MSI Sword 16 HX B13V Review

MSI’s Sword range of budget gaming laptops has been a perennial favourite since it first appeared. It’s typically offered all the important features, design elements and performance levels that gamers on a budget crave and has regularly punched above its weight for the price. How will this, latest, 16-inch version, the MSI Sword 16 HX B13V, fare in comparison?

MSI Sword 16 HX B13V Specs

Features, Ergonomics and Design

While I’m not surprised to see that gaming laptops are getting increasingly popular, I am surprised to see this one on sale at… Bunnings. For international readers, that’s our ubiquitous, salt-of-the-Earth hardware store that’s known for selling all the things you need to build a house and manage a garden (and sausage sizzles). Awesome!

This Sword looks somewhat fancier than the original model. The lid looks highly polished and has MSI’s embossed dragon logo on it. Opening it up reveals, what looks like, a per-key-RGB-lit keyboard which is something I’d normally expect to see on more-expensive models. It’s actually 24-zone back-lighting that can be controlled in the MSI Center app, but the effect is the same. It all makes the Sword 16 HX B13V look more valuable than one might expect.

I’m familiar with the Scrabble Tile keyboard from other MSI gaming laptops. It’s very comfortable and accurate to type and game upon for extended periods; it has full-sized arrow keys; there’s a number pad; and plenty of function shortcuts. It’s excellent.

The trackpad is smooth and accurate but it’s a bit rattly and the buttons emit a somewhat-hollow click. It’s a minor issue, but it’s one noticeable area that makes you think that this is a budget laptop. Another area that lets the side down somewhat, is the speakers. The twin, two-Watt models get loud and offer reasonable fidelity at the top, middle and bottom ranges, but the lack of bass is noticeable and everything sounds a bit tinny. None of this will matter to gamers using a mouse and headset, though, and that’s arguably most of the target market.

Above the screen is an HD webcam (with privacy slide) and dual-microphone array. Image quality is actually impressive and it does a good job of fending-off grain in low light. Audio quality is functional but it can still capture clear audio in a noisy(ish) environment.

The 16-inch, IPS screen itself, is generally good. The 1,920 x 1,200 resolution means Windows and Office applications are crisp and clear. Colours are a little muted and contrast is somewhat limited, although you can still see details in shadows if not bright highlights. Colour gradients can exhibit light stepping while monochromatic transitions can get a bit blocky – we’ve seen much worse though. Creators will like that it supports 100 per cent of the difficult DCI-P3 colour gamut.

It’s got a 144Hz refresh rate which marries with a quick refresh rate to fend-off the worst blur. Only super-competitive FPS players might want more.

All in all, it’s much more than functional, for a budget gaming laptop.

Connectivity and Ports

Inside, there’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. That’s an impressive connectivity complement.

Features, Ergonomics and Design Score: 3.2 / 5

Performance

The MSI Sword 16 HX B13V is powered by a 13^th-Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX processor that has eight Performance cores and eight Efficient cores that operate between 3.7GHz and 5.0GHz across 24 Threads. It’s flanked by 16GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and a 1TB hard drive. There’s also an (upper-mid-range) Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card with 8GB of GDDR6 RAM, so it should be a capable gaming machine.

In the general-computing PCMark 10 benchmark, which tests a whole system, holistically, it scored an impressive 8,071 which knocks on the door of premium gaming laptops. (Score: 4 / 5)

In the Cinebench processor rendering tests the Sword 16 scored 2,853 in the rapid R15 test and 17,936 in the longer R23 test. That’s above average and demonstrates capability in this space. (Score: 2.8 / 5)

In the tricky 3DMark ray-tracing game tests, the Sword 16 scored 2,506 (average 25.1fps) in Speed Way and 6,891 (average 31.9fps) in Port Royal. While these aren’t quite playable frame rates, some generous tweaking of detail and resolution settings should get these eye-candy-rich games running smoothly.

In the Time Spy and Fire Strike Extreme benchmarks, which mirror AAA-mainstream games, the Sword managed 11,468 (average 68.1fps) and 12,584 (average 61.3fps) respectively. That should be more than enough play most games smoothly without too many adjustments.

In the easier 3DMark Night Raid test, MSI’s Sword 16 scored 64,531 which is an average of 586fps, so no issues here.

I also ran the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 benchmark. At default settings (native resolution and automatic, game-tailored adjustments) the Sword 16 averaged 96fps, with the lowest one per cent (1% Low score) hitting 70fps. When set to a Full HD resolution with Minimum settings (like many competitive players would use) it averaged 148fps with a 99fps 1% Low Score. These are all very playable frame rates.

I also ran the following UL Procyon benchmarks which will be folded into our laptop reviews in 2025:

UL Procyon Microsoft Office: 6,696
UL Procyon Microsoft Office Multi-Platform: 245,000
UL Procyon Adobe Photoshop Editing: 7,127
UL Procyon Adobe Premiere Video Editing: 25,576
UL Procyon Ai Vision (CPU): 124
UL Procyon Ai Vision (GPU): 639
3DMark Solar Bay: 53,006
3DMark Steel Nomad: 2,471 (24.7fps)
3DMark Steel Nomad Light: 11,560 (85.6fps)

3D Performance Score: 3.2 / 5

Cooling

Cooling comes via MSI’s mature, CoolerBoost 5 technology which utilises two fans, five heat pipes and six exhaust vents. It does an impressive job of keeping everything cool, even under load. While the fan can ramp-up when flat out, the robust whoosh isn’t nearly as intrusive as many rivals and it dials down quickly when not needed.

Portability and Battery Life

Our review unit of the MSI Sword 16 weighed 2.44KG which is in the expected envelope for a 16-inch gaming laptop. The thin power brick and cables add an extra 738g which is low for a gaming laptop.

Meanwhile, the 65Wh battery ran our PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test for an impressive 9 hours and 5 minutes. That’s a full day out of the office and refreshing considering some of the dismal scores that rivals have put out lately. In the UL Procyon Microsoft Office benchmark, it lasted a similar 8 hours 54 minutes.

Build quality is also better than expected. The lid is rigid and doesn’t flex much when a twisting force is applied. However, we wouldn’t want to bash it too hard. The main chassis is solid and the hinges don’t give us any cause for concern, even when they lie the screen down, flat.

Portability and Battery Life Score: 1.7 / 5

Value, Price and Availability

Our review unit is formally called the MSI Sword 16 HX B13VGKG and it’s available for $2,150 from… Bunnings (and Big W amongst others)! That represents very good value. There are cheaper variants too – mainly with RTX 4060 GPUs – but they’re not widely available locally, yet.

We’ve an arbitrary cut-off for Budget Gaming Laptops at $2,000, so this Sword SKU lies in something of a grey area between being a high-end budget gaming laptop and a low-end premium gaming laptop. You decide!

Value Score: 4.3 / 5

Conclusion

Once again the MSI Sword 16 HX B13V has it where it counts. There are certainly a few compromises, like the speakers and the trackpad, but these are relatively minor points. If you need a capable gaming machine that doesn’t break the bank, it’s worth adding to your shortlist.

Overall: 4.4 / 5