Review: MSI Creator M16 HX C14V laptop

I was recently given the opportunity to review the MSI Creator M16 HX C14V laptop, and after spending the last couple years travelling around Australia creating promotional content for other brands, I realised there has never been a more qualified person to test a laptop specifically designed for creators in mind.

I’m a design, photo and video editor who lives exclusively on the road, working in the most remote areas and having to deal with fluctuating temperatures, limited power and irregular network connection. Get ready for a literal ‘Aussie road-tested’ product review.

The build

After spending most of my professional career using a Windows operating system, I made the decision to switch back to MacOS when I started freelancing as I couldn’t find an affordable, transportable device that could handle the demands of a modern day creator.

Enter the MSI Creator M16.

This laptop is built for performance. The robust design will leave you confident that this creative machine can handle the task at hand. Yes, it’s a little on the heavy side for a laptop (especially when you work on the road) but just remember this beast is 16 inches and packed full of advance technology meticulously crafted for the creative experience.

The Laptop itself looks very futuristic. I would categorise it to have more of a gamer-type feel, rather than the sleek laptops most creators adopt.

The top lid is a silver matt, which unfortunately is a major fingerprint magnet - but underneath is where the true power lies.

A robotic-style housing for all the fan vents, and with multiple mini feet ventilation is a breeze, which helps when using it for extended periods.

Another cool feature of the Creator M16 is that the screen can lay completely flat. I’m guilty of resting my laptop on my legs while working. It might be a vanlife trait but I’m sure you’ve busted out a few photo edits or video reels from the comfort of your couch or bed.

Anyone who prefers to work in this position knows that the optimal screen placement is always just a little further back than what a standard laptop will allow. No issue with the Creator M16 as you can push the screen back to a full 180 degrees.

The Creator M16 has a 16 inch display QHD+ (2560x1600), 240Hz, IPS-Level, measures 359 x 266 x 27 millimetres and weighs 2.38 kilograms. The laptop operates on Windows 11 and has a CPU up to Intel Core i9 processor HX series (14th Gen). It has a Webcam HD type (30fps @ 720p) with 3D noise reduction (3DNR), 2x 2W speaker, 1x Mic-in/headphone-out combo jack, 1x USB-C, 3x USB-A, 1x HDMI and x1 RJ45. It retails for around $2,699.

Set-up

Set up is super easy with the Creator M16. I like to leave my current laptop on ‘sleep’ position because it takes too long to reboot after a full shutdown. This one starts up in no time at all, which is pretty impressive for an impatient creator like myself.

Living on the road my professional life is often spent searching for the best spot to park with quality reception. I often spend valuable time disconnecting and restarting my van modem so my laptop has a fresh opportunity to connect. With the Creator M16 my RV WiFi network connects almost immediately.

For some reason I was never able to link to my phone hotspot (could be an Apple/Windows standoff?), but with the laptop connecting to my van internet easily every time there was no need for a backup solution. The Creator M16 delivers stunning speeds while keeping the connection smooth and stable, even on congested networks.

For content creators Windows offers Clipchamp video editing, which was installed and set up on the device. I already subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, and syncing my creative suite account onto the Creator M16 was effortless.

In fact, the only challenge I had transferring over to another operating system was trying to re teach my fingers to use the necessary Windows shortcuts.

Any creator will know that the programs we use generate a lot of power and often leave our devices hot to the touch. The Creator M16 has dedicated thermal solutions for the CPU and GPU with up to 5 heat pipes. Cooler Boost 5, MSI’s revolutionary cooling system, works by enlarging the internal diameter of the thermal pipe and using MSI exclusive thermal grease.

It ensures maximum performance even under the most elaborate projects. One thing to note, the cooling fans did get a little noisy after extended use.

So how does the Creator M16 handle working through fluctuating heating conditions? I’m currently in remote South Australia where the maximum temperature is 20C. Not exactly the summer heat I was hoping to test this laptop in, but apart from the sound of the fans spinning, the Creator M16 worked right through, even when blasted with the very welcomed late afternoon sun.

Speaking of sun, something I often find myself doing is working outside, allowing nature to inspire my creativity. This was a struggle with the Creator M16 as I was limited in the level of brightness I could increase my screen.

Windows also automatically lowers screen brightness when the battery falls below a certain level, which for me with limited power and not having it continuously plugged in was a constant while working.

Features

The Creator M16 showcases high resolution to elevate details to new heights. The 16:10 ‘Golden Ratio’ display (named by MSI) highlights the revered golden ratio of 1.618, an established standard in aesthetics.

This gives you plenty of room on the screen to create, unleashing endless inspiration and promoting efficiency in whichever creative application you choose to use.

MSI laptops are designed to work even faster and the Creator M16 is no exception. I put it through the paces editing all my usual work, and I shouldn’t have been surprised at how much faster my exports and renders came through.

Even when transferring my original working files over the Creator M16 managed to copy the very large files in less than a quarter of the time.

The Creator M16 comes standard with exclusive MSI Intelligent Technology offering a list of new features, taking automatic creativity to a whole new level.

MSI AI Engine is able to detect user scenarios and automatically adjust hardware settings to achieve the best performance. With simple AI tuned modes and resources, you can focus on the important things like creating, work and entertainment.

And with the new MSI AI generator you can create AI images directly on your laptop with MSI AI Artist. Rich images using shorter prompts, MSI AI Artist offers incredible image composition that results in realistic and amazing visuals.

Final word

Overall, I’m pretty impressed that this laptop could handle all my high powered programs so effectively. While I prefer the look and feel of my current set up, the performance speeds are definitely a reason to question a potential future switch.

One issue I don’t think I can get past is the battery consumption. My current laptop allows hours of high performance editing from full charge. The Creator M16 battery drained in less than a hour, and faster when I disabled the auto brightness dimmer, so this is really a laptop you need to keep plugged in for peak performance.

But for those that don’t live in a van and have the luxury of working with a fixed power supply, this isn’t even worth mentioning. Just plug the laptop in for constant power and uninterrupted creativity.

Advanced technology, impressive output performance and packed with valuable features, the MSI Creator M16 is sure to impress any modern day creator.