TESTED MSI SUMMIT E16 FLIP
Eyes on the top
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MSI eschews its usual chunky red-and-black design to serve up a flexible and versatile 2-in-1 that looks as good as it performs R40 000 / computermania.co.za
We’re used to MSI’s gaming hardware, so this productivityfocused 2-in-1 is an interesting deviation from the norm. The company’s quite handy at making machines that go fast and those skills have transferred well to this attractive slice of computing goodness. There’s almost no fat on this slim, sturdy computer and MSI attempted to make it as multitalented as possible. They’ve also succeeded, provided your expectations aren’t too high in a few departments. Gaming. We’re talking about gaming here. Being MSI, yes, the Summit E16 Flip can play games. It’d be weird if it couldn’t, but that’s obviously not its main function. It’s designed to replace whatever machine you’re used to working on during office hours, and a few other devices besides. Want a 16in tablet? That’s an option, with stylus support a decent bonus. But the 2kg weight and accompanying size means it’s the sort of tablet you rest on a desk. Jack of all trades, master of none? Kinda. It’ll handle most duties impressively enough, but there’s a little way to go before total mastery is achieved.
GOOD MEH EVIL
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Looks much slicker than expected. Nice
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Reach for the Summit If you’re keen on some postoffice gaming, the Summit E16 Flip’s RTX 3050 will happily oblige (1). It’s not pure gaming hardware but if you’re mucking around with Fortnite you’re looking at close to 60 frames per second. It’ll handle most other games at medium settings, with an occasional excursion to ‘high’.
Quite a pick Intel’s Core i7-1195G7 chipset powers this beastie, with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage in our review model (2). It’s plenty fast, though you’ll snag dedicated laptops that can outperform this model at similar price points. That’s not to say it’s slow. MSI’s performance mode’ll give you a little more headroom, too.
Look at that view The 16in IPS display (3) has a native resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and a ratio of 16:10 – that’s how you know this one’s supposed to live at the office. The panel is bright and clear enough to handle a touch of glare, but the 120Hz refresh rate does a bit of a number on the battery life.
Pitching a tent The Summit’s hinge folds all the way round, letting you choose from laptop, tent, or tablet orientations (4). It also lifts the base when you’re in laptop mode, exposing the vents there. It’s not as finely engineered as Lenovo or Dell’s efforts, but there’s no real cause for complaint.
The keyboard is begging to be typed on
Trackpad could do with a little more room
2 Rock solid Build quality is always a concern with a 2-in-1 and while the MSI Summit isn’t rugged, it’s durable enough. There’s aluminium construction encasing this machine on all sides (5), giving it heft (that you’ll only dislike if you’re carrying it long distances) and reassuring presence.
But the screen’s 16:10 ratio makes up for it The price is a tiny bit of a kick in the nards
Battery life could be better, but it’ll serve
