Microsoft - Surface Laptop Studio 2 - 144 Touch-Screen - Intel Core I7 with 16GB Memory -GeForce RTX 4050-512GB SSD Latest Model - Platinum - YZY-
Built to power your biggest ideas – Get incredible performance for the most demanding workloads with Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform, delivering over 2x more power than before. Up to 18 hours [1] of battery life – Surface Laptop Studio 2 can power your creativity and entertainment all day. Get into your workflow faster than ever – Multitask like a pro with up to 64GB RAM and a blazing fast SSD with up to 2TB of storage [2]. NVIDIA Studio-validated for creators – Preinstalled with Studio Drivers and exclusive tools to accelerate all your professional and creative workflows. Designed to inspire and entertain – See and do more on the bright, vibrant 14.4” [3] PixelSense Flow touchscreen with true-to-life color and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Elevate your entertainment – Stream movies that look exactly as the director intended with Dolby Vision IQ[5] and experience breathtaking cinematic sound, powered by Dolby Atmos[8]. Get more vertical screen real estate – The Surface signature 3:2 display ratio is ideal for editing photos and videos, creating social content, or designing your next masterpiece. A laptop like no other – The dynamic woven hinge enables seamless transitions between a powerful laptop for productivity, a perfectly angled display for collaboration and entertainment, and a creative canvas for drawing and sketching. Ready for all your must-have accessories – Surface Laptop Studio 2 comes with 2 USB-C 4.0 ports with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A port, microSD card reader and Surface Connect for docking and charging. Optimized for touch – Tap, drag, swipe, and pinch like you do on your smartphone.
Built to power your biggest ideas – Get incredible performance for the most demanding workloads with Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform, delivering over 2x more power than before. Up to 18 hours [1] of battery life – Surface Laptop Studio 2 can power your creativity and entertainment all day. Get into your workflow faster than ever – Multitask like a pro with up to 64GB RAM and a blazing fast SSD with up to 2TB of storage [2]. NVIDIA Studio-validated for creators – Preinstalled with Studio Drivers and exclusive tools to accelerate all your professional and creative workflows. Designed to inspire and entertain – See and do more on the bright, vibrant 14.4” [3] PixelSense Flow touchscreen with true-to-life color and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Elevate your entertainment – Stream movies that look exactly as the director intended with Dolby Vision IQ[5] and experience breathtaking cinematic sound, powered by Dolby Atmos[8]. Get more vertical screen real estate – The Surface signature 3:2 display ratio is ideal for editing photos and videos, creating social content, or designing your next masterpiece. A laptop like no other – The dynamic woven hinge enables seamless transitions between a powerful laptop for productivity, a perfectly angled display for collaboration and entertainment, and a creative canvas for drawing and sketching. Ready for all your must-have accessories – Surface Laptop Studio 2 comes with 2 USB-C 4.0 ports with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A port, microSD card reader and Surface Connect for docking and charging. Optimized for touch – Tap, drag, swipe, and pinch like you do on your smartphone.
Built to power your biggest ideas – Get incredible performance for the most demanding workloads with Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform, delivering over 2x more power than before. Up to 18 hours [1] of battery life – Surface Laptop Studio 2 can power your creativity and entertainment all day. Get into your workflow faster than ever – Multitask like a pro with up to 64GB RAM and a blazing fast SSD with up to 2TB of storage [2]. NVIDIA Studio-validated for creators – Preinstalled with Studio Drivers and exclusive tools to accelerate all your professional and creative workflows. Designed to inspire and entertain – See and do more on the bright, vibrant 14.4” [3] PixelSense Flow touchscreen with true-to-life color and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Elevate your entertainment – Stream movies that look exactly as the director intended with Dolby Vision IQ[5] and experience breathtaking cinematic sound, powered by Dolby Atmos[8]. Get more vertical screen real estate – The Surface signature 3:2 display ratio is ideal for editing photos and videos, creating social content, or designing your next masterpiece. A laptop like no other – The dynamic woven hinge enables seamless transitions between a powerful laptop for productivity, a perfectly angled display for collaboration and entertainment, and a creative canvas for drawing and sketching. Ready for all your must-have accessories – Surface Laptop Studio 2 comes with 2 USB-C 4.0 ports with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A port, microSD card reader and Surface Connect for docking and charging. Optimized for touch – Tap, drag, swipe, and pinch like you do on your smartphone.
Built to power your biggest ideas – Get incredible performance for the most demanding workloads with Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform, delivering over 2x more power than before. Up to 18 hours [1] of battery life – Surface Laptop Studio 2 can power your creativity and entertainment all day. Get into your workflow faster than ever – Multitask like a pro with up to 64GB RAM and a blazing fast SSD with up to 2TB of storage [2]. NVIDIA Studio-validated for creators – Preinstalled with Studio Drivers and exclusive tools to accelerate all your professional and creative workflows. Designed to inspire and entertain – See and do more on the bright, vibrant 14.4” [3] PixelSense Flow touchscreen with true-to-life color and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Elevate your entertainment – Stream movies that look exactly as the director intended with Dolby Vision IQ[5] and experience breathtaking cinematic sound, powered by Dolby Atmos[8]. Get more vertical screen real estate – The Surface signature 3:2 display ratio is ideal for editing photos and videos, creating social content, or designing your next masterpiece. A laptop like no other – The dynamic woven hinge enables seamless transitions between a powerful laptop for productivity, a perfectly angled display for collaboration and entertainment, and a creative canvas for drawing and sketching. Ready for all your must-have accessories – Surface Laptop Studio 2 comes with 2 USB-C 4.0 ports with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A port, microSD card reader and Surface Connect for docking and charging. Optimized for touch – Tap, drag, swipe, and pinch like you do on your smartphone.
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The lowest price for Microsoft - Surface Laptop Studio 2 - 144 Touch-Screen - Intel Core I7 with 16GB Memory -GeForce RTX 4050-512GB SSD Latest Model - Platinum - YZY- right now is $1,999.00 at Tech Crazy Australia, compared across 4 retailers.
The all-time low was $1,999.00 on 20 June 2026. That's the lowest price we've ever tracked — a great time to buy.
Prices last updated 20 June 2026.
Last updated at 20/06/2026 14:51:51
Microsoft Surface Studio 2 14.4-inch i7 13th Gen 16GB 512GB Windows 11 Pro Touchscreen Laptop | TechCrazy
Delivery between 29 June – 2 July $18.99
Microsoft Surface Studio 2 14.4-inch i7 13th Gen 16GB 512GB Windows 11 Pro Touchscreen Laptop | TechCrazy
Delivery between 23–29 June $20.46
Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" i7-13700H 16GB/512GB iGPU Platinum Tablet Laptop ZRG-00015
Free delivery
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 For Business 14.4" i7 16GB 512GB W11P
$99 off when you spend $999 or more
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Quick Overview=================================If you're married to Windows 11 and need a powerful laptop for creative and productivity tasks (with a side of gaming) that includes using a stylus, this may be the device for you. Microsoft does a good job supporting its Surface laptops in terms of updates and hardware, so this is almost like the Windows-equivalent of a MacBook Pro, but it's way more flexible than Apple's offering.Overall build=================================The all-aluminum build is impressively solid. The initial impression is that this is Apple-level of quality (granted, the MS Surface line has been pretty high-quality). As someone who prefers Windows (most productivity apps and gaming), but uses a MacBook Pro for work, these Surface devices ... MoreQuick Overview=================================If you're married to Windows 11 and need a powerful laptop for creative and productivity tasks (with a side of gaming) that includes using a stylus, this may be the device for you. Microsoft does a good job supporting its Surface laptops in terms of updates and hardware, so this is almost like the Windows-equivalent of a MacBook Pro, but it's way more flexible than Apple's offering.Overall build=================================The all-aluminum build is impressively solid. The initial impression is that this is Apple-level of quality (granted, the MS Surface line has been pretty high-quality). As someone who prefers Windows (most productivity apps and gaming), but uses a MacBook Pro for work, these Surface devices are right up there in terms of build quality. The Razer line of laptops also come to mind in terms of solid build quality.Some key physical differences between this and the previous generation are the addition of a microSD card slot and a USB-A port on the left side which should help with connectivity to any non-USB-C devices that you may still have. The microSD card slot is a good addition, in theory, but many people shooting with high-end DSLR or mirrorless cameras may be using full-sized SD cards or something like CFexpress.If you're not familiar with the Surface Laptop Studio (version 1 or 2), it may seem a bit weird with its "stepped" design on the bottom, but that allows for cooling vents and a small "shelf" for the Surface Slim Pen (NOT included...) to dock and charge right under the front lip of the touchpad.The Surface Laptop Studio 2 still uses the old Surface connector for charging, but also supports USB-C charging (though not at full speed) via the USB-C ports.The webcam is a 1080p camera that supports Windows Hello for face logins and leverages a custom AI-powered chip for meeting features like automatic reframing and background blur. Letting the AI chip handle this task means less work for your CPU or GPU.The model I'm testing has the Intel i7 13th gen, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and an Nvidia 4050 GPU. Connectivity is via Wi-Fi 6e (802.11ax) and BT 5.3 - the best wireless options currently available.Of course, being a "Studio", it has the impressive hinged display that allows you to bring the touchscreen forward in an easel-configuration or even lay it nearly flat over the keyboard deck for a better drawing experience.Performance=================================Boring stuff out of the way first, this Surface Laptop Studio 2 is listed with the ability to last 18 hours of "typical device usage", but I'm not sure how that's possible. Real world usage is looking more like 4-5 hours of real work - not just looping videos. I know when I was drawing with Clip Studio Paint with the screen at half brightness, I was getting to 20% battery after just 3 hours and change...Speaking of Clip Studio Paint, the inking/drawing experience is much better than previous Surface devices (I've had most of the tablets since the OG Surface), but it's still a far cry from a dedicated Wacom drawing tablet or Samsung Galaxy S-series tablet that uses the same Wacom technology. Slow lines will still produce wavy effects making you think you need to check in with your doctor. Quick strokes are fine, and you can help by utilizing stabilization options within your drawing program, but if you use multiple devices (I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and a Windows PC with a Wacom Cintiq 16 Pro), you don't want your settings to vary too much between devices.Also, I must say the Surface Slim Pen 2 should be included at the asking price of this Studio 2.The display itself is beautiful though not 100% color accurate. It's still a great screen overall with a high pixel density relative to the screen size. Annoyingly, the aggressive corners cut into the display and can partially block the elements of the application you're using if you're going full-resolution at 100% zoom (not 150% which is default).The screen itself is really easy to reposition over the keyboard as an easel or nearly flat. I struggled with a real use-case for the easel position since I was using 100% zoom which made touch targets very small. If I planned to use it in this mode for more than a few minutes, I'd have to zoom in a bit more to make it more touch-friendly, or use an external keyboard/mouse/trackball to make it easier to navigate. In nearly-flat mode, it was a pretty natural drawing device (though I did angle it on a laptop stand to make it more comfortable). I still prefer Wacom EMR technology to AES or N-trig digitizers but it's a pretty good device for art overall. I could do precision work on another device and use this for coloring.From a productivity/creator perspective, I think this is a great choice. You get a great screen with pen input and all the ports you need for connectivity. You get the flexible positioning of the screen and enough USB-C ports to power your real displays. I did switch to using microSD cards inside SD card adapters in my mirrorless cameras, so it was easy to transfer my photos from my cameras to the Studio 2 and do some editing in Adobe Lightroom.With a 4050 Nvidia GPU and a 2400x1600 screen, you wouldn't want to game on this at the full native resolution, but taking things down a notch to 1080 makes gaming just fine. I compared this to another device (Asus Z13 Flow - i9 12th gen, 3050ti) and on paper, it seems like the 4050 should run away with the crown here, I wasn't seeing too much of a visible performance difference. Getting down to the frame rate, we're talking about somewhere between 15-30% better performance, but I was hard-pressed to see much of a difference. Granted the Z13 was native 1080p on a smaller screen while the Studio 2 was running 1080p stretched onto a higher-resolution canvas. Either way, this might not be your primary gaming machine unless you're talking about cloud gaming solutions like Xbox/Playstation/GeForce Now.Another thing to note is the inclusion of an NPU - Intel's Movidius AI accelerator. More functions will be coming, but for now, the webcam can reframe you if you're on the side of the camera's field of view and blur the background, saving your CPU or GPU from doing it. There's also a feature that should make it look like your eyes are looking at the camera when they're not, but it didn't work for my face or another family member's face after repeated attempts. I assume they'll add more generative AI features later.Windows 11 is... well, the newest version of Windows and I'm not sure if there's much else to say. For those that are very comfortable and invested in the Windows software and gaming ecosystem, it almost seems like Microsoft is testing the limits of what it can get away with. From a forced online account sign in (no more offline/local accounts) to an OS-as-a-service that will constantly let you know about new features in Windows and why Edge is better than Chrome, it can make you question how dedicated you are to Windows. Windows 10 might be "peak" Windows in this reviewer's opinion, with more user-focused flexibility and less intrusiveness.Conclusion=================================If you're looking for a high-end Windows laptop that you can use for creative tasks and gaming is not a priority, this Surface Laptop Studio 2 would be a great recommendation. It's possible to get away with the lower-end graphics card as well. The higher-end CPU/GPU combinations (also including more RAM) can get prohibitively expensive. I think the i7/13700H, 4050 or Xe, and 16-32 GB RAM might be the sweet spot.Overall, this is a dense, high-performing, flexible creative device with a uniquely flexible display and can power your occasional gaming sessions. Just make sure to buy the pen (Surface Slim Pen 2) also.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Not worth the price, save your resources. This "flagship" model has firmware and trackers loaded to the brim. There isn't enough ram and compute power available for ML and SQL professional workflows, despite boasting a 2000ADA generation laptop GPU.The os and group policy are not private and have a wide attack surface. It's more of a gimmick that isn't applicable for the majority of consumers and true professionals would never use a device like this unless it was in a pinch.Since your data and connection are monitored all the information you receive is also curated. In summary there are more cons than pros to this device, and there are more efficient and more powerful solutions available if you know where to find them.If you're considering a surface for coding ... MoreNot worth the price, save your resources. This "flagship" model has firmware and trackers loaded to the brim. There isn't enough ram and compute power available for ML and SQL professional workflows, despite boasting a 2000ADA generation laptop GPU.The os and group policy are not private and have a wide attack surface. It's more of a gimmick that isn't applicable for the majority of consumers and true professionals would never use a device like this unless it was in a pinch.Since your data and connection are monitored all the information you receive is also curated. In summary there are more cons than pros to this device, and there are more efficient and more powerful solutions available if you know where to find them.If you're considering a surface for coding keep in mind that windows is deliberately preconfigured to manually parse PATHs so you will have issues with many frameworks when working on this series. Don't fall for the "Framework Laptop" gimmicks, either. They're just a nice sounding tone with just about the same functionality.If you're serious about work, organizational structure, AI, and being a high-level professional you will keep Microsoft and the government as far away as humanly possible from your recipes and handwriting.For a nice travel-toy a $350-$500 lap top or iPad is more than sufficient. And if you really know what you're doing you'll build more powerful and personalized systems from scratch for a fraction of the cost.With open-sourced AI it is now more than possible to create, refine, and scale with more efficient workflows that are entirely customizable. Don't let the corporations fool you into buying this garbage.A side note: the GPU will sometimes throttle at random, but after using Wireshark I've discovered that various IDP and TCP requests came from unverified and third party data advertisers.By using this particular device you're basically signing away all of your sovereignty and privacy in the digital realm.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Beautifully built, with absolutely top-notch Apple-level quality and typical excellent Microsoft hardware/software integration. Inking experience is second to none, at least for the various tablets I have tried over the years. MPP3 with the slim pen and the SLS2 really is a cut above. I liked the haptic touchpad, but it isn't quite as nice as the Apple MBP14. I felt fan noise was controlled very well overall, also. Some don't like the exhaust-out-the-side design, but I like that Microsoft hasn't gone for a bottom intake (which makes lap usage a lot better for the laptop's health as you're not choking the vents), and if that is the tradeoff, I'll take a little hot air on my mousing hand. Key travel is good, and overall I liked the keyboard quite a bit; from design, ... MoreBeautifully built, with absolutely top-notch Apple-level quality and typical excellent Microsoft hardware/software integration. Inking experience is second to none, at least for the various tablets I have tried over the years. MPP3 with the slim pen and the SLS2 really is a cut above. I liked the haptic touchpad, but it isn't quite as nice as the Apple MBP14. I felt fan noise was controlled very well overall, also. Some don't like the exhaust-out-the-side design, but I like that Microsoft hasn't gone for a bottom intake (which makes lap usage a lot better for the laptop's health as you're not choking the vents), and if that is the tradeoff, I'll take a little hot air on my mousing hand. Key travel is good, and overall I liked the keyboard quite a bit; from design, font, to key placement and keystroke feel.The 4050 is also very well-optimized, and outperforms many 4060 laptops. Microsoft has done a great job with optimization although be aware that in the default Recommended setting and on Battery, the CPU is throttled massively--you will notice this even in web surfing and productivity, Better Performance and Best Performance will step up CPU power notably, with the expected decrease in battery life. In Recommended, you might be able to squeeze 6-7 hours out of it, which is not bad at all, as long as you don't have any Teams meetings or use the dGPU. Of course, you have to live with a bit of sluggishness.On the negative side, the NPU is crazy inefficient: do not plan on using the Windows Studio Effects or battery life from 100% to dead empty shrinks to 90 minutes in Teams meetings! That's with the dGPU off using only the iGPU, as well. Also, the screen is a huge negative to me: resolution and contrast are quite good, as you'd expect from Microsoft, but the panel has some "shimmer" as you move your head naturally as you work, and while the refresh rate is great (120hz), there is blurring in fast moving objects such as your mouse, or anything in a video or game. It was shocking--almost like stepping back into the early 2000s LCD technology.You might be fine with the screen if you are using it for productivity tasks--but have a hard look in person if you want this for both productivity and anything that requires fast-moving objects.I'd say, if you're mobile more than stationary, I'd suggest an ultrabook--a 13th gen i7 U processor will outperform this laptop on battery unless you run the SLS2 in Best Performance mode, and then your battery life is extremely short. If you can plug in all the time, with just an occasional foray on battery (and you can life with dialed back performance akin to a low-cost laptop), and you do a lot of inking, then SLS2 actually is great and maybe the best on the market. It really is a wonderful experience for diagramming and other inking-related tasks.
| Screen Size | 14.4 |
| System Memory Ram | 16GB |
| Total Storage Capacity | 512GB |
Microsoft Surface Studio 2 14.4-inch i7 13th Gen 16GB 512GB Windows 11 Pro Touchscreen Laptop | TechCrazy
Delivery between 29 June – 2 July $18.99
Microsoft Surface Studio 2 14.4-inch i7 13th Gen 16GB 512GB Windows 11 Pro Touchscreen Laptop | TechCrazy
Delivery between 23–29 June $20.46
Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" i7-13700H 16GB/512GB iGPU Platinum Tablet Laptop ZRG-00015
Free delivery
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 For Business 14.4" i7 16GB 512GB W11P
$99 off when you spend $999 or more
Quick Overview=================================If you're married to Windows 11 and need a powerful laptop for creative and productivity tasks (with a side of gaming) that includes using a stylus, this may be the device for you. Microsoft does a good job supporting its Surface laptops in terms of updates and hardware, so this is almost like the Windows-equivalent of a MacBook Pro, but it's way more flexible than Apple's offering.Overall build=================================The all-aluminum build is impressively solid. The initial impression is that this is Apple-level of quality (granted, the MS Surface line has been pretty high-quality). As someone who prefers Windows (most productivity apps and gaming), but uses a MacBook Pro for work, these Surface devices ... MoreQuick Overview=================================If you're married to Windows 11 and need a powerful laptop for creative and productivity tasks (with a side of gaming) that includes using a stylus, this may be the device for you. Microsoft does a good job supporting its Surface laptops in terms of updates and hardware, so this is almost like the Windows-equivalent of a MacBook Pro, but it's way more flexible than Apple's offering.Overall build=================================The all-aluminum build is impressively solid. The initial impression is that this is Apple-level of quality (granted, the MS Surface line has been pretty high-quality). As someone who prefers Windows (most productivity apps and gaming), but uses a MacBook Pro for work, these Surface devices are right up there in terms of build quality. The Razer line of laptops also come to mind in terms of solid build quality.Some key physical differences between this and the previous generation are the addition of a microSD card slot and a USB-A port on the left side which should help with connectivity to any non-USB-C devices that you may still have. The microSD card slot is a good addition, in theory, but many people shooting with high-end DSLR or mirrorless cameras may be using full-sized SD cards or something like CFexpress.If you're not familiar with the Surface Laptop Studio (version 1 or 2), it may seem a bit weird with its "stepped" design on the bottom, but that allows for cooling vents and a small "shelf" for the Surface Slim Pen (NOT included...) to dock and charge right under the front lip of the touchpad.The Surface Laptop Studio 2 still uses the old Surface connector for charging, but also supports USB-C charging (though not at full speed) via the USB-C ports.The webcam is a 1080p camera that supports Windows Hello for face logins and leverages a custom AI-powered chip for meeting features like automatic reframing and background blur. Letting the AI chip handle this task means less work for your CPU or GPU.The model I'm testing has the Intel i7 13th gen, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and an Nvidia 4050 GPU. Connectivity is via Wi-Fi 6e (802.11ax) and BT 5.3 - the best wireless options currently available.Of course, being a "Studio", it has the impressive hinged display that allows you to bring the touchscreen forward in an easel-configuration or even lay it nearly flat over the keyboard deck for a better drawing experience.Performance=================================Boring stuff out of the way first, this Surface Laptop Studio 2 is listed with the ability to last 18 hours of "typical device usage", but I'm not sure how that's possible. Real world usage is looking more like 4-5 hours of real work - not just looping videos. I know when I was drawing with Clip Studio Paint with the screen at half brightness, I was getting to 20% battery after just 3 hours and change...Speaking of Clip Studio Paint, the inking/drawing experience is much better than previous Surface devices (I've had most of the tablets since the OG Surface), but it's still a far cry from a dedicated Wacom drawing tablet or Samsung Galaxy S-series tablet that uses the same Wacom technology. Slow lines will still produce wavy effects making you think you need to check in with your doctor. Quick strokes are fine, and you can help by utilizing stabilization options within your drawing program, but if you use multiple devices (I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and a Windows PC with a Wacom Cintiq 16 Pro), you don't want your settings to vary too much between devices.Also, I must say the Surface Slim Pen 2 should be included at the asking price of this Studio 2.The display itself is beautiful though not 100% color accurate. It's still a great screen overall with a high pixel density relative to the screen size. Annoyingly, the aggressive corners cut into the display and can partially block the elements of the application you're using if you're going full-resolution at 100% zoom (not 150% which is default).The screen itself is really easy to reposition over the keyboard as an easel or nearly flat. I struggled with a real use-case for the easel position since I was using 100% zoom which made touch targets very small. If I planned to use it in this mode for more than a few minutes, I'd have to zoom in a bit more to make it more touch-friendly, or use an external keyboard/mouse/trackball to make it easier to navigate. In nearly-flat mode, it was a pretty natural drawing device (though I did angle it on a laptop stand to make it more comfortable). I still prefer Wacom EMR technology to AES or N-trig digitizers but it's a pretty good device for art overall. I could do precision work on another device and use this for coloring.From a productivity/creator perspective, I think this is a great choice. You get a great screen with pen input and all the ports you need for connectivity. You get the flexible positioning of the screen and enough USB-C ports to power your real displays. I did switch to using microSD cards inside SD card adapters in my mirrorless cameras, so it was easy to transfer my photos from my cameras to the Studio 2 and do some editing in Adobe Lightroom.With a 4050 Nvidia GPU and a 2400x1600 screen, you wouldn't want to game on this at the full native resolution, but taking things down a notch to 1080 makes gaming just fine. I compared this to another device (Asus Z13 Flow - i9 12th gen, 3050ti) and on paper, it seems like the 4050 should run away with the crown here, I wasn't seeing too much of a visible performance difference. Getting down to the frame rate, we're talking about somewhere between 15-30% better performance, but I was hard-pressed to see much of a difference. Granted the Z13 was native 1080p on a smaller screen while the Studio 2 was running 1080p stretched onto a higher-resolution canvas. Either way, this might not be your primary gaming machine unless you're talking about cloud gaming solutions like Xbox/Playstation/GeForce Now.Another thing to note is the inclusion of an NPU - Intel's Movidius AI accelerator. More functions will be coming, but for now, the webcam can reframe you if you're on the side of the camera's field of view and blur the background, saving your CPU or GPU from doing it. There's also a feature that should make it look like your eyes are looking at the camera when they're not, but it didn't work for my face or another family member's face after repeated attempts. I assume they'll add more generative AI features later.Windows 11 is... well, the newest version of Windows and I'm not sure if there's much else to say. For those that are very comfortable and invested in the Windows software and gaming ecosystem, it almost seems like Microsoft is testing the limits of what it can get away with. From a forced online account sign in (no more offline/local accounts) to an OS-as-a-service that will constantly let you know about new features in Windows and why Edge is better than Chrome, it can make you question how dedicated you are to Windows. Windows 10 might be "peak" Windows in this reviewer's opinion, with more user-focused flexibility and less intrusiveness.Conclusion=================================If you're looking for a high-end Windows laptop that you can use for creative tasks and gaming is not a priority, this Surface Laptop Studio 2 would be a great recommendation. It's possible to get away with the lower-end graphics card as well. The higher-end CPU/GPU combinations (also including more RAM) can get prohibitively expensive. I think the i7/13700H, 4050 or Xe, and 16-32 GB RAM might be the sweet spot.Overall, this is a dense, high-performing, flexible creative device with a uniquely flexible display and can power your occasional gaming sessions. Just make sure to buy the pen (Surface Slim Pen 2) also.
Not worth the price, save your resources. This "flagship" model has firmware and trackers loaded to the brim. There isn't enough ram and compute power available for ML and SQL professional workflows, despite boasting a 2000ADA generation laptop GPU.The os and group policy are not private and have a wide attack surface. It's more of a gimmick that isn't applicable for the majority of consumers and true professionals would never use a device like this unless it was in a pinch.Since your data and connection are monitored all the information you receive is also curated. In summary there are more cons than pros to this device, and there are more efficient and more powerful solutions available if you know where to find them.If you're considering a surface for coding ... MoreNot worth the price, save your resources. This "flagship" model has firmware and trackers loaded to the brim. There isn't enough ram and compute power available for ML and SQL professional workflows, despite boasting a 2000ADA generation laptop GPU.The os and group policy are not private and have a wide attack surface. It's more of a gimmick that isn't applicable for the majority of consumers and true professionals would never use a device like this unless it was in a pinch.Since your data and connection are monitored all the information you receive is also curated. In summary there are more cons than pros to this device, and there are more efficient and more powerful solutions available if you know where to find them.If you're considering a surface for coding keep in mind that windows is deliberately preconfigured to manually parse PATHs so you will have issues with many frameworks when working on this series. Don't fall for the "Framework Laptop" gimmicks, either. They're just a nice sounding tone with just about the same functionality.If you're serious about work, organizational structure, AI, and being a high-level professional you will keep Microsoft and the government as far away as humanly possible from your recipes and handwriting.For a nice travel-toy a $350-$500 lap top or iPad is more than sufficient. And if you really know what you're doing you'll build more powerful and personalized systems from scratch for a fraction of the cost.With open-sourced AI it is now more than possible to create, refine, and scale with more efficient workflows that are entirely customizable. Don't let the corporations fool you into buying this garbage.A side note: the GPU will sometimes throttle at random, but after using Wireshark I've discovered that various IDP and TCP requests came from unverified and third party data advertisers.By using this particular device you're basically signing away all of your sovereignty and privacy in the digital realm.
Beautifully built, with absolutely top-notch Apple-level quality and typical excellent Microsoft hardware/software integration. Inking experience is second to none, at least for the various tablets I have tried over the years. MPP3 with the slim pen and the SLS2 really is a cut above. I liked the haptic touchpad, but it isn't quite as nice as the Apple MBP14. I felt fan noise was controlled very well overall, also. Some don't like the exhaust-out-the-side design, but I like that Microsoft hasn't gone for a bottom intake (which makes lap usage a lot better for the laptop's health as you're not choking the vents), and if that is the tradeoff, I'll take a little hot air on my mousing hand. Key travel is good, and overall I liked the keyboard quite a bit; from design, ... MoreBeautifully built, with absolutely top-notch Apple-level quality and typical excellent Microsoft hardware/software integration. Inking experience is second to none, at least for the various tablets I have tried over the years. MPP3 with the slim pen and the SLS2 really is a cut above. I liked the haptic touchpad, but it isn't quite as nice as the Apple MBP14. I felt fan noise was controlled very well overall, also. Some don't like the exhaust-out-the-side design, but I like that Microsoft hasn't gone for a bottom intake (which makes lap usage a lot better for the laptop's health as you're not choking the vents), and if that is the tradeoff, I'll take a little hot air on my mousing hand. Key travel is good, and overall I liked the keyboard quite a bit; from design, font, to key placement and keystroke feel.The 4050 is also very well-optimized, and outperforms many 4060 laptops. Microsoft has done a great job with optimization although be aware that in the default Recommended setting and on Battery, the CPU is throttled massively--you will notice this even in web surfing and productivity, Better Performance and Best Performance will step up CPU power notably, with the expected decrease in battery life. In Recommended, you might be able to squeeze 6-7 hours out of it, which is not bad at all, as long as you don't have any Teams meetings or use the dGPU. Of course, you have to live with a bit of sluggishness.On the negative side, the NPU is crazy inefficient: do not plan on using the Windows Studio Effects or battery life from 100% to dead empty shrinks to 90 minutes in Teams meetings! That's with the dGPU off using only the iGPU, as well. Also, the screen is a huge negative to me: resolution and contrast are quite good, as you'd expect from Microsoft, but the panel has some "shimmer" as you move your head naturally as you work, and while the refresh rate is great (120hz), there is blurring in fast moving objects such as your mouse, or anything in a video or game. It was shocking--almost like stepping back into the early 2000s LCD technology.You might be fine with the screen if you are using it for productivity tasks--but have a hard look in person if you want this for both productivity and anything that requires fast-moving objects.I'd say, if you're mobile more than stationary, I'd suggest an ultrabook--a 13th gen i7 U processor will outperform this laptop on battery unless you run the SLS2 in Best Performance mode, and then your battery life is extremely short. If you can plug in all the time, with just an occasional foray on battery (and you can life with dialed back performance akin to a low-cost laptop), and you do a lot of inking, then SLS2 actually is great and maybe the best on the market. It really is a wonderful experience for diagramming and other inking-related tasks.
I am a digital artist and bought my surface laptop studio 2 with that in mind, upgrading to the Nvidia graphics card so I could play and make games on the side.I love my surface and it does everything i wanted it to in that it makes it easier for me to draw digitally on the go, however its battery life is not that great for a new laptop (4-5 hours with power saving settings on, even less without or if you are using it for anything intensive) and i do fear what it might be like a few years down the line when the battery isn’t new anymore. Although i was willing to pay the price for what i wanted (portability, touch screen that was pen compatible for drawing, foldable screen) it is awfully expensive and to make full use of it i had to buy a surface slim pen 2 (which ... MoreI am a digital artist and bought my surface laptop studio 2 with that in mind, upgrading to the Nvidia graphics card so I could play and make games on the side.I love my surface and it does everything i wanted it to in that it makes it easier for me to draw digitally on the go, however its battery life is not that great for a new laptop (4-5 hours with power saving settings on, even less without or if you are using it for anything intensive) and i do fear what it might be like a few years down the line when the battery isn’t new anymore. Although i was willing to pay the price for what i wanted (portability, touch screen that was pen compatible for drawing, foldable screen) it is awfully expensive and to make full use of it i had to buy a surface slim pen 2 (which cost me around £45 but retails for around £100 if you buy new from the microsoft store) and a few other accessories separately which added even more to the overall price tag. Although i bought it for gaming on the side, i have yet to test many games on it and have only done very minimal 2D level design in Godot (which the laptop handled fine) so i don’t yet know how it would handle larger, more intensive projects or 3D projects.One misc thing to note is although this laptop has a USB port alongside its USB-C ones, the USB takes some force to get things in and out of, and I worry that I’m going to damage it or something will get stuck with the force i have to use. I now use a USB-C to USB/HDMI/etc converter instead of that port just in case.This laptop has a magnetic charger, which i love and attaches and detaches with very little effort. I can be quite clumsy with cables and this ensures i wont yeet my laptop across the room if i trip over something as the charging cable just comes off instead of taking the laptop with it. It gives me a bit of peace of mind considering the surface laptop is so expensive!Overall, despite its flaws the surface laptop studio 2 has made it much easier for me to draw on the go and feels sleek to use, but if you are a fellow digital artist looking for an upgrade, i would only recommend this if you have the money to spare. A normal laptop and a small drawing tablet would be much cheaper and likely have better battery life, even if it would have a few less bells and whistles attached.
The Laptop Studio 2 builds on the previous generation which already was one of the best windows laptops on the market. It had the best screen, best touchpad, keyboard, speakers along with a unique folding hinge screen and none of that has changed.The biggest improvement on the Laptop Studio 2 is Windows 11 itself and how it has matured from its initial release. Microsoft has done a great job adding features which make the Windows 11 an inclusive product for everyone no matter the other devices they use (Android/IOS). Windows has also greatly improved in speed and reliability; I did not experience one slow down or crash while using the Laptop Studio 2. Windows has done a lot of work with the small details to make sure that the system is not only visually appealing ... MoreThe Laptop Studio 2 builds on the previous generation which already was one of the best windows laptops on the market. It had the best screen, best touchpad, keyboard, speakers along with a unique folding hinge screen and none of that has changed.The biggest improvement on the Laptop Studio 2 is Windows 11 itself and how it has matured from its initial release. Microsoft has done a great job adding features which make the Windows 11 an inclusive product for everyone no matter the other devices they use (Android/IOS). Windows has also greatly improved in speed and reliability; I did not experience one slow down or crash while using the Laptop Studio 2. Windows has done a lot of work with the small details to make sure that the system is not only visually appealing but also fast and responsive. Features such Snap feature (auto sizes screens for productivity), Desktop groups, AI integration, current update to paint which allows you to add layers and upgraded photos application make Windows 11 a must for most people.Screen: The screen on the Laptop Studio 2 is still great and this years includes HDR support (500 nits normally or 650 nits for HDR content) and there is no screen wobble which is saying something since the screen goes into tablet mode and content viewing mode. The borders are a bit thick for today’s standards but in all honesty they work and I hardly noticed them. The thicker borders are actually a plus when you use the device to take notes/draw. The screen is still 120 Hz so all the transitions are smooth and make using the Laptop Studio 2 a joy as your daily driver.Trackpad: Is on par with the best laptops in the market and the most inclusive because of the adaptive touch mode which allows people with limited mobility to use the trackpad.Sound: The speakers are the best on any windows machine of this size. The laptop studio 2 improves the base and mids/highs but is a bit lacking is the spatial audio.Touch: The touch response on the Laptop Studio 2 is almost as good as my smart phone, no matter where you touch the screen it registers instantly. When working with windows apps such as word/paint the drawing works just as well with your fingers as it does with a surface pen. If you do purchase the surface pen the laptop becomes a hybrid between laptop/media machine/tablet. The touch features work great with your fingers and you can take it to the next level if you have a surface pen which allows you to highlight/cut/draw and so much more.Form factor: The unique design of the Laptop Studio 2 is great for media consumption and using windows ink for drawing/note taking purposes. I was not a believer in the design when it came to the media consumption part, however the screen being a tad closer makes a huge difference for content viewing which I was not expecting.Performance: The Laptop Studio runs one gen older CPU but has the newest GPU which blazes through anything you can throw at it. Now it does get hot when you’re doing triple A title games or heavy video editing but that is expected for the work it is doing. Besides the heavy task the Laptop Studio 2 runs quiet and I only heard the fans turn on when I did windows update.The Laptop Studio 2 is the cream of the crop when it comes to windows laptops. Everything from the look to the performance is top of the line with very little drawbacks. The windows operating system has come a long way and Windows 11 is a joy to use not only for productivity but in all aspects that you would need a laptop. The only downsides for the Laptop Studio 2 was that the webcam wasn’t the best otherwise this is one of the best windows laptops on the market.
My first one crsshed and i got an asus rog xflow 16. Mlw tjis is minlr but rarley will you find these in new products but i was unlucky quite unlucky acutslly 2 other products that were defective i wont mention them but nonetheless i glt them exchanged and saw what they could do still includigm this one. I can say t⁸his one has an dedicated gpu that plays any game tried on it. It works flawlessly with no jitter and no lag bit tjat is to day for a bout half an hour until i started palying more it would lag during gsmes and would be mlre lag and jittery as the time progressed making it prettu much unplayable and losing any appeal and any games by that i mean getting booted for sich a horrible connection . It wasnttje wifi either its juat a bad macbine i got but i have ... MoreMy first one crsshed and i got an asus rog xflow 16. Mlw tjis is minlr but rarley will you find these in new products but i was unlucky quite unlucky acutslly 2 other products that were defective i wont mention them but nonetheless i glt them exchanged and saw what they could do still includigm this one. I can say t⁸his one has an dedicated gpu that plays any game tried on it. It works flawlessly with no jitter and no lag bit tjat is to day for a bout half an hour until i started palying more it would lag during gsmes and would be mlre lag and jittery as the time progressed making it prettu much unplayable and losing any appeal and any games by that i mean getting booted for sich a horrible connection . It wasnttje wifi either its juat a bad macbine i got but i have got another one and this one does not do that all luckily. It has a loud speaker infact . Its a great screen witj a pixelsense density which gives it a more interactive exprrience allowing multi touch . It has a good content creation aspect making it a great gaming and comtent cretion combination for mitlipt types of users. The best features are the 120 hz refresh rate and qhd resolution with low latency digitizer allowing it draw and use the stylis in a very interactove ad intuitive way allowing for more control over your work with a good balancrof fluidity and ridgidity n your movements when wlrking that most artists will see and indsrstand when they grab this and utilize effect. This hence the paper like feel ehen writing aspect microsoft was promoting explained in their ads. I saw as a great featuree better ustilized though with microsoft slim pen 2. It has ok battery life but still not good enough to nlt try improving next gen. 6 hours max usally i get but sometimes im licky to get 8 . The 4050 gpu i believe os the reason its draws enlugh to leave so little left but i think considering most people using this will most likely be using this in conjunction with other devoces meaning you might be at home but if not at least comsiderng its the best peotable drawing work device you can get these days considering even wacom all in one tablets last maybe 3 to 5 hours and even the you will have old out dated tech with the same price tag this studio 2 for drawing slrk intense pirposes equals win. Though that is if you need a touchscreen othersiwse consider a macbook m3 to try .but i have an exceptional cinqit ans i still myself find it hard to consider one over the other the cintiq is necessary as a work horse but the studio 2 is just something unique and valuable in its own right for work. as well just doesnt feel right without one considering myself as an artist knowing of its functionality wouldnt feel wise if i knowingly knew of it and didnt get it as an artist. Its great laptop in genral good for gaming but exveptional for content creation
I am reviewing the Surface Laptop Studio 2 as someone who has had the first-generation version since it was released a little over 2 years ago. I have been a huge fan of that computer during my ownership and have recommended it several times to friends and family, as I think it has been the best overall computer money can buy and the only thing that could be better would be a better one. Well, here it is. The Laptop Studio 2 is improved over its predecessor in nearly every way or at least matches it if not, and visually almost indistinguishable from it which in my opinion is not a bad thing as I also like the design a great deal. It has a couple small physical changes in that it now has a singular USB-A 3.1 port to go along with the 2 USB-C thunderbolt 4 ports it ... MoreI am reviewing the Surface Laptop Studio 2 as someone who has had the first-generation version since it was released a little over 2 years ago. I have been a huge fan of that computer during my ownership and have recommended it several times to friends and family, as I think it has been the best overall computer money can buy and the only thing that could be better would be a better one. Well, here it is. The Laptop Studio 2 is improved over its predecessor in nearly every way or at least matches it if not, and visually almost indistinguishable from it which in my opinion is not a bad thing as I also like the design a great deal. It has a couple small physical changes in that it now has a singular USB-A 3.1 port to go along with the 2 USB-C thunderbolt 4 ports it retains from the first generation and adds a micro-SDXC slot on the opposite side. This all makes it more compatible with more things and that is fantastic since using adapters is not always a good time. It still has the magnetic wireless charging space under the front lip for the Surface Pen slim 2 which I brought over from my original and it immediately synced up by simply attaching it to the underside as I always have. The keyboard still feels just as tactile and responsive as I remember, and the touchpad also still has the haptic feedback that I have grown accustomed to.The original had a very high-end screen called PixelSense Flow, which is a 120hz 2400 x 1600 multitouch display that I find very well balanced and easy to look at and use. Surface Laptop Studio 2 carries that awesome display over and adds Dolby Vision IQ and HDR 400 certification for even greater brightness and contrast. In short, the screen looks fantastic, with near OLED quality. Battery life is exceptional, with well over 10 hours of light desktop use for word processing, internet browsing, or other tasks that don’t require much graphics power. However, if you plan to play any games on it or use graphic intensive apps the battery depletes very quickly so it needs to be plugged in for anything that wakes up the GPU. Speaking of gaming, the RTX 4050 is indeed a powerful GPU for games particularly at the native resolution of the PixelSense screen. I have played a few games on it with no issues at all running high to max settings on the native display, and using an external monitor via USB-C is also still possible and works flawlessly. It does get relatively hot and loud when running games but as long as it has room to breathe it never has any issues. I have a monitor with hub and reverse charging capability so plugging a single thunderbolt 4 cable into it allows the laptop to charge and transfer video, sound, and USB hub over to the monitor.One of the most exciting things about the Surface Laptop Studio originally was that it was one of the first computers to come with Windows 11. Obviously, that has not changed as Windows 11 is still the current OS but continues to receive updates and performance improvements that apply to touch screen laptops such as this one. The unique screen form factor with the Laptop Studio is that it can flip and transition into a tablet format or in-between in a tent-like state putting the screen in the perfect position for watching something or gaming with a controller. Windows 11 automatically changes formats depending on the mode the laptop is in as well. Bringing the Surface Pen slim 2 into the equation allows you to interact with the entire OS with the pen for clicking things, selecting items, and using Ink to convert your handwriting into typed words if you choose. Using the pen with Windows 11 is smooth and feels just like writing on paper to me. I am no artist, but I can use it for things like creating floorplans and then follow up by notating changes or directions right on the fly. Everything is fast and smooth; I have never had a single hiccup while using any application I had tried.Overall I would continue to feverishly recommend the Surface Laptop Studio 2 just as I did the original to anyone looking to acquire a computer that can fulfil any and all possible needs. This device can act as a tablet, laptop, and even take the place of a desktop with its powerful 13th gen i7 and RTX 4050. Get a Surface pen and create art or work on designs with the touch screen and smooth refresh rate. Feel the extraordinary build quality and feast your eyes on a screen that rivals the best out there. Windows 11 is a testament to the willingness Microsoft has had in recent years to listen to their customers and provide meaningful updates and new features regularly. It is powerful, and always works exactly as I anticipate. I spent the last two years telling people the original was the best computer I had ever owned, and now I have an even better one that has many noticeable improvements so I have no doubt that I will be saying that about the Laptop Studio 2 for years to come as well.
This studio 2 laptop is the best content creation machine i can ask for with whats on tje market currently. The studio 2 has amazing features . Its great it fits right for what you need to do .and it will provide all the basic needs and then some for creating content as well as excell and out perform in those areas. Specifically this lapgop has a 120 hz refreh rate woth pixelsense display . This means this will have what i like to ivew as a hybrid displau thst meets thebstandards and criteria for those need to work. This means there is an adequate displau for visuals and to see dtailes minor areas ehen xooming in and editing those small spots or areas you want to perfect when in others lack the ability. When perfecting your eork this allows you to. You can treat it ... MoreThis studio 2 laptop is the best content creation machine i can ask for with whats on tje market currently. The studio 2 has amazing features . Its great it fits right for what you need to do .and it will provide all the basic needs and then some for creating content as well as excell and out perform in those areas. Specifically this lapgop has a 120 hz refreh rate woth pixelsense display . This means this will have what i like to ivew as a hybrid displau thst meets thebstandards and criteria for those need to work. This means there is an adequate displau for visuals and to see dtailes minor areas ehen xooming in and editing those small spots or areas you want to perfect when in others lack the ability. When perfecting your eork this allows you to. You can treat it as a wacom in a sense. Its just as good and helps in ones methodical ways for workers who like to be meticulous. Those who can draw and want to feel a sense of wacom style and even paper like sensatioms are lucky to come across this as well. They will find extraoirinary resemblance with paperlike format thanks to the latency and pixelsense technology in thos package available even in the low specd version. The latency is very crucial in outputting good work for those who want to bring their work here as it is an accurate reflection of ones applications to the screen. Its is a great subsitute for wacom or even paper drawing imo. Ihave seen this screen display work shwoing n amazing resolution while working that i see others laptop such as asus rog xflow or other 2in 1s coudlnt even produce and thats coming using the rog xflow 16 myself with a mini led display. The next big thing i think i would isggest ofr anyone especialyl who wants a apple competipr its the soind of the speakers. They are great and loud yet clear, but still not in apple territory by any any means . This is a great choice too for those wanting nice speakers they are even in spite of having a mac m3 next to it very good speakers. . The battery life i will mention quickly is not the best and should be way better but is not with 6 hours max ive seen sometime 7 to 8 on mine with monitoring and proper use of apps to offset the dgpu vs the igpu so less power was used. That shouldnt though be anythign someone should have to do witj exp those unfamiliar woth their tecj as some so thats up to the user how tjeu would see those numbers. Considerig if ome wanted to they could perhaps see up to potentially 8 1/2 hours if strictly working on code or drawing and no movies other than that youre getting 6 max hours. But again thats up to user discretion and can be affixxed to how much tenacity one has or will dedicate to that area which id imagine you would if need be. Its an exceptional amount of time though for certain repsects like school or work and you plug in beteween sets and have it throughoit the day for the most part. Considering this battery goes down alot has to be negstive it also goes for reason which is the dedicated gpu The 4050 . This gpu is the lowest tier for this gen but this is great gpu and it will let you do things and not break the battery even worse cinsidering the small form factor and its intent which is content creation. It actually becomes apparent why this low tier was used and not any but one notch above is used the the later specd out version that would be ideal for gaming but not anything else. The 4050 is adequate for any game really while adding the necessary power to mainatin content creation and doing work digitally. So as a creator laptop it will help ideally with those processes while also entertaining the idea as a moderate gaming pc on tje side as an added bonus at least i feel is the intent from microsoft imo. Considering this battery power with all the extra perks it has goves a it an edge in the cintent creator genre ranking imo to be top quality and amongst the best for what it does.
PROS- Powerhouse in a unique form factor and screen hinge- Good pen and touch support with Windows 11- Great backlit keyboardCONS- Camera could be higher qualityAs an owner of a Surface Book 3, there is a lot to like about the Surface Laptop Studio 2. The old hinge design with the entirely detachable screen was a cool concept, but I think with the introduction of the Surface Laptop Studio and the improvements in the latest 2nd generation, Microsoft has concocted a winning formula.DESIGN/FORMFACTORThe design, while a departure from the original craziness of the Surface Book still has some quirks and unique design features that help it stand out amongst the crowd. Namely, you’ll noticed the recessed edge or lip around the entire device. This inverse tiered ... MorePROS- Powerhouse in a unique form factor and screen hinge- Good pen and touch support with Windows 11- Great backlit keyboardCONS- Camera could be higher qualityAs an owner of a Surface Book 3, there is a lot to like about the Surface Laptop Studio 2. The old hinge design with the entirely detachable screen was a cool concept, but I think with the introduction of the Surface Laptop Studio and the improvements in the latest 2nd generation, Microsoft has concocted a winning formula.DESIGN/FORMFACTORThe design, while a departure from the original craziness of the Surface Book still has some quirks and unique design features that help it stand out amongst the crowd. Namely, you’ll noticed the recessed edge or lip around the entire device. This inverse tiered cake design provides for this optical illusion that the device is much thinner than it is. It’s not thick by any measure at .86” total, but I did find that the extra thickness and more angular cut of the base did wear at my wrists a little more than my old Surface Book 3.Along the right edge there is the typical Surface Connect port for the power connector which magnetically attaches, plus a headphone jack (yay!), and microSD card slot (handy for a person like me that uses a lot of action cameras). Along the left side is the 2 thunderbolt 4 ports that support power delivery and finally a traditional USB A 3.1 port which is great to still see on this kind of device. While the TB4 ports support DisplayPort, I would have liked to see a dedicated HDMI port, but you do have options. For professionals and people who need extra ports, there is a Thunderbolt dock that Microsoft sells for that exact purpose.KEYBOARD/TRACKPADThe keyboard is a recessed chiclet design that is backlit for late night working. They have a nice grey color which should help mask dirt. It is very nice to type on – I wrote this review on this device and I was almost immediately comfortable with the keyboard getting just over 90 wpm in a typing test. It has just the right about of key travel and the keys are well spaced while not requiring a ton of actuation force.The trackpad is larger and has nice haptic feedback that is adjustable. I didn’t have an issues with palm rejection or my inputs not being detected. There are a bunch of multitouch gestures for showing the desktop, switching apps, and multitasking that all work very well in Windows 11.DISPLAY/TOUCH/PENThe display is 2400x1600 which is a 3:2 aspect ratio, great for editing/formatting documents as well as providing a large canvas for creative work. It operates at 120 Hz so web browsing and navigating is all silky smooth. It’s also a touch screen so if you are a person like me that likes to navigate websites by scrolling with your finger, you’ll be right at home. The party trick for the Studio 2 is 180-degree hinge which allows the bottom of the display to come out while it pivots in the middle. This is accomplished with a fancy durable ribbon cable that ensures you can continue to transform your Studio 2 for years to come. You can move the base of the display to sit right in front of the keyboard for things like gaming with a controller or watching a movie (when you don’t need to touch the keyboard) and then finally nearly all the way flat which provides the perfect slight angle for sketching and taking notes.The Surface Laptop Studio 2 doesn’t come with a Slim Pen 2, but I had one handy. The writing technology Microsoft uses is fluid and realistic. The tip has a slight vibration to simulate the friction of paper and it feels pretty good. I think if you are looking to use this device in school for notes or for work in graphic design, the pen is going to be an obvious additional purchase. When the pen isn’t in use it also tucks nicely under the ledge of the laptop out of the way. The magnets really hold the pen in place, and it charges wirelessly while docked which is super handy for ensuring that your pen is always ready for your next idea or lecture, and perhaps most importantly, won’t get lost.Pen and touch integration has gotten a lot better in Windows 11 as well – positioning the screen flat enlarges buttons on the task bar and overall menus, drop downs, and buttons are all easy to navigate with touch or pen allowing you to work the way you want. Swiping from the left of the screen opens the widgets tray that hosts the latest updates to your interests, like sports, traffic, and weather as well as an assortment of news. Swiping from the right opens your notification center and calendar, where you can catch up on things you might have missed or turn on focus mode so you can knock out the task at-hand.CAMERA/SPEAKERS/MICROPHONEOverall, I found the speakers to be good quality though they were making popping sounds initially. After I completed updates, it seems to have gone away. Highs are clear and crisp while the mid and low range is better than I would expect for a laptop.The camera has some cool features like blurring your background and adjusting your eyes to appear as if you are staring into the camera which helps make calls more personal and engaging. My only wish is that the resolution/sharpness of the camera was better – the image seemed kind of blurry/noisy and even washed out in some environments. It’s more than useable though, and for casual video conferencing it does get the job done. If you’re recording for a video or social media you will probably still use a separate camera.The microphone I thought was very high quality capturing what I thought was a very true recording of my voice with good isolation. Pairing this with noise cancelation from your favorite video conferencing app and your teammates are sure to hear you loud and clear.PERFORMANCEThe Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a capable machine – I got the i7 unit with 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and the Nvidia 4050 w/ 6GB of GDDR6. I mainly use my laptop for 3D modeling in Fusion 360, Photoshop and Illustrator as well as some on the go gaming – Call of Duty, Destiny 2, etc. In my workflow, the Studio 2 performed well in all my assemblies and improved my rendering speeds substantially over my old machine. Thanks to the design with the vents on the left and right sides there is ample cooling – I would make sure to not block these though since they do sit on the lower portion of the chassis. The machine under load does get warm on the palm rests, but I never found it to be comfortably warm. The fans even when running heavy workloads are quiet. Running the 3D Mark Time Spy benchmark the Studio 2 secured a 7980 score at native resolution which is great – kudos to the engineers getting every possible ounce of performance out of this machine.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a decent laptop that feels and looks like it is really trying hard to be like that other brand of similar slimline sealed computers. Sure, this one is a bit unique in the angle and flip touch screen, but it feels bulky and too heavy to treat as an actual tablet unless you want to work out your arm. And, for the price range, you could find something with a higher end graphics card and the ability to upgrade on your own.The computer feels very solid with its metal exterior. Even the flip screen feels strong. The screen is clear and sharp, but could really do with some more brightness and is extremely reflective. It seamlessly flips between screen modes with the positions being locked in with magnetism. It has the ability to ... MoreThe Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a decent laptop that feels and looks like it is really trying hard to be like that other brand of similar slimline sealed computers. Sure, this one is a bit unique in the angle and flip touch screen, but it feels bulky and too heavy to treat as an actual tablet unless you want to work out your arm. And, for the price range, you could find something with a higher end graphics card and the ability to upgrade on your own.The computer feels very solid with its metal exterior. Even the flip screen feels strong. The screen is clear and sharp, but could really do with some more brightness and is extremely reflective. It seamlessly flips between screen modes with the positions being locked in with magnetism. It has the ability to work with the Surface Slim Pen, also magnetically stored under the lip of the touchpad, but not included. At this price point, it feels like something that should come with it. The power connector is also unique to the Surface and held by magnets, so a little shifting around and you might not even notice that you are no longer charging because it is barely holding in there. Neat thing about the charger though, it has a USB-A port so you can charge other USB items at the same time.As for charging, I don’t know how you are going to get 19 hours of battery life. Maybe if you turn the brightness down ever further, make sure the keyboard lightness is off and not running any applications. Just letting it play a movie on loop it died at about 9 hours. Even then, there were times in which the video looked like it was skipping frames.For ports you have USB-A 3.1, two USB-C USB4/Thunderbolt 4, a 3.5 mm headphone/mic and MicroSDXC card reader. It has Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E: 802.11ax as well. However, for some speed tests I ran with it on my new Wi-Fi 6E router it returns half the upload speed. My other 6E capable laptop returns expected results for the download and upload speed though. Regardless, it was getting up to 1.2Gbps down, which is my ISP cap. It also has a 1080p Full HD camera in which you can use Studio effects for your video meetings. It’s pretty sharp and maintains decent light balance.Despite all the negative points I may have mentioned above, it is still a really nice looking laptop and very capable to do most things with some lower performance settings on applications. It is sitting in the price range of many gaming laptops, but it sits in a benchmark less than most office computers. Like I mentioned at the start, it really feels like it is trying to be a direct competitor with the other major brand, but still feels dated and not outdoing it other than being Windows based. For what it is I give it the stars, but I would not recommend this to a friend unless they needed it for a very specific reason.
| Screen Size | 14.4 |
| System Memory Ram | 16GB |
| Total Storage Capacity | 512GB |
