MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Ukiyo-e Review

Tom's Guide

MSI is making waves — literally — with the Prestige 13 AI+ Ukiyo-e Edition, part of its new Artisan Collection. Featuring The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the iconic woodblock print from 1831 by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, this limited-edition laptop combines traditional Japanese lacquerware techniques with a cutting-edge ultralight design. But it’s not just about looks — this 2.2 lb laptop also packs an Intel Core Ultra 9, a gorgeous 2.8K OLED screen, solid port selection, and a 5MP webcam with a physical shutter. Pricing: Rumored to start at $1,599 (TBD)

Transcript

00:00This might be one of the most beautiful laptops that we've seen in a long time that feels

00:03like a piece of art, and that's because it is. This is the MSI Prestige 13 AI Plus Ukiyo-e Edition,

00:11and that's a mouthful, but there's a really great story behind it, so let's get into it.

00:15With most of today's laptops playing it safe on design, MSI is trying something different,

00:19and the result is making waves. Literally. The new Prestige 13 AI Plus Ukiyo-e Edition is part

00:26of MSI's new artisan collection, with its debut design featuring the great wave of Kanagawa,

00:31the globally iconic woodblock print. But you've never seen it like this on a laptop lid finished

00:36with actual gold leaf powder. It's a design that instantly caught my eye and surprisingly felt

00:41calming in hand. And you can see just how beautiful the shine and finish really is,

00:45giving you a unique look that you just don't get with any other laptop. The lid goes through an

00:49eight-layer lacquer painting process developed in collaboration with Japanese artisans Okidaya.

00:54And this design process is so meticulous that they can only make $300 a month. And we have a mock-up

01:00here of the screen printing technology that they used to do so. Starting with a layer of silver

01:04white ink, followed by a deep blue pigment. Then adding dabs of gold powder for the accents,

01:09and finally black line ink to pull out the detail. And as you can tell, the end result doesn't just

01:14look good. It shimmers with texture and depth that you can actually feel in hand. But MSI isn't stopping

01:20here, they also preview two other potential designs that we might see with the artisan series. But I

01:24think the great wave that they have here is the perfect start. It's iconic, symbolic, and yeah,

01:29just a heads up, this finish will probably attract fingerprints like a magnet, but when it looks this

01:33good, you probably won't care. And you can see this one's already generating a lot of buzz.

01:38They're also bundling this with a matching mouse and lanyard, which I guess is cool, but is also a

01:43little bit unexpected for a laptop this premium. Now this laptop isn't just about luxe. Under the

01:48hood, the Prestige 13 AI Plus is generally well specced. It weighs just 2.2 pounds, is under 0.7

01:54inches thick, and features a 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED display with a 16 by 10 aspect ratio. You can spec

02:01this with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, and it has a great selection of ports, including dual

02:06Thunderbolt 4, a USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, and a microSD card slot. And at the very top, we find the 5

02:14megapixel webcam with a physical shutter for that added peace of mind. Now, pricing is still TBD,

02:19but rumors suggest that it could start at $1599. And for something this portable, capable, and uniquely

02:24crafted, it might be one of the few laptops you can unironically call a piece of art. That's why our

02:29Tom's Guy team gave it the Best in Show Award for Computex 2025. It's a statement piece, but also a

02:35seriously capable machine, and I'm generally curious to see where MSI takes this artisan series next.

02:40With a sea of laptops that all look the same, this design is definitely making waves, and personally,

02:45I think it's awesome. But let me know what you think in the comments down below. For more Computex

02:49coverage, be sure to follow us over at Tom's Guide, and until the next one, I'll catch you later.

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