Surface Laptop, Copilot+ PC, 1TB SSD, Snapdragon x Elite (12 Core), 32GB RAM, Black, 13.8" Display, Microsoft Laptop Computer
(1,070 reviews)
Surface Laptop, 7th Edition. Tackle demanding workloads with powerful performance, new, unique AI experiences that help make your device smarter, faster and more creative, and the longest battery life of any Surface. ¹ Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs are designed for advanced AI experiences to make every day more efficient and productive. ²
Surface Laptop, 7th Edition. Tackle demanding workloads with powerful performance, new, unique AI experiences that help make your device smarter, faster and more creative, and the longest battery life of any Surface. ¹ Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs are designed for advanced AI experiences to make every day more efficient and productive. ²
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Surface Laptop, Copilot+ PC, 1TB SSD, Snapdragon x Elite (12 Core), 32GB RAM, Black, 13.8" Display, Microsoft Laptop Computer
$2,698.00
(1,070 reviews)
Surface Laptop, 7th Edition. Tackle demanding workloads with powerful performance, new, unique AI experiences that help make your device smarter, faster and more creative, and the longest battery life of any Surface. ¹ Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs are designed for advanced AI experiences to make every day more efficient and productive. ²
Surface Laptop, 7th Edition. Tackle demanding workloads with powerful performance, new, unique AI experiences that help make your device smarter, faster and more creative, and the longest battery life of any Surface. ¹ Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs are designed for advanced AI experiences to make every day more efficient and productive. ²
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Last updated at 20/07/2025 02:55:09
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Reviews
An Outstanding Laptop For Students & Writers
28 June 2024
Wraith
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Wow! I have to say that I have always appreciated the Microsoft Surface line for its style and form-factors, but have always been a little 'meh' about the innards. This time,
Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a
powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are
seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all so...
Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a
powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are
seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all so...
A step toward the future of computing...
21 August 2024
originally posted on bestbuy.com
This laptop is an absolute joy to use for about every task I’ve thrown at it. It is lightweight, fast, sturdy feeling, has a good keyboard and touchpad, and is quick with everyday
tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can
translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM
native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonder...
tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can
translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM
native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonder...
Copilot+ Isn't Ready, but the Hardware is on point
28 June 2024
RedMage
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Windows machines finally have a win on the ARM platform, I charged this laptop once when it arrived, and I was setting it up, and haven't needed to charge it yet. I'm not
stress testing and benchmarking it, there are enough people you can find doing all of that, I am just using it like a regular, average get things done laptop. Email, writing,
browsing, light games, and goofing off. So far it's been a smooth ride. Windows on arm still isn't 100% Arm compiled it looks like, but the Prism compatibility layer that
translates x86 to Arm64 seems to be putting in the work for the parts of the OS that aren't native, and the majority of programs you will likely be installing as wel...
stress testing and benchmarking it, there are enough people you can find doing all of that, I am just using it like a regular, average get things done laptop. Email, writing,
browsing, light games, and goofing off. So far it's been a smooth ride. Windows on arm still isn't 100% Arm compiled it looks like, but the Prism compatibility layer that
translates x86 to Arm64 seems to be putting in the work for the parts of the OS that aren't native, and the majority of programs you will likely be installing as wel...
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An Outstanding Laptop For Students & Writers
28 June 2024
Wow! I have to say that I have always appreciated the Microsoft Surface line for its style and form-factors, but have always been a little 'meh' about the innards. This time, Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all sorts of test and a lot of Copilot testing and still have not had to recharge it from its initial ... MoreWow! I have to say that I have always appreciated the Microsoft Surface line for its style and form-factors, but have always been a little 'meh' about the innards. This time, Microsoft hit on all cylinders. Not only is this a solid and nice looking laptop, but the new ARM architecture and the POTENTIAL of the Copilot+ system really make this a powerful system for pretty much anyone (with the exception of graphics creatives and gamers), but especially for students.I am really impressed with the power that we are seeing from these new ARM chips, especially when you factor in the battery sipping specs. I have been working on this laptop for almost a week now, doing all sorts of test and a lot of Copilot testing and still have not had to recharge it from its initial fill up. Now granted, I was not doing any of the 'usual-suspects' for battery drain (that is: gaming and photo/video/audio encoding), but that is mainly because there aren't any 'big-name' pieces of software out yet for the Windows-ARM environment. Still, this really isn't intended to be that kind of platform in the first place. Once we see some inroads with GPUs in this sphere, THEN we can talk about real horsepower and battery sipping ability.It has been a joy using the laptop over the last few days. The screen is beautiful and bright. The keyboard is pleasant to type on, and the trackpad is large and responsive. I don't touch my screens so I can't speak to that (I hate fingerprints on my laptops), but I have always been a fan of the 3:2 aspect ratio on laptops and I'm glad that Microsoft is sticking to its guns on this and leading the way. I've also been really lucky over the years and have never really had to have any work done physically on any of my laptops (software is another issue altogether), but from what I understand from other reviewers, is that the Surface is relatively easy to fix which should translate to a longer useful life and/or cheaper repairs if needed.My only gripe with the physical features of the Surface Laptop is with Microsoft continuing to use its own proprietary charge port. I am less frustrated with this since you CAN use USB-C to charge your laptop but it's more the principle of the matter. The power brick is relatively tiny and light (as to be expected with something that only cranks out 39W), but there is ZERO reason why it is not just a simple USB-C brick and a nice cable to go along with it. Just sayin'.Getting back to the good stuff. What has REALLY been fun over the last few days or so has been playing with Copilot+. I've never really had any need to use any of the AI platforms previously, and to tell the truth I didn't think I ever really would, but after just a bit of work with Copilot in both office apps and as a stand-alone, I think the POTENTIAL for Copilot is absolutely crazy. It's fun to play around with writing prompts and see where they lead. This will actually be a pretty cool tool to use for my writing, especially with character development. It has also been good to help me identify tropes that I may be leaning on a bit too much. I put in a few sci-fi story ideas and let Copilot run with them, and quite a few of those tropes kept popping up (hence them being tropes), but it becomes glaring once you see them in several different story ideas. While I can also see how this can make someone pretty lazy with their work, for me it frees up some brain cycles for me work on plot and dialogue and less on the peripheral characters.My biggest gripe with Copilot+ though, is the content restrictions. I completely understand the AI not wanting to generate material that is sexual, hateful, defamatory (though really, it ought to do it if asked, or there should be a setting to do the processing locally if the issue is using Microsoft servers for the work), but some rather anodyne requests were met with statements from Copilot that said that it could not do that and encouraged me to generate that material on my own. Again, we are still in the early stages of the 'AI Revolution', but I think we could use a bit more 'Wild West' and a little less 'Corporate Boardroom'.As a former educator, this platform really excites me and scares me a bit. It excites me to think about the ideas and content that students could produce with such a powerful platform, but then the teacher in me worries about how I could ever separate the student from the AI with the current tools available. Fortunately, I'm retired and that is no longer my problem, and so I can just be excited to see what my rather gifted nephew is going to churn out with this laptop once I give it to him next month for his birthday.Microsoft has really hit it out of the park with this generation of Surface devices, and I think you are getting a really high-quality laptop with tons of power and phenomenal battery life for a really good price. If you are looking for a solid laptop that is light, powerful, beautiful, and in the Windows ecosystem, then the Surface Laptop with Copilot+ is a no-brainer. It
Wraith
originally posted on bestbuy.comA step toward the future of computing...
21 August 2024
This laptop is an absolute joy to use for about every task I’ve thrown at it. It is lightweight, fast, sturdy feeling, has a good keyboard and touchpad, and is quick with everyday tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonderful. Everything can be put in the recycling as far as I can tell, even the cord wraps are ... MoreThis laptop is an absolute joy to use for about every task I’ve thrown at it. It is lightweight, fast, sturdy feeling, has a good keyboard and touchpad, and is quick with everyday tasks that include web browsing, productivity stuff, and photo editing. It’s very good camera and AI features make it a wonderful WFH machine, and the AI features can translate for you as well as run real time filters on your video. Gaming is limited right now, but I’m sure it will improve very soon as more devs port their apps to run ARM native or get ported over from mobile where they are already running on ARM. If you’re considering this laptop, go ahead, it’s a great value!Packaging is wonderful. Everything can be put in the recycling as far as I can tell, even the cord wraps are paper. Excellent.The Surface 7’s build feels rock solid, full aluminum chassis, very subtle branding on the lid, not a single RGB decoration to be found. The backlit keyboard is comfortable and easy to type on. The aluminum has a good feel, I prefer the keyboard 100% more than my ***Book Pro. It has two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack on the left side, while the right side hosts the Surface power adapter port, which can also be used for Microsoft’s proprietary docks and port replicators that will power the laptop and add the ports with just one plug. This machine straddles the past and future by also offering current standard USB-C with PD and DP, so you can use a third-party dock to get the same functionality, super flexible!Wifi 7 is a notable feature to have on your computer going forward, it’s the new standard in Wi-Fi and the Surface’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip works great on Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 networks. I used Bluetooth for connecting a keyboard, controller and headset and did not have any problems.I think the Copilot+ features that are enabled on these new machines are limited right now just to a few “demonstration” features in Windows. The possibilities are wide open. Hopefully developers going forward can leverage the NPU to do some really cool stuff soon.Even beyond the Copilot+ features and all of the future promise, this is a very well sorted computer. I really enjoy the lack of OEM junk hanging out in every corner of the machine. I can use all the power the computer offers because it does not have to continually run the unstable system resource drains that are on almost every OEM machine. This computer has a big advantage that it does not run the background tasks that OEMs run, so it will almost always be faster than other machines with the same specs.I’ve gotten great battery life on this machine, more than enough for my needs.The Surface Laptop 7 13.8” Copilot+ is arguably the best everyday laptop you can buy right now, and it’s only going to get better. Folks may balk at the price, it’s a good value. Recommended.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
Copilot+ Isn't Ready, but the Hardware is on point
28 June 2024
Windows machines finally have a win on the ARM platform, I charged this laptop once when it arrived, and I was setting it up, and haven't needed to charge it yet. I'm not stress testing and benchmarking it, there are enough people you can find doing all of that, I am just using it like a regular, average get things done laptop. Email, writing, browsing, light games, and goofing off. So far it's been a smooth ride. Windows on arm still isn't 100% Arm compiled it looks like, but the Prism compatibility layer that translates x86 to Arm64 seems to be putting in the work for the parts of the OS that aren't native, and the majority of programs you will likely be installing as well. Games being the sticking point I can see being a problem for now, both because of the ... MoreWindows machines finally have a win on the ARM platform, I charged this laptop once when it arrived, and I was setting it up, and haven't needed to charge it yet. I'm not stress testing and benchmarking it, there are enough people you can find doing all of that, I am just using it like a regular, average get things done laptop. Email, writing, browsing, light games, and goofing off. So far it's been a smooth ride. Windows on arm still isn't 100% Arm compiled it looks like, but the Prism compatibility layer that translates x86 to Arm64 seems to be putting in the work for the parts of the OS that aren't native, and the majority of programs you will likely be installing as well. Games being the sticking point I can see being a problem for now, both because of the relatively anemic onboard graphics power, and the troubles of trying to run more complicated stuff like graphic intensive games through prism, big sticking points in that front you can see in some YouTube videos, it seems a lot of anti-cheat enabled games either fail or refuse to launch.The hardware and general fit and finish are really good here though. There is basically zero deck flex on the keyboard making for a solid typing experience as far as laptop keyboards go. The trackpad is nice and big, and haptic, has all the multi finger gesture fun you expect on modern touch pads, and a nice setting to set a corner of it to be 'right click' dedicated so you dont always have to 2 finger click for a right click, making it a little more accurate. The haptics on it are strong enough that it feels like a nice satisfying little click is happening. It's a little light on ports and would really benefit from a micro sd card slot, but the available full sized usb and 2 usb c ports are enough in most cases. The screen is nice and bright but has a non standard resolution that might make it a little hard to get a perfect wallpaper for it, just little 1st world problems that don't really affect anything.The hardware is not the only thing that this new breed of "Copilot+ PC" machines are trying to sell themselves on. and unfortunately, I think it needs more time to cook, and Microsoft needs to dedicate more time into fleshing out the on-device capabilities. It's nice marketing that the onboard NPU is 45 TOPS of performance, but that doesn't really mean anything to the average person. Copilot is an always online service and remains an always online service on these new Copilot+ PCs as well weather any of their workload can be done locally is irrelevant if it will not even try when it doesn't have an internet connection in the first place. While connected to the internet it feels no different than the copilot beta that's been available on windows this past year. You can ask it questions, it has integration with the web browser for additional context etc, I used it to help me better write out a resume, and a few emails that I wasn't really sure on the best way to phrase things, and that's really helpful. But It's far from the game changing future of PC's the marketing would suggest. I think the Co Creator in Paint is a cute feature, but paint is quite possibly the worst thing in the world for doing any kind of graphic design and it's only recently gotten the ability to handle 'layers' and still immediately rasterizes text so you can't edit things in it well, but I guess if you just want to play around, the image generation can be interesting. I have experience with AI image generation models and the gamut of settings and tweaks that can be done to adjust their output, and this doesn't really have anything more than a slider for how 'creative' you want it to be, and I think that's just how firm it sticks to your prompt or not. but I don't know what's really going on under the hood there beyond that.As much as a selling point, they are pushing all of the AI features to be, I don't recommend buying one of these on that. I do think that the hardware is good enough to warrant picking this over an intel/amd option if you aren't looking for a gaming machine. It's light, sleek the Sapphire and Dune colors both look amazing if you want something other than Silver or Black.In the end, I give it a solid 4 out of 5, amazing hardware, but I feel like if you're going to really push for on device processing of the AI features, you need to make those features accessible for offline use, even if it is using smaller models and may not be quite as fully featured as the connected resources allow. I hope they continue to improve on what they have, and I hope they take public feedback seriously as they shape the services and features going forward. Till then, I'm happy to let the features cook a little longer till they are done and ready.
RedMage
originally posted on bestbuy.comCoPilot+ Productivity and Creativity in one laptop
28 June 2024
It’s interesting to note that the exterior design of Microsoft Surface laptops hasn’t changed much over the years. My wife’s 2019 Surface Book 2 looks nearly identical to this new Surface CoPilot+ laptop although the older laptop is a 2-1 design and so was a little thicker. Evidently, Microsoft wisely adheres to the principle that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Even the keyboards have a similar look and feel. The differences naturally are found inside, with Microsoft charting a bold new course with neural processors designed and tuned to run newly released AI applications…the wave of the future. To make this laptop more affordable, Microsoft chose to use the lesser of the two Qualcomm processors (Snapdragon X Plus) in this latest line of Surface7th Edition ... MoreIt’s interesting to note that the exterior design of Microsoft Surface laptops hasn’t changed much over the years. My wife’s 2019 Surface Book 2 looks nearly identical to this new Surface CoPilot+ laptop although the older laptop is a 2-1 design and so was a little thicker. Evidently, Microsoft wisely adheres to the principle that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Even the keyboards have a similar look and feel. The differences naturally are found inside, with Microsoft charting a bold new course with neural processors designed and tuned to run newly released AI applications…the wave of the future. To make this laptop more affordable, Microsoft chose to use the lesser of the two Qualcomm processors (Snapdragon X Plus) in this latest line of Surface7th Edition CoPilot + laptops. With 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, this laptop is still plenty fast and to prove it, I installed Adobe Photoshop 2024 and loading time was only a matter of just a few seconds…even faster than my gaming desktop. Similarly, components of Microsoft Office 365 Suite like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint also are lightning fast. The screen is bright with excellent contrast and the onboard Qualcomm graphics processor seems more than adequate for most computing needs.The development of the CoPilot+ series of laptops is of course to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to computing. While it’s in its early stages, AI brings user-friendly options to enhance creativity and efficiency in daily computing needs. CoPilot+ brings simplicity to browsing and it’s been my experience that search results make sense and are easy to understand, complete with references. For creativity, AI has elevated Microsoft’s simple Paint app to new heights with its ability to create artwork (Image Creator) based on simple inputs and/or crude drawings (Cocreator). I could see where this might be handy for creating artwork for Powerpoint Presentations, for example. Windows Studio adds some nice features for video conferencing, such as blurred backgrounds, face-following, and lighting effects. While I wouldn’t designate this laptop as a gaming machine, Windows 11 has added Auto Super Resolution to improve and enhance game resolution and visual quality, taking advantage of the AI capabilities of the Snapdragon X series processor.What I liked…The laptop is lightweight yet rugged and the perfect size for ease of portability. Having a lighted keyboard is a must and the feel of the keys makes typing fast and easy. The screen looks great with crystal clarity and deep rich blacks, making photos look amazing. Battery life is excellent, and it comes with a proprietary charging cable, but Microsoft claims it can be charged through one of the two USB-C ports with a minimum 65W PD charger. A fully charged battery dropped to 80% when on for four hours, so getting all-day use should be no problem. Apparently, the Qualcomm electronics run cool as there are no fans or vents visible anywhere, making it completely quiet and nice to rest on your lap without the constant worry of blocking air vents, etc. and overheating. Setup after unboxing was a breeze and transferring everything from our old Surface laptop couldn’t have been simpler. Even our family version of Microsoft 365 loaded quickly, and Outlook email transferred without a hitch. Last but not least, I love the clean design of the all-metal case and sapphire blue looks amazing.What I disliked…Well, not much to say! The main concern with Surface laptops is that they are designed and configured with a specific set of components. It usually requires a technician to add RAM or change out an SSD, for example. Microsoft isn’t the only laptop manufacturer that does this, so just be sure when you buy a Surface laptop to get it configured correctly to meet your all your current and future computing needs right from the start.I sense things will only get better as the basis of AI in computing is just getting started and the Microsoft Surface CoPilot+ laptop is designed from the ground up to take advantage in this new era of computing now.
MikeyLikesIt
originally posted on bestbuy.comGives MacBook Air a run for their money
30 July 2024
Packaging: simple but effective, with minimalist packing. Surface Laptop is covered in a thin paper wrap, and then the power cord and brick are underneath the tray.Screen: touchscreen capable, with 120 Hz refresh rate. Standard 2304 x 1536 resolution makes for a crisp view on the 13.8” screen. 600 bits brightness is plenty for offices or home, but trying to use the laptop on a sunny day out on the patio at my local coffee shop was a little difficult to see.Ports: 2 USB-C, 1 USB-A, 3.5 mm headphone jack (hallelujah), and the magnetic jack for the charger. The magnetic connector is proprietary, but has been consistent for all Surface products so not a surprise. Of note, you can use the USB C ports to directly charge the Surface Laptop, in case you don’t want to ... MorePackaging: simple but effective, with minimalist packing. Surface Laptop is covered in a thin paper wrap, and then the power cord and brick are underneath the tray.Screen: touchscreen capable, with 120 Hz refresh rate. Standard 2304 x 1536 resolution makes for a crisp view on the 13.8” screen. 600 bits brightness is plenty for offices or home, but trying to use the laptop on a sunny day out on the patio at my local coffee shop was a little difficult to see.Ports: 2 USB-C, 1 USB-A, 3.5 mm headphone jack (hallelujah), and the magnetic jack for the charger. The magnetic connector is proprietary, but has been consistent for all Surface products so not a surprise. Of note, you can use the USB C ports to directly charge the Surface Laptop, in case you don’t want to carry around the power brick or forget to bring it.AI: this is the big push in tech nowadays, and the Surface Laptop 7 has a dedicated Copilot key to launch the Copilot+ AI assistant. Pushing the key launches the AI chatbot in a new window, which looks identical to the page if you have tried using Microsoft Edge’s new updated version. Copilot is powered by ChatGPT-4, so it’s pretty standard fare. You can ask Copilot to generate anything from form letters, to schedule templates, to workout plans. Some more sophisticated prompts can yield some pretty amazing results. Then, the big surprise for me was CoCreator, which is linked into Paint. You use AI prompts to ask it to generate images based off what you write, and it was actually very cool.Battery life with standard office work (judicious use of Microsoft Excel and Word, and web browsing - no videos) has literally lasted me 3 full workdays on a single charge. Microsoft touts 20 hours of video playback, and I believe it based on my usage.I’ve used Surface Pros dating back to the Surface Pro 4, and I always had gripes (some major), but for the first time, I can and do recommend the Surface Laptop wholeheartedly.
codeblue
originally posted on bestbuy.comGreat unit for traveling/business/recreational use
20 July 2024
Rating this laptop proved to be somewhat challenging because there really is no way to separate the hardware from the operating system. (While I would love to be able to compare speed, RAM, resolution, and other similar statistics to competing products, the synergy between the hardware and OS is part of the selling features of the laptop. Therefore, I am looking at this laptop as a whole/complete package with hardware and software/operating system.)To begin, I really like the form factor and construction of this laptop. I have used numerous other laptops before and the build quality of this laptop matches that of more expensive competitor laptops. The aluminum body is solid and sturdy with a nice tactile feel to it. I have the blue model, which is very nice to ... MoreRating this laptop proved to be somewhat challenging because there really is no way to separate the hardware from the operating system. (While I would love to be able to compare speed, RAM, resolution, and other similar statistics to competing products, the synergy between the hardware and OS is part of the selling features of the laptop. Therefore, I am looking at this laptop as a whole/complete package with hardware and software/operating system.)To begin, I really like the form factor and construction of this laptop. I have used numerous other laptops before and the build quality of this laptop matches that of more expensive competitor laptops. The aluminum body is solid and sturdy with a nice tactile feel to it. I have the blue model, which is very nice to look at as well. The laptop does have a little heft to it, but nothing crazy and the squared edges are comfortable when carrying it. The screen is beautiful with rich colors and adequate brightness. To take things up a notch, it is a touchscreen as well. (I am used to laptops without touchscreens.) What really impressed me, however, was the touchpad. I have yet to find a touchpad that I like on a Windows-based PC; that is, until now. The touchpad on this laptop is silky smooth, provides haptic feedback, and allows for tapping/clicking anywhere on the touchpad (including a right-click with two fingers). There are other gestures supported by the touchpad as well. Very well done.If I understand correctly, the CPU in this laptop uses ARM architecture (as opposed to the competing x86 architecture that has defined Intel chips forever), so I was curious as to how the usability experience would be. Without comparing side-to-side to another laptop, all I can say is that the laptop seems very fast and capable to me. Ultimately, I look at a laptop like this as a tool for using the Internet, maybe watching videos, and taking care of office-related tasks like checking email, checking social media feeds, and working in an office suite to create, view, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. In this respect, the Surface Laptop feels just as fast as other more expensive laptops I have used. I also really like the Windows "Hello" feature that recognizes my face and unlocks the computer based upon that biometric measure. (As opposed to using a fingerprint, the facial recognition is much more convenient as it does not require any physical intervention on my part. Just open up the laptop, click on the login screen, and it recognizes me and boots up to the OS. Nice.)Microsoft claims up to 20 hours of battery life with the unit. While I have not run a battery test to verify that claim, I am more concerned about having decent battery life to last a full day at work or on a four to five hour flight (plus some time sitting at the airport). Thus far, it appears as though the battery life on the unit is more than adequate for my needs when completing the relatively "simple" (non-processor-intensive) tasks that I mentioned above. I suppose playing games or processing video would take a toll on the battery, that is not how I use this laptop, so I did not evaluate it from that perspective. (Along those lines, I do not know how long it takes to process certain types of video projects or what the frame rate is for a game.)My particular unit has 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, which is a decent size for all those office tasks that I mentioned before. If I were using this laptop for gaming or video/photo work, however, I would want more storage than that. (I think the Surface tops out at 1TB? The laptop I currently use for processing video has 8TB of storage.)Speaking of battery life... The unit includes a separate power supply with a proprietary connection for charging the laptop that reminds me of a magnetic connection available on another series of laptops. The power supply is not very large, so it is convenient for traveling. It is my understanding that the laptop can also be charged through the USB-C ports (and I also saw options to buy a Thunderbolt 4 hub to also drive a couple 4K displays from the laptop [although this is not something I tested]).Given the form factor of the unit and the thin bezels around the screen, there is no manual shutter to occlude the 1080p camera, so those who are concerned about that sort of thing may be a bit disappointed. (I was also surprised that the camera was 1080p and not a higher resolution.) As I have not used this laptop for teleconferencing, however, I really cannot say how good the camera is. (The camera is supposed to follow you around to keep you in the center of the frame when using the laptop for videoconferencing.)Lastly, this laptop incorporates Microsoft's "Copilot+" features, which is their integration of AI technology into the operating system. Some of the things that the AI can do is generate automatic captions for video (and translate to different languages), generate illustrations from sketches, an help with writing (similar to other AI platforms). Personally, I am not that creative and I also enjoy writing without relying on AI features, so I really have not used the Copilot+ features that much to fairly evaluate them for this review. As that technology continues to advance, however, I can only imagine the other tasks AI will be able to perform in the years to come (and this laptop appears to be well-positioned to take advantage of those features).So, are you looking for a Windows-based PC that can accommodate your business and recreational tasks while traveling without having to worry about finding an outlet? This unit definitely seems to fit that bill in a package that is compact and attractive. While I have been using non-Windows-based laptops for years, this is the first laptop offering I found that could possibly convince me to switch back to using Windows again.
Jeff W
originally posted on bestbuy.comImpressive Upgrade Experience
1 July 2024
I have always used Microsoft Windows as my favorite operating system but have not had a Surface laptop in many years. I was thrilled to find out about the new AI Surface Laptop enhanced with Copilot+. I chose the Sapphire color for the new Surface and was blown away with how beautiful it was in person. I realized it had been many years since I had any laptop that was not the standard silver color, so the Surface immediately stood out. My friends also commented on how beautiful the color was and how nice the display appeared on it. I did notice that even though the laptop color was amazing that fingertip marks did e up being noticeable on the lid from usage but would wipe away with a microfiber cloth.I had read all the specs Microsoft shared about the product ... MoreI have always used Microsoft Windows as my favorite operating system but have not had a Surface laptop in many years. I was thrilled to find out about the new AI Surface Laptop enhanced with Copilot+. I chose the Sapphire color for the new Surface and was blown away with how beautiful it was in person. I realized it had been many years since I had any laptop that was not the standard silver color, so the Surface immediately stood out. My friends also commented on how beautiful the color was and how nice the display appeared on it. I did notice that even though the laptop color was amazing that fingertip marks did e up being noticeable on the lid from usage but would wipe away with a microfiber cloth.I had read all the specs Microsoft shared about the product before releasing it to the public and I was curious how fast the Surface would operate with the Snapdragon X Plus chip with 10 cores and a Neural Processing Unit. I have to say that after I quickly did the initial setup, I realized that the system worked quicker than what I was used to. I was also drawn to this model because it had plenty of storage with the 512GB SSD.A new feature that I found after setting up my Surface was the new Windows Hello security feature which lets you setup signing in with a PIN or with your biometrics information. I chose to use my facial recognition since it would be faster than me trying to make the entries on the keyboard. I was surprised how accurate and much quicker it was for me to get past the normal sign on area with the device validating via the webcam that I was truly the person who installed the biometric data. I decided to research the new feature and was thrilled to find out how much more secure the Windows Hello security was than the standard methods adding to the encryption methods as well.Overall, I cannot say enough good things about how much the device has matured since my previous experience, but it has spoiled me from going back to regular laptops.
Atxn
originally posted on bestbuy.comOoooh this thing has SOOOOOO much potential!
30 July 2024
FIrst thing's first - go see the colors in person. I was absolutely sold on the black model, but after seeing the "Dune"/gold model, I absolutely LOVE it!Performance - with the naked eye I can't see any real performance difference from a laptop with an x86/x84 CPU. It runs buttery smooth, and without any hiccups. I did get a chance to stream a movie from a file that I had saved on the SSD to my Roku while on a short road trip and I did see some odd artifacting, but I really can't definitely point blame to the laptop - could have been network interference from other nearly devices, but also could have been the CPU on this machine transcoding from 4k down to 1080p that the TV displays at.For my testing I used it in the office along side with my issued laptop. I ... MoreFIrst thing's first - go see the colors in person. I was absolutely sold on the black model, but after seeing the "Dune"/gold model, I absolutely LOVE it!Performance - with the naked eye I can't see any real performance difference from a laptop with an x86/x84 CPU. It runs buttery smooth, and without any hiccups. I did get a chance to stream a movie from a file that I had saved on the SSD to my Roku while on a short road trip and I did see some odd artifacting, but I really can't definitely point blame to the laptop - could have been network interference from other nearly devices, but also could have been the CPU on this machine transcoding from 4k down to 1080p that the TV displays at.For my testing I used it in the office along side with my issued laptop. I kept the news running @ 1080p on Youtube for the entire 8 hours of my shift, at 50% volume 50% brightness and running WiFi 6E (the fastest we have in the office). I did that for 4 days and averaged 7% battery draw per hour every single day. Does that equate out to the 20 hours that is advertised? No, BUT, very impressive for a laptop that has such a clean/crisp display, and sound that really sounds amazing for such small speakers.For the 5th day I used a "mouse jiggler" to ensure the screen stayed on and did not lock/go to sleep on me. Using it for emails, spreadsheets, other general office work. Right on par with the previous days, I averaged roughly 7% battery use per hour.The evening of the 5th day I took it home and tried some games. Meh - not impressive - but the meer fact that 7 out of 10 of the ones I tried even ran was impressive, especially this early in the "ARM" game! I'd love to see this laptop with a slightly more powerful GPU and games being optimized a bit more for ARM - anything over 30 (but close to 60 FPS) would be AMAZING!I did try it with a 3rd party dock that included power, GB ethernet, HDMI, USB A/C , and an SD card reader and that really did make it worthy of true desktop use!I got to play with the AI a bit - pretty impressive and a LOT faster than on a standard PC without a NPU.I'll need more time to focus on that but I see a ton of potential. My issues with AI though is that there are so much variants of it in so many places run by so many different back-ends that it's hard to know from one machine to the next and one app to the next what they are capable of.Now - complaints - by the way, none of which caused me to drop any stars. This really is a NICE machine!1) Microsoft - you REALLY need to get RSAT (Remote server administration tools) available for ARM. I did upgrade my license to Windows 11 PRO in hopes I could do some of my network admin work on it, but alas, I ended up having to RDP into my other computer to do it.2) The camera really needs a physical/sliding blocker on it. Being so thin, every after-market one I stuck to the screen ended up keeping the screen from closing completely when I closed the lid.3) The inclusion of a dock (even a mini-dock) to expand the ports would have definitely been a welcome inclusion, but since I had an after-market one for another Surface laptop I'm good to go.4) Work with the after-market suppliers prior to release - it's damned near impossible to find a hard case or screen protector for this screen size (13.8") , all of which I use on a daily basis on all my other laptops that I take to work.I do really look forward to the future of Windows on ARM - it oooozes with potential !!
JayDubsFL
originally posted on bestbuy.comPerformance, AI and beauty.
2 July 2024
In terms of hardware, the new Surface laptops, especially in the blue color is just a beautiful. From the sleek aluminum chassis that feels very robust and solid, to the almost bezel less screen, the whole device just feels very high quality. On the entry level models In terms of ports, you get two USB-C and one USB-A port, headphone jack and the Surface magnetic charging port. The only hardware aspect I don’t like is the lack of physical privacy filter for the webcam. You can turn it off in the software, but I prefer the physical slider that some laptops have. This just gives you the reassurance that it truly is off and if turned on remotely it’s blocked by the slider.Beautiful hardware means nothing if it doesn’t have the performance and even in base form the ... MoreIn terms of hardware, the new Surface laptops, especially in the blue color is just a beautiful. From the sleek aluminum chassis that feels very robust and solid, to the almost bezel less screen, the whole device just feels very high quality. On the entry level models In terms of ports, you get two USB-C and one USB-A port, headphone jack and the Surface magnetic charging port. The only hardware aspect I don’t like is the lack of physical privacy filter for the webcam. You can turn it off in the software, but I prefer the physical slider that some laptops have. This just gives you the reassurance that it truly is off and if turned on remotely it’s blocked by the slider.Beautiful hardware means nothing if it doesn’t have the performance and even in base form the performance feels very good. I’m not a power user by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve been very happy with the Snapdragon plus and the 16gb of RAM to handle any multi tasking I’ve thrown at it. I also attribute this to Windows 11 also, as I personally feel the clean and less bloated feel of the OS has truly moved Windows forward. In terms of battery life this is probably the best battery life of any pc laptop I’ve ever used. It truly feels like if you went on a trip and left with 100% charge for a couple of days and forgot your charger, you’d be able to make it till you got back.The big selling point of these new laptops is Copilot+ and it’s a cool feature if you like AI. I personally am not the biggest fan of AI but can see the appeal for some. In my time using it, it proved helpful and accurate with whatever questions I had for it. The Cocreator aspect of AI was pretty neat at creating drawings, I can see this being helpful for people who want to create flyers or other stuff such as this. One of my reservations about AI is the privacy aspect of it and when you start using it, Microsoft states they collect your information with Cocreator for AI safety and security.The new Surface Laptops come wrapped in a beautiful aluminum chassis that feels as nice as anything out there. The new Snapdragon processor along with Windows 11 give you excellent performance and battery life that doesn’t leave you wanting.
Linksys
originally posted on bestbuy.comSleek Laptop w/ Top-Notch Display and AI Features
29 July 2024
Overall, the 7th Edition 13.8" Microsoft Surface Laptop impresses with its sleek design and high-performance features. One of the standout aspects is its HDR OLED screen, which looks amazing with bright whites, rich blacks, and vibrant colors showcasing deep color depth. The display is touch-enabled, and I found it to be very accurate and responsive. The camera is also very high quality and enhances video calls with its high resolution that avoids the grainy quality often seen in less premium built-in laptop cameras that can tend to feel like more of an afterthought.The overall hardware design is another strong point. The display has a thin bezel, contributing to a sleek and thin aesthetic. The magnetic power connector is a thoughtful addition, providing peace of ... MoreOverall, the 7th Edition 13.8" Microsoft Surface Laptop impresses with its sleek design and high-performance features. One of the standout aspects is its HDR OLED screen, which looks amazing with bright whites, rich blacks, and vibrant colors showcasing deep color depth. The display is touch-enabled, and I found it to be very accurate and responsive. The camera is also very high quality and enhances video calls with its high resolution that avoids the grainy quality often seen in less premium built-in laptop cameras that can tend to feel like more of an afterthought.The overall hardware design is another strong point. The display has a thin bezel, contributing to a sleek and thin aesthetic. The magnetic power connector is a thoughtful addition, providing peace of mind in case someone trips over the charging cable—the cable will simply disconnect, preventing the laptop from being pulled to the floor. Despite being lightweight, the laptop feels very solid and well-constructed. The "Dune" color option, however, is closer to a "rose gold," which was a trendier color for electronics a few years ago. If you are a fan of that color, the Dune finish will be perfect for you. A downside of this laptop's smaller form factor is the limited number of USB ports—only 2 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port. This limitation can be easily remedied with a USB hub if you are a heavy user of peripherals, so it’s not a major issue. I was able to connect my USB-C hub and run a monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, and external SSD through just one of these USB-C ports.One of the most innovative features is the AI-powered Copilot. The keyboard has an integrated Copilot button, which launches a window where you can interact with a built-in AI assistant via text. As someone who is a heavy OpenAI and GitHub Copilot user, having on-board LLM functionality integrated into the OS is fantastic. Being able to adjust the conversation style from "Creative" to "Precise" is very welcome. This button-driven toggle is a great feature, eliminating the need to massage the AI's "creativity" via trial and error through iterative prompts.There are other AI-driven features that help this laptop stand out. In the Paint program, there are "Image Creator" and "Cocreator" options. "Image Creator" is powered by OpenAI's DALL-E engine and allows you to create complete AI-generated art through text prompts in exchange for credits. "Cocreator" is a similar, though lighter-weight AI-assisted prompt-driven art generator that takes your current canvas and adds to it. As someone with limited artistic ability and skills, I found it a very useful tool to make small edits to photos or to generally just play around and be creative.