Due to the re-awakening of the Coronavirus pandemic, offices have again started opting for the “Work from Home” Model. So the laptop market which became saturated, after surging of the demand for laptops just after lockdown, again saw an increased demand for mid-high end laptops. We have already taken a look earlier at the lightweight 14″ models from MSI, Lenovo, etc. So today we are going to check out the brand new Modern 15-A11M Laptop from MSI.
The laptop is the bigger,15.6 inch and an upgradable version of the smaller Modern 14 laptop which was powered by both i3 and i5 11th Generation processor with RAM speeds clocked at 3200Mhz. So without further delay lets check out the MSI Modern 15 A11M Laptop.
Specifications
The MSI Modern 15 A11M is powered by the latest Intel Core 11th Generation Processors i.e Tiger Lake.
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-1135G7 Processor
RAM: 8GB DDR4 3200Mhz
STORAGE: 512GB SSD Gen3x4
GRAPHICS: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
DISPLAY: 15.6″ FHD IPS Display
BATTERY: 52W/hr Battery
COLOR: Carbon Grey/ Urban Silver
WEBCAM: Yes 720P
SOFTWARE: Windows 10 Home 64Bit
PRICE RANGE: Rs.70990
Build Quality
The laptop is fully constructed with metal. That says a lot about the build quality. There is a minimum amount of flex on the laptop display but that’s pretty much negligible and its good to have some amount of flex rather than being a hard solid top.
Weighing just around 1.6kgs, this is one of the lightest 15.6″ laptops that you can buy right now. Comes in two color variants, namely the Carbon Grey finish and the Urban Silver finish. We have the Urban Silver Variant with us and it is aesthetic wise very good looking. There is 90% screen to body ratio with extremely thin bezels which gives a widescreen viewing experience specially during entertainment activities like watching movies etc.
Albeit, the thin bezels, MSI didn’t forget to incorporate the 720p Webcam even with the thin bezels. Also sporting the 180 degree rotatable display with a hot key to flip the screen upside down.
Display
The Modern 15 A11M sports a 15.6″ IPS full HD (1920×1080) display. The laptop doesn’t feature the True Color Display but produces the exact colors as per your requirement. This laptop is also somewhat focused towards Content Creation as in working with 2D Graphics and colors. You can also do color grading and color correction for various projects using this display.
The Anti-Glare Matte finish on the screen helps in preventing reflection of the light sources and also the rich colors gives the user a very immersive and enjoyable experience.
Keyboard & Trackpad
Keyboard
Typing on this keyboard is a wonderful experience as all the keys are more or less replica of the MSI’s SteelSeries gaming Keyboard with white Backlit. The keys have a lot of travel and feels very sturdy while typing.
Trackpad
The trackpad on this laptop feels butter smooth while using it. The pinch to zoom gestures, drag, double clicks are very responsive with no wobbles at all. The trackpad is very sturdy and well built thus the user experience is extremely pleasing.
Connectivity and Ports
There are a plethora of ports present on this laptop. On the right side of the laptop, we can see two USB 3.2 Ports and a Micro SD Card Reader. On the left side of the laptop, we get to see the HDMI Port, a USB Type C Port, a Charging Port, one USB 3.2 port and one headphone/microphone combo jack.
Also featuring the WiFi 6 Wireless Internet connectivity with Bluetooth 5.1 so that you can experience a smooth internet browsing experience and seamlessly connect and transfer/share files over bluetooth.
There might be a little disappointment for people who were expecting an ethernet jack but thats okay considering the form factor of this laptop.
Learn about more thin & lightweight laptops https://techuda.com/lenovo-yoga-laptop-slim-7-ryzen-7-laptop-review/
Battery
The Modern 15 comes equipped with a 52W/hr battery which is more than enough for this laptop. This laptop more or less lasts around 8-9 hours at full charge on Standby. We did run some battery tests and the results were pretty impressive. With normal web browsing we were getting around 7 hours and with music and video playback the laptop lasted around 5-5.5 hours approximately.
Performance
The Modern 15 is a 15.6″ laptop powered by the latest Generation Intel Core i5 11th Generation Processor with Iris Xe Graphics. The Iris Xe is a new Graphics Processing Unit from Intel which is much faster than the previous generation’s Intel UHD Graphics. We ran a couple of tests and here are the results.
Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core) – 521pts.
Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core) – 1837pts.
x264 HD Benchmark Test Pass 2 – 46.3FPS
Blender 2.79 – 669pts.
3DMark Fire Strike Standard – 11150pts.
Geekbench 5.1 – 5.3 64 Bit Single-Core – 1399pts.
Geekbench 5.1 – 5.3 64 Bit Multi-Core – 4714pts.
You can also run some low end games on this system as this laptop is more catered towards business and home uses.
Thermals
Talking about the thermals, this laptop doesn’t go past 80 degrees under full load. The Dual Fan Cooling Coolerboost technology from MSI is mind-blowingly good. The exhaust vents are placed near the hinge of the laptop which allows ample airflow thus keeping the laptop cool and prevents it from throttling or overheating.
Conclusion
With a price tag of Rs.70990, this laptop is a sure winner in all aspects. Be it for content Creation. entertainment purposes and business purposes as well. The Thin lightweight form factor helps in portability as it weighs only around 1.6kgs. The metal body protects the laptop from any shocks as well as keeping the laptop cool. The 15.6″ IPS display gives a wide view experience. You can run various photo and video editing software on this laptop. Since this is a 15.6″ variant of the Modern series, you will be able to upgrade the RAM and the SSD separately as there are one empty slot left for each component.
Overall the Modern 15 A11M is a good laptop which will last you for years and since there is an upgrade path to it, you wont be facing much issues with performance limitations.
Learn more about MSI Modern 15 A11M Laptophttps://www.msi.com/Business-Productivity/Modern-15-A11X/Specification
Thats all folks!
A 30-year-old avid gamer by choice dabbles in all things tech. Whether spending hours in single-player narrative-based games or going through the latest innovation in technology and chip manufacturing, he prefers to stay on top of things. At the other times, you’ll find him tucked away drumming and headbanging to Rock and Roll Classics.