Specs at a Glance
CPU: Core i7 12th gen 12700H | GPU: RTX 3070 8GB 100W RAM: 16GB DDR4 RAM | Display: 15.6” 1920x1080144Hz | Storage: 512GB SSD | Battery: 53Wh | OS: Windows 11
Introduction
The MSI Pulse GL66 is for someone looking for decent hardware on a budget that can easily take on modern triple-A games. However, that performance comes at the cost of other things.
Most of the changes are to be found under the hood, where the Pulse GL66 got the new Intel 12th gen processors that give the GL66 enough oomph to perform well in games. But for the most part, GL66 remains the same from last year, which causes GL66 to fall behind the competition in some ways. And we will talk more about that as we go on with the review.
Chassis Build Quality & Design
The chassis build quality & design is where MSI decided to compromise with the Pulse GL66. MSI implemented a clean Gray aluminum lid that looks subtle and would be perfect to use in a formal environment like a classroom or an office where the dull look of the lid would blend in perfectly with other laptops in the room.
However, the typical rigid lines on the aluminum lid and chunky bezels on the main display make the MSI GL66 feel like a gaming laptop from the mid-2010s. And it doesn’t stop there. The GL66 premium look starts and finishes with the aluminum lid, as the rest of the body is entirely made of plastic, which brings the rigidity and build quality of the laptop into question.
The competition also offers a much better design and weighs less than the Pulse GL66. One such laptop is the Asus TUF Dash F15 which weighs around 2kg compared to the Pulse GL66’s 2.25kg, making it feel quite heavy and bulky when moving it around. Furthermore, adding insult to injury, the TUF Dash F15 is thinner and smaller than the GL66.
The GL66 length is 14.13 inches which are 0.19 inches bigger than the Dash F15. Its width is also 0.32 inches thicker than the Dash F15, coming at 10.2 inches. The Dash F15 is also 0.11 inches thinner than the GL66, which has a thickness of 0.94 inches.
This makes it clear that if you want a laptop that does not compromise aesthetics and build quality, then the Asus TUF Dash 15 is something you should look into. However, we advise you to keep reading as there are some things where the MSI GL66 excels, unlike the Dash F15.
I/O & Ports
The I/O is nothing impressive on the Pulse GL66. Most of its I/O is located on the right side, where you usually use your mouse. So if you have multiple cables plugged in, like Ethernet or HDMI, those cables could come your way.
On the left is the charging port and two USB Type-A ports. One is a USB 2.0 port, while the other is a USB 3.2 port. We get that MSI included the USB 2.0 port considering many would plug in their mouse in this port, but despite that, a full USB 3.2 port that allows for much higher bandwidth would have been highly appreciated.
On the right side, we get a Gigabit LAN port, audio combo jack, and HDMI 2.0 port, along with another USB 3.2 Type-A port and an HDMI 2.0 port.
It also has a USB C port that supports neither Power Delivery or Displays out. Which is a shame considering something like the TUF Dash 15 supports not only charging and display out but also supports Thunderbolt 4, which allows you to connect multiple 4K displays or get access to high-speed networking by connecting a 10G NIC.
Considering that the Pulse GL66 has intel inside, you would expect Thunderbolt, but MSI decided to ditch it for some reason. It also lacks a card reader, which shouldn’t bother you as long as you don’t do any creative work.
On the wireless connectivity side, similar to the last year’s model, it comes with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Overall, the MSI GL66’s I/O is passable at best.
Keyboard & Touchpad
Keyboard
The keyboard is fine on the Pulse GL66. The keys have short travel, but they deliver noticeable feedback that makes the clicks on the chiclet keyboard feel quite precise. That also allows the keyboard to actuate quickly and fairly easily. Though we wouldn’t recommend it for long typing sessions as the stiff, short travel keys may strain your fingers in the long term. But for gaming sessions, these can get the job done without any issues.
The keyboard doesn’t feature a per-key RGB backlight, and unlike some premium laptops, however, you can change the light color for the entire keyboard deck together from the MSI Center app. This is where the Pulse GL66 has a bit of the upper hand, considering something like the TUF Dash 15 features only a simplistic white backlit keyboard and lacks any RGB lighting customization altogether. So we have to give MSI props for at least including this much customization.
The keyboard also includes a full Numpad, cramped on the right side by having smaller keys than the main keys. What also bothered us was how the arrow keys are cramped near the shift button, which can lead you to accidentally hit while typing moving the page upward. It’s a minor annoyance, but we felt like mentioning it.
Touchpad
The touchpad is moderately sized on the Pulse GL66. It tracks smoothly and accurately without any issues. However, the buttons on the lower side of the touchpad require a bit more force to actuate, but it’s still usable.
Webcam & Speakers
Webcam
The MSI Pulse GL66 includes a 720p webcam. When it comes to quality, it’s what you would come to expect. The camera is grainy and only outputs an acceptable image when you provide enough lighting. Nonetheless, it’s enough for occasional zoom meetings and would get the job done.
Speakers
The speakers on the Pulse GL66 caught me off guard. I was expecting them to be kinda bad, but they are really good. They get pretty loud without distorting and produce quite clear mids and highs. However, as expected, they don’t produce any bass. So as long as you plan to use these speakers for watching Youtube videos or listening to podcast, you should be fine.
Display
The display is similar to the last year’s Pulse GL66, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Our 1080p 144Hz display, apart from being quite smooth and having a smooth contrast, fails to get bright enough, maxing out at nearly 215nits. This means that you will barely be able to see the display in the sun if you plan to use it outdoors.
Furthermore, its poor color accuracy also makes this display bad for any productivity-related task. The Pulse GL66 fails to cover the basic sRGB color space at around 58.6%, let alone the wider color gamuts like Adobe RGB and DCI P3. So if you were considering the Pulse GL66 for productivity work, this ain’t it, chief. You can consider something like the Asus TUF Gaming 15 that has excellent color accuracy if you also prioritize creative work apart from gaming.
Performance
Let’s address the elephant in the room. The 202 Pulse GL66 significantly 1UPs its previous model with its new Alder Lake CPU. It features a Core i7 12700H, a 14 core 28 thread that can boost up to 4.7Ghz. On the graphics side, our unit has an RTX 3070 with 8GB VRAM and 100W TDP accompanied by a MUX switch.
Though the CPU and GPU potential has been held back by the limiting power budget of the GL66, they still manage to perform as best as they can with what they have. In Geekbench 5, GL66 achieved a single core score of 1830, which is around 9% faster than last year’s model, and in the multi-core score, it reached 12530, which is 36% faster than last year’s model.
Cinebench R23 got a single core score of 1840, 17% higher, and 16290, which is 28% faster than last year’s model. The CPU performance is on par compared to the competition, like the Asus TUF Dash F15 and Gigabyte Aorus 5 SE14. However, the Acer Nitro 5 is faster than the Pulse GL66 in CPU benchmarks.
Coming to the GPU, the RTX 3070 is nerfed by its lackluster power budget of 100W, which severely hampers the performance of this GPU. These are some of the games we checked out.
These games are running at 1080p ultra settings.
- GTA V – 50FPS
- Witcher 3 – 75FPS
- Far Cry 5 – 123FPS
- Cyberpunk – 67FPS
- RDR2 – 57FPS
- SOTR – 82FPS
- Doom Eternal – 150FPS
These results are not that impressive considering the real potential of the RTX 3070. The Acer Nitro 5 is similarly speced to the Pulse GL66, with the only difference being having a GPU with higher TDP. And that laptop outperforms the MSI Pulse GL66 in every game. Which ultimately puts the Pulse GL66 in a tough spot.
Battery
Despite the performance being hampered by giving both CPU and GPU a limited power budget, the Pulse GL66 is still a power hog. The 52Wh battery last around 3.5hrs on light use while it completely chugs the battery when you boot up a game. So if you are planning to travel, you better carry a charger. However, the GL66 is also available in a 90Wh battery variant, which last around 6 hours which is respectable. Nonetheless, the GL66 battery life is worse compared to the competition. Where the Asus TUF Dash 15 last around 6-8 hours on light use and the Gigabyte Aorus 5 SE4 last around 8 hours with confidence thanks to its 99Wh battery. However, the Acer Nitro 5 shares similar battery life with the Pulse GL66, barely around 4hrs.
Expandability & Upgradability
This is where the Pulse GL66 meets our expectations. It comes with an additional M.2 Slot that can allow you to expand upon its limiting 512GB SSD that will fill up in no time once you start downloading games.
And on the RAM side of things, it has two RAM slots, allowing you to expand upon its 16GB RAM, which is more than enough for any gaming workload. We advise upgrading RAM only if you plan to do some serious, productive work.
Conclusion – Should you buy the MSI Pulse GL66
The MSI GL66 is perfect for someone who can get this laptop on sale. However, if you plan to buy this laptop at its retail price of $1560, you are not getting the value for your money. The nerfed CPU and GPU cannot perform at their full potential, resulting in underwhelming performance. The display has low brightness and poor color reproduction, and the 53Wh battery variant of Pulse GL66 suffers poorly.
And the cherry on top is the dated I/O that has the ancient USB 2.0 port and lacks Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. Summing this all up, it’s hard for us to recommend you the Pulse GL66.
Other options to consider
Gigabyte Aorus 5 SE4
This is the best all-rounder laptop that can counter back the Pulse GL66. It also has an RTX 3070 with a higher TDP, allowing it to excel at every game in the highest settings. Furthermore, It also features an excellent display with great color accuracy covering 100% of sRGB and 99% Adobe RGB. And to sum it all up, it also has a huge 99Wh battery that can last up to 8 hours.
Though this laptop is almost perfect if we were to nitpick, this laptop has an average-sounding speaker and a poor webcam.
If you want a powerhouse of a laptop, you simply can’t go wrong with the Aorus 5 SE4. But in case it’s not available in stock, here are some other options you can consider.
Asus TUF Dash F15
At this price point, you could consider something like the Asus TUF Dash 15. It offers decent I/O by including Thunderbolt 4 and an excellent battery life that lasts around 7-8hrs on casual use, making it great for someone on the go.
The only catch is that the TUF Dash 15 lacks a color-accurate display similar to the Pulse GL66 and doesn’t have RGB lighting.
It also has an RTX 3060, which is not as powerful as the RTX 3070 but still delivers a decent performance. If you want Thunderbolt connectivity and decent battery life, you should get the TUF Dash 15. You can read our detailed review of the Asus TUF Dash 15 here.
Acer Nitro 5
The Acer Nitro 5 is a decent option that offers a great performance for a similar price. Compared to the Pulse GL66, The Nitro 5 pretty much outperforms in every game. Furthermore, It also features a SATA drive bay where you can install massive hard drives for bulk storage.
But to accommodate the SATA drive, it also has a small battery life, which leads to poor battery backup. And similar to the Pulse GL66, its display produces inaccurate colors though it can get decent bright around 315nits. So, if you value great expandability and performance, you should definitely consider the Acer Nitro 5.
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