What you need to know
- MSI's first touch-enabled laptop in a decade is a new enterprise-ready laptop.
- The Summit E13 Flip is a 2-in-1 convertible with an included smartpen.
- Battery life is rated at 18 hours thanks to its massive 70WHr battery.
- Pricing starts at $1,599 for 16GB and 512GB, but you can also get up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB.
MSI is best known for gaming laptops, but, like rival Razer, the company is learning that there is a market for more mature looking Ultrabooks.
The new Summit E13 Flip is its first foray (and touch screen) into more productivity laptops without discrete GPUs. It's a very competitive market, but, so far, the Summit E13 Flip, which includes a fancy pen for inking, is ticking all the right boxes.
MSI Summit E13 Flip Specs and features
MSI doesn't stray too far from the tried and tested 13-inch Ultrabook 2-in-1 market. The Summit E13 Flip starts with a CNC-milled chassis in white or black (with rose gold pattern). It' slick looking, but also not ostentatious. For instance, MSI uses a standard MSI logo with its name instead of its dragon logo found on its gaming laptops.
Weighing just 1.35kg (2.97 lbs) and 14.9mm thick, the unibody design continues MSI's focus on thin and light too.
| Category | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 6) |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1185G7 |
| RAM | Up to 32GB LPDDR4 |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Xe |
| Storage | Up to 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Display | 13.4 inches 16:10 aspect ratio 1920x1200 @60Hz 100% sRGB Pen + touch |
| Pen | MSI Pen (included) 4,096 pressure levels, tilt MPP 2.0 Type-C recharge |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt 4 One USB-A 3.2 One Type-C 3.5mm audio microSD (expansion) |
| Audio | Dual |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6e Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Camera | Front-facing 720p Privacy shutter |
| Security | TPM 2.0 Fingerprint reader |
| Battery | 70Wh |
| Weight | 1.35kg (2.97 lbs) |
| Color | Pure White or Black (with rose gold) |
The 13.4-inch full HD display won't wow media nerds, but at a 16:10 display aspect with 100 percent sRGB color accuracy with touch should be more than enough for those focused on writing and business.
For a CPU, MSI uses the latest Intel Core i7-1185G7, which can boost up to 4.8GHz and runs at 28 watts, making it one of the more powerful options for the Ultrabook class. Interestingly, besides the up to 1TB storage option, MSI also offers models with 32GB of LPDDR4 RAM. While some laptops like the XPS 13 have this option, most 13-inch Ultrabooks do not, instead of capping off at 16GB.
The laptop is also Intel Evo certified with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.
Ports are standard fare with a webcam lock switch, two Thunderbolt 4, another Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2, hidden microSD slot (expandable storage), audio jack, and a legacy Type-A, which is always nice to have around.
MSI has also focused on the webcam, which is essential for today's work-from-home push. The Summit camera is an MSI "Noiseless Cam" that has been optimized to also play nice with your bandwidth. A privacy kill switch ensures privacy for those moments where the webcam should be hidden.
MSI promises around 18 hours of battery life, which seems high, except the Summit is a 13-inch laptop that ships with a massive 70WHr battery. Most 13-inch Ultrabooks hover around 54WHr. When combined with a lower power full HD display, MSI's claims are likely to have some merit.
The included Microsoft MPP 2.0 pen sticks magnetically to the left side of the Summit. It features tilt support and 4,096 levels of pressure, putting it up there with the Surface Pen and others.
The starting price isn't low due to the higher specs. The Summit starts at $1,599for the Core i7, Intel Xe graphics, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. But that's around $115 cheaper than a similarly configured Dell XPS 13, so there are the usual savings in going with MSI.
The next model up jumps to 1TB storage and 32GB of RAM for $1,899.
Look for the MSI in the coming weeks in various markets. Overall, it's a nice-looking laptop, and MSI's first attempt at a convertible 2-in-1 with inking support seems very promising. If it's anything like its Stealth line, they could have a hit on their hands.
