The Gigabyte Aero 5 offers robust gaming performance with a high-end graphics card and a high-resolution OLED display, making it suitable for intense gaming and content creation. However, it's heavier and has a shorter battery life, which may affect portability and convenience for on-the-go use. On the other hand, the MSI Prestige 16 has a longer battery life and is lighter, which enhances portability, and it comes with a more recent processor and double the memory, potentially providing smoother multitasking and work-related performance. Its display has a lower resolution and uses IPS technology, which may show less contrast than OLED but still offers good color accuracy. The Prestige is more suited for business professionals seeking performance and portability, while the Aero is geared towards high-end gaming and multimedia tasks. 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 Aero 5
Good for gaming and AI
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Prestige 16
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Good portability
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.9/10
6.7/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is good for gaming and AI, while the MSI Prestige 16 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.
Screen Quality
8.6/10
8.3/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
446.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a better screen than the MSI Prestige 16 for general use, and engineering and design, while the MSI Prestige 16 has a better screen for gaming and AI, and content creation.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 offers a high-resolution display with vivid colors and excellent brightness, making it ideal for everyday tasks and professional design work where color accuracy is crucial. However, its lower refresh rate affects its performance in handling fast-paced gaming and 3D rendering, which benefits from smoother on-screen motion. The MSI Prestige 16, while sharing similar strengths in resolution and color reproduction for general and engineering use, also falls short in the gaming and 3D category due to its refresh rate not being high enough to offer the most fluid visual experience.
Portability
Fair
Good
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
5.0 lbs
WEIGHT
4.2 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The MSI Prestige 16 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,250
$1,611
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a price of $1,250 and the MSI Prestige 16 costs $1,611.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Prestige 16 to be very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aero 5 is good.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 offers very good keyboard quality and excellent screen color performance with a larger and higher resolution OLED screen, but is heavier and has slightly shorter battery life, making it less portable than the MSI Prestige 16. The MSI Prestige 16 stands out with double the RAM for better multitasking and productivity, very good speaker and webcam quality, and its higher portability, attributed to its lighter weight and better battery life, while still providing a very good IPS display.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 5 and MSI Prestige 16 are both very good for engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.3/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Prestige 16 and Gigabyte Aero 5 are both very good for content creation.
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
7.9/10
8.1/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Prestige 16 to be very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aero 5 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.
Battery
7.0 Hours
7.5 Hours
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has 7 hours of battery life. The MSI Prestige 16 has 7.5 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.
Build Quality
7.8/10
7.4/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 and MSI Prestige 16 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 Aero 5 and the MSI Prestige 16 compare to other laptops
"It is unfortunate that the Gigabyte AERO notebook series have seem to lost its charm, as it’s not exactly any much different from the AORUS series now. Regardless, content creators and designers will certainly still appreciate the features on the AERO 5 XE4, which are fundamental to their work. This largely revolved around the notebook’s display, which is colour calibrated and validated, high resolution (4K) and with great AMOLED colour representation. Now that the AERO 5 XE4 has improved its performance with the latest CPU and GPU, the professionals can also appreciate the improved productivity from the notebook."
"The MSI Prestige 16 Evo: 2023's best value 16” thin & light laptop with i7-13700H. One of the top choices for professionals and students seeking a high-performance, portable computing solution in 2023. While the MSI Prestige 16 Evo A13M may not boast the most striking design compared to some other 16" options, its relatively "safe" styling lends itself well to professional and educational environments. Significantly, it doesn't compromise on essential features like port selection or cooling performance, ensuring seamless connectivity and efficient thermal management. The 16 Evo A13M offers an excellent combination of performance, portability, and functionality, making it a compelling choice for professionals and students alike."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aero 5 or the MSI Prestige 16
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.
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