Tested June 2026 · last updated June 2026 · by Arjun Mehta
The MSI Katana 15 is the most affordable machine here that still earns the gaming-laptop name: a 75 W RTX 4050, a 144 Hz panel and genuine upgrade slots, for around £899. The compromises are real and obvious. Here is what it does well, and where the corners are cut.
What we measured
MSI's Katana line is built to hit a price, and the Katana 15 anchors the entry point of this test at around £899. It pairs an Intel Core i7-13620H with a 75 W RTX 4050, the least powerful GPU here, and a 144 Hz 1080p panel. It is not fast, and it cuts corners on storage and battery, but it is genuinely playable, upgradeable and the cheapest machine we are willing to call a real gaming laptop, which makes it the right buy on a tight budget.
| Model | Price | CPU | GPU | RAM / storage | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick MSI Katana 15 Gaming Laptop | £1,149.00 | Intel Core i7-13620H (10 cores) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop, 75 W TGP | 16 GB DDR5-5200 / 512 GB NVMe SSD | ★ 4.2 | View → |
£1,149.00
Intel Core i7-13620H (10 cores) · NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop, 75 W TGP · 16 GB DDR5-5200 / 512 GB NVMe SSD
The verdict from Arjun Mehta, PC and gaming hardware tester
The pick for a tight budget. With a 75 W RTX 4050 the MSI Katana 15 is the most affordable machine here that still earns the gaming-laptop name. It averaged 72 fps at 1080p high in our suite, which is comfortable on its 144 Hz panel once you drop a setting or two in heavier titles, and it is genuinely smooth for esports. The compromises are obvious: a 512 GB SSD that fills fast, a small 53.5 Wh battery good for only 4 h 30 m, and an entry-tier GPU. But it is upgradeable, with two RAM slots and a spare M.2 bay, so it is a sensible base to grow into. If you simply cannot stretch past £900, this is the one to buy.
Honest, playable performance for the money, with the corners cut where you would expect at the price.
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13620H (10 cores, up to 4.9 GHz) |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop, 75 W TGP |
| RAM / storage | 16 GB DDR5-5200 (2 slots) / 512 GB NVMe SSD |
| Display | 15.6 in FHD (1920 x 1080), 144 Hz |
| Cooling | Cooler Boost 5, dual fan |
| Measured avg fps (1080p high) | 72 fps |
| Measured fan noise (load) | 50 dB(A) |
| Weight | 2.25 kg |
| Battery | 53.5 Wh |
| Typical UK price | £899 |
The Katana 15 is the right laptop if your budget genuinely will not stretch past £900 and you want real gaming performance rather than an integrated-graphics machine pretending to be one. It suits the first-time buyer, the student on a tight budget, or anyone who wants a base they can upgrade over time. Its RTX 4050 plays modern games comfortably at 1080p once you tune the settings, and crucially it is built to be opened, so you can add RAM and storage as your budget allows.
It is not for the buyer who can stretch a little further. The £1,099 Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 buys roughly a third more frames, a sharper screen and a 1 TB SSD for only £200 more, which is better value if you can afford it. Nor is it for anyone who needs long battery life; its small 53.5 Wh cell is the weakest here. But under a strict £900 cap, it is the sensible pick. Our best gaming laptop under £1,000 guide weighs up the budget band.
The Katana averaged 72 fps at 1080p high across our suite, the lowest here but still comfortably playable, and well above 100 fps in esports titles like Valorant and CS2 that suit its 144 Hz panel. In the most demanding AAA games you will want to drop a setting or two or enable DLSS to stay above 60 fps, but it handles everything we threw at it at sensible settings. The 75 W RTX 4050 is the entry tier, and the modest power limit keeps the ceiling low, but for the money it delivers honest, smooth 1080p gaming.
MSI's Cooler Boost 5 cooling does a solid job for an entry machine. Under our sustained one-hour load the GPU held at 76 C and the CPU at 87 C, both safe and throttle-free, while fan noise reached 50 dB(A), audible but not the loudest here. The chassis is plastic and unremarkable but sturdy enough, and at 2.25 kg it is actually the lightest 15.6-inch machine on test, a small bonus. The keyboard is a single-zone backlit unit that is fine for the price.
The 15.6-inch FHD panel runs at 144 Hz and hit a measured 286 nits, dim and best kept indoors, covering 100% sRGB. It is a sensible match for the RTX 4050. The real strength is upgradeability: behind the back panel sit two SODIMM slots and a spare M.2 2280 bay alongside the 512 GB SSD. That matters because the stock 512 GB drive fills fast, often after only five or six big games, so adding a second drive is the first upgrade we would make. Buying a machine you can grow into is exactly the right move at this price.
Two are unavoidable at the price. First, the 512 GB SSD is small for 2026, filling after a handful of modern titles, so factor in the cost of a second drive. Second, the 53.5 Wh battery is the smallest here, lasting just 4 h 30 m of light use and far less when gaming. The dim panel and entry-tier GPU round out the compromises. None is a dealbreaker for a sub-£900 gaming laptop, and the upgrade slots soften the storage limit, but you should buy it knowing exactly where the corners have been cut.
Best for: the buyer on a strict sub-£900 budget who wants real, upgradeable 1080p gaming performance. Not the pick if you can stretch to £1,099 for more frames and storage (try the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16) or want good battery life (try the HP Omen Transcend 14).
Yes, it is the most affordable machine here that still earns the name, at around £899. Its 75 W RTX 4050 averaged 72 fps at 1080p high in our suite, which is comfortable on its 144 Hz panel once you drop a setting or two in heavier games, and genuinely smooth for esports. For under £900 it is the one to buy.
Yes, and this is a real strength at the price. Behind the back panel there are two SODIMM slots, so you can move past the 16 GB it ships with, and a spare M.2 2280 bay alongside the 512 GB SSD. Adding a second drive is the upgrade we would make first, since the stock SSD fills up quickly.
Two stand out. The 512 GB SSD fills fast with modern games, often after only five or six big titles, and the 53.5 Wh battery is the smallest here at 4 h 30 m of light use. The entry-tier RTX 4050 also means lower frame rates than the dearer models. None is a dealbreaker at the price, but they are real compromises.
The MSI Katana 15 is our pick for a tight budget because it delivers what matters most under £900: honest, playable 1080p gaming at 72 fps on a real RTX 4050, on a 144 Hz panel, in a chassis you can open and upgrade. It is held back by a small 512 GB SSD, a small battery and a dim screen, all expected compromises at the price and partly offset by the upgrade slots. If £900 is your firm ceiling, it is the one to buy. If you can stretch to £1,099, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is a worthwhile step up, and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is the value champion above that. See how we reach these verdicts on our how we test page.