MSI VenturePro 16 AI hands on: the perfect laptop for creatives

While MSI is typically known for its gaming gear, that hasn’t stopped them from venturing into the productivity space in the form of the VenturePro (yes, the pun was intended). Premiered at CES 2025, the MSI VenturePro 16 AI is proof that MSI is just as good at making productivity laptops as they are gaming laptops.

Equipped with a powerful CPU as well as graphics card, a component which is typically missing from productivity laptops, this laptop provides you with exceptional performance for both professional and creative endeavors.

You also get to take advantage of MSI’s brand new battery boost feature, which can provide you with up to 4 to 5 hours of extra battery life. This is excellent for those who are always on the go and need their laptop to keep performing.

Price and availability

While we don’t have a confirmed price or release date for this line of laptops yet, it’s likely that they’ll cost a pretty penny for the top end specifications which include Nvidia’s 40 series GPUs.

Other productivity laptops rarely feature dedicated GPUs, meaning having one included will likely come at a premium cost. Be prepared to shell out for this extra chunk of power baked in.

Design

Upon first looking at the MSI VenturePro 16 AI, nothing about it particularly stands out design wise. It’s a very simple looking laptop with a silver chassis. While it doesn’t particularly stand out, it remains sleek and attractive.

The MSI VenturePro 16 AI weighs 4.19 lbs (1.9kg) and is 22mm in thickness. While this isn’t the bulkiest of laptops, it’s not slimline by any means. If you’re planning to use it on the go often, or you need to get it between multiple locations like home and work, this laptop may not be the best option. Of course, it wont break your back, but there are definitely lighter options out there.

In terms of ports you get one USB-C port, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, one RJ45 and one Kensington Lock. Everything you need and more.

Opening the VenturePro 16 AI, you’ll find a 16 inch, 2K display. It has a 120hz refresh rate and is an OLED panel making for some truly stunning visuals. Regardless of if you use this notebook for content creation, creativity purposes or just watching movies and videos, you’ll have an extremely pleasant experience thanks to this OLED screen.

Specs and Performance

You’re able to take advantage of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with up to an Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics card, allowing you to get top end performance, particularly in creative applications which you wouldn’t be able to get from alternatives that lack dedicated GPUs.

Of course, for the “AI” in VenturePro 16 AI, you can also take advantage of CoPilot+ which provides you with assistance in a range of daily tasks, allowing you to save heaps of time and boost your productivity.

The 55Wh battery isn’t the largest of batteries available in productivity laptops. The amount of usage you get from your notebook will be down to what specifications you have. MSI have yet to release true figures and my hands-on session didn’t allow me to spend long enough with the laptop to track the battery usage.

The MSI VenturePro 16 AI is also equipped with a superior cooling design allowing them to deliver higher and more stable performance without getting too hot or noisy. Perfect for a device you’re using on the go or in busy environments.

However, if the battery isn’t enough for you, you can also enable the battery boost feature which gives you an extra 4 to 5 hours of battery life according to MSI. While it’s not clear how this feature works for the moment, it’s a great option for professionals who are on the go and simply don’t have the time to charge their laptops very frequently.

Early Verdict

Overall the MSI VenturePro 16 AI is a fantastic laptop with great specifications, but it’s hard to judge whether or not its worth picking up without a price point.

Due to the graphics card in this machine, I’d expect this laptop to be on the pricey side. It has a simple design but some outstanding features like battery boost and a stunning screen.