The MSI Pulse 17 leaves us with mixed feelings. On one hand, the gaming laptop is really quiet. In some of the benchmarks, we didn’t even hear the fans at all. If we’d only look at the performance and noise volume of a laptop, the Pulse 17 would be extremely impressive.
But for a laptop, the connection equipment, network technology, and especially the display are also important. And particularly in those three areas, MSI either cut too many corners or simply made the wrong decisions. The Pulse 17 comes with a display that combines slow response times with a low brightness and bad color reproduction. With the exception of the contrast ratio, our measurement results are anything but good here. Even though the laptop is able to score with good transfer speeds in the WLAN, with the Intel AX201, it still doesn’t support the newest network standards. This means that the Pulse 17 is limited to Wi-Fi 6 in the 5-GHz network. The laptop is limited even in the LAN, and the LAN chip used here is unable to deliver more than 1 Gbit/s.
And finally, there is also the connection equipment. At first glance it looks fairly practical with the laptop offering two USB ports on each side, so that the cables won’t be in the way of your gaming enjoyment. But you will quickly notice that the single USB-C port in the device lacks support for Thunderbolt and PowerDelivery and that none of the USB ports is faster than USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s). This is particularly annoying, since the manufacturer has wasted a whole series of PCIe lanes pointlessly with an M.2 slot that cannot be accessed.
But in the end, the MSI Pulse 17 is able to achieve a good evaluation in our current review. The laptop convinces particularly with a powerful performance while still remaining quiet. However, at around 2,500 Euros (~$2,756) its price is far from the budget segment where you often have to accept the weaknesses listed above. And with the Katana 17, MSI even offers a competitor inhouse that is significantly more affordable while offering hardly any fewer performance points than the MSI Pulse 17.
From an early age I liked to thoroughly examine all kinds of devices to see how they worked, which also involved taking my own devices apart and therefore not always to the delight of my parents. Nevertheless, with my grandfather’s support, I became a computer and electronics tinkerer. With the family PC and Lego Mindstorms, my interested in software and programming took off, and I am currently an engineering program student. I enjoy building all sorts of gadgets with Arduino and 3D printers, and I still like to put electronic devices through their paces. By joining the Notebookcheck editorial team, I have been able to turn my hobby into a profession.
Having worked as a programmer for 20 years (medical devices, AI, data management systems), I’ve been following the computer scene for many years and especially enjoy finding out about new technology advances. Originally from Germany but living in the US, I’ve been working as a translator more recently, with Notebookcheck allowing me to combine my interest in new devices and translation. Other interests include Buddhism, spending time in Tibetan monasteries, and translating ancient Tibetan texts.
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