For a balance of performance and portability, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 is a strong contender with its sleek design, touchscreen, and impressive battery life, making it ideal for general use and business tasks. Its high-resolution display with excellent color coverage is great for everyday viewing and productivity. However, if your needs lean towards gaming, 3D rendering, or machine learning, the MSI Katana 17's dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and higher refresh rate display will provide superior performance, albeit at the cost of portability due to its larger size and shorter battery life. The Katana's ample storage and RAM, along with a number pad, cater to more demanding tasks, but it's less suited for frequent travel due to its weight and size. Consider the Surface for its all-around versatility and the Katana for its specialized gaming and engineering capabilities. 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 MSI Katana 17
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
Good overall display quality
Very good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.9/10
6.6/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Katana 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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.
Engineering and Design
8.4/10
7.7/10
8.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Katana 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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
6.9/10
7.8/10
17.3in
SIZE
13.5in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
256.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has a better screen than the MSI Katana 17 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The MSI Katana 17 has 3 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has 9 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
Very Good
17.3in
SIZE
13.5in
5.7 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has very good portability, while the MSI Katana 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,367
$1,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The MSI Katana 17 has a price of $1,367 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" costs $1,200.
The MSI Katana 17 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.7/10
8.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Katana 17 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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
7.7/10
8.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" and MSI Katana 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.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.4/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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 MSI Katana 17 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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 MSI Katana 17 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
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.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
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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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
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.