Hands On: MSI GS75 Stealth Is Sexy, Light and First With RTX 2080 Max-Q

LAS VEGAS - MSI is giving its thinnest gaming laptop (GS65 Stealth Thin) a 17-inch upgrade, and it'll be the first laptop ever to incorporate the RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU. Meet the MSI GS75 Stealth.

There's no word availability as of yet, but the GS75 Stealth will come sooner rather than later if MSI wants to stay true to its claims. And we were told that the new Stealth should start at $2,500.

This sleek machine is bringing the heat with its 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8GB of VRAM. And not to worry: MSI hasn't forgotten about our beloved GS65 Stealth Thin, as that model will also be getting a refresh with the new RTX chips.

On the GS75 Stealth you'll have options for a 1TB SSD, of course, but a neat feature that MSI has included in the GS75 Stealth is a whopping three SSD card slots. We haven't seen this feature before in a gaming laptop this thin. Not to mention, MSI also included easy access on the underside of the laptop in order to replace the SSDs yourself.

Speaking of thin, this device measures 15.6 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches and weighs just a little less than 5 pounds, making it one of the lightest and thinnest 17-inch gaming laptops on the market. It has a premium aluminum design lathered in matte black and accented in a gorgeous copper. 

One way that MSI manages to keep the GS75 Stealth this thin without overheating is its Cooler Boost Trinity+ system, which involves the use of seven heat pipes connected to three fans, thus increasing the air pressure 45 percent more than normal.

Despite getting flooded with lights around the room, the GS75 Stealth's 17.3-inch, 1080p panel glowed with color as I walked passed a scorched car in the snowy wasteland of Battlefield V. On top of being vibrant, the GS75 Stealth's display is accompanied by superthin bezels on all four sides while still managing to keep the webcam on the top bezel.

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MSI is once again working with SteelSeries on the keyboard for this beauty, and the company now lets you fully control the RGB lighting on each individual key. If was pretty responsive and punchy when I ran around in circles in Battlefield V.

MSI did increase the touchpad by 35 percent, which is pretty substantial and makes it much more comfortable to use when you're not gaming.

We didn't get to put the speakers to the test on the show floor, but MSI claims to have made the speakers 50 percent louder than the previous generation, which is impressive, considering how good they were on the Stealth Thin.

Another incredible improvement that MSI made was to the battery life. Apparently, the GS75 Stealth can last up to 8 whole hours on a charge, which would make it one of the most long-lasting gaming notebooks to exist if that number stays true after we put it to the test.

One feature that also impressed me was the introduction of the MSI App Player, which allows you to play smartphone games right on your laptop, giving you the full functionality of the keyboard to play any game up to six times faster than a normal smartphone.

MSI is also bumping up its Dragon Center to be compatible with Nanoleaf light panels, so that means the panels will adapt to every scene that you are experience in-game. If you're diving underwater in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, you'll see a gorgeous bold blue, and if you're sitting by a fire, sparks of orange will flare on the panels, which looks so badass.

I am so excited to get more time with this beauty once it rolls through our lab. Stay tuned for the full review and benchmarks as well as more CES 2019 coverage.