The Gigabyte A5 offers strong performance at a lower price, making it a good option for gaming due to its dedicated Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card, but it's less portable and has shorter battery life. The MSI Summit E16 Flip, while more expensive, provides a higher resolution touchscreen display, better battery life, and a more premium build suitable for business use and general tasks with features like a fingerprint reader and facial recognition, but it may not perform as well in intensive gaming despite having hardware ray tracing capabilities. 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 Gigabyte A5
Good for gaming and AI
Very good speakers
Advantages of the MSI Summit E16 Flip
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.3/10
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
281.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
294.0 nits
6.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.6/10
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 are both good for general use, though the MSI Summit E16 Flip is somewhat better.
The Gigabyte A5 provides ample performance for general use with a strong AMD CPU and a competitive NVIDIA GPU, suitable for multitasking and light gaming, complemented by a full HD screen and a decent battery life, but it compromises on portability with a heavier build. Conversely, the MSI Summit E16 Flip boasts a higher-resolution touchscreen, delivers solid performance with its Intel CPU and good graphics capabilities, and offers better portability due to its lighter weight and longer battery life, making it adaptable for both work and play.
Content Creation
7.3/10
7.9/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 are both good for content creation, though the MSI Summit E16 Flip is somewhat better.
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
7.0/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 are both good for software development, though the MSI Summit E16 Flip is somewhat better.
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
7.2/10
8.0/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
281.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
294.0 nits
The MSI Summit E16 Flip has a better screen than the Gigabyte A5 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Gigabyte A5 has a display that provides clear images and accurate colors suitable for everyday tasks and detail-oriented work like engineering, but its slower refresh rate means it's not ideal for the fast-paced visuals required in gaming and 3D applications. The MSI Summit E16 Flip also offers high-resolution and bright visuals with a wide color range, making it excellent for both general computing and color-sensitive design work, but like the Gigabyte, it falls short for gaming due to a lower refresh rate. Both laptops support productivity and creative work well, yet serious gamers or 3D designers would likely need a machine with a faster screen response.
Battery
6.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Gigabyte A5 has 6.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Summit E16 Flip has 8 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
Good
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
4.1 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 both have good portability, though the MSI Summit E16 Flip has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$830
$1,413
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Gigabyte A5 has a price of $830 and the MSI Summit E16 Flip costs $1,413.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte A5 to be good for gaming and AI, while the MSI Summit E16 Flip is only fair.
The Gigabyte A5 is good for gaming and 3D applications due to its Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and high refresh rate display, delivering smooth visuals and responsive gameplay. Meanwhile, the MSI Summit E16 Flip also excels with a slightly less powerful RTX 3050 Ti but offers a higher screen resolution and quality, along with an even greater screen refresh rate for sharp and fluid images.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.7/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
7.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 are both good for engineering and design.
The Gigabyte A5 boasts an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, presenting a solid combination for engineering and design where CPU and GPU prowess are crucial, though it has a standard screen resolution and quality. Meanwhile, the MSI Summit E16 Flip, with its Intel i7 processor and Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU, provides robust performance as well, and its higher-resolution touchscreen display advantages tasks that benefit from better screen real estate and interactivity, while also being lighter and thus more portable.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.4/10
The MSI Summit E16 Flip and Gigabyte A5 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Gigabyte A5 and the MSI Summit E16 Flip compare to other laptops
"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."
"The MSI Summit E16 Flip is a 2-in-1 laptop with pen, 16:10 display, and RTX 3050 Ti. The Summit E16 Flip is a 2-in-1 laptop from the business segment that primarily targets creative users. MSI combines a 16-inch touchscreen in the 16:10 format with a powerful midrange GPU. While the 2-in-1 laptop from MSI isn't meant for everybody, it should definitely attract some followers. The touchscreen display (2,560 x 1,600 pixels) covers the DCI-P3 color space. This is accompanied by stable viewing angles, a good color reproduction, short response times, and a good contrast level."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte A5 or the MSI Summit E16 Flip
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.
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
98,595
Recommendations made
21,363
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.