MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF Review

The MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF is a new portable gaming laptop for gamers wanting great performance at a low price. This cyberpunk-inspired portable gaming laptop boasts a translucent keyboard and chassis pieces for futuristic elegance. The Cyborg 15 is ideal for portable gaming at 1.98kg and 21.95mm thick. MSI worked with Romanian sci-fi and cyberpunk concept artist Paul Cheptea to design the perfect cyberpunk persona. Battlefield and other popular games have featured Cheptea’s Blade Runner and Dune-inspired creations.

Performance is optimised for 1080p gaming on the MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF. Featuring Intel’s 12th Gen i7-12650H processor, a 1920×1080 144Hz IPS display, and Nvidia’s RTX 4060 with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, this laptop offers smooth gameplay and multitasking with a TDP of 455 watts. The Cyborg 15 A12VF has a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD and 16GB of DDR5 4800MHz RAM.

MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF Specs

Pros

• An affordable price
• Design inspired by cyberpunk
• Excellent keyboard and gaming performance

CONS

• Poor 720p webcam quality and display.
• Runs heated when gaming.

Price

The MSI Cyborg 15 comes in numerous variants. All variants include a 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD (1920 x 1080) display, the same port options and design, but different CPUs, GPUs, RAM, and storage. Best Buy offers $999 and $1,099 variants. The former has a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, an Nvidia RTX 4050 laptop GPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage, while the latter has an i7 CPU, a 4060 GPU, and 8 GB of RAM. Abt Electronics’ $1,099 model has a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, like Best Buy’s. MSI Cyborg 15 (A13VE-218US) from Costco was reviewed. It has a 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD (1920 x 1080) display, a 13th-gen Intel Core i7-13620H CPU, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 laptop GPU, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage. Costco will sell this model for $999 in late April 2023.

Comfortable to use?

Must it be stylish? No, but it’s different. The 15-inch computer without game graphics is thicker than usual, but it’s not too big or heavy. Carrying just under two kilos. Not include the battery charger. The keyboard is pleasant, with large keys and a clear click response. The backlight is always blue, and I don’t see RGB control. The MSI Centre control programme generally allows download and installation, but that option never shows. It’s blue or nothing. Changing the brightness with a function button is simple, so if you can handle the colour, it works. The base is plastic, but the keyboard and mouse are covered in a cool, matte, lightweight aluminium that’s comfortable to hold. The mouse pad is pleasant, but it takes a bit of pressure to register movement.

Fast but faint screen

Even with semi-short response times, a 1080p display with a 144 Hz frame rate is good for gaming. Good for most folks but too slow for e-sports players. Its faint colour is unfortunate. Films and games have flat colours because they don’t reach srgb but are slightly over 60% of it. Although black pixels are relatively dark, the brightness of 250 cd/m2 hurts dynamics and contrast. Daily chores like browsing and reading documents are best done on the screen. The computer’s speakers sound faint. They are acceptable with average bass pressure and lost treble details. Fan noise may be difficult for speakers to drown out.

Charging needed

Battery life is never good on this computer. I get two hours of runtime when playing hard games and a whole day of surfing and emailing. However, too much brightness and CPU load may reduce the hours. You charge the battery with an ISO connector and have a USB-C port for data or monitoring and two USB Type-A ports, all with USB 3 Gen 1 speed. Fixed gigabit networking is available if you don’t wish to connect wirelessly. Wi-Fi 6 is quick and stable; however, I miss 6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6e capability like many of its competitors. Though not one factor lowers the grade, the MSI Cyborg 15 gathers a litany of things that make my computer less fun or limit its capabilities. Except when I play games, when the graphics card shines. Even so, a better screen would have been good.

Build Quality

The matte grey MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF is elegant. The chassis is made of high-quality plastic, and the lid is metal for durability. This laptop has a translucent keyboard and chassis elements with sophisticated geometric lines, forms, and stylized letters in a cyberpunk aesthetic. The robust hinges secure the lid and allow one-handed opening. It features a 15.6″ matte display with low bezels, a 720p webcam, and microphones.

The MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF features great ports on both sides but no SD card or Thunderbolt 4 support. The laptop’s speakers are on the left and right sides, which have big cooling holes. Due to MIL-STD-810G testing, this laptop’s chassis is sturdy and solid. The Cyborg 15 A12VF can survive drops, shocks, and extreme weather, making it ideal for gamers who need a stable machine. The Cyborg 15 A12VF, weighing less than 2kg and measuring 359.36 x 250.34 x 21.9522.9 mm, is highly portable, fits in laptop bags or backpacks, and is ideal for gamers on-the-go.

Keyboard, trackpad

Blue single-tone backlit keyboard on the MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF. WASD and arrow keys are emphasised for gamers. A dedicated numpad and shortcut buttons make working with numbers easier. With good key travel and feedback, keyboard typing is comfortable and responsive. The top row of function keys can be used with the Fn keys for more shortcuts, increasing flexibility. The left-side touchpad has separate left and right clickers underneath the keyboard. Despite its size, the touchpad is precise and pleasant. The MSI Cyborg 15 A12VF’s keyboard and touchpad are fun and user-friendly for gamers and casual users.