We’ve been impressed with MSI’s Katana gaming laptops since they first appeared back in 2021. Since then, the Katana range has proven to be particularly popular owing to its combination of design, gaming performance, value and wallet-friendly price points. With the much-anticipated, 15-inch, 2025 model having just landed on these shores, MSI teamed-up with High Performance Laptops to tell you what’s great about it. So, here’s what you need to know about the Katana 15 HX B14W…
Design
We’ve a soft spot for a laptop that can both hide in an office and yet turn heads at a LAN party and we’re pleased to say that the Katana pulls this off. Its minimalist, all-black design, with sleek lines, belies its budget designation and yet enables it to hide in the shadows deflecting attention… ninja style!
But, open it up and both the bright gaming screen and fully-featured, configurable, zoned-RGB keyboard (with Copilot key and translucent WASD keys) are unsheathed to draw maximum attention from those nearby. When all aglow, it’s just how you’d want a gaming laptop to look!
Performance
One of the great things about the best, modern, budget gaming laptops is that they use top-tier hardware that adorned super-premium gaming laptops just a generation ago. The ethereal touch of this technological drip-down effect has blessed the new Katanas with high-powered, 14th-Gen Intel (Raptor Lake) processors. This includes the top-tier Core i9 14900HX which still featured in the very best gaming laptops at the beginning of this year.
The CPU has eight Performance cores and 16 Efficient cores that operate between 1.6 and 5.8GHz across 32 threads. That’s enough for day-to-day tasks plus hardcore, processor-based rendering tasks too. It can be partnered with up to 96GB of fast, DDR5 RAM.
Also present are Nvidia’s latest-and-greatest RTX 50-series GPUs which stretch to the upper-mid-range 5070 (which has 8GB of GDDR7 memory). This will allow you to play the latest-and-greatest games and even perform demanding, Small Language Model (SLM) Ai workloads thanks to its ability to perform 798 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second)!
In addition to this, the Katana 15 HX B14W uses the same high-end Cooler Boost 5 cooling technology that adorns MSI’s premium gaming laptops. This features five heat pipes (some of which are shared by the CPU and GPU for extra efficiency) and two high-performing fans. It also employ’s MSI’s exclusive thermal grease for enhanced heat-transfer and special directional exhaust vents to expel hot air as quickly as possible.
Everything is configurable in the intuitive MSI Control Center app which lets you choose between a pre-set Extreme Performance Mode (that can be manually tweaked for additional power), a Balanced Mode, an ECO-Silent Mode or opt for MSI’s Ai Engine to dynamically change performance settings automatically, according to what you’re doing. You can also engage the MUX feature which disables the Nvidia graphics to maximise battery life, when you really need it.
The IPS screen is bright, colourful and accurate enough to display 100 per cent of the difficult DCI-P3 colour gamut. Its 2,560 x 1,440 resolution keeps everything crisp and clear and the 165Hz refresh rate banishes the blurriness that can blight fast-moving objects.
In short, it’s got all the ingredients a gamer needs plus the potential to perform demanding work-oriented tasks.
Features
Unlike many laptops, the Katana 15 HX B14W features a full connectivity complement so you can connect it to just about any peripheral you need. These include three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port (that supports DisplayPort video out and Power Delivery 3.0 device charging), a 3.5mm audio jack, HDMI 2.1 video out and Gigabit Ethernet networking. There’s also fast Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity.
Elsewhere, there are twin, two-Watt speakers, which work in tandem with Nahimic 3 Audio Enhancer technology, to produce audio that’s (already proved to be) both loud and well-rounded in our early tests. There’s also an HD webcam (with an impressive microphone array) for streaming and web-conferencing and an fTPM (2.0) module for hardware-based security applications.
In terms of portability, the 15-inch Katana 15 HX B14W is 25mm thick and has a large 75Wh battery. It weighs 2.4KG which is decent for a stacked gaming laptop and the general build quality (including the hinges) suggests it will survive regular relocation.
Availability
There are often quality compromises when it comes to gaming laptops, but MSI has a habit of judiciously making models that have got it where it counts… and this can be said of the Katana 15 HX B14W.
Click here to find where to buy it and watch for special promotions around Intel’s Gamer Days which run from August 25 to September 7, 2025. Order now and receive a $45 AUD Steam Gift Card!
Related: Read the full MSI Katana 15 HX B14W Review
Last Updated on 4 November 2025 by Nick Ross
