Katana 15 HX 15.6” 165Hz QHD+ Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i9-14900HX, NVIDIA Geforce RTX 5070, 32GB DDR5, 1TB NVMe SSD, RGB Keyboard, Win 11 Home: Black B14WGK-016US

This one takes the cake. During the fourth of July sales going around from every major tech market, I did about two weeks of research only to come to terms that this was not only one of the cheapest options, but best priced options for everything that's attached to the motherboard. I was pleasantly surprised when I fired everything up and ran a few benchmarks to see just how well it did right out of the gate. Note, this is all without anything overclocked here. I mainly wanted to do some benchmarks without any tampering just to see how it ran. Here is my results;Superposition benchmark - average 80 frames (Could of been higher if frame gen was included but not too bad)Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark - average 124 frames (Ultra settings maxed, excluding a few ray tracing options)Path of Exile 2 End Game maps - average 80 frames (High settings, Frame gen hasn't been optimized in path yet, but runs amazingly well)Hogwarts Legacy benchmark - average 100 frames (Ultra settings, frame gen has slight stutter frames but runs exceptionally well)Pros:- Runs games exceptionally well- Price is possibly the best for what you're getting- Though not OLED, the picture quality is very good- MSI and it's features are nice if you haven't tried them yet- Sleek and incredibly designCons:- Is quite noisy- Does run a little hot, might consider a cooling pad for better heal levels in peak moments- 1TB might not be enough if you're a serious gamerAll in all, its an incredible laptop for what you're getting. I'm thoroughly enjoying everything that it has offered thus far. All that's left is to focus overclocking and pushing it to the limit.

As someone who’s been building and using gaming PCs for years, I picked up the MSI Katana 15 HX B14WGK-016US primarily for portability without compromising performance—and I’m impressed with what this system delivers.First off, the Core i9-14900HX and RTX 5070 combo is no joke. This laptop chews through modern AAA titles without breaking a sweat. I’m seeing 100+ FPS on high to ultra settings in titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and Call of Duty MW3, and it stays consistent even during long sessions. MSI did a solid job with thermals—kick on Cooler Boost and it stays cool enough without thermal throttling. The 165Hz display really helps the experience feel fluid in competitive titles.Stability is another strong point. No weird crashes, no blue screens, no random freezes—just reliable, smooth performance. And coming from a brand like MSI, that doesn’t surprise me. I’ve used their graphics cards and motherboards in my builds for years, and they’ve always delivered. MSI overall I’ve had a good experience with their products That same engineering shows up in this laptop.That said, there are some things to be aware of. Battery life isn’t great—maybe 4 hours max under light use, and much less if you’re doing anything demanding. For some this laptop could be heavy for a 15-inch laptop, but others will say its not. I didn’t pick this laptop for its light weight design. It was about performance and portability. The chassis is plastic but metal feel and pretty basic clean design, though it feels solid enough. The RGB keyboard looks great, but the number pad layout is cramped and takes getting used to.Out of the box, expect sometime to setup— Windows updates, and drivers, etc.Bottom line: if you’re a gamer who prioritizes performance and value, this is a fantastic machine for the price. You’re getting high-end GPU and CPU power without paying $2K+. It's not a luxury laptop—it’s a focused, performance-driven tool for gaming and heavy workloads. Highly recommend for experienced users who want desktop-like power in a mobile form.