I ’ve always been a fan of the Surface Laptop , but it always had two primary problem : carrying into action and barrage fire aliveness . For the price it was being sold at , it could never hold up against the competition . Fortunately , with these new Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips , those two issues are purportedly resolved .
Throw in some thinner bezels and a more low-priced Mary Leontyne Price , and you have the formula for the Surface Laptop 7th Edition to at last live up to its true potentialas a MacBook Air slayer .
Specs and price
My review configuration was the 15 - inch fashion model , with the Snapdragon X Elite inside . It also came with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage , which comes in at $ 2,000 .
But the $ 999 starting price is what weigh most , which is the 13.8 - inch model configured with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage . The Surface Laptop 7th Edition ( and Surface Pro 11th Edition ) are theonly Copilot+ PCsthat hit this monetary value , primarily because the other option start at with 512 GB of 1 TB of memory . TheHP OmniBook X , for example , comes in at just $ 100 more for a 512 GB SSD .
think of that the MacBook Air , for example , starts at $ 999 but with just 8 GB of RAM . For what it ’s worth , Apple charges an extra $ 200 to jump from 8 GB to 16 GB but maxes out at 24 GB . While the Surface Laptop 7th Edition can get up to 64 GB but is limited to 1 TB of storage .
Design
The Surface Laptop has n’t changed much over the year , but this new modelling makes some modest pinch that improves the overall look . It has slightly thin bezels along the sides of the blind , as well as rounded corner . All of that goes a long means toward gain the design feel more mod .
Both the 13.8 - column inch and 15 - in model are buddy-buddy than their comparable herald . The 13.8 - column inch model is only 0.03 inches thicker , while the 15 - inch simulation is 0.05 inches thicker . Not a huge deal , but these are already a snatch chunkier than some of the other alternatives . TheSamsung Galaxy Book4 Edgeis thinner , for example , as is theLenovo Yoga Slim 7x .
The 13.8 - inch has a slightly larger screen than in the former version , take it in line with larger 14 - in laptop that other manufacturer have proceed to . All in all , though , the 15 - inch mannikin continue quite a hefty laptop computer . The 3:2 aspect ratio create this a rather marvellous screen , and therefore , a large footprint .
Lastly , the colorways have been reset . Gone are Sage green and the textured ( and now iconic ) Alcantara . Now , there are just four options : Black , Platinum , Sapphire , and Dune . They do n’t have quite as much character as the previous options , but they offer enough variation .
The keyboard is unchanged from the late mannikin , which I ’m fine with . The keycaps are a bit small for the layout , but the amount of travel is comfortable . The trackpad is where the magnanimous improvement has been made . Microsoft has trade out the mechanical touchpad for a haptic feedback one , which feel much smoother to use . We ’ve seen this in mess of high - end Windows laptops , including the Surface Pro andSurface Laptop Studio — but never on the Surface Laptop before .
Not only ishaptic feedback trackpad more dependable , it also can be customized to dead fit your tastes . I rush up the cursor speed and turned down the sensitiveness , which landed me at a perfect balance wheel . This is a huge upgrade , and I ’m so glad Microsoft decided to bring it over , even on the $ 999 base model .
My one complaint is that the 13.8 - inch and 15 - inch devices both use the same size trackpad and keyboard . They look large enough on the smaller model , but the 15 - in model could have been large . In particular , full - size of it social function key would have been dainty — perhaps even a big tycoon release with a fingermark lector would have been nice . I would have also like to see a larger trackpad , though that ’s more for aesthetics than usability .
Display
I ’ve always eff the 3:2 screen of the Surface Laptop . With most laptop sticking at 16:10 , the supererogatory perpendicular space of the Surface Laptop remains one of its calling card , and whenever I make out back to it , I ’m reminded of how much I prefer this screen anatomy . It ’s not just the size that I care , though . This is also the best silver screen Microsoft has ever put in a Surface Laptop . It ’s implausibly bright , with a max of 561 nit , while contrast hits 1440:1 at that full luminance . That brightness is important , too — because it ’s quite a glossy cover . I like Samsung ’s anti - glare solution on its Galaxy Book4 serial publication , and it ’d be nice to see Microsoft try something similar , as reflexion are quite apparent .
Some have kick that Microsoft did n’t include an OLED option — something bring first to the Surface Pro this year . As much as I ’d like to see OLED offer at this toll , I ’m not conk out to complain too much when the IPS panel is this good . It even has a 120Hz refresh pace , a feature I was charmed to see that outgo the 60Hz of the M3 MacBook Air .
Really , the only place for where there could be some improvement is in colour accuracy . My colorimeter picked up a Delta - E of 1.27 , which is a scrap high than some of the competition . It ’s not worrying or disqualifying for photographers or designers though — just not as high as OLED panel .
On average , this is a superior screen to the MacBook Air ’s — with the added incentive of it being a tall vista proportion with trace capacity build - in .
Ports
Both versions of the Surface Laptop come USB - A , USB - C , a Surface Connect wharf , and a headphone jack . That ’s a moderately solid balance of ports , though options like the Galaxy Book4 Edge add HDMI to dulcify the flock .
The only difference is that the 15 - inch Surface Laptop 7 comes with a microSD card slot , while the 13.8 - in model does not .
Performance
If there ’s always been one Achilles ’ cad for the Surface Laptop , it ’s performance . I ’m well-chosen to report that ’s no longer the case . Now powered by the Arm - based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite , the Surface Laptop 7 finally feels like the adequate to laptop computer I ’ve always want it to be . Microsoft offers both the 10 - gist Snapdragon X Plus and 12 - core Snapdragon X Elite configuration , though the 15 - in role model requires you to go for the X Elite . But that ’s not a risky affair , because this chip really is degenerate .
permit ’s get this out of the way first : These Snapdragon X chip in general are faster than Intel ’s current Core Ultra by a considerable margin . That includes single - core , multi - core , and GPU functioning — so long as the app is fly the coop natively . compare to Apple ’s M3 , meanwhile , they have faster multi - core carrying out but bad undivided - core and GPU carrying into action . How that plays out in how apps in reality feel in terms of performance will depend on the software , of class .
Breaking down into the private Snapdragon X micro chip , however , you ’ll see where this configuration of the Surface Laptop 7 lands . It ’s comparatively in line with the HP OmniBook X , trading blows in the benchmarks , despite that it should technically be slightly faster . The main differences we ’re pick up in carrying into action between these chips , however , is between the Snapdragon X Plus and the top - end Snapdragon X Elite X1E84100 , which is only usable in theGalaxy Book4 Edge 16right now . you may see that laptop computer has solid lead over the Surface Laptop 7 , peculiarly in single - sum and GPU . On ordinary , it ’s 16 % faster across the control panel , which really is telling .
regrettably , I do n’t have numbers on how this configuration of the Surface Laptop 7 compares to the Snapdragon X Plus version . I would have care to have been able to say for certain whether the upgrade to the X Elite is deserving it .
One of the best things about the Surface Laptop 7th Edition ( and the other Snapdragon X laptop computer ) is its thermal . Although it ’s not afanless laptop , you might guess it is , as you ’ll never listen the fan twirl up . In fact , even during a 10 - minute multi - core test like Cinebench R24 , which represent an unrealistic work load , the Surface Laptop 7 never get overly flashy or warm . You frankly ca n’t hear it unless you crush your ear up to the venthole , which are turn up next to the hinge decently under the display .
Speakers and webcam
Both the speaker and the webcam of the Surface Laptop 7 are tolerable . Neither are best - in family , but they ’re serviceable enough . When it come to the stereo utterer , which are hidden under the keyboard , you ’ll find them adequate for watching YouTube telecasting or take telecasting calls . They somehow vocalize good than plenty of laptop computer that have four speakers and upfiring speaker grills .
Now , is there a ton of sea bass here ? No , not precisely . The 15 - inch MacBook Air still represents the apex of audio quality on this sizing of laptop , with its six - speaker setup and force - call off woofers .
I was n’t able to equate this large 15 - column inch poser against the 13.8 - inch version , so I do n’t have it away if the larger chassis allow for better audio quality . I do know that the Surface Laptop 7th Edition gets fairly loud without losing fidelity — I just would n’t count on them for replacing our desk or Bluetooth speaker unit like the MacBook Air does .
The webcam is closer to on par with what the MacBook Air offers though . It ’s a 1080p resolution , so not quite as sharp as the HP OmniBook X ’s 5 - megapixel camera , but the ikon processing does a decent job brightening up faces even in dim kindling condition .
Battery life
barrage fire life history has been one of the biggest selling decimal point of the Snapdragon X chip , promising up to 20 60 minutes of bombardment life . That would put it in rail line with ( or even outstrip ) the MacBook Air — if true . There ’s a significant caveat here , though , as that promise is only for local video playback . The Surface Laptop 7th Edition actually go over 22 and a one-half hours in my own mental test , which is really telling when taken at face value and outdo the MacBook Air M3 in the same precise trial .
The wipe comes in barrage life when there ’s more taxing the organization . In our web crop test , which is also very light , that 22 and a half hour drop down to 14 hr and 21 minutes , which is around four hr behind the MacBook Air . That ’s a better representative of what the electric battery life in reality feels like to use in practice .
If you run a cloggy load , even with some more involved multitasking , you ’ll see that shelling life dismiss even further , which is what I experienced when using the Surface Laptop as my primary work laptop computer . It could n’t reliably make it through a full Clarence Day of work without take a filling - up . That ’s not uncommon for laptop computer with my specific workload , but it does fall short of some of the high expectations I had .
Unfortunately , this is something we ’ve seen in the other Snapdragon X laptops too , so it appear to be a pattern .
It’s the laptop I want to use
As I stated originally , the Surface Laptop has always been a laptop I opt when I ’m actually using it . The large 3:2 aspect proportion is fantastic , and I ’ve always wish the keyboard . The price , execution , battery animation , and limited configurations always made it a bit of a failure though .
The Surface Laptop 7th Edition fixes nearly every military issue this laptop has always had . The performance and battery life are great now , and the betterment to the display and trackpad are the cherry tree on top . It ’s not a perfect laptop computer , and there are still some areas where the 15 - inch MacBook Air M3 surpasses it , especially when it comes to battery living and the speakers .
Either mode , the Surface Laptop 7th Edition is the effective Surface microcomputer there ’s ever been and the best of the current craw of Copilot+ personal computer I ’ve look at so far . If you ’re look for a thin and light Windows laptop that feel premium in just about every way without catch as experimental as the XPS laptop computer , you ’ve just get hold your next laptop .
