MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo Convertible Review: A Timeless Design

[Redaktion]

The Summit is the most visually striking laptop yet from MSI. Its quality is thankfully not just skin deep as performance and battery life are just as respectable.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-Summit-E13-Flip-Evo-Convertible-Review-A-Timeless-Design.535362.0.html

[mrfroid]

If you're using convertible as convertible (reading magazines on a lap, drawing, etc.) 1920 x 1200 pixel  is way too low. Especially for this price.

[GeneraISoybeans]

What's the point in getting this, when you can simply get an HP Spectre x360 14 for a lower price? At 1399, the Spectre x360 14 has a "3K2K" OLED display (3000x2000 resolution), much better build quality, better design, (it's the original, not a ripoff, unlike this) better performance due to higher power limits, lower fan noise, better battery life on the IPS panel, and a pen included. I simply don't understand why one would opt out for this device when it is a ton more expensive.

[PsychDoc]

What's the point in getting this, when you can simply get an HP Spectre x360 14 for a lower price? At 1399, the Spectre x360 14 has a "3K2K" OLED display (3000x2000 resolution), much better build quality, better design, (it's the original, not a ripoff, unlike this) better performance due to higher power limits, lower fan noise, better battery life on the IPS panel, and a pen included. I simply don't understand why one would opt out for this device when it is a ton more expensive.

What's the point in getting this, when you can simply get an HP Spectre x360 14 for a lower price? At 1399, the Spectre x360 14 has a "3K2K" OLED display (3000x2000 resolution), much better build quality, better design, (it's the original, not a ripoff, unlike this) better performance due to higher power limits, lower fan noise, better battery life on the IPS panel, and a pen included. I simply don't understand why one would opt out for this device when it is a ton more expensive.

HP customer service for one. I'll never buy another HP product for that reason alone.

Not sure where you're getting your prices. HPs website lists the spectre 14 with the same ram (16gb) and ssd capacity (512gb) for $1600 msrp.

The Summit e13 also has a larger battery, more ports, and what looks to be a better pen (which is also included). In fact, it has the largest battery of any 13 inch 2 in 1. That and the pen are the reason I opted for it over its competitors.

The build quality from the limited reviews available seems to be very good.

I have a specific use case. I work in mental health and will be using mine to take a lot of notes.away from a charger. The pen and the big battery were my primary concern, but it's nice to know that it performs very well on benchmarks for light gaming.

I am picking mine up Wednesday.

[Bano]

Great product! It checks almost all the boxes! Let's hope the MSI Summit E16 Flip is even better!

Dell ruined the XPS 13 2-in-1 when it decided to solder the hard disk. Let's hope there's a 15 inch 2-in-1 version that fixes that.

HP ruined the Spectre x360 13 (and 14 and 15) when it decided to limit the amount of memory to 16GB.

[Joel Ng]

It's rare when a competitor can beat it in every important metric, but the ROG X13 is cheaper, more powerful, less gaudy, and still has things like pen input and other business-like features. It only loses on weight but it does have an actual graphics card in it so there you go...

[Paracelsus]

1920 x 1200?

Why bother at all?

[PsychDoc]

It's rare when a competitor can beat it in every important metric, but the ROG X13 is cheaper, more powerful, less gaudy, and still has things like pen input and other business-like features. It only loses on weight but it does have an actual graphics card in it so there you go...

Sure, if you can find one. Ryzen chip PCs are out of stock everywhere.

Although I'm sure it would lose on battery life, too.

1920 x 1200?

Why bother at all?

Battery life for one, and on a 13 inch screen that resolution is fine. 4k is wasted on a screen that small.

[MrCat]

What's the point in getting this, when you can simply get an HP Spectre x360 14 for a lower price? At 1399, the Spectre x360 14 has a "3K2K" OLED display (3000x2000 resolution), much better build quality, better design, (it's the original, not a ripoff, unlike this) better performance due to higher power limits, lower fan noise, better battery life on the IPS panel, and a pen included. I simply don't understand why one would opt out for this device when it is a ton more expensive.

What's the point in getting this, when you can simply get an HP Spectre x360 14 for a lower price? At 1399, the Spectre x360 14 has a "3K2K" OLED display (3000x2000 resolution), much better build quality, better design, (it's the original, not a ripoff, unlike this) better performance due to higher power limits, lower fan noise, better battery life on the IPS panel, and a pen included. I simply don't understand why one would opt out for this device when it is a ton more expensive.

HP customer service for one. I'll never buy another HP product for that reason alone.

Not sure where you're getting your prices. HPs website lists the spectre 14 with the same ram (16gb) and ssd capacity (512gb) for $1600 msrp.

The Summit e13 also has a larger battery, more ports, and what looks to be a better pen (which is also included). In fact, it has the largest battery of any 13 inch 2 in 1. That and the pen are the reason I opted for it over its competitors.

The build quality from the limited reviews available seems to be very good.

I have a specific use case. I work in mental health and will be using mine to take a lot of notes.away from a charger. The pen and the big battery were my primary concern, but it's nice to know that it performs very well on benchmarks for light gaming.

I am picking mine up Wednesday.

I find this convertible interesting too. With these Power Limits it seems to be a good device to pair with a Thunderbolt eGPU. A repaste, some thermal pads and a cooling pad might do wonders!

However there seem to be a lot of drawbacks like the panel response times (which is a shame because the display runs at 120Hz and this is great to take notes), the connectivity (SD-Card and WLAN speeds) and the inconsistent SSD performance (there's a video on YouTube with a 980 Pro swap and unlike the ThinkPad Yoga 6th Gen, it doesn't reach 7000 MB/s mark).

Would you be willing to do a small review after getting it? I'd be grateful.

[Friedrich]

Looking at the photos and the size of the body compared to the ports, there is NO WAY the height is only 14.9 mm.

Can you please in the future include measurements of the real height (from table to highest point of the notebook) in the future. Manufacturers are flat out lying about this metric (as well as screen-to-body ratio, but that is another topic).

Thanks!

[PsychDoc]

I find this convertible interesting too. With these Power Limits it seems to be a good device to pair with a Thunderbolt eGPU. A repaste, some thermal pads and a cooling pad might do wonders!

However there seem to be a lot of drawbacks like the panel response times (which is a shame because the display runs at 120Hz and this is great to take notes), the connectivity (SD-Card and WLAN speeds) and the inconsistent SSD performance (there's a video on YouTube with a 980 Pro swap and unlike the ThinkPad Yoga 6th Gen, it doesn't reach 7000 MB/s mark).

Would you be willing to do a small review after getting it? I'd be grateful.

Sure! I'd love to write up a small review.

I saw those flaws too. Bummer about the connectivity.

The reality is that all 2 in 1's have compromises. Use case dictates what we can live with. I want a 13 inch with a battery that can go 7+ hours reliably in the real world. That's a short list.

The screen ghosting didn't make me happy either, but I'll be using an external monitor when I game so I can live with it.

An egpu is in my future...  once I can buy a graphics card without having to sell a kidney first, that is. Egpu use was one of my criteria.

In fact, the asus x13 flow was at the top of my list. I prefer AMD over intel anyway, and the reviews said 8 + hours of battery life under real world conditions. It also has a discrete gpu. The proprietary add on egpu solution they came up with was pricy, but it was damn cool. 8 lanes in the connector to the laptop! I probably would have splurged on buying the whole $3000 setup.

But this ryzen chip shortage has made them impossible to get, and it looks like it's going to be a while before it will get better. My surface pro 2017 is reaching the end of it's useful life cycle, and I just can't afford to wait.

I have 15 days to decide if I want to keep the e13 after I pick it up from best buy. I plan on running it through some benchmarks, trying out some games, and assessing things like the keyboard, battery life, and pen functionality for business use. I'll take notes and share them with you when I'm done.

[PsychDoc]

I find this convertible interesting too. With these Power Limits it seems to be a good device to pair with a Thunderbolt eGPU. A repaste, some thermal pads and a cooling pad might do wonders!

I am not allowed to post links here due to low post count, but someone on the egpu.io forums did benchmarks with the e13 after a repaste and with it hooked up to an egpu and it performed extremely well, even with regard to thermal throttling.

Might be worth a look.

[williex]

I am not allowed to post links here due to low post count, but someone on the egpu.io forums did benchmarks with the e13 after a repaste and with it hooked up to an egpu and it performed extremely well, even with regard to thermal throttling.

Might be worth a look.

If MSI used standard dual cooling fans instead of this cheap cooling solution in that expensive laptop, and the i5, there could be a stable turbo without thermal throttling. Also this is super-consumer unfriendly to extort $ for Intel's pointless and misleading "premium" i7-1185.

[MrCat]

I find this convertible interesting too. With these Power Limits it seems to be a good device to pair with a Thunderbolt eGPU. A repaste, some thermal pads and a cooling pad might do wonders!

However there seem to be a lot of drawbacks like the panel response times (which is a shame because the display runs at 120Hz and this is great to take notes), the connectivity (SD-Card and WLAN speeds) and the inconsistent SSD performance (there's a video on YouTube with a 980 Pro swap and unlike the ThinkPad Yoga 6th Gen, it doesn't reach 7000 MB/s mark).

Would you be willing to do a small review after getting it? I'd be grateful.

Sure! I'd love to write up a small review.

I saw those flaws too. Bummer about the connectivity.

The reality is that all 2 in 1's have compromises. Use case dictates what we can live with. I want a 13 inch with a battery that can go 7+ hours reliably in the real world. That's a short list.

The screen ghosting didn't make me happy either, but I'll be using an external monitor when I game so I can live with it.

An egpu is in my future...  once I can buy a graphics card without having to sell a kidney first, that is. Egpu use was one of my criteria.

In fact, the asus x13 flow was at the top of my list. I prefer AMD over intel anyway, and the reviews said 8 + hours of battery life under real world conditions. It also has a discrete gpu. The proprietary add on egpu solution they came up with was pricy, but it was damn cool. 8 lanes in the connector to the laptop! I probably would have splurged on buying the whole $3000 setup.

But this ryzen chip shortage has made them impossible to get, and it looks like it's going to be a while before it will get better. My surface pro 2017 is reaching the end of it's useful life cycle, and I just can't afford to wait.

I have 15 days to decide if I want to keep the e13 after I pick it up from best buy. I plan on running it through some benchmarks, trying out some games, and assessing things like the keyboard, battery life, and pen functionality for business use. I'll take notes and share them with you when I'm done.

You are absolutely right about the compromises. I do have to admit, it's not that I really need fast WLAN or SD-Card speeds.. the pen input is the most important feature because as a student I take a lot of notes. And with 120Hz it might be a similar to the iPad Pro, which would great  :)

But decent display response times would've been great and I'm not thinking on gaming but fast paced movies. I'm wondering if they could make them quicker by releasing an updated firmware, even if this would mean 1h less battery run time.

I read the topic on eGPU.io hence the interest on this convertible. I'm currently using a ThinkPad X1 Tablet 3rd Gen with a Mantiz Saturn and a Zotac RTX 3070 (yes, I managed to get one for a very decent price in 2020). I rarelly play games (I do mostly my college stuff) but when I do I enjoy the flexibility of being able to play AAA games without issues.

The ASUS X13 Flow unfortunately doesn't support Thunderbolt (it's an AMD). Their proprietary eGPU solution is way too expensive and doesn't offer any upgrade possibilities, which makes it uninteresting on the long run. Users that bought the first TB3 enclosures can still put a new GPU even after 4 years.

I'd be very happy if you could post your feedback here or somewhere else (if you're allowed to post links, Idk)  :)

I am not allowed to post links here due to low post count, but someone on the egpu.io forums did benchmarks with the e13 after a repaste and with it hooked up to an egpu and it performed extremely well, even with regard to thermal throttling.

Might be worth a look.

If MSI used standard dual cooling fans instead of this cheap cooling solution in that expensive laptop, and the i5, there could be a stable turbo without thermal throttling. Also this is super-consumer unfriendly to extort $ for Intel's pointless and misleading "premium" i7-1185.

Unfortunately cooling on such slim convertibles/laptops is always going to be a problem. I'm not aware of any convertible with Thunderbolt 4 that doesn't have a cheap cooling solution. At least the MSI offers decent performance levels and sustained. Other, perhaps better devices at this price category like the Dell XPS 2-in-1, HP Spectre x360 and the Lenovo Yoga 6th Gen don't behave like this.

[PsychDoc]

You are absolutely right about the compromises. I do have to admit, it's not that I really need fast WLAN or SD-Card speeds.. the pen input is the most important feature because as a student I take a lot of notes. And with 120Hz it might be a similar to the iPad Pro, which would great  :)

But decent display response times would've been great and I'm not thinking on gaming but fast paced movies. I'm wondering if they could make them quicker by releasing an updated firmware, even if this would mean 1h less battery run time.

I read the topic on eGPU.io hence the interest on this convertible. I'm currently using a ThinkPad X1 Tablet 3rd Gen with a Mantiz Saturn and a Zotac RTX 3070 (yes, I managed to get one for a very decent price in 2020). I rarelly play games (I do mostly my college stuff) but when I do I enjoy the flexibility of being able to play AAA games without issues.

The ASUS X13 Flow unfortunately doesn't support Thunderbolt (it's an AMD). Their proprietary eGPU solution is way too expensive and doesn't offer any upgrade possibilities, which makes it uninteresting on the long run. Users that bought the first TB3 enclosures can still put a new GPU even after 4 years.

I'd be very happy if you could post your feedback here or somewhere else (if you're allowed to post links, Idk)  :)

I used to be a PC gamer but when I had to start buying the expensive surface pro for work I switched over to ps4. I still game on older titles on the PC that my iris plus card can handle with the resolution cranked way down (or play less intensive games like cuphead).

I was excited to buy an ultraportable that I can out an egpu on so I can play some good PC games on it.

I wasn't aware that the x13 doesn't have a tb4 connection. I didn't get that far in researching it because they're impossible to find anyway. That's an excellent point.

I game with the kids I see at my clinic and the egpu wouldn't leave the office, so for me it is a write off. But if it's not upgradeable you're right, even then it's not worth it at $1500.

Agree on the pen. I used to be  a die hard linux guy and I reluctantly made the switch to the surface just because I needed the pen functionality. I lucked out and avoided quality issues on both of the surface pros I've owned and they've done a good job. But I'm done with that platform because of those quality issues, and because they won't support thunderbolt. I get the security concerns, but it's not something I am worried about as a self employed shrink.

The milspec rating and the toggle that completely cuts power to the camera really interests me too on the MSI. Wish I could cut off the mic too.

I'll for sure write something up on here though after I've had some time to spend with it.