The new Surface laptops are the first from Microsoft to feature Qualcomm CPUs. It’s a huge step toward windows on arms. Previous attempts had problems with compatibility and slow performance. Like Apple, Microsoft PCs now also have improved power and battery life.
The new surface laptops are priced at $1000 having Ai-focused CPUS with storage of 16 GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 10-core Snapdragon X Plus.
While another is a 15-inch surface laptop with 32 GB of RAM 1TB of storage and a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor priced at $2099.99.
SPECS AND FEATURES
Design and display:
At a glance, the new Surface Laptop looks like its predecessors, with an aluminum body featuring only a glossy windows logo on the lid. It now has rounded corners and smaller display bezels giving it a thinner feel and being technically thicker. However, it’s a bit heavier than competitors like the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 and Dell XPS 13.
Keyboard and trackpad:
The keyboard is usable but not satisfying, the keys have a mushy, quiet, and ill-defined action that lacks feedback. keyboard has 3 brightness levels, and it’s quite dim even at maximum brightness, making it hard to see in bright rooms. However, the backlight’s minimum brightness is very low, which is great for use in nearly pitch-black environments.
Despite keyboard shortcomings, the touchpad is solid, extremely smooth, and responsive, approximately about five inches wide and a bit more than three inches deep.
Display and audio:
The Surface laptop features a 13.8-inch display with a resolution of 2304×1536 (pixel density of 200 pixels per inch) slightly lower than the MacBook (M3’s 224 pixels per inch), although the Surface Laptop is at a slight technical disadvantage in terms of sharpness.
The surface laptop continues to use an iPs-led display lacking dynamic backlight affecting the contrast ratio, the difference is clear when u are playing games and watching movies in a dark environment.
Audio performance is good, with extreme loudspeakers at maximum volume, so much good for listening to podcasts. Speakers are above 13–14-inch laptops but fall short compared to audio leaders like the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Yoga 9i.
Webcam, microphone, and biometrics:
The surface laptop features a 1080p webcam integrated into the top of the display. The webcam delivers outstanding video quality with AI-powered studio effects filters. Like background blur, automatic framing, and real-time effects, collectively resulting in decent video quality.
Microphone:
The microphone quality is excellent, capturing my voice with great volume and effectively filtering out background noise, even persistent sounds like a nearby fan.
Biometric:
Biometric login is available through Windows Hello facial recognition, instead of the primary sensor IR camera used. Reliable for both dark and bright rooms. It’s good to see this feature on surface laptop.
Connectivity:
The Surface Laptop’s wired connectivity primarily consists of two USB-C ports on the left side. Both ports support USB4, Thunderbolt 4, and DisplayPort, and can handle up to 65 watts of Power Delivery, it also has a 3.5mm combo audio jack for headphones, headsets, or microphones.
However, the laptop lacks dedicated video-out ports like HDMI or DisplayPort, which may be inconvenient for connecting older monitors or modern TVs. It also does not include a wired Ethernet port. For these connections, you’ll need a USB-C adapter, hub, or dock.
Wireless connectivity is excellent, with support for both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. (Wi-Fi 7 is the latest standard though still rare in households).
Battery life
Surface laptops are not only fast but also highly power-efficient with a modest 54-watt-hour battery. Microsoft claims the Surface Laptop can deliver up to 20 hours of video playback.
Such battery life fundamentally changes how the device is used, offering peace of mind when leaving the house without a charger.
Conclusion
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop is a success, despite some issues.
This brings new hardware, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, which serves as an attractive alternative to Intel and AMD devices. While Qualcomm’s chip isn’t ideal for gaming, it excels in battery life and performs well in CPU benchmarks. These qualities make the Surface Laptop an excellent choice for frequent travelers or anyone who prefers not to worry about battery life.
