For general use, the ASUS Vivobook 15X is more affordable, lighter, and offers more than enough power for everyday tasks, with good battery life and a full HD screen. However, for intensive tasks such as 3D rendering, machine learning, gaming, or engineering software, the MSI Stealth 17 vastly outperforms the ASUS with powerful processors, superior graphics, and a larger, higher-resolution screen, but it is significantly more expensive and heavier, which impacts portability. The MSI also has a more robust build, better speakers, and more available ports for connectivity. Consider the MSI if your work demands top-end performance; otherwise, the ASUS will suffice for general usage and light work. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the ASUS Vivobook 15X
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.1/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.8/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
6.0/10
9.1/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
6.3/10
9.4/10
5.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
The ASUS Vivobook 15X has moderate specs including an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and Vega 7 graphics, which provide fair performance for engineering and design tasks, and it's lighter, enhancing portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 comes with a much more robust Intel i9 processor and Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU that deliver excellent performance for demanding engineering software, but with a tradeoff in increased weight and reduced portability.
Content Creation
7.1/10
8.8/10
5.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.9/10
8.5/10
5.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
8.6/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook 15X for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The ASUS Vivobook 15X's fair screen quality for general use is attributed to a decent resolution and adequate brightness, though it may lack in panel quality. For engineering and design, the fair rating comes from satisfactory color accuracy and coverage of color gamuts despite not being top-tier. The poor rating for gaming and 3D is primarily due to its lower refresh rate, which doesn't meet the needs for high-frame-rate gaming, even if the resolution and panel type are serviceable.
Battery
8.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The ASUS Vivobook 15X has 8 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
3.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The ASUS Vivobook 15X has good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.0/10
7.8/10
The MSI Stealth 17 and ASUS Vivobook 15X both have good build quality, though the MSI Stealth 17 has somewhat better build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$525
$3,899
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The ASUS Vivobook 15X has a price of $525 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"All in all, my day on the Vivobook had its ups and downs. It is a really pretty and well-built device, and it had all of the functionality I needed to get me through my browser-based workload. But the speakers weren’t my favorite, and the battery life was just too short."
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Vivobook 15X or the MSI Stealth 17
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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