MSI Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M – Review

The latest addition to the line of business laptops from MSI, the Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M comes with enterprise-grade security and Intel Evo certification. It does not have dedicated graphics, but it is good enough for casual gaming and everyday apps.

Design

The Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M has been designed to offer a balance between portability and style of modern laptops and the functionality that large business laptops offer. The device is quite compact, as it boasts a 14-inch display in a body that is usually seen on a 13.3-inch laptop. It weighs about 1.7kg and measures 313.4mm x 246.5mm. The chassis is made of magnesium alloy, which makes it a tough one, but the lid does have some flex.

The bezels at the bottom and top of the screen are also a bit thicker than previous models. The laptop has vents on the rear and two sides. The Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M also offers more connectivity options due to its thicker form factor. The right side has two USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the left has a Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI 2.1 port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A port. There is also a 3.5mm audio jack. Plus, you also get Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7, which makes it a future proof device.

Screen

You will not find a fancy Mini LED, or OLED screen on the Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M, but MSI has opted for a decent IPS screen instead. It boasts a 1920 x 1200 resolution and has a 16:10 aspect ratio that works well for the 14-inch display. This makes the screen suitable for Windows’ split-screen views and multi-tasking.

It does not have perfect color performance, but it is solid enough for entertainment, some creative tasks and productivity purposes. The color accuracy is also good enough and the vibrant color and flawless contrast do make a difference. The audio may be a tad lacking. The output has depth and the soundstage is relatively spacious, but the mid-range and the low-end suffer. The mic is good for video calls. But, you may want to use headphones for watching anything, or listening to music.

Performance

The Prestige 14 AI Evo C1M has been designed to deliver good performance when using creative applications, or when you are doing everyday productivity tasks. It is not meant to be a creative powerhouse, but this does not mean that it cannot deliver high speeds. It boasts a 14-core Ultra 7 125H CPU that can deliver great performance when you use mainstream apps. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM also helps in this regard.

As a matter of fact, the laptop comes with built-in AI acceleration features that were launched with the Meteor Lake line. You can also benefit from 3D acceleration, thanks to the integrated ARC graphics. There is also 1TB of fast SSD storage, which is great news for business users.