MSI Thin A15 B7VF-461US, Ryzen 5 7535HS, 16GB, 512GB SSD, RTX 4060, Black

The MSI Thin A15 packs an RTX 4060 and 144Hz display into a 1.86kg chassis, making it a solid budget gaming laptop if you find it near the USD 720 end of its price range. The 52Wh battery and washed-out 45% NTSC screen are the main trade-offs. It's a great pick for gamers on a budget, but creators and students who need battery life should look elsewhere.

The RTX 4060 is the star here, and it lands in the 85th percentile for GPU performance among laptops in our database. That puts it in 'one of the best on the market' territory for a mid-range gaming machine. In real terms, you're looking at smooth 1080p gaming on high settings in most titles, and the 8GB of VRAM means you won't hit texture bottlenecks as quickly as you would on a 6GB card. The 144Hz display pairs nicely with this GPU for esports titles like Valorant or Apex Legends, where you can actually push frame rates high enough to matter.

The Ryzen 5 7535HS is more of a mixed bag. It sits at the 56th percentile for CPU performance, which is about average for laptops overall but a bit underwhelming next to that GPU. For gaming, that's usually fine since most titles lean harder on the graphics card. But if you're doing CPU-heavy work like video editing or compiling code, you'll feel the 6-core ceiling. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is also right at the 51st percentile, which is fine for now but doesn't leave much headroom for heavy multitasking or future-proofing.

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is probably the most direct competitor here. It's also a thin gaming laptop, but it has a much better display, a more premium build, and generally stronger CPU options. You'll pay more for it, but if you care about screen quality or do any creative work, the G14 is worth the premium. The Lenovo Legion 5i is another strong alternative, with better cooling and a more comfortable keyboard, though it's bulkier and heavier.

On the non-gaming side, the Apple MacBook Pro M5 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition are completely different animals. They crush the Thin A15 on battery life, build quality, and display quality, but they can't touch the RTX 4060 for gaming performance. If you're a student who games casually and values all-day battery, those are better picks. If gaming is your priority, the MSI wins on raw GPU power per dollar, assuming you find it at a good price.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place. We're seeing USD 720 to USD 1,639 across two US listings, which is a wild spread for the same laptop. At the low end, this is an absolute bargain for an RTX 4060 machine. At the high end, you're getting into territory where better-built laptops with stronger CPUs and nicer displays start to make more sense. If you're shopping, the USD 720 listing is the one to hunt for. That price makes the compromises a lot easier to swallow.

Compared to the competition, the value story depends entirely on which price you land on. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion 5i both offer better build quality and displays, but they typically cost more. If you can snag the Thin A15 at the lower end of that price range, you're getting 80% of the gaming experience for significantly less money. Just don't pay anywhere near the top of that range.

The MSI Thin A15 B7VF-461US is one of those laptops that looks like a steal on paper. You get an RTX 4060 with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB of DDR5, and a 144Hz display in a chassis that weighs just 1.86kg. That's a lot of gaming horsepower for a machine that won't break your back in a backpack. MSI is pitching this as a thin gaming laptop for people who want real frame rates without the usual chunky gamer aesthetic.

Who's it for? Mostly budget-conscious gamers and students who need one machine for both class and Call of Duty. The Ryzen 5 7535HS is a solid 6-core chip that handles everyday multitasking fine, and the RTX 4060 is genuinely capable at 1080p. You're not getting max settings on Cyberpunk, but you'll hit playable frame rates on most modern titles without much fuss.

The catch is that 'Thin' in the name comes with compromises. The 52Wh battery is small for a gaming laptop, the display's 45% NTSC color coverage is pretty washed out for anything creative, and the 512GB SSD fills up fast once you install a few AAA games. We'll dig into all of that below.

If you do any kind of creative work that involves color accuracy, skip this. The 45% NTSC display will drive you crazy, and the Ryzen 5 7535HS isn't going to make video editing or 3D rendering feel snappy. Look at the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a MacBook Pro M5 instead, both of which have far better screens and stronger CPU performance for creative tasks.

Students or commuters who need a laptop that lasts through a full day of classes should also look elsewhere. The 52Wh battery just won't cut it for all-day use, and you'll be hunting for outlets by mid-afternoon. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition or MacBook Air are much better fits for that use case, even if they can't game like this MSI can.

If you're a gamer on a tight budget and you can find this at the lower end of its price range, the MSI Thin A15 is a genuinely good deal. The RTX 4060 does the heavy lifting, and the 144Hz display makes fast-paced games feel responsive. You'll want to keep the charger nearby, and you'll probably need to add an external SSD or swap the internal one before long, but for pure gaming performance per dollar, this is hard to beat.

For anyone doing creative work, video editing, or anything color-sensitive, look elsewhere. The 45% NTSC display is a real limitation, and the Ryzen 5 7535HS will feel sluggish on CPU-intensive tasks. Students who need all-day battery life should also steer clear. This is a gaming laptop first and everything else second, and it makes no apologies for that.