Based on the provided comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and the MSI Stealth GS66 cater to different needs. The ThinkPad Z16 offers a higher resolution OLED screen which is ideal for vibrant colors and sharp images, making it suitable for design and multimedia work. Despite its premium feel, this may come at the sacrifice of battery life and portability due to its screen and build. On the other hand, the Stealth GS66, with its high refresh rate display and powerful graphics card, is clearly tailored for gaming and intensive 3D tasks. The Stealth's portability is slightly less than the ThinkPad's, and while both are priced at a premium, the Stealth often comes at a higher price point. For general use and engineering tasks, both laptops will perform well, but considerations such as screen quality and gaming performance might tip the balance towards the Stealth GS66 for gaming and the ThinkPad Z16 for 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 Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Good battery life
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Stealth GS66
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.6/10
7.7/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
393.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.8/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for general use, while the MSI Stealth GS66 is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 stands out for general use with a powerful AMD Ryzen CPU, a generous amount of RAM, and a high-resolution OLED touchscreen, plus it offers a higher portability score and longer battery life for mobile users, while also boasting superior screen quality and speaker quality ratings.
Gaming and AI
6.7/10
7.8/10
4.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The MSI Stealth GS66 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is only fair.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16's AMD RX 6500M GPU and 60 Hz OLED screen are suitable for gaming and 3D applications, but the MSI Stealth GS66 features a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and a higher 360 Hz screen refresh rate, offering smoother visuals and better performance in intensive gaming scenarios. While the ThinkPad Z16 offers a higher screen resolution and quality, the lower refresh rate compared to the Stealth GS66 may make the latter a preferred choice for gamers seeking fluid motion and rapid response times.
Content Creation
8.5/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for content creation, while the MSI Stealth GS66 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
8.2/10
7.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for software development, while the MSI Stealth GS66 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.
Screen Quality
8.5/10
8.1/10
16.0in
SIZE
15.6in
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
393.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a better screen than the MSI Stealth GS66 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the MSI Stealth GS66 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16's display is prized for its clarity and brightness, making it suitable for office tasks and content consumption, which are typical in general use. Its advanced color gamut coverage renders it excellent for engineering and design professionals who need accurate color reproduction for their work. However, its refresh rate is lower than what gamers desire, leading to less smooth visuals in fast-paced 3D environments, which is why it's not ideal for gaming.
Battery
7.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has 7 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth GS66 has 5.5 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
$1,120
$1,799
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a price of $1,120 and the MSI Stealth GS66 costs $1,799.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and MSI Stealth GS66 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is equipped with high RAM and a quality OLED screen, making it ideal for engineering and design tasks that require precision and color accuracy, while the MSI Stealth GS66 features a high-end GPU and faster refresh rate screen, catering well to engineering applications with graphical demands and providing a smoother visual experience. Both models offer powerful CPUs, ample RAM, and dedicated GPUs, ensuring they can handle complex computations and visualizations, but the ThinkPad focuses more on screen quality and the MSI on gaming-grade graphics performance.
Portability
Good
Good
16.0in
SIZE
15.6in
4.2 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and MSI Stealth GS66 both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.0/10
8.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and MSI Stealth GS66 both have very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and the MSI Stealth GS66 compare to other laptops
"Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z16 tries has some success in its effort to tweak the ThinkPad formula. The laptop is attractive, yet still tame, and material quality is on par with the best Windows competition. I also like the smooth, responsive haptic touchpad and the wide range of modern connectivity. Yet the Z16 doesn’t fix ThinkPad’s typical weakness: value. Starting around $1,550, and more typically near $1,700, the Z16 finds itself facing alternatives that have better performance or an improved display for the same price, or less."
"The MSI Stealth GS66 is powerful enough for QHD. The Core i7-12700H and the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti found in the 12UGS model that we tested run all modern games smoothly in the native QHD resolution. The 15-inch display is very fast with its 240 Hz refresh rate, and it also offers a great color space (almost 100% DCI-P3) on top of that, which should please gamers as well as content creators, although we would have still wished for a higher brightness. Case, input devices, and connectivity (Thunderbolt 4) are at a good level. However, among other things, the GS66 loses points due to the high temperature development in 3D mode and its poor webcam."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 or the MSI Stealth GS66
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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