2026 MSI Stealth 16 drops an important feature found on the older design

The latest MSI Stealth has been refreshed this year with a new external design inspired by the Prestige series. It brings the formerly gaming-centric Stealth series into the content creator spotlight to attract a wider range of potential buyers. However, as sleek as the newer look may be, it curiously drops the integrated SD card reader that was on the older 2023 Stealth.

It's easier to forgive SD card support for most gaming and multimedia laptops these days especially for those in the smaller ultrathin and light U-series category. However, the Stealth 16 is a larger and more powerful machine geared towards editing and studio workloads which is where the SD card slot actually matters. Transferring images and videos directly from an SD card with an integrated card reader is arguably still the preferred method for many videographers or photographers and so its omission on the new Stealth is a bit of a thorn.

Beyond the card reader, the newer model also drops the integrated numpad and trades away larger arrow keys for smaller cramped ones a la the latest Prestige 16.

Despite the above differences, the updated Stealth 16 is nevertheless wholly superior to the older 2023 design when it comes to nearly everything else from size to battery life and overall visual style. The dropped features are instead more of a potential annoyance than a dealbreaker if choosing between the older and newer Stealth models. Users can check out our full review on the 2026 Stealth 16 to learn more about the system.