MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
In an era when there are a lot of self-acclaimed gaming laptops making the rounds, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get the right fit. The MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062 steps into a difficult terrain with a statement laptop that is boldly pricey but undoubtedly brilliant.
This laptop comes with the 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 graphics processor, both of which are very powerful components, but that is not the best part.
The keyboard, with its per-key RGB backlight, steals the show. It provides the right backdrop and sets the stage for a simply spectacular gaming experience.
Complete Laptop Review – MSI GL65 Leopard
Design and Appearance
At first glance at its chassis, you get the impression that this is “the” best gaming laptop in it’s 1500-dollar category. What with the red backlit logo that gives it away, flanked by two parallel lines stretching diagonally from top to bottom of the plastic build lid.
MSI’s previous laptop rollouts have been known to sport the matte black surface finish, and the MSI GL65 Leopard does not change its spots.
This model tips the scales at about 2.29 kg and its form factor gives it away as anything but lithe. But this extra heft and depth serve to stock the laptop with the sturdy and robust profile befitting a gaming laptop. The design style employed here seems to be taken out from the same playbook as the MSI GS75 Stealth.
Ports and connections
The ports speak volumes about functionality. A MiniDisplay port and a 4k compatible HDMI permit the concurrent connection of two external monitors. In addition to that, an RJ-45 network connector. 3 USB 3.2 Type-A ports, an SD card reader (XC / HC) slot, and a 3.5 mm audio jack take their slots at the edges.
The latest wireless technologies, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 are on connection duties, and they work with great speed and cover wide ranges too.
Display
The Full HD screen on an IPS-level panel is the standard adopted by most gaming laptops, this model inclusive, and the reasons are not far-fetched.
With a resolution of 1920×1080p, there are enough pixels dotting this 15.6″ screen to produce a display that is crisp, bright, and clearly visible at a variety of viewing angles. The colors on this display are consistent and morph fluidly in transitions, and with a refresh rate of 144Hz, coupled with a response time of 3ms, there is little chance of you missing a bit.
A matte finish on a 300nits screen also means minimal glare problems and enhanced visibility in near-sunlit spaces, perfect for outdoor gaming drills, and the thinner bezels are a big relief too.
I can go on talking about what makes the native resolution display of this laptop a joy to behold, making the 4k display look like luxurious overkill. But there is more important stuff to talk about.
Keyboard and Input devices
The chiclet-style keyboard grabs the headlines with its chic per-key RGB backlighting; the major highlight. You should watch it come alive during gaming, the scene is simply breathtaking. Its keys have a rubbery feel with well-cushioned and moderate travel distance, the Numpad makes an appearance on the right side, great news for the number crunchers.
Two shortcut buttons located below the power button on the top right can be used to adjust the speed of the fans and to change the Keyboards’ RGB backlighting. Another noteworthy mention is the absence of a built-in biometric feature, as well as the left-sided windows key, taking the place of the latter is the MSI Dragon center utility button.
To the bottom left of the keyboard, the Windows precision touchpad with its two dedicated mouse keys takes up a generous space. The clicking sound they give is quite a handful, but the frictionless surface of the touchpad is very thoughtful.
Audio
To the left and right side of the laptops’ undercarriage, MSI’s Massive discreet sound quality speakers can be seen. Their built-in AMP joins forces with the High-resolution audio system to improve audio detail by 30%. You can hear the highs and the lows of every bit of the action without having to strain your ears. And when you use headphones to play those heavy-hitting games, the experience is as immersive as it is realistic. The tremors happen right inside your bedroom, and you can absorb every single shrill of explosion from playing “Vanquish”, or the screeching of tires from “F1 2020”. That is pretty cool, right?
Graphics
The NVidia GeForce RTX 2070 Graphics card has enough horsepower to take on the most demanding and graphics-intensive tasks. With its impressive clock rates and 8GB GDDR6, in addition to its support for ray tracing, it is very well suited to playing AAA game titles. The only disappointment is that the “Extreme Performance” profile, which can be chosen inside the Dragon Center software, has no impact on the graphics performance. Still, the performance of this GPU will be sufficient for regular computer tasks like web surfing, video playback, and even more advanced tasks like video encoding, high-end gaming, and multimedia editing.
Battery
It is no news that $600 gaming laptops have a notoriety for their inadequate battery power. The MSI GL65 Leopard punches above its weight with a battery life of about 5 hours, don’t get too excited though, that statistic only applies to regular laptop work like web browsing or video playback. The battery makes a volte-face during gaming, unsurprisingly so.
This laptop posts numbers as impressive as those of the MSI GS65 Stealth and the GF65, and you should know that these numbers top the averages of most gaming laptops around.
Heat and Noise Emission
Seven heat pipes and two fans are involved in the vigorous campaign to keep this laptop cool. The thermal solution is split into two parts; one for the CPU and the other for the GPU. Depending on the intensity of the load from the running program, these fans can go from idle mode to full-scale operation in a split second. The fans can get noisy at times, luckily for you, there is a button on the keyboard that can be used to lower their speed.
Gaming
The MSI GL65 is capable of playing the most high-end games at their target frame rates. It is a gaming laptop after all, and the players will not have it any other way. Thanks to the latest Ray tracing technology from Nvidia RTX 2070, the MSI GL65 Leopard can deliver better-looking games at higher frame rates, even at Full HD resolution. At Ultra HD/4K the frame rates drop below 60fps, this might not be enough to blitz through the high-end games. But with the MiniDisplay port, users of this laptop can connect to external monitors with better refresh rate, resolution, and response time. The games would then be played with ease, but that would be overkill.
Most gamers will be comfortable with Full HD, there is a vast array of games that support this resolution, many of them rank among the biggest titles. And with a customizable RGB backlit keyboard to boot, the stage is set for a thrilling gaming experience.
Performance
The MSI GL65 Leopard 10SFK-062 is armed with the latest 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H, with its 6 cores (and 12 logical threads) that reach frequencies of 5.00 GHz. There is enough power here to handle very demanding tasks, including graphic and architectural design, 3D modeling and rendering, programming, video editing, and gaming among others. It receives support from RTX 2070 graphics card in addition to 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage. There is enough power and memory for the most thrilling games and the most demanding tasks.
Final Verdict
This laptop presents the chance to get a proper gaming laptop in a crowded marketplace. To make it stand out, MSI loads it to the rafters with a lot of attractions and highlights, none so much as the RGB backlit keyboard, a spectacular addition.
There are a lot of cutting edge technologies that have been incorporated into this laptop, with the intention being to deliver the ultimate gaming laptop
And many will agree that it delivers to a large extent, eventually.
MSI GL65 Leopard – Device specifications
Processor
Intel Core i7-10750H, up to 5 GHz
RAM
16 GB DDR4
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM
Storage
512 GB NVMe SSD
Display
15.6” IPS-Level LCD, FHD (1920×1080), 144 Hz
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Battery Life
Up to 5 hours
Weight
9.13 lbs