TESTED MSI STEALTH A18 AI+

With one of Nvidia’s more mainstream RTX 5000 graphics cards inside, can this laptop topple your desktop gaming PC?

£2899 /go.stuff.tv/StealthA18

■ As the name suggests, the all-black Stealth is nowhere near as in-yer-face as the average gaming laptop. It’s slender and isn’t festooned in RGB lights or giant air vents. At 2.89kg (not counting the considerable power brick) you’re not going to want to lug it around everywhere, though.

■ Connectivity is pretty decent, with the HDMI 2.1 and Ethernet ports sensibly located at the rear. This makes taming cables easier, which is a big deal for a laptop that wants to replace your desktop PC.

■ The 240Hz IPS screen can’t match pricier panels for contrast or black depth, and there’s no HDR support, but it’s bright enough for daylight use and colours look punchy. Reflections are kept at bay well, but viewing angles are only average.

■ Most modern titles will be playable at QHD resolution unless ray-tracing is in play. Nvidia’s AI-powered DLSS rendering tech makes all the difference if framerates start to get stuttery.

■Give keys a chance The keys are pretty much all full size and there’s a good amount of travel in each one; they bottom out firmly and don’t rattle. I had no trouble typing on this board once I’d got used to the offset layout.

■Instant palmer The mechanical touchpad is plastic rather than glass, and isn’t the biggest I’ve seen on an 18in laptop. It’s sensitive enough to cover the entire screen in a single swipe, but palm rejection could be a little funky at times.

■ The battery went from full to flat in a smidge over 3hrs when playing a video at half brightness on the power-efficiency preset. That’s 1hr more than I got from an Intel gaming laptop recently.

Tech specs

Screen 18in 2560x1600 240Hz LCD CPU AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 RAM 32GB GPU GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Storage 2TB SSD OS Windows 11 Connectivity 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, 3.5mm combo, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, SD Battery 99.9Wh Dimensions 400x290x24mm, 2.89kg

STUFF SAYS A capable current-gen desktop replacement at a palatable price ★★★★✩

Proper portable gaming power at a non-stupid price? Imagine… Tom Morgan-Freelander

The MSI Stealth A18 AI+ is a consistently decent gaming laptop with a sensible combination of screen resolution and GPU. Every game I tried was playable at well over 60fps with DLSS and frame generation, while native performance isn’t too shabby either. The screen is merely OK and the build can’t match pricier rivals, but the AMD silicon is more than able to pull its weight.