A smaller AIO than usual but one that’s at the heart of your connected lifestyle
At 15.6 inches, the MSI AP16 Flex is smaller than the other all-inone touchscreen devices that MSI offers. Indeed, it’s not far off from being a tablet, albeit one that’s slightly heavier than usual. This makes it quite a versatile touchscreen PC, as there are more situations where it can come in handy compared to the far bigger 22"-plus panels.
Inside you’ll find a reasonably fast quad-core Intel Celeron J1900 2GHz processor, with a burst frequency of up to 2.42GHz, 4GB of DDR3L SO-DIMM memory and a 500GB, with a copy of Windows 8.1.
Furthermore, the tenpoint touch Flex 15.6" LED backlit panel has a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768, and on the right-hand side of the screen there’s a 3-in-1 card reader, USB 3.0 port with supercharge, 3.5mm audio out, and a single USB 2.0 port. Around the back of the panel, in a recessed area, there are two more USB 2.0 ports and a gigabit Ethernet port.
There’s also wi-fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, a 1MP webcam and a pair of 2W speakers. The Flex also supports Intel Ready Mode, whereby it will still sync files or stream media from the network while in a standby, low power mode.
The AP16 Flex has a couple of upgrade options too: you can boost the amount of memory to 8GB or opt for a 32 or 64GB eMMC flash storage. Suffice to say, it can be given a significant performance boost should you decide to pay for it.
The design of the Flex is quite good, overall. It’s a little too heavy to be used as a tablet, but the kickstand can be extended to just over 90º, and it comes with an AIO VESA mount kit, so it could essentially be mounted under a kitchen cabinet, due to the autoorientation of the screen.
The bezel is a glossy black, backed with a gun-metal grey plastic. Oddly, MSI decided to place the power cable on the right-hand side of the screen, so when it's wall mounted, the cable is difficult to disguise. However, while it may not win any design awards, the Flex is a perfectly usable and responsive touchscreen Windows 8.1 PC.
All the usual, day-to-day tasks you would expect from an AIO were handled well enough. Streaming content from one source or another across the network to it worked well, as did reading a list of ingredients from the screen in a brightly lit kitchen.
We can see a use for this in the modern home, as a TV or media device for the kitchen, garage or work shed. It’ll even have a use as an intercoms device, a controller for home automation or simply as a smaller Skype unit. Simply put, it’s a handy smaller screen with plenty of potential and enough performance to keep up with your needs.
There are a couple of areas of the design that could do with being improved, such as the power point placement and the fact the power and volume buttons along the top of the screen felt a little weak. For around £349, though, the MSI AP16 Flex is certainly worth checking out. David Hayward
Ideal for the modern connected home.
Features
• Windows 8.1.
• 3 in 1 situation mode support: stand mode, hanging mode, flat mode.
• Intel Celeron® Processor J1900.
• Fan-less design.
• Touch panel with ten-point multi-touch support.
• MSI Super Charger for high-speed data transfers and fast charging.
• Intel Ready mode support.