MSI Cyborg 14: A light, cheap gaming laptop with Steam Deck-like battery life

The MSI Cyborg 14 took my breath away when I first grasped it at CES 2024 — it’s as light as feather.

Now, I get to play around with it for this review, and I still can’t get over how light it is. Gaming laptops are typically clunky, chunky, and chubby, and here comes the Cyborg 14, all slim and trim, being a portable haven for casual gamers.

No, it doesn’t have the latest and greatest internals, but it packs just enough “oomph” to power your favorite triple-A titles without costing you an arm and a leg. Read more to see why the MSI Cyborg 14 has earned a spot on our best gaming laptops and best cheap laptops pages.

MSI Cyborg 14 price and specs

The Cyborg 14 in this review costs $1,099 on Best Buy, and it comes with the following specs:

• Intel Core i7-13620H CPU

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU

• 16GB of RAM

• 512GB of SSD storage

• 14-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel display with a 144Hz refresh rate

• Windows 11 Home

MSI made this laptop for the gamers who say, “I don’t need all the bells and whistles — just give me what I need to play my favorite games.” And as you’ll find out later in this review, these specs may seem humble, but they pack a punch, with robust internals designed to deliver respectable gaming performance.

MSI Cyborg 14 design

Finally! A gaming laptop that doesn’t feel like a brick. I can’t say it enough — this MSI machine is breathtakingly light. When I first picked up, my jaw dropped. I was expecting heft, bulk, and load, but instead, it’s as light as a whisper.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It weighs just 3.5 pounds. For perspective, the MSI Cyborg 14 weighs as much as a 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro. This bad boy is no heavier than a thick hardcover book.

Though it may weigh as much as a MacBook, it certainly doesn’t have its sleekness. After all, it’s still a gaming laptop. It’s between 0.73 and 0.88 inches thick. (The full dimensions are 12.4 x 9.2 x 0.73 – 8.88 inches.)

The Cyborg 14 reminds me of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which is even lighter at 3.3 pounds (it’s also thinner at just 0.62 inches).

Design-wise, the MSI Cyborg 14 has a chassis that balances reticence and minimalism with futuristic elements. What do I mean by this? Well, the lid has an onyx color with an ultra-subtle, barely there MSI insignia. But then, the lip — the part of the laptop that helps you open the lid with ease — is translucent and reminiscent of the see-through Game Boy released in the late 90s.

You can find the same “clear” vibes on the Cyborg 14’s hinge and underside, giving you a peek into some internal components. However, keep a microfiber towel ready; the chassis is a bit of a fingerprint magnet.

Overall, this is the gaming laptop you’ll want to bring with you on a plane. It’ll barely add any weight to your travel bag once it’s stuffed inside.

MSI Cyborg 14 display

The MSI Cyborg 14, as its name suggests, sports a 14-inch, 144Hz refresh-rate display with a 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution screen. But those mumbo-jumbo figures don’t tell you much about the display quality, so I tested the screen by firing up the F1 trailer from YouTube.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I wasn’t expecting much — just a run-of-the-mill panel for budget-conscious consumers. However, once I saw Brad Pitt pop up on the screen, I was taken aback. I could see the tiny hairs between his brows. (Did he always have a unibrow?) I could even spot the faint pores on Pitt’s face and the subtle five-o’clock shadow on his upper lip.

In another scene, a woman with stunning blue eyes appeared on the display. Showcasing the display’s crisp and sharp details, the limbal ring that surrounded her iris looked particularly striking as dappled sunlight danced on her peepers.

However, at 235 nits, the MSI Cyborg 14 is dim AF. This isn’t a laptop that will be forgiving during ultra-dark scenes in games. On Cyberpunk 2077, textures are bold and detailed, like the silver lamé suit of one character and the shimmery gold mask of another NPC, but dim environments were difficult to see. The display may also be a challenge if you’re outside during a bright day or sitting next to a sunlit window.

The display is surrounded by a thick top bezel (that accommodates the transparent lip and 720p webcam) and mid-sized side bezels. The chin, however, is quite chunky, giving The Fairly OddParents’ “Crimson Chin” character a run for his money.

MSI Cyborg 14 ports

MSI Cyborg 14 doesn’t have a wide array of ports, but that’s OK because this laptop is meant to support casual gamers and entry-level enthusiasts.

On the left side:

• Kensington lock slot

• USB Type-A port (3.2 Gen 1)

• Headset jack

On the right side:

• HDMI 2.1

• USB Type-A port (3.2 Gen 1)

• USB Type-C port (3.2 Gen 2)

On the back:

• Ethernet port

Keep in mind that the USB Type-C port can’t be used to charge the laptop, but it can be used to connect a monitor.

MSI Cyborg 14 audio

Curb your expectations. At this price point, the audio won’t be spectacular. The dual-speaker setup on the Cyborg 14 is nothing special. It’s not bad, but it’s not awful either.

I fired up Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” on the Apple Music app, and the funky tune sounded shallow and lacked depth. However, while playing Cyberpunk 2077, it’s harder to perceive the mediocre sound quality (in a good way). From the myriad of intense conversations to heart-dropping fire fights, the audio delivers clear dialogue and impactful sound.

The speakers aren’t quiet per se, but they’re not bombastic either. For the most part, the Cyborg 14’s sound system is quite middling.

MSI Cyborg 14 keyboard and trackpad

The Cyborg 14’s keyboard is the one place where one can truly tell that this is, indeed, a budget-friendly gaming laptop.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

If I placed two laptops in front of you, one being the Cyborg 14, and blindfolded you before asking, “Which is the cheap one?”, the Cyborg 14’s plasticky keycaps would betray it.

And honestly? That’s OK. Some budget-friendly gamers do not give a flying monkey’s behind whether the keyboard is made of hay for chrissakes — they’ll likely pair a controller to the Cyborg 14 anyway.

The Cyborg 14’s keyboard is also very clicky — perhaps too clicky. While you’re “in the zone” and typing up a storm at the office, I wouldn’t be surprised if you attracted passive-aggressive side-eyes form your fellow co-workers.

No, the Cyborg 14’s keyboard isn’t my favorite, but at least it looks cool. It has a light-blue backlighting, which has three levels of brightness. (There’s no RGB lighting on the Cyborg 14, by the way, because who wants their laptop to look like a maniacal disco ball?) Plus, the white letters and symbols are large and contrast nicely with the black keys.

Finally, MSI continues that transparent touch on the W, A, S, D keys (and the power button), breaking the monotony. Otherwise, it’d be another boring black-and-white keyboard.

The trackpad responds well to Windows 11 gestures, including pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolls.

MSI Cyborg 14 benchmarks and performance

Yes, MSI put a last-generation CPU inside the Cyborg 14. (It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13620H, although we’re currently in an era where 14th-generation processors are the latest and greatest.)

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Why? To cut costs, making gaming accessible to people who don’t have deep pockets. And also, as you’ll find out in a bit, 13th-gen CPUs still slap.

On Geekbench 6, a benchmark that stress tests the CPU, the Cyborg 14 delivered a score of 12,073, which is quite similar to the performance of the Asus ROG Zephryus G14, which has an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU and the same GPU as the MSI laptop (i.e., RTX 4060 GPU). It notched a score of 12,170.

We also ran the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark on the Cyborg 14. With the High preset at 1080p, the MSI gaming laptop averaged 61 frames per second (60 frames per second is the baseline casual gamers often seek). With DLSS on, a feature that relies on AI upscaling to squeeze out more frames, the Cyborg 14 climbed to a whopping 113 frames per second.

For perspective, the ROG Zephyrus G14 scored an average of 102 frames per second (DLSS off).

MSI Cyborg 14 battery life

The MSI Cyborg 14’s battery life is surprisingly long for a gaming laptop.

For example, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which also packs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, lasted just 1 hour and 17 minutes on the PCMark 10 gaming battery life test. Conversely, the Cyborg 14 lasted three hours.

This is the longest a gaming laptop has ever lasted on a charge since I’ve been testing gaming rigs for Mashable.

MSI Cyborg 14 webcam

The MSI Cyborg 14’s webcam is a bit of a potato, as one would expect from a 720p shooter.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The laptop industry has always been historically awful at providing good webcams, but that is especially so when it comes to gaming laptops. The Cyborg 14’s 720p renders color well enough, but you’ll still find some noise, lack of detail, and poor sharpness. I wouldn’t start a Twitch streaming channel with this webcam — that’s for sure.

Is MSI Cyborg 14 worth it?

The MSI Cyborg 14 isn’t for enthusiasts who turn their nose up at mid-level graphics, last-generation CPUs, and less-than-premium keyboards. It’s for casual gamers who want something that’s “good enough.”

It delivers decent frame rates on graphics-intensive, triple-A titles and a good display for indoor gamers. Plus, it’s unbelievably light. If you’re looking for a decent gaming laptop for your travels, the MSI Cyborg 14 is a good choice.

Still, the Cyborg 14 has stiff competition with the likes of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which is also super light. As of this writing, its just $100 more, but squeezes out more performance. However, it lasts just one hour and 17 minutes on a charge compared to the Cyborg 14’s three-hour battery life. Yes, gaming laptops are known for being energy guzzlers, but at least you can unplug for three hours — which is as long as a Steam Deck lasts on a single charge — without being shackled to an outlet.

Packed with power and portability at a great price, the MSI Cyborg 14 is one of the best gaming laptops of 2024.