MSI Summit E13 Flip EVO: 2-in-1 notebook with raw power

Instead of a gamer, MSI is targeting this high-performance notebook that can also be used as a tablet for the business market.

Introduction, design

Although MSI’s name is primarily known in the notebook market in the gamer segment, the company is also active in other areas. This includes, for example, the market of business machines, from which we tested the high-end Prestige 14 Evo last year. The more “businesslike” and more elegant Summit line belongs to the same category, in which we can find several 2-in-1 solutions. One of them is the E13 Flip EVO, which is a device using a 13-inch panel, built on the Intel Evo platform, with an Alder Lake-P processor, and an elegant design.

External

The Summit E13 Flip EVO is available in two color combinations, one with a white base color and silver edges (in this it is similar to the Prestige 14 tested last year), the other, which is also the mockery of our test subject, combines silky black with rose gold. Who likes which one better is of course a matter of taste, in any case, the latter is sure to attract attention and is both elegant and a bit ostentatious at the same time. As for the design, it brings the level we expect from a high-end business notebook, i.e. the aluminum housing is rigid, stable, and its assembly is perfect.

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The company’s logo echoes on the display frame and on the cover – the latter, of course, is also rose gold in color. The display is perhaps a little more flexible than it should be, and we would have liked more stable, stronger hinges: it is easy to move the screen, but it does not hold it very firmly, and it does not stay at the set angle in the event of a shake. The 13.4″ display with 16:10 aspect ratio has a fashionably narrow frame (webcam and quad microphone are located above), so the total size of the machine is 300 x 222 x 15 mm, which is not a record in this segment, but portability is not impaired. The weight is 1.35 kg, which is also an acceptable value among 13-14″ convertible notebooks.

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The aluminum casing surrounds the entire machine, except for the display glass, and is moderately sensitive to fingerprints. The keyboard takes up almost the entire width of the wrist rest, leaving only a small slanted surface free on both sides. The relatively large touchpad is also surrounded by a rose gold frame. We don’t see much of interest on the back of the machine, and it is strongly not recommended to open it: some of the screws are under the rubber feet, and one of the exposed ones is protected by a warranty void warning sticker. In one word, MSI does not support home development, but there really isn’t anything: the RAM, the Wi-Fi adapter and the other components are also soldered, only the SSD can be replaced if we open the bottom of the machine.

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There are several connectors on the sides of the rose-gold notebook: on the left side, you can see two TB4 connectors, which can also be used for charging, and behind them is a Type-A port with USB 3.2 Gen1 speed. An HDMI and a combined audio jack have been placed on the right side, but there is also a switch to disable the webcam and an interesting SIM tray-like socket, which is actually a microSD reader.

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It’s strange that MSI chose this lockable solution and intends it to add a semi-permanent, second storage space to the notebook, not to quickly transfer data from digital cameras and action cameras. The SD card as storage is more of a standard solution in the very cheap segment, here, where a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD is available, we don’t see its use in many situations.

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