MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo
The Summit E13 Flip Evo brings serious style to business 2-in-1s.
The Summit E13 Flip Evo is a ludicrously long name for a laptop, but naming conventions are about as silly as this splendid 2-in-1 device gets – while typically known for its gaming optimised machines, MSI is deadly serious about its latest foray into the world of professional business laptops.
Design
As mentioned, the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo is remarkably similar in design to HP’s Spectre x360, with an angular hinge and sharp, industrial-styled font for the branded logo emblazoned on the lid. This isn’t a bad thing – there’s only so much creative freedom you can get with a laptop, and the HP Spectre is a gorgeous device, but if you were looking for something with a really original look, you won’t find it here.
That said, there are two colour options for the Summit E13 Flip Evo. The soft, not-quite-matte black with copper accents is a great look, though fingerprints are an immediate issue if that kind of thing bothers you. If it does then you could opt for the all-white version which may fare better and sets it apart from many other devices available on the market right now, though you’re losing the copper accents in favour of a muted brushed aluminum look on that theme.
It has a 16:10 ratio, something that the HP Spectre x360 lacks, and is a real selling point for why you might opt for MSI’s offering instead. Dubbed as the ‘Golden Ratio’ (and mentioned multiple times across the device, from a large sticker near the keyboard to the default desktop background), this taller display ratio is beloved by many for better productivity and web browsing, allowing you to see more without scrolling.
The bezels for this display are, sadly, a little on the large side for our liking, but still a far cry from the chunkier bezels seen in older devices, and the touchscreen display isn’t any worse off for it. In fact, those larger bezels can help prevent you from selecting into anything while maneuvering the display around.
The pen stylus that comes with the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo is similar in appearance to those used with Microsoft Surface devices rather than a rounded Apple Pencil or a chunkier stylus used with graphics drawing tablets. Using the pen is pleasant and proves to be very smooth and responsive, which makes it great at any task you would do with a regular pen – you can highlight documents, take notes and even sketch in applications like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. Palm rejection is also top-notch so you shouldn’t have any issues with the device picking up stray contact while using the stylus.
Performance is where the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo really starts to outshine some of its competitors.
Performance
Performance is where the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo really starts to outshine some of its competitors. It scored better across our benchmarks than the latest HP Spectre x360 and goes toe to toe with the 2020 Dell XPS 13, proving itself as an impressive first model in this series from
MSI.
Thanks to the 11th-gen Core i7 and Intel Iris Xe graphics, the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo scored 1,517 in single-core and 5,368 in multicore performance in Geekbench 5, and managed a respectable score of 2,001 in Cinebench R20.
In our PCMark 10 Home Test simulation, it scored 4,405 which puts it underneath the aforementioned rival products, but just barely, and it’s unlikely that many users will notice a significant drop in performance in a real-world situation. We used the Summit E13 Flip Evo for several days for both work and standard home activities like streaming shows on Disney+ and web browsing and can attest that the laptop is fast and reliable.
Thermals also proved to be of little issue, with the laptop cool enough to rest on a lap for extended hours, though the fans were keen to kick in at the vaguest mention of additional browsing tabs or a small spreadsheet which made working a noisy affair.
While not strictly a creative laptop given its specifications, we also ran Handbrake and Blender benchmarks. It fared better than expected, but anyone needing a portable workstation should look for something with more RAM and a dedicated GPU, especially if you’re doing VFX or video editing.
You can also play games on the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo, but its GPU isn’t designed to deal with demanding AAA titles so bear that in mind and select your games accordingly. You’ll have little chance running something like Red Dead Redemption 2 at anything close to a playable level – trust us, we tried, and it managed around 18 frames-per-second on the lowest settings. Something like Stardew Valley or Graveyard Keeper on the other hand isn’t as demanding and ran just fine, so pick your battles wisely.
The webcam on the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo is far from groundbreaking, but cameras built into laptops rarely are. You’re getting 720p recording quality which is serviceable for Zoom calls, but if you’re planning on doing any formal presentations you’ll want to invest in a better webcam such as something from Logitech.
It does appear to struggle with lighting, which results in a great deal of background noise (that grainy effect that looks a little like static on an old TV), which indicates that the sensor is struggling, but even in a well-lit environment, the quality of the webcam is still comparatively poor when stacked against a dedicated alternative.
While not being wholly perfect, the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo manages to distract us from its slight nuisances with its sheer delightful functionality. There are more job-optimised devices on the market, but as an all-rounder, you won’t be left disappointed should you decide to pick one up. Jess Weatherbed