’t need a touch display anyway, and the hinge on the laptop doesn’t hold the screen in place enough to make a touch display worth adding. Thankfully, the screen does have a 144Hz refresh rate, which should make games look smooth and responsive. If you want to expand your setup, sit back in one of the best gaming chairs and upgrade your screen with the best gaming monitors.

Generally, I’ll admit that the display doesn’t look great. The colors are a little washed out and it’s probably not the best screen for creative tasks like video and photo editing. This laptop does just fine for gaming and watching videos but don’t expect a super accurate or high-end experience.

The webcam is a little disappointing as well. It’s a 720p camera, and I don’t love that there are still laptops that cost over $500 in 2024 with 720p webcams. Again, the colors weren’t amazing and considering the low resolution, it wasn’t very crisp.

Speakers

The Katana 15 has two 2-watt speakers built into it, located under the front corners. Usually, speakers that are downward-facing instead of up-firing don’t sound very clear or detailed, but fortunately, the speakers here weren’t terrible. They offered decent bass response and got relatively loud, so in a pinch they’ll do just fine. That said, it’s still a good idea to get one of the best gaming headsets or computer speakers to use with this laptop.

Performance

Overall performance

The display, touchpad and webcam may not be all that impressive on the Katana 15, but that’s not really the point of this laptop. The idea here is simple: It’s about giving access to high-end processing at a lower price point, and that means cutting corners elsewhere. That’s where the Katana 15 delivers.

Our base laptop model for this generation comes with an Intel i7-13620H, a 13th-generation chip (not the newest 14th-generation) built for laptops, with 10 cores.

That processor is coupled with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card in this review model. It’s Nvidia’s entry-level GPU in the 40 series, but that doesn’t mean it’s subpar — it just means that it’s not as powerful as some others. Additionally, you’ll be gaming at 1080p if you use the laptop’s screen, so most of the time you won’t need a more powerful GPU anyway.

For basic tasks, unsurprisingly, the Katana 15 goes above and beyond. It’s able to handle even heavy multitasking, with many browser tabs open at the same time. Buying a gaming laptop like this for productivity is overkill, though.

Far more important is the gaming and graphics performance here. The laptop does quite well here, both in benchmarks and in real-world use. The laptop handled itself easily when playing “Overwatch 2,” even in higher settings, and I didn’t notice any majorly dropped frames at a 1080p resolution. It handled larger open-world games quite easily too. For example, when playing “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla,” the laptop retained frame rates well above 100 at medium settings, and while they were a little lower at the highest graphics settings, the game was more than playable.

In benchmarks, the Katana 15 also did well. In CineBench R23, a test of the capabilities of a computer’s hardware, the laptop scored 14065 in the multi-core test and 1651 in the single-core test. These are solid results, and show a laptop that offers excellent graphics performance in this price range.

I did find that the laptop fans kicked in quite easily and got fairly loud. You won’t notice it as much if you use headphones, but you will in other situations.

Battery performance

The laptop puts general performance above all else, including battery life. In fact, the battery performance is not great. If you plan on using the laptop for gaming, you can expect it to only last a few hours, at most.

That’s not necessarily all that surprising, as gaming laptops in general tend to offer lower-end battery performance. But other gaming laptops do offer a longer battery life than the Katana 15. Most users will want to keep the power supply connected to the laptop when they’re gaming, but the battery should provide at least four or five hours of use.

Design

The overall design of the MSI Katana 15 isn’t bad, but it feels a little cheap. The laptop is mostly made of plastic, and much of that plastic felt low quality. Not only that, there’s quite a bit of flex in the keyboard and lid. Some parts felt more substantial, like the top of the lid and the plastic used around the keyboard, but don’t expect the most premium-feeling laptop.

The Katana 15 measures in at 14.13 inches long by 10.2 inches wide by 0.98 inches high and weighs 4.96 pounds, which is big for a laptop in general, but not bad for a gaming laptop in this class. Other similar-sized gaming laptops are larger and weigh more, and while you won’t buy a gaming laptop for its portability, it’s still nice to find something a little lighter.

Beyond the basic dimensions, much of the design was over the top. The best example is the keyboard design. Personally, from the font to the pixel designs on the arrow keys and spacebar, I found the design to be a little much. Again, some may disagree, and much of this comes down to personal preference.

Is it for you?

The MSI Katana 15 is designed for a specific use-case. It avoids the price associated with high-end displays and touchpads in favor of delivering a level of performance that usually costs more. And, it succeeds in doing so. This laptop delivers great gaming performance at under $1,000, and if you’re looking for the best gaming laptop, you can get it for the $1,000 price point. Depending on your priorities, this is probably it.

Read article: Why RAM Matters for Gaming: Here's What You Need to Know

User reviews

For the most part, users love the MSI Katana 15, and different models of the laptop had between 4.3 and 4.6 stars on average on Amazon.

One user on Amazon found that the MSI Katana 15 offered excellent value: “I bought this laptop for college and for gaming on the side and it is exactly what I was looking for. It's really powerful and while it's expensive the price matches it and is an overall amazing value.”

Other users weren’t as impressed with certain aspects of the laptop, while still finding that it offered solid value overall. For example, one user found the laptop to have loud fans. “Works good, runs as expected. The setup wasn't bad and I was able to turn off or uninstall most things I didn't want. It does heat up your room very quickly and can be quite loud, but I didn't notice it that often.”

MSI Katana 15 alternatives

Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9

The Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9 offers similar performance at a higher price, starting at $1,232.99. The Legion 5i does have a more premium build and sleeker design, so if you’re willing to pay a little more for a higher-end build, then it may be worth considering.

HP Omen 16

The HP Omen 16 is also more expensive than the MSI Katana 15, starting at $1,449.99, while delivering similar overall performance. When it’s on sale, you might be able to get it for a similar price as the Katana 15, but when it’s sold at its list price, it’s quite a bit pricier.

Acer Nitro 16

The Acer Nitro 16 is also a great gaming laptop, and it’s slightly more expensive than the Katana 15, starting at $1,199.99. That said, the Nitro 16 with an Intel Core i5 is more expensive than a Kanata 15 with an Intel Core i7 chip. So if performance is most important to you, the Katana 15 is the way to go.

The AP Buyline takeaway:

The MSI Katana 15 cuts some corners, but it excels where it counts, with great performance at a lower-than-average price.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Is the MSI Katana 15 good for video editing?

The MSI Katana 15 offers good graphics at a low price, and for some, that will make it a great video editing laptop. However, video editors may want to use the laptop with a separate monitor, as the screen on the Katana 15 doesn’t look great and doesn’t show colors very accurately.

Can the MSI Katana 15 be upgraded?

Technically, you can upgrade the MSI Katana 15 laptop. To do so, you will need to remove a number of screws, including one screw with a tamper warning sticker, and doing so may impact your warranty. You can upgrade the laptop’s hard drive. There are two SO-DIMM slots, though they may both be occupied.

Does the MSI Katana 15 have two SSD slots?

Out of the box, only one SSD can be installed, but there is evidence that installing a second SSD may be possible with additional MSI-supplied parts.

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