MSI Pulse GL66
A superb choice for game gamers hunting for a sub-£1,000 machine, with sacrifices made in the right places
PRICE £749 (£899 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk
The MSI Pulse GL66 is one of two gaming laptops submitted t to this Labs, and it edges ahead of f the Asus TUF Dash F15 not merely d due to price but also because it’s faster overall. Indeed, the gaming test graphs on p93 suggest that the MS MSI laptop includes a faster graphics c card, d but in truth its chart-topping resu results in Dirt: Showdown and Metro: Last Light reflect that these games are limited by the CPU at 1080p.
It would be fairer to compare the two in more demanding games, where the positions were reversed. For instance, in Metro: Exodus the Pulse averaged 52fps while the Asus returned 73fps (at 1080p, High settings). The gap was narrower in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with scores of 80fps and 88fps respectively respectively. And d note that 3DMark Time Spy showed the greater skills of the Asus laptop’s GeForce RTX 307 3070 Mobile chip compared to the 3050 Ti Mobile in the MSI, with a score of 7,279 versus 5,693.
What pushed the MSI to the top of the table elsewhere is its stunning Core i7-11800H processor, as this includes eight cores to the four inside the Asus. It’s an astonishing inclusion for the price, and means the Pulse has much to offer creative professionals as well as keen gamers.
One limitation of the Pulse GL66 with a 3050 Ti inside is that it includes one M.2 slot rather than the two found in more expensive variants of the brand. You can replace the 512GB SSD, but you’ll need to break the factory seal. We think that’s a mis-step, especially when MSI is generous enough to include a two-year warranty. At least it’s only crosshead screws that then stand in your way, with the plastic bottom prising off with relative ease to reveal two SODIMM sockets – both full – and a replaceable 52Wh battery.
The combination of such a small battery and such a powerful processor was never going to be a recipe for great battery life, and with fans that kick in under even moderate duress, the Pulse came bottom in all three of our battery tests: a life of less than three hours in light use is the worst here by a distance. Then again, this chunky machine is designed for life on a table rather than the road, road with a 2.1kg weight and inch-thick nch-thick chassis.
Talk of mid-table brings ings us to the Pulse’s ulse’s results in our ur screen tests, where it sits in the median position in every single one of our results: peak brightness (341cd/m (341cd/m2 ), s RGB gamut coverage (85%) and average Delta E (1.41). All three scores are highly respectable, and when you consider its 144Hz refresh rate we can find nothing to criticise for the price. If we were paying a few hundred pounds more then we might ask for a higher resolution than 1,920 x 1,080 – there’s some fuzz to text, and viewing angles aren’t the best of this group – but overall it’s a great inclusion for the money.
There are a couple of game-friendly features featur too, including a crosshair (press the Function key plu plus down cursor) and a small but b perfectly formed numberpad to the rig right of the main keyboard. T The keys are backlit – useful use in the darkened rooms many gamers prefer – and well proportioned, with a gentle, quiet action. It’s odd to position the Fn key right next to the cursors, and the single-height Enter key is smaller than ideal, but both quirks are easy to adjust to.
Likewise we can live with the compact trackpad, not least because you can plug a wired mouse into either side. Two USB-A ports sit on the left, along with a DC input, with the right home to a third USB-A port, the solitary USB-C port, a 3.5mm jack, HDMI port and Ethernet port. With 150W required it’s no surprise that the USB-C port can’t be used to power the laptop – you’ll need to carry the 488g power brick – but note it can’t output to a monitor either.
Unlike Asus, MSI finds room for a webcam. It’s nothing special in terms of sharpness, but we’d be happy to use it for video calls thanks to its natural colours. The final dollop of luxury cream comes in the form of a creditable pair of speakers that didn’t massacre our audio-testing playlist. Bass lacks depth, but that’s its only obvious weakness.
All this makes the MSI Pulse GL66 not only a gaming bargain but also one of the best all-rounders here, so long as portability doesn’t top your wish list. Nor should uld you expect Windows ws 11 right away. While it meets the requirements, ments, we were still waiting for the update to appear when we finished testing. Still, when it does land, the e Pulse GL66 has so much power ower it will be one of the most responsive Windows ws 11 laptops around.