•  Date Published: 28 May 2025
    • Intel Core i7-13620H
    • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Laptop, 105W)
    • 15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080), 144 Hz, IPS
    • 4000GB SSD
    • 64GB RAM
    • 2.25 kg (5 lbs)
    7.1
    TOTAL SCORE
    5.5 Portability Average
    7.0 Display Very Good
    7.5 For Work Very Good
    7.6 For Gaming Very Good

    Review

    MSI Katana 15 in-depth review

    From all of the gibberish on MSI's official Website, we learn one thing - the Katana is no longer called the GF66. Instead, it follows its weapon cousin - the Sword, in adopting the simpler "15" moniker. This will make the two devices ever so harder to differentiate. However, we are here for only one of them today - the MSI Katana 15 (B13V).It comes with a 13th Gen Intel processor. While it is the somewhat crippled Core i7-13620H, we have high expectations for its gaming performance. Consisting of 6 P-cores and 4 E-cores, it should be a rather efficient unit.On the graphics side, you get one of the following GPUs - RTX 4050, RTX 4060, or RTX 4070. All of them have a 105W TGP. Interestingly, the 6GB RTX 4050 is claimed to be faster than the RTX 3060, which is a huge generational le[...]

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    Pros

    • Pretty good gaming performance
    • 2x M.2 PCIe x4 Gen 4 slots, 2x DDR5 RAM SODIMM slots in dual channel
    • 144Hz refresh rate (AUO B156HAN08.4 (AUOAF90))
    • No PWM (AUO B156HAN08.4 (AUOAF90))
    • MUX Switch
    • Great keyboard

    Cons

    • No SD card
    • No Thunderbolt 4
    • Covers only 53% of sRGB (AUO B156HAN08.4 (AUOAF90))
    • All-plastic build
    • Keyboard gets pretty warm during gaming
    • Gets more and more expensive

    Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

    MSI Katana 15 (B13V) is now part of a higher class of gaming notebooks. Not only because of its price but also due to the great features it incorporates.Check out all MSI Katana 15 (B13V) prices and configurations in our Specs System, or read more in our In-Depth review.1. Remove the bottom plate To open this device, you need to undo 13 Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, starting from the front two corners.2. Remove the battery Inside, we find a 53.5Wh battery pack. It got us through 6 hours and 30 minutes of Web browsing, or 5 hours of [...]

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    DISPLAY: 15.6-inch, 1920x1080, IPS

    • Name
    • AUO B156HAN08.4 (AUOAF90)
    • Diagonal
    • 15.6"
    • Pixel density
    • 141.21 ppi
    • Brightness
    • 258 cd/m2
    • sRGB
    • 53%
    • PWM frequency
    • No PWM (Flicker-Free)
    • Panel Type
    • IPS
    • Resolution
    • 1920x1080
    • Becomes "Retina" from
    • 24 inches (62 cm)
    • Contrast
    • 1000:1
    • dE Color Checker
    • 3.3 3.4
    • PWM Rating
    • 10.0: (safe)

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    Office Work

    Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

    Design and Gaming

    This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

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    Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

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