MSI Summit A16 AI Plus review: Powerful AMD Ryzen 9 convertible

[Redaktion]

The MSI model is now one of the fastest 16-inch convertibles in the market when it comes to processor performance. However, its lack of discrete graphics options holds it back against other major competitors like the HP Spectre x360 16.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-Summit-A16-AI-Plus-review-Powerful-AMD-Ryzen-9-convertible.927086.0.html

[spd]

The MSI Summit A16 and the Asus ZenBook S16 are built around similar AMD platforms, but the conclusions in both reviews couldn't be more different.

The Summit A16 review even references the ZenBook directly, yet despite the MSI outperforming the Asus in nearly every benchmark, the tone is noticeably more critical.

The ZenBook is called an "outstanding all-rounder" even though it runs hot, underperforms its hardware, and is clearly tuned for silence over speed. The OLED screen and thin chassis probably can't handle the thermals, which seems like a conscious trade-off.

Meanwhile, the Summit runs cooler, stays closer to full CPU performance, and handles sustained loads better. Yet the review feels like it's penalized for not being quite as thin or trendy.

Also, the "lack of a discrete GPU" feels like a reach. MSI segments its lineup. If you want a GPU, that's what the Creator line is for. The Summit is designed without one, and that's actually a plus for people like me who value better thermals, battery life, and acoustics in a work laptop.

Design matters, but so does intent and execution. This feels uneven.

[FS]

There are two fundamental flaws with this laptop:
1) It cannot be used when charging from a 3rd party PD3.0 100W power supply or dock. The laptop throttles into an ultra low processor speed state, making the laptop unusable, until battery charge achieves 80%. The means you cannot use a single dock for power and 3rd party devices. Even MSI's own 100W dock does not work. MSI refuse acknowledge this is a bug. This is what they sent me:  "We have tested the MSI USB-C Docking Station Gen 2 and Kensington 140W docking stations, confirming that charging with low battery levels does cause stuttering and throttling. However, once the battery charge reaches above 80%, even if the power drops to around 60W due to PD dynamic adjustment, the device no longer experiences stuttering or throttling. This aligns with the design specifications and behavior of the laptop as previously described." How stuttering and throttling (to the extend of making the laptop unusable) can be considered part of the specs and expected behaviour is beyond me.
2) There is a graphics hardware implementation problem meaning you have to run the MSI version of AMD graphics drivers, which mean you do not get access to all the features of the AMD Adrenaline software. You need to switch off the auto AMD driver updates, and ensure you run an exact set of BIOS and Drivers for everything to work correctly. I also had to manually reinstall some of the sub driver sets, namely the OpenCL drivers, to get it to work with some of the video editing software I use.
All of this means that, despite the good price, you are buying what is inherently a defective laptop.