For a balance of performance and portability, the Lenovo Legion 5 16 is a strong contender with its high-refresh-rate display and superior color accuracy, making it suitable for both gaming and professional work like engineering. However, it's heavier and has a lower battery life compared to the MSI Katana 17, which offers a larger screen with a more traditional aspect ratio and resolution, catering to general users who might prioritize screen real estate over portability. The MSI also has a more subdued design, which might be preferable if you're looking for a laptop that doesn't stand out as a gaming machine. Ultimately, choose the Legion for its performance edge and color-critical display in a slightly more compact form, or the Katana for its larger screen and potentially longer battery life in typical use scenarios. 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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Katana 17
The MSI Katana 17 has no clear advantages over the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024).
Key differences
Gaming and AI
8.5/10
7.9/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the MSI Katana 17 is good.
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
9.0/10
8.4/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is excellent for engineering and design, while the MSI Katana 17 is very good.
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.
Screen Quality
8.7/10
6.9/10
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
500.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
256.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has a better screen than the MSI Katana 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Cost
$1,600
$1,367
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has a price of $1,600 and the MSI Katana 17 costs $1,367.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be very good for general use, while the MSI Katana 17 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.
Content Creation
8.2/10
7.8/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be very good for content creation, while the MSI Katana 17 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
8.0/10
7.5/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be very good for software development, while the MSI Katana 17 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
3.5 Hours
3.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has 3.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Katana 17 has 3 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
Fair
Fair
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
5.6 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and MSI Katana 17 both have only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
7.2/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and MSI Katana 17 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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and the MSI Katana 17 compare to other laptops
"The MSI Katana 17 B13V laptop impressed us in its main area of competency - gaming. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 ensures high-performance levels which can compete with the previous generation's RTX 3070 Ti. In addition to the speedy GPU, the MSI comes with a 144 Hz display as well as an RGB keyboard and provides a very good typing experience. Despite the power at hand, the laptop remains comparatively cool."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) or the MSI Katana 17
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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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.
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Laptops Expert
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