Microsoft has experienced its fair share of success with the Surface line-up of 2-in-1 detachable PCs, and rightfully so, as those devices offer portability and computing prowess in a sleek form factor. Microsoft later expanded its line-up of Surface devices by launching the Surface Book and the Surface Laptop. The latter is a mid-range laptop which boots Windows 10 S and is targeted at providing a seamless Windows 10 experience. 

Before we delve into an in-depth assessment of the Surface Laptop’s hardware, performance and features, let’s take a look at the specifications of the unit we have for our review:

Our Surface Laptop’s review unit is powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7200U processor coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. However, higher-end variants which come equipped with a 7th Gen Intel Core i7-7660U CPU, paired with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage are also available. In the graphics department, there is a choice between an integrated Intel HD 620 and an Intel Iris Plus 640 GPU, however, considering the Surface Laptop’s pricing in India, a discrete NVIDIA GPU would have been a much better option for buyers.

Design and Build Quality

The entire frame housing the display and the bottom pane are all carved out of polished silver metal, and they exude a class that is worth the price of the laptop, if aesthetics is something that matters to you. Then there is the silver Microsoft logo, which ups the ante of aesthetics and gives the Surface Laptop an identity of its own, much like the illuminated Apple logo stands out for the MacBooks out there.

Now let’s talk about the signature feature of the Surface Laptop, its Alcantara fabric-surrounded keyboard and trackpad. The Alcantara fabric certainly provides a dash of premium appeal and feels smooth to touch, but not slippery enough to ruin your typing experience.

However, there are some minor flaws here too. First of all, the keyboard deck flexes a little bit, especially in the middle section, which certainly does not bode well for a device whose USP is its stylish keyboard. And just in case you are wondering, the keyboard is backlit and it provides three brightness levels, which has become the norm on premium ultrabooks out there.

The Surface Laptop’s display is one parameter that will surely surprise you if you haven’t had the chance to try a Surface device before. And that surprise is for the good, I can guarantee you that. The Surface Laptop features a 13.5-inch PixelSense display with an odd resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels and a non-standard 3:2 aspect ratio with a pixel density of 201PPI. The Surface Laptop’s display has 10-point multi-touch support and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top.

The display renders crisp colors, had an accurate color reproduction with a vivid output and was sufficiently responsive to touch inputs. But on the downside, the display is glossy, which means it is a fingerprint magnet. So, if your work involves a lot of touch and type, keep a clean fabric in handy and be ready to wipe the smudges every now and then. Viewing angles are good too, but rotating it above a threshold washes out the colors to some extent, but then, that is normal with a majority of devices in that price range.

In my experience, I found that the attention to detail paid by Microsoft’s team in ensuring a well-balanced audio output is certainly commendable, and reflects in the Surface Laptop’s real-life audio performance. I played a variety of songs from multiple genres, some with heavy bass, a few instrumental songs and a couple of classics from country music, and to my surprise, I couldn’t find a flaw that could even remotely ruin the songs for me.

Now let’s talk about how the Surface Laptop performs in day-to-day life and whether it can serve as your daily workhorse. Well, in my case, my daily work involves writing a ton of articles, running at least 5 different apps in the background, split-screen multitasking throughout the day with continued music playback in the background, all the while connected to the internet.

I tried to test the Surface Laptop’s computing process on another parameter i.e. casual gaming. I tried Tencent’s port of PUBG Mobile on the Surface Laptop via an emulator and was left disappointed by the experience. Poor graphics rendering, frame drops and lags made the game nearly unplayable, thanks in no part to the integrated Intel HD 620 GPU. Even playing PUBG at the lowest graphics setting was not a pleasing experience, as the input registration was not as swift as one might expect despite a smoother visual experience on low graphics settings.

If you are eager to know how the Surface Laptop fared in benchmark tests, we’ve got you covered. The Surface Laptop managed to score 2,899 points on PC Mark 10, 3,802 points on 3D Mark, 4,162 points (single core) and 8,187 points (multi-core) on GeekBench 4 test. The benchmark results could have been higher if there was an 8th Gen processor powering the sleek device, which is certainly something many potential buyers will think twice about.

Battery

Pros:

  • Lightweight and portable
  • Excellent design
  • Long-lasting battery
  • Well-balanced audio output

Cons:

  • Older generation processor
  • Dire lack of ports
  • Heats during intensive tasks

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The version we reviewed packs a 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, coupled with an integrated Intel HD 620 graphics and it’s priced at Rs. 86,999. Sure, the Surface Laptop looks great, has decent performance and a solid battery life but it also has its fair share of issues like heating during intensive tasks, lack of ports and the fact that it comes with an older gen processor. Well, in this price range, you have various other options that bring better value for money.

There’s the HP Envy 13, which is priced lower at Rs. 75,490 yet brings an 8th Gen Core i5 processor and a 256GB SSD. While the HP ultrabook might look as great as the Surface Laptop, it’s still a premium looking laptop. There’s also the newly launched ZenBook 13, which brings even better specs like an 8th Gen Core i7 and 512GB SSD at a slightly lower price of Rs. 84,990. So, the point is, if you are looking for a laptop in this price range, I would suggest you go with the HP Envy 13 or the ZenBook 13 because they offer much better value for money than the Surface Laptop.