When choosing between the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 and the MSI Creator Z16P, consider what you'll use the laptop for. The Lenovo offers solid performance with a good balance of price, battery life, and portability, which makes it suitable for general use and some gaming. However, the MSI Creator Z16P provides superior processing and graphics performance, a higher resolution screen with a slightly larger display, and a larger battery, making it more fitting for intensive tasks like 3D rendering, machine learning, or engineering software. The MSI is also heavier, which may affect portability. If budget is a concern, the Lenovo provides value for less cost, but if performance for resource-intensive applications is critical, consider investing in the MSI. 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 Slim 7 15.6"
Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Creator Z16P
Very good for engineering and design
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Key differences
Engineering and Design
7.8/10
8.3/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Creator Z16P is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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.
Screen Quality
7.7/10
8.3/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
350.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
394.0 nits
The MSI Creator Z16P has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
For general use, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 offers a clear, bright display with sufficient resolution, which makes everyday tasks, web browsing, and video streaming enjoyable, but the MSI Creator Z16P provides exceptional clarity and brightness, resulting in a more vivid experience. Engineering and design professionals will appreciate the MSI Creator Z16P's wide color gamuts, ensuring more precise color representation essential for their work, while the Lenovo's adequate color range might not meet the highest standards of color accuracy required in these fields. However, both laptops fall short for gaming and 3D applications due to lower refresh rates, meaning they won't deliver the smooth visuals desired by gamers or professionals working with fast-moving graphics.
Battery
9.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 9 hours of battery life. The MSI Creator Z16P has 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.
Cost
$1,200
$1,300
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
$2,000
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has a price of $1,200 and the MSI Creator Z16P costs $1,300.
The MSI Creator Z16P and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
7.6/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.7/10
The MSI Creator Z16P and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" are both good for gaming and AI.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 with an Nvidia RTX 3060 and 165Hz screen refresh rate is designed for responsive gaming and capable 3D performance, though its CPU and screen resolution are less robust compared to the MSI Creator Z16P, which boasts a higher-end Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti and a sharper display, also with a 165Hz refresh rate, for more demanding gaming and 3D applications.
Content Creation
7.7/10
7.9/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Creator Z16P and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" are both 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
7.5/10
7.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Creator Z16P and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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.
Portability
Good
Good
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
4.1 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and MSI Creator Z16P both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.6/10
8.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Creator Z16P to have very good build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has 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 Slim 7 15.6" and the MSI Creator Z16P compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
"There's almost nothing left to be desired with the MSI Z16P. The creator laptop offers enormous performance resources for image editing, video editing, rendering, and more. All this is presented on a precalibrated, adequately sized, and high-resolution display. Its color space, refresh rate, and panel technology are also perfectly suited for a device that specializes in video reproduction and editing."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" or the MSI Creator Z16P
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
130,995
Recommendations made
28,383
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.