MSI GS66 Stealth vs Razer Blade 15: Thin and light gaming laptop throwdown

I love face-offs like this! It’s a battle of gaming laptops, but not just gaming notebooks, these are thin-and-light systems. It’s a delicate balance between performance and endurance that’s definitely fun to watch. In one corner, we have the MSI GS66 Stealth, the company’s latest slim stunner that’s rocking a 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake H Series processor, an Nvidia Super graphics card and the biggest battery the TSA will allow on a plane. It’s also the latest member of the 4.5-star club on Laptop Mag. 

But not to be outdone, we’ve got the Razer Blade 15. Razer ushered in the era of thin-and-light gaming laptops and has been honing its craft ever since. This particular Blade 15 is stacked with an Intel 9th Gen CPU, Nvidia RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU and an absolutely tantalizing 4K OLED panel. Also, keep in mind that Razer has recently refreshed the Blade 15 with 10th Gen Intel CPUs and Nvidia Super GPUs, so we'll be having round two of this face-off very soon. 

So which ultra-thin powerhouse is going to take this one? Read on to find out.

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15: Specs

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15 pricing and configuration

Slim gaming laptops are rarely cheap, but MSI takes a stab at being affordable. The base model Stealth costs $1,499 and has a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7-10750H processor with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics GPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU and a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Spending $2,699 doubles the RAM and gets you an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU and pushes the display’s refresh rate to an amazing 300Hz. The $2,999 model kicks it up to an overclockable 2.4-GHz Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU and a 1TB NVMe SSD.

Razer’s not too far behind, although there’s a noticeable spec difference. The Blade 15 base model is $1,599 and has a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics GPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU with 4GB of VRAM and a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 display with a 144Hz refresh rate. For $1,999, you get a system with a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7-9750H CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics GPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU with 8GB of VRAM.

For $2,999 you get a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics with 8GB of VRAM and a full HD panel with a 300Hz refresh rate while $3,299 nets you a 4K OLED panel. 

Winner: MSI GS66 Stealth

MSI GS66 Stealth vs Razer Blade 15: Design

Let’s play a game of who wore it better. Most Blades are made of a matte black all-aluminum chassis. The squared-off corners are retro-chic while the glowing three-headed logo in the lid screams gamer. Opening the laptop, you get more of that beautiful inky blackness that helps to accentuate the sparkling Chroma keyboard. 

Razer’s been experimenting with color including the gorgeous Quartz Pink and the ridiculous Mercury White finish. Quartz Pink currently isn’t available for the Blade 15, but Mercury White is on the table for those looking for a more refined take on the notebook. Instead of the emerald green logo, the Mercury White model has an embossed silver logo that’s sleek and stylish. 

And while I miss the golden accents on the Stealth, I have to admit that the notebook is just as beautiful in all black. MSI dragon emblem is done in black, drawing the observing in for a closer look. The notebook’s interior reveals more black aluminum and a pretty RGB backlit keyboard.

At 4.6 pounds, the 14.2 x 9.7 x 0.7-inch Stealth is lighter than many of the other laptops in its weight class, including the Razer Blade 15 (OLED) (4.9 pounds, 13.9 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches).

Winner: Razer Blade 15

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15: Ports

Despite their svelte dimensions, both notebooks have a slew of ports.  On the Stealth, you’ve got a USB Gen 3.2 Type-C port on the right along with a pair of USB 3.1 Type-A ports, an Ethernet port and a headset jack. Along the left, there’s another USB 3.1 Type-A port, a Thunderbolt 3 port, a full HDMI port and an AC jack.

The Blade 15 is also serving up the portage with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, a Thunderbolt 3 port, an HDMI 2.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort and a secure lock slot. On the left, you get two more Type-A ports, a headset jack and a proprietary power jack.

Winner: Draw

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15: Display

Is there anything more beautiful than an OLED display? When it comes to gaming laptops, the answer is a definitive no. Colors just seem to burst off the Blade’s 15.6-inch, 3840 x 2160 OLED panel with a 60Hz refresh rate. So if you want super high-res detail with incredible color (and I think you do), the Blade 15 is the way to go hands down. 

On the other hand, if you’re a gamer, you value super-smooth rendering as screen latency can be the difference between you scoring a headshot or someone getting one on you. In that case, you need to consider the Stealth which has a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 screen with an out-of-this 300Hz refresh rates. Gaming on this bad boy was a complete treat, combining vividness, brightness and smoothness.

When we measured color reproduction capabilities, the Blade 15 reached a whopping 243% of the sRGB color gamut compared to the Stealth’s 116%. The Blade 15’s panel averaged 438 nits while the Stealth only reached 321 nits.

Winner: Razer Blade 15

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15: Keyboard

It can be hard to start typing on the Blade 15’s island-style keyboard because that Chroma lighting is just so pretty to look at. The RGB lighting is incredibly bright, making it incredibly easy to see in a darkened environment. But the Stealth’s SteelSeries keyboard isn’t a slouch by any means, offering up a cornucopia of color. Both notebooks also offer preinstalled software to tweak the per-key keyboards to your liking. 

If I have to choose a software, I prefer Razer’s Synapse 3.0 software as it offers more lighting presets compared to the SteelSeries Engine 3 program on the Stealth. However, each utility offers its own special features such as Synapse’s Pen feature which lets you essentially draw the light pattern you want or SteelSeries Engine’s GameSense feature, which syncs up the lighting for certain games to blink or flash when something important happens.

But a keyboard has to do more than look pretty, it also has to be comfortable to type on, which luckily for me was the case for both. When I took the 10fastfinger typing test, I reached my 70 word-per-minute average on the Blade 15 and 72 wpm on the Stealth. 

Winner: Razer Blade 15

MSI GS66 Stealth vs. Razer Blade 15: Gaming, graphics and VR

MSI has outfitted the Stealth with one of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU with 8GB video memory. It’s one of the most powerful mobile graphics cards available. But not so fast, the Blade 15 has an RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU (with 8GB of VRAM), which makes for an interesting battle. 

When we ran the Rise of the Tomb Raider test, the Stealth hit 102 frames per second at 1920 x 1080 at Very High while the Blade 15 notched 50 fps. On the Hitman benchmark, the GS66 reached 113 fps compared to the Blade 15’s 79 fps. During the Grand Theft Auto V test, the Stealth kept up its lead with 82 fps, but the Blade 15 wasn’t too far behind at 81 fps. The Stealth scored 86 fps on the Far Cry: New Dawn test compared to the Blade 15’s 80 fps. 

In order to test the laptop’s VR capabilities, we ran VRMark Blue, one of the most demanding VR tests available. The Stealth achieved 2,394, staving off the Blade 15’s 2,348.

Both laptops are equipped with an Intel UHD Graphics GPU for those times you aren’t gaming and don’t need as much oomph. 

Winner: MSI GS66 Stealth

MSI GS66 Stealth vs Razer Blade 15 performance

Both laptops are high performers when it comes to multitasking. The Stealth relies on its 14-nanometer 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7-10750H processor with 32GB of RAM while the Blade 15 uses an Intel Core i7-9750H CPU with 16GB of RAM to get the job done. Each laptop did great on our real-world tests so it was on to the synthetic tests to see which system would come out on top. 

When we ran the Geekbench 4.3 overall performance test, the Stealth obtained 25,304 while the Blade 15 hit 22,186. On the Handbrake benchmark, the Stealth transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 9 minutes and 25 seconds compared to the Blade 15’s 11:56. 

When we ran the file transfer test, the Stealth’s 512GB M.2 SSD duplicated 4.97GB of multimedia files with a super-fast transfer rate of 1,696.4 megabytes per second. The Blade 15’s (512GB NVMe SSD) reached 727MBps. 

Winner: MSI GS66 Stealth

MSI GS66 Stealth vs Razer Blade battery life

Gaming laptops are normally known for their notoriously short battery life. MSI is looking to remedy that problem with its 99.9 watt-hour battery. It’s the largest battery the TSA will allow on a flight. The laptop ended up lasting 6 hours and 36 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, outlasting the Blade 15’s time of 4:12.

Winner: MSI GS66 Stealth

Overall Winner

When push came to shove, the MSI GS66 Stealth was the clear winner. Not only is the laptop cheaper, but it’s also got the edge when it comes to gaming and overall performance as well as battery life. The laptop is also lighter than its competition, which comes in handy when it comes to gaming on the go. 

However, with its show-stopping 4K OLED screen, beautiful customizable keyboard, the Razer Blade 15 shouldn’t be counted out. It also offers strong gaming capabilities as well as overall performance. And as far as battery life, the Blade 15 still has better endurance than most gaming laptops on the market. 

But overall, if you want a light and powerful gaming laptop, the MSI GS66 Stealth is the way to go.