The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is significantly less expensive, lighter, and offers better battery life for everyday use and portable needs compared to the MSI Stealth 17, which costs more, is heavier, and has a shorter battery life. However, the MSI has a larger and higher resolution screen with a faster refresh rate, much more storage and RAM, and a more powerful processor and graphics card, making it better suited for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, and engineering tasks. If you prioritize affordability and portability, go for the ASUS. If top-notch performance for high-end tasks is crucial, choose the MSI. 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 Zenbook Pro 15
Good portability
Excellent 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
7.7/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
346.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
12.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is good.
The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is well-suited for general use with a good balance of features such as an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and 16GB of RAM for smooth multitasking, a high-quality OLED screen, as well as a relatively lightweight design that contributes to its portability and decent battery life. In contrast, the MSI Stealth 17 offers very high performance with a more powerful Intel i9 CPU and a substantial 64GB of RAM, a larger and higher resolution IPS display which is great for screen quality, but with the tradeoff of being less portable due to its larger size and shorter battery life.
Gaming and AI
6.7/10
9.1/10
4.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is only fair.
The MSI Stealth 17 offers a superior gaming and 3D experience due to its more powerful Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate of 240Hz, which are very important for such tasks, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is equipped with a less powerful Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU and a standard 60Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the MSI has advantages in CPU performance and screen quality, with a higher resolution and pixel density which are somewhat important; however, these features come with a tradeoff in battery life and portability compared to the ASUS.
Engineering and Design
7.5/10
9.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
4.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is good.
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design use because it has a more powerful CPU, considerably more RAM, and a superior GPU compared to the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15, which makes it better suited for demanding tasks; additionally, the MSI has a higher resolution screen with better quality which is crucial for design work. However, the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 offers greater portability and longer battery life which might be preferred by users who need to work on the go, despite its slightly lower screen and performance specs.
Content Creation
7.7/10
8.8/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 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
7.5/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 is good.
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
7.6/10
8.6/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
346.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 for general use, gaming and AI, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 and MSI Stealth 17 both have panels with high resolution and brightness, rendering sharp images and good visibility in various lighting conditions. During engineering and design tasks, both laptops offer wide color gamuts, ensuring accurate color reproduction critical for detailed work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, their screens fall short on refresh rates, which can limit smoothness and responsiveness during fast-paced action.
Battery
12.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 has 12.5 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
4.4 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 has good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,109
$3,899
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 has a price of $1,109 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"The ASUS Zenbook Pro 15 offers a strong CPU, chassis, and display. One of the most popular 15.6-inch prosumer or multimedia laptops out there is the Dell XPS 15. Thus, comparisons between it and the Asus Zenbook Pro 15 are inevitable. Asus has a couple of tricks up its sleeve that XPS users are still missing out on including 1080p OLED and an AMD Ryzen CPU which help separate the Zenbook Pro 15 from the XPS 15. It also integrates a numpad and a few more port options albeit at the cost of a larger chassis size."
"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 Zenbook Pro 15 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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
132,195
Recommendations made
28,643
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.