The MSI Katana 15 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo Legion 5 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
7.6/10
8.2/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
7.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Katana 15 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is 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.
Content Creation
7.2/10
7.7/10
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 MSI Katana 15 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for content creation, though the MSI Katana 15 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.
Screen Quality
7.3/10
6.8/10
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
305.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
258.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a better screen than the MSI Katana 15 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design, while the MSI Katana 15 has a better screen for content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Portability
Poor
Fair
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
6.5 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The MSI Katana 15 has only fair portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
The MSI Katana 15 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for general use.
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.
Software Development
7.0/10
7.3/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Katana 15 and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for software development.
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
4.5 Hours
4.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has 4.5 hours of battery life. The MSI Katana 15 has 4 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
7.4/10
7.2/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and MSI Katana 15 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,200
$1,200
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a price of $1,200 and the MSI Katana 15 costs $1,200.
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How the Lenovo Legion 5 17" and the MSI Katana 15 compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo Legion 5 17 is a current-gen 17-inch gaming laptop and equipped with the latest AMD CPU and a powerful GPU, that manages to reach its full potential. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is a very good choice for this laptop and able to maintain its performance level for long periods of time. Our test model only falls behind consistently in a direct comparison with its competitors that are often equipped with eight cores and 16 threads. Despite this, the Legion 5 17 leaves an excellent impression and is almost able to keep up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU in synthetic benchmarks."
"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 Lenovo Legion 5 17" or the MSI Katana 15
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
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.