MSI Pulse A16 AI+ (C3XW) vs Acer Aspire 16 AI (A16-61M)
65
out of 100
VS
54
out of 100
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the MSI Pulse A16 AI+ (C3XW)
- Can run popular games at about 350-477% higher FPS
- Higher screen refresh rate: 240 versus 120 Hz
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Around 50% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a much bigger (~38%) battery – 90 against 65 watt-hours
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 96GB)
- 33% sharper screen – 189 versus 142 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Provides 14% higher max. screen brightness: 400 vs 350 nits
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 16 AI (A16-61M)
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 950 grams less (around 2.09 lbs)
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
- Thinner bezels and 8% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Better webcam recording quality
- Smaller footprint: 7% more compact case (137.6 vs 148.2 square inches)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 2.5 kg (5.51 lbs) | 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 359 x 266.4 x 21.8-27.9 mm 14.13 x 10.49 x 0.86-1.1 inches |
354.9 x 250.1 x 15.9 mm 13.97 x 9.85 x 0.63 inches |
| Area | 956 cm2 (148.2 inches2) | 888 cm2 (137.6 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~77.6% | ~83.6% |
| Side bezels | 7.2 mm | 5.1 mm |
| Colors | Black | Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum |
Top: Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | Yes | No |
| Liquid metal | No | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Noise level (max. load) | 44.7 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 16 inches | 16 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 240 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | Yes |
| PPI | 189 ppi | 142 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels | 1920 x 1200 pixels |
| HDR support | - | No |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Matte |
| sRGB color space | 100% | 100% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 100% | - |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes, 100 W | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left, Bottom | Left |
| Charge power | 200 W | 100 W |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.0 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 5 GHz | 4.5 GHz |
| Cores | 8 (4P + 4E) | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 16 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 16 MB | 12 MB |
| Integrated GPU | Radeon 860M | Intel Xe3 Graphics |
| Fabrication process | 4 nm | 2 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 115 W | 25 W |
| Type | Dedicated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 4 nm | 3 nm |
| GPU base clock | - | 300 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | - | 2450 MHz |
| FLOPS | 18.4 TFLOPS | 2.5 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 8 GB | System Shared |
| Memory type | GDDR7 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | - |
| Memory speed | ~24 Gbps | 8.53 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 3328 | 512 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 104 | 32 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 48 | 16 |
| GPU performance | 18.4 TFLOPS | 2.5 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | 3899 | - |
| Solar Bay | 57259 | - |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x8 GB | 1x8 GB |
| Clock | 5600 MHz | 8533 MHz |
| Type | DDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| Max. ram size | 96 GB | - |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x512 GB | 1x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | Yes |
| Total slots | 1 | 1 |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Power | 2x2W | 2x2W |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
| Microphones | 2 | 2 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6E | v6E |
| Bluetooth | v5.4 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | No | Optional |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | 3x USB 3.2 | 2x USB 3.2 |
| USB Type-C | 1x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | Yes | No |
| SD card reader | No | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | No | No |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | Yes | Yes |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Surface | - | Plastic |
| Windows Precision | Yes | Yes |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
Cast your vote
Total votes: < 1