MSI have been steadily making leaps into business and productivity, at least in South Africa where the brand is more synonymous with its gaming hardware. The new Modern 14 F13MG presents itself as a lightweight laptop tailored for the business-savvy market – small, versatile and most importantly, sufficient for work-related purposes, this is a laptop that continued to impress me despite one or two small issues.

Firstly, the specifications for the MSI Modern 14 F13MG are as follows:

• Intel® Core™ i7-1355U (Up to 5.00GHz, 10 Cores, 12 Threads)
• 16GB DDR4 RAM / 512GB NVMe SSD
• 14” Full HD IPS-Level Display
• Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• Windows 11 Home
• Intel WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• White backlit keyboard, HD webcam
• Plenty of ports: USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, RJ45, MicroSD slot
• 1-year warranty



Like its Modern 15 H counterpart, the Modern 14 F13MG is incredibly lightweight, coming in at 1.5kg. The laptop’s overall aesthetic is quite pleasing too with a glossy surface that’s thankfully not prone to fingerprints as much as other similar work-oriented laptops. It’s also incredibly low-key, clearly designed to not stand out too much in a work environment. It blends in perfectly with your work space, making it ideal for business and work use without drawing attention to it for all the wrong reasons.

Due to its light weight and small size, it affords the laptop a tremendous amount of portability. It’s relatively easy to pack up and put in even the smallest laptop bags. Whether you’re using it on a busy desk or even taking it to coffee shops, the Modern 14 F13MG is the kind of reliable laptop that caters to your travelling needs by trimming the fat and condensing the experience into a compact, on-the-go item.



Focusing more on the design, the white backlit keyboard really stands out on its dark keys, creating a pretty mesmerising sight when used in the dark or during loadshedding. The best thing I can say about the Modern 14 F13MG’s design, apart from its size and weight, is that it feels incredibly premium and tailored for professionals, whether in the creative or business space. As far as productivity laptops go, MSI has found a great middle-ground here between being ergonomic and delivering a smooth technical experience (more on that in a bit).

The best thing I can say about the Modern 14 F13MG’s design, apart from its size and weight, is that it feels incredibly premium and tailored for professionals, whether in the creative or business space.

If you were ever concerned about not having enough I/O ports, the Modern 14 F13MG is loaded with them. It packs 3x Type-A USB3.2 Gen1, 1x Micro SD card reader, 1x Type-C, 1x RJ45 and 1x HDMI port. In business environments where you need to quickly set up presentations or transfer data quickly from external devices, it’s a tremendous benefit having this many I/O port options available to you. Sure, it’s not a novel concept but due to the laptop’s small size and portability factor, it’s safe to say that the Modern 14 F13MG is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of using.



The 14-inch FHD IPS-level display is stunning, presenting crisp colours and vibrant images on its 1920x1080 resolution. An argument could be made that 1080p displays are a bit behind the curve, though you don’t really need added resolution if your laptop’s primary function is to be used for business and work instead of gaming. On that note, this is not a gaming laptop, though you could probably sneak a few less-demanding indie games on here without hassle. I managed to install and play Undertale and Balatro perfectly fine on the laptop – in fact, it looked fantastic with the FHD display - and to be honest, Balatro is all you need, but I digress. I was even able to run CS:GO 2 on low settings without sacrificing the framerate too much, but once again, you probably wouldn’t want to use the laptop for strictly gaming purposes. At least the option is there in a somewhat limited capacity.

If you were ever concerned about not having enough I/O ports, the Modern 14 F13MG is loaded with them.

On the storage front, the MSI Modern 14 F13MG comes with an on-board 512GB NVMe SSD. However, it also has the added benefit of upgradable memory. Packed with a max memory of 64GB and DDR4-3200, having the option to upgrade its memory capacity is honestly fantastic and perfect for creatives who tend to export large files or install more demanding software. Storage-wise, 512GB is perfectly fine for the business and work environment while also having ample space to store personal pictures, videos, music and more. It adds a bit of versatility to the device, making it a capable personal laptop while also being cut in stone for work use.



In the unfortunate age of loadshedding (for non-South Africans, this means we get extended periods of blackouts for a plethora of inexplicable reasons), the Modern 14 F13MG on full charge will typically last you a handful of hours if you aren’t using it for extensive work. On the pesky stage 2-4 blocks, it will easily carry you across those 2.5 hours of power outages, assuming you tweak certain settings to reserve energy and power.

Moving onto the price, this is usually the part of reviews where I weigh the pros and cons of the laptop and whether or not it’s worth the asking price. Knowing what you’re getting out of the MSI Modern 14 F13MG – that being a laptop mostly intended for work and business – the price point of R11,999 is honestly about right. It’s not going to break the bank and compared to other business-centric laptops on the market, the Modern 14 F13MG is priced reasonably, if not a steal for a reliably solid MSI laptop.



In terms of performance, this is the newer model with the Core i7 so it’s a leg above its other alternatives, and multitasking is mostly a breeze, but if you put the laptop under strain, you’ll likely run into your usual dips in speed. For instance, running a number of background tasks did result in a slight lag when pulling up or opening new windows and folders, but it’s barely noticeable and the laptop does a fine job of keeping up with the workload.

The compact size of the laptop meant that certain exclusions unfortunately had to happen. The biggest offence here is the lack of a Numpad. I’m the kind of person who typically likes to hotkey certain functions to a Numpad while working, but sadly the Modern 14 F13MG had to make the cut to keep its size condensed. For people with larger hands, typing on the laptop’s keyboard also takes some getting used to due to its smaller, tighter spacing, so keep that in mind if you prefer to give your fingers a little more breathing room.

Overall, the MSI Modern 14 F13MG is a pretty solid, no-nonsense business and work laptop that aims to boost productivity and excels with flying colours in most areas. Thanks to its range of I/O ports, crisp display and low-key pleasant design, it goes the extra mile to cater to your needs, be it for work, personal use or a very light degree of gaming. At a modest price point, it’s also pretty affordable considering what you get out of it.