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A5
Company ProductName Specs











Katana 15
Company ProductName Specs











Advantages of the Gigabyte A5
  • Very good overall display quality
  • Good portability
  • Good battery life
  • Very good speakers
Advantages of the MSI Katana 15
  • Very good for engineering and design
  • Very good for gaming and AI

Key differences

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Gaming and AI

7.5
A5
Katana 15
8.0
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The MSI Katana 15 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.

Screen Quality

8.0
A5
Katana 15
6.8
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
325.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
258.0 nits
The Gigabyte A5 has a better screen than the MSI Katana 15 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.

Battery

6.5 Hours
A5
Katana 15
4.0 Hours
The Gigabyte A5 has 6.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Katana 15 has 4 hours of battery life.
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Key similarities

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General Use

7.7
A5
Katana 15
7.7
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
325.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
258.0 nits
6.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.9/10
The Gigabyte A5 and MSI Katana 15 are both good for general use.

Engineering and Design

7.9
A5
Katana 15
8.2
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Katana 15 to be very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A5 is good.

Content Creation

7.7
A5
Katana 15
7.7
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Gigabyte A5 and MSI Katana 15 are both good for content creation.

Software Development

7.3
A5
Katana 15
7.3
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Katana 15 and Gigabyte A5 are both good for software development.

Portability

Good
A5
Katana 15
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte A5 to have good portability, while the MSI Katana 15 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

7.2
A5
Katana 15
7.2
The Gigabyte A5 and MSI Katana 15 both have good build quality.

Cost

$1,250
A5
Katana 15
$1,249
Product imageProduct image

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

$1,800

$2,000

The Gigabyte A5 has a price of $1,250 and the MSI Katana 15 costs $1,249.

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How the Gigabyte A5 and the MSI Katana 15 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Gigabyte A5MSI Katana 15
Gigabyte A5MSI Katana 15

GENERAL

Price
$1,250
$1,249
Release Date
February 1, 2022February 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
14.2'' x 10.2'' x 1''14.1'' x 10.2'' x 0.98''
Weight
4.68 lbs4.96 lbs
Width
14.21"14.13"
Depth
10.15"10.2"

INTERNAL

Processor
AMD Ryzen 7 5800HIntel i7-13620H
RAM
16 GB16 GB
DDR Memory Version
45
RAM Slots
22
Storage
1024 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
6.5 Hours4 Hours
Battery Capacity
49 Wh53.5 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
15.6"15.6"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10801920 x 1080
Refresh Rate
240Hz144Hz
Display Brightness
325 nits258 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
7.2/107.2/10
Portability Score
7/106.9/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
YesYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
6.5/107/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
7.5/107.5/10
Speaker Quality Score
8/107.5/10
Webcam
720p720p
Fingerprint Reader
NoNo
Backlit Keyboard
YesYes
Number Pad
YesYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
33
USB-C ports
11
USB-C Charging
NoNo
Display Outputs
32
Thunderbolt Ports
00

Shopping

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Gigabyte A5

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Florian Glaser | September 2022
"Ignoring price, the Gigabyte A5 has a hard time against the similarly fast competition. Besides the loud noise in 3D mode (performance mode), the high temperature development of the components should be mentioned on the downside. Despite the relatively thick case, the laptop gets very warm and loud under load, which does not exactly speak for the cooling system. The plastic surfaces look rather cheap and also tend to rattle. In most other disciplines - be it the input devices, the screen, the connectivity or the battery runtime - the Gigabyte laptop does not stand out from the crowd, neither positively nor negatively. However, those who primarily pay attention to the price-performance ratio will get a pretty good offer with the Gigabyte A5."

MSI Katana 15

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Christian Hintze | March 2023
"The MSI Katana 15 B12 combines a Gen12 CPU with an RTX 4050, which is actually not a bad idea for a budget gamer. The CPU is anything but bad and the GPU in the Katana 15 proves to be significantly more efficient than last year's models. However, our main point of criticism for budget gamers is the price: while you can get budget laptops with RTX 3060 from around US$800, you pay a whole US$1,499.99 here! The efficiency advantages of the RTX 4050 do not justify this price premium."

Get a great deal on the Gigabyte A5 or the MSI Katana 15

About Gigabyte

Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.

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.

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Why trust us

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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
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Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
125,895
Recommendations made
27,278
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.

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