MSI presents new Summit series convertibles

With the Summit E13 Flip and the Summit E16 Flip, the hardware experts from MSI have presented new foldable notebooks. The Taiwanese company presented the convertibles in a twelve-minute livestream on Wednesday evening. We want to take a quick look at the new additions.

Various applications

Convertibles are always suitable for many different fields of application thanks to their foldable design. And that is also the case with the two new Summit E13 Flip and Summit E16 Flip. However, MSI not only scores with the notebooks themselves, but also with practical accessories. Apart from the new Summit models, the company also presented a USB-C docking station and a practical stylus called MSI Pen. The MSI Summit E13 Flip is a practical addition to the popular Summit E15. The 13-inch convertible was unveiled earlier this year at CES 2021.

The centerpiece is once again the display. It has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels and is designed in a 16:10 aspect ratio. The Summit E13 Flip has the familiar 360-degree flip mechanism to perform the product-typical switch from notebook to tablet. MSI does not seem to make any compromises in terms of quality. The convertible is made of high-quality aluminum. Thanks to the slim height of 15 mm and a weight of just 1.35 kg, the slim notebook proves to be extremely portable.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing

At first glance, the hardware power of the Summit E13 Flip is not obvious. The core of the convertible is an 11th generation Core i7. Intel’s integrated Xe graphics unit is used for the corresponding graphics performance. The CPU is based on modern Tiger Lake technology and is therefore also compatible with modern interfaces like WiFi 6E and Thunderbolt 4. In terms of numbers, the 13-incher has two Thunderbolt ports, one USB-C port and one USB-A port. Friends of image editing will be happy about the microSD card reader. The processor is supported by a maximum of 32 GB of RAM. Another highlight that can be owed to Intel’s Tiger Lake is PCIe Gen4. This modern interface should provide for a blazing fast NVMe SSD.

The small convertible should also be able to shine in terms of endurance. The built-in 70 Wh battery is supposed to ensure that the Summit E13 Flip can last up to 20 hours. When the battery runs out of power, it can be quickly recharged via USB-C port. Those who are interested in the compact convertible should still be able to get their hands on it in April. MSI’s MSRP starts at 1,949 Euros (~$1,949). The MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo will be available in black and white.

MSI Summit E16 Flip: For those who want it bigger

The MSI Summit E16 Flip is the big brother of the 13-inch convertible. However, those who are interested in this pretty mix of notebook and tablet will have to be patient for a while. There is no real release date yet. MSI only states that the convertible is supposed to go on sale in the course of 2021. However, what the manufacturer has already revealed about the 16-inch model sounds promising.

It is supposed to be one of the thinnest convertibles on the market in the 16-inch range. The graphics performance is also supposed to be convincing thanks to a dedicated GPU from Nvidia. It is also commendable that MSI does not simply want to launch a bigger version of the E13 Flip. Quite the opposite. The design of the 16-incher is clearly different from the smaller device. Besides a color scheme in noble ink black, MSI relies on diamond-cut edges. This gives the convertible an extremely high-end look.

Practical accessories

To get the most out of the new convertibles, MSI has announced practical accessories on top of that. The first of these is the MSI Pen. Particularly practical: MSI already includes the handy input device in the scope of delivery. Thanks to its high-quality and timeless design in a metal look, it fits perfectly to the convertible. Since the smart pen is supposed to last up to 65 hours with only one battery charge, the MSI Pen proves to be an enduring companion. So that you don’t experience any unpleasant surprises, the integrated color LED light provides information about the battery state, among other things.

Besides the MSI Pen, the hardware experts are also coming up with another practical accessory. The USB-C docking station Gen 2 is not included in the scope of delivery, but can be purchased as an option. The docking station can be connected to the notebook via USB-C. As a result, the user benefits from numerous ports, such as multiple USB-A, USB-C, HDMI and DisplayPort. The docking station can also be used as a convenient power source for the notebook. MSI charges an MSRP of 249 Euros for the docking station. If you want to buy the smart MSI Pen separately from the E13 Flip, you have to pay an MSRP of 169 Euros.