We special in laptop battery ,laptop adapters for most of top brands, such as apple,acer, asus, dell, fujitsu,hp, compaq, ibm, lenovo, toshiba, samsung, sony on UK,all the ac power adapters, laptop batteries are high quality and low price.
As a lifelong gamer and a hardware reviewer, I know a thing or two about what makes thebest gaming laptopsworthwhile.
The perfect gaming laptop needs a bright, vibrant screen, solid specs, and a design that isn’t too flashy. It’s also important that a machine can be viable for years and won’t destroy your bank account.
With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of gaming laptops that I’d not only recommend but that I’d buy with my own money. They’re not just great for playing the latest games; they’re also super capable for everyday stuff like writing and editing videos or audio.
TheHP Omen Transcend 14may be a gaming laptop, but there’s nothing about its look that screams “gaming laptop.” Thanks to a sleek design and understated RGB keyboard, it could easily pass for a business ultraportable.
HP even calls it “the world’s lightest 14-inch gaming laptop,” and it’s definitely the slimmest I’ve listed here.
Under the hood, it’s got an Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake chip and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU. Though not the latest components, they’re enough for playing games at medium graphical settings. On top of that, games look and run smoothly on the Omen Transcend’s 14-inch 2.8K 120Hz OLED.
Battery life is pretty low, even for a gaming laptop, lasting for a little less than an hour in our testing. Because of that, it might not be your best bet if you’re looking for an all-day, every-day notebook. Still, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is an exceptional and incredibly thin gaming laptop.
TheAsus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)might not be new, but it’s still a great gaming laptop. It’s super portable, packs a punch performance-wise, and rocks a gorgeous OLED display. Plus, it’s surprisingly quiet.
Beyond gaming, the Zephyrus G14 is comfortable to work on thanks to its roomy keyboard and nice, chunky keycaps.
The Zephyrus G14 has a clean, minimalist look that’s closer to one of the best MacBooks than a typical gaming laptop. The only hint of a “gamer” vibe is a cool diagonal light on the lid. And don’t worry about ports, it’s got a good selection on both sides for all your gaming peripherals.
The 14-inch (2880 x 1800) OLED is a showstopper. Games and videos look incredible, with deep blacks and vibrant HDR really pulling you in. For competitive players, the silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate and lightning-fast 0.2ms response time give you a serious edge.
Alienware Area-51 Gaming Laptop
This is the newest and priciest gaming laptop I recommend, and it’s certainly worth every penny. The Alienware 16 Area-51 Gaming Laptop is a futuristic-looking device featuring powerful components that deliver an incredible gaming experience.
The Liquid Teal finish on the anodized aluminum chassis gives this laptop a dark iridescent sheen that shifts colors when viewed under different lighting conditions. I also like how the RGB lighting on the back mimics the motions of the aurora borealis, which serves to heighten this laptop’s otherworldly feel. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a clear Gorilla Glass window on the bottom that lets you see the internal components.
Speaking of internals, all configurations pack an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and up to an RTX 5090 GPU. Combine that with up to 64GB of RAM, and you have a machine that can play the best PC games at high frame rates, especially with Nvidia DLSS 4 enabled. Games also look beautiful on the laptop’s 16-inch 240Hz display.
Anker has issued its second recall this month for several power bank models sold around the world, asMacRumorshas reported. If you’ll recall, its previous recall that launched earlier this monthfocusedon theAnker PowerCore 10000power bank model A1263, which were sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31st, 2022 in the United States. The company found that the lithium-ion battery it used for the model has a risk of overheating that could then lead to the power bank melting, producing smoke and, ultimately, catching fire.
Now, Anker has issued a global recall for multiple products sold in several markets around the world. Those products are the Anker Power Bank (10K, 22.5W) Model A1257, Anker Power Bank (20,000mAh, 22.5W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1647, Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000mAh, 7.5W) Model A1652, Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C and Lightning Cable) Model A1681 and Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1689.
The company said that it implemented a series of enhanced quality assurance protocols earlier this year, all of which were designed to detect manufacturing issues. It found that those particular models use lithium-ion battery cells from a single vendor, which are at risk of overheating and causing fire. The company said that the chances of malfunction are minimal, but it launched the recall out of an abundance of caution anyway and is advising customers to stop using affected models.
You can check if your device is affected on therecall’s official pagewhere you can enter its serial number. A proof of purchase will be required to be qualified for the program, but if you can provide the requirements needed, you can choose between a replacement or a gift card that you can use on Anker’s website.
Yay, we can play AAA games… but what’s even the point?
I’ve praised theSwitch 2for its 120Hz display — it has finally caught up with the rest of the industry, allowing modern games to run as smoothly as they were designed to. But apparently, its 60Hz mode isslow.
On June 13, Yaka Mochi’s blog,Chimolog.co, reported that the Switch 2 display’s response time is an average of 17.06 milliseconds at 60Hz. That may not seem like much, but to put it into context, we’ve seen gaming monitors with a response time as fast as 0.03 milliseconds.
Let’s talk about why that significantly slow response time matters and what it means for the Switch 2’s future.
The Switch 2’s response time doesn’t bode well for fast-paced games
Response times that are off by even a few milliseconds can make a significant difference in competitive games or even your average shooter, which may be why playingCyberpunk 2077felt a bit sluggish during my original testing. And for all my rhythm game lovers out there… sorry, you’re off beat.
Yaka Mochi clocked the Switch 2’s fastest response time at 8.88ms and the slowest at 27.46ms. All of the testing was done on the 60Hz mode, however. Unfortunately, the reviewer was unable to determine how to adjust the Switch 2’s refresh rate for the purpose of testing. Typically, however, at higher refresh rates, display response times are higher. But there’s no guarantee that the Switch 2’s 120Hz mode would mitigate the already super slow response time.
Yaka Mochi compared the Switch 2’s display to dozens of other displays clocked at 60Hz, and the slowest among them was 11.06ms, whereas the fastest hit 0.18ms. Nintendo isn’t going to be pushing out another Switch anytime soon, so this is going to have a long-lasting negative effect on fast-paced games that make their way to the Nintendo Switch 2.
What does this look like in reality? Well, you’ll not only feel it when you’re interacting with the controller, but you’ll also see it with your eyes. Games may appear noticeably blurry due to the time it takes for the image to transition between frames.
Unfortunately, this may have been achoice. If the display isn’t working as hard to refresh, that means the battery won’t be under as much strain. It’s unclear howmuchit would affect the battery life, however, so it’s tough to give Nintendo some grace here.
As I’ve complained about before, I wish the Switch 2 had an OLED display. In fact, OLED displays typically support faster response times, so this issue might not have been present if Nintendo outfitted the Switch 2 with an OLED display. We don’t have display testing for the original Switch OLED, but in theory, it could have a faster response time.
Well, the world may never know… until we get the Switch 2 OLED (yes, I’m still waiting).
Laptop model names often include confusing manufacturer codes and suffixes that don’t clearly reflect specs or performance.
To compare laptops effectively, focus on core specs like CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and display rather than the model name.
Always use the full model number when cross-shopping to ensure you’re comparing identical configurations across retailers.
Shopping for a new laptop can be exciting, but it’s also confusing. With countless models and cryptic naming schemes full of letters and numbers, it can be quite overwhelming. Instead of decoding these arbitrary names, here’s what to focus on instead.
When I say laptop model names are confusing, I’m not necessarily referring to the product lineups that you see when you visit a manufacturer’s sales page, like Lenovo Yoga and ThinkPad or Dell Latitude and XPS. Those can be quite confusing for non-techies, but at least they carrysomemeaning that you can recognize and use to narrow down your choice.
For instance, if you want a2-in-1 laptopwith a 360º hinge, you could get aLenovo YogaorThinkpad X1,HP Pavilion x360orEnvy x360, or anASUS VivoBook Flip, just to name a few.
These laptop lineup names aren’t ideal, and manufacturers often break their own naming conventions. Suffixes and labels don’t always mean the same thing, and it only gets more confusing when marketing terms like “Pro,” “Carbon,” and “Flip” are thrown into the mix.
The real confusion, however, comes from the specific laptop model names that identify distinct sets of specifications. To illustrate my point with an example, there are five different versions of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Intel (14″) Aura Edition. Each comes with vastly different specifications and price points, so the only real way to tell them apart is by using Lenovo’s internal model names that the manufacturer uses to distinguish between them:
21NUCTO1WWUS1
21NU0033US
21NU003LUS
21NU003KUS
21NU0032US
While they’re all 14″ laptops that share the same chassis, there are many differences between them under the hood, such as the processor, display, amount of storage and RAM, and even the included Windows version (Home vs. Pro). That’s why the cheapest version (21NUCTO1WWUS1) costs $1,680.00, and the most expensive one (21NU0032US) is $2,769.00—nearly twice the price!
I used Lenovo as an example, but all manufacturers do this. Dell has two XPS 13 laptops (the Intel Core Ultra 9-powered9350and Snapdragon X Elite9345), both of which have another three variations. HP currently has13 different Envy x360sfor sale, while Acer has7 various Swift Go 14laptops. The list goes on.
Unfortunately, the model names don’t make it obvious whether you’re looking at the $1,680 or the $2,769 laptop. I seriously doubt even the average Lenovo employee knows these model names and their meanings by heart. That’s exactly why I’m writing about this, as I want to help you figure out how to buy a laptop without the confusion that usually comes with it.
I’ll talk about features shortly, but let’s first go over thecore specifications—namely, the CPU, GPU (integrated or discrete), RAM, storage, and display. They’re usually the main cost drivers and differentiating factor between different versions of the same laptop.
First, learn a bit about the current processor offerings from both Intel and AMD, and determinehow much poweryou really need. For instance, you don’t really need a Ryzen or Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU if most of your work is browser-based; a Ryzen 5 or Intel Core Ultra 5 or even a Ryzen or Intel Core Ultra 3 will probably suffice.
AI-enabled chips withintegrated NPUs, which enable AI workloads like local LLMs (you’ve probably heard ofCopilot+ laptops), are the latest trend, but they do come at a slightly higher price.
As forARM CPUs, they offer some notable benefits in terms of power efficiency, but their general lack of support for many older programs (or just programs in general) in Windows doesn’t make them an ideal candidate for everyone.
Next is the GPU. Integrated GPUs vary in performance but are usually tied to the CPU, so upgrading your CPU often means getting a slightly better integrated GPU as well. However, if you’re a gamer or a creative professional, you should look for a laptop with adedicated GPU. These laptops are more expensive, but they offer significantly better performance for graphics-intensive tasks.As for RAM, I believe that 16GB should be the minimum for a modern laptop these days. 8GB might be enough if you only need to run a few web browser tabs at a time and don’t plan to multitask or play any demanding games. 32GB or more is a bit overkill for most people, but if you work with large files, do a lot of multitasking, or just want to future-proof your system, it’s worth paying extra (particularly if the laptop doesn’t have upgradeable RAM).
Storage is another important consideration. While many laptops use standard M.2 NVMes these days, it might be worth paying a bit more now to get more storage. Personally, I don’t store a lot of files on my laptop, so I find even 256GB to be more than enough, but your mileage may vary.
The last and often-overlooked factor is the display. It’s one of the most expensive components in a laptop, yet units with vastly different panels can share the same model name.
Take the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Intel (14″) Aura Edition I mentioned earlier. While all variants include a touchscreen, some models come with a more basic 1920×1200, 60Hz, 100% sRGB IPS display, while the higher-end versions feature a much better 2880×1800, 120Hz, 100% DCI-P3 HDR500 OLED panel.
If you’re aware of the image quality advantages ofOLEDandhigher refresh rates, you’ll understand that these two panels are in entirely different leagues and definitely shouldn’t use the same laptop model name, even if the overall design and power are similar.
While the main specs play a big role in choosing a laptop, they’re only one part of the equation. There are numerous other features that you should look for when buying a laptop. I have a wholelist of must-have laptop features, which includes things like a bright touchscreen display, fast charging, and an expansive I/O.
That said, your priorities might look completely different. Maybe you care more about ultra-lightweight portability or a decent webcam and integrated microphone for conference calls on the go. If you’re a photographer, you might need an integrated SD card slot and multiple Thunderbolt ports for ultra-fast file transfers. If you work outdoors or in a workshop, a rugged laptop is essential.
Ultimately, it all comes down to your specific needs. Figure out which features matter most to you before you start shopping.
Laptop Model Codes Aren’t Entirely Useless
The last thing I want to leave you with is a few practical tips for your laptop shopping. Let’s circle back to the topic of discussion here—those confusing laptop model names. To find them, check the manufacturer’s product page carefully to find it. Lenovo puts them under “Part Number,” but you might also find it under “Model,” “Order Code,” or even the URL of the specific unit.
Once you have the exact model code of the laptop you want, use it to cross-shop across different online retailers. This ensures you’re comparing the same configuration, and you won’t get misled by variation listings.
If you only use the laptop’s model name instead of the code, you might get excited about finding a $1,500 laptop on sale for $1,000—only to realize it’s a lower-spec version with half the RAM and no OLED display.If you’re buying a used laptop, figuring out the exact specifications based on the model name will be almost impossible. Ask the seller to tell you the model code (usually found on a sticker on the bottom) or the exact laptop specifications before buying it.Although laptop model names and their accompanying codes can feel like a jumbled mess, now that you understand how they work, you can use them to your advantage when shopping. While the alphanumeric codes may not mean much on their own, you can still use them to identify the specifications of a laptop beyond just the marketing name the manufacturer provides.
It only makes any sense at all because of the old Surface Laptop’s price hike.
Microsoft’s new 13-inch Surface Laptop is an odd one. It’s inarguably a step down in every respect from last year’s 13.8-inch Surface Laptop. But it’s also too good (and too expensive) to be considered a replacement for the Surface Laptop Go, the company’s perennially overpriced and underspecced entry-level laptop. It’s cheaper than last year’s Surfaces, but mostly because Microsoft gave those devices a de facto price hike by killing the entry-level configurations of those PCs.
We’re left with a laptop that’s perfectly fine or even great, depending on what you want. It’s relatively affordable for what is, a sort of MacBook Air-ish, just-the-basics portable computer. But it’ssucha step down from the $999 laptop Microsoft released just last year that it’s hard not to see the entire laptop as one big series of compromises.
Despite just calling it the “Surface Laptop, 13-inch,” Microsoft clearly considers this to be an entirely different sub-class of laptop rather than a continuation of the flagship Surface Laptop or the lower-end Surface Go. The system identifies itself to Windows as “Surface Laptop 13in 1st Ed with Snapdragon,” where the 13.8- and 15-inch Surface Laptops are both labeled as 7th edition devices.
13-inch Surface Laptop
Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch)
Surface Laptop Go 3
Processor
8-core Snapdragon X Plus
10-core Snapdragon X Plus or 12-core Snapdragon X Elite
Intel Core i5-1235U (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores)
RAM
16GB LPDDR5x
16, 32, or 64GB LPDDR5x
8 or 16GB LPDDR5
Storage
256 or 512GB UFS
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB NVMe
256GB NVMe
Screen
13-inch, 1920×1280, 60 Hz IPS
13.8-inch, 2304×1536, 120 Hz IPS
12.4-inch, 1536×1024, 60 Hz IPS
Size and weight
11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches, 2.7 lbs
11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches, 2.96 lbs
10.95 x 8.12 x 0.62 inches, 2.49 lbs
Starting price
$899
$999
$799 (launch), $949 (now, for some reason)
In measurements and specs, this new Surface Laptop falls right in between the 13.8-inch flagship and the aging Surface Go 3. The new laptop also borrows components and ideas from both the Surface Laptop 7 and the Surface Go design. But in the end, this feels like a refreshed, Arm-powered iteration of the Surface Laptop Go rather than a more compact version of the flagship Surface design.Internally, the 13-inch Surface Laptop is a scaled-back version of the flagship laptops Microsoft launched a year ago. Its 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processor uses the same architecture as the larger laptops, just with fewer cores. To meet Microsoft’s Copilot+ requirements, it has the same neural processing unit (NPU) as the bigger Surface devices, as well as 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. Aside from storage and the color of the device, there are no upgrade options or choices to make. But unlike with the Surface Go, this does mean that the entry-level model is adequately specced and will feel plenty fast for most things.The external design pulls more extensively from the Laptop Go, a laptop that was originally designed to start at $550. The 13-inch Laptop does make some welcome upgrades—a backlit keyboard, a somewhat larger and higher-resolution display panel—but its aluminum body feels slightly softer and flimsier than what the main Surface Laptop uses. Its glass-covered touchscreen doesn’t have any kind of anti-reflective coating, something it shares with the bigger Laptops, and it uses a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello rather than a face-scanning camera. It has two USB-C ports for accessories and for charging, but they top out at 10 Gbps speeds rather than 40 Gbps USB4 speeds, and it’s missing the Surface Connect port (it does have USB-A and a headphone jack, though).>>>Replacement battery for Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 1964
The 13-inch Laptop’s keyboard and trackpad look and feel a lot like the old Surface Laptop Go versions, but with an added keyboard backlight.
On one side, you get headphones and USB-A.
On the other, two USB-C ports, which also serve as your charging ports and display outputs.
Display quality is good, at least. With a peak brightness of 401 nits, a 1,817:1 contrast ratio, and 95 percent SRGB color gamut coverage, it’s not a premium laptop display (there’s no OLED or mini LED here, only 68 percent DCI-P3 gamut coverage, and there’s no refresh rate above 60 Hz). But it does tick the boxes for what we look for in a better-than-baseline laptop display in a way that (say)the Framework Laptop 12doesn’t do.
The laptop’s glass-coated touchscreen screen and aluminum exterior look and feel reasonably upscale, but it’s still a step down in rigidity and build quality from last year’s Surface Laptops or the MacBook Air. The fit and finish isn’t as tight, and the aluminum feels thinner and flimsier. When I open it, I am consistently greeted with a small creaking or popping noise. I’m not worried about anything breaking; it’s just missing the brick-like solidity of Microsoft’s other designs.
If I have one functional issue with the design, it’s that it’ssosymmetrical from the top with the lid closed that I frequently found myself trying to open it from the hinge side. There are obviously ways to tell the difference, but the square-of-squares Microsoft logo and the nearly non-tapered design both make it harder to tell at a glance.
Microsoft has made a fair amount of noise in recent years about its support for more repairable devices, and it has made real progress on this front. Teardown artists at iFixit called 2017’s Surface Laptop a “glue-filled monstrosity.” But this year’s Surface Laptops rated an 8 out of 10 on the repairability scale, Microsoft publishes first-party repair manuals for all of its hardware, and the company had shifted to using replaceable M.2 SSDs across the lineup.
Microsoft hasn’t published the service manual for either of these newest Surfaces yet, but the new Laptop largely comes apart like recent Surface Laptop Go designs—remove the four adhesive-less rubber feet from the bottom, unscrew the Torx screws underneath each, and carefully use a plastic spudger to separate the keyboard from the bottom case so it can lift away. This is your first step toward most major repairs, including battery or motherboard replacements.
But the Framework Laptop this ain’t. There’s only one component that can really be considered user-replaceable, and it’s the SSD. The CPU, RAM, and other components are all soldered to the motherboard. The 12-inch Surface Pro tablet has seemingly reverted to soldered-down storage, with a UFS-based SSD instead of a typical NVMe drive, but it’s nice to see Microsoft preserve user-replaceable storage here.
As in many other Surface devices, these are of theshorter M.2 2230 varietyrather than the 80 mm-long M.2 2280 drives you’d find in larger laptops or in most desktop PCs. But this has become a more commonly used size than it was a few years ago—the Surfaces, the Steam Deck, the upcoming Framework Laptop 12, and a smattering of other thin-and-light laptops all use it now—so it’spossibleto find a third-party replacement drive. Microsoft hasoccasionally issued vague warningsabout using third-party SSDs, but in my limited experience trying different drives in these Arm-based Surface devices, swapping out NVMe drives has worked pretty much like it does in any other PC.
Performance and battery
There’s only one processor option in the 13-inch Surface Laptop: a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip (the exact model is X1P-42-100).
This is somewhat lesser than the Snapdragon X Plus processors used in last year’s Surfaces and others in the first wave of Copilot+ PCs. It has eight CPU cores based on Qualcomm’s Oryon architecture, with a maximum boost speed of 3.4 GHz. That’s two fewer cores than the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop and four fewer than the Snapdragon X Elite. The integrated GPU is also cut down from 3.8 TFLOPS of performance in the pricier Surfaces to 1.7 TFLOPS here. In the benchmarks we ran, the 13-inch Laptop usually had around or just over half the graphics performance of the larger versions with the better GPUs in them.
That means this isn’t a gaming laptop—performance is in roughly the same ballpark as Intel’s years-old Iris Xe integrated GPU and far short of the newer integrated Intel Arc GPUs, AMD’s integrated Radeon 780M and 890M, and likely most of the lower-end Ryzen GPUs, too. Arm PCs are already a bit iffy on the gaming front because of app-translation overhead and compatibility issues, and if the faster Adreno GPUs sometimes have enough raw performance to muscle through, the 13-inch Surface Laptop’s GPU will have a harder time.General performance feels fine because the processor still has plenty of cores, and you don’t need a lot of graphical oomph for desktop rendering (the laptop also handled an external display without struggling). Battery life also feels pretty excellent; the PCMark Modern Office battery test doesn’t run on the Arm version of Windows, so we have to go with vibes and anecdotal data rather than hard numbers. But like the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop from last year, I’d say battery life feels a sight better than most Intel and AMD-based PCs I’ve used lately, while not being quite as stratospheric as the MacBook Air. Expect to charge it most nights, but you usually shouldn’t need to worry about topping up in the middle of the day.
A quick note on Windows-on-Arm
The new Surfaces are Microsoft’s second wave of Arm-first consumer PCs, following several years of Arm devices that were sold as side projects or sub-variants of more traditional Intel and AMD systems. We’ve been covering the Arm versions of Windows since their inception, but particularly over the last couple of years, as a combination of effort from Microsoft and updates to third-party apps began making Arm PCs feel less like “Arm PCs” and more like just… PCs.
Progress since last summer has been mostly incremental, with the release of a few more one-off apps (the Google Drive app went Arm-native in November, Adobe supports more of its apps via emulation) and hardware drivers (Microsoft claims progress is being made onsupporting external audio interfaces). For developers, devoting time to Windows on Arm will require a certain amount of user demand, and Arm systems are still just a fraction of a fraction of the Windows user base—the situation is a lot better than it’s ever been, but drivers and niche apps with specific compatibility or performance problems will still take time to sort out.
If you play games or use exotic external hardware that requires specialized drivers, I’d still err on the side of grabbing an Intel or AMD laptop, particularly because this basic Snapdragon X Plus chip gives up more graphics performance than it does CPU performance. But for browsing, image editing, and the vast majority of office and productivity work, it’s still kind of remarkable how much “using an Arm PC” just feels like “using a PC,” compared to where things were just a few short years ago.
This is fine
The 13-inch Surface Laptop.The $900 13-inch Surface Laptop isn’t bad. As Microsoft’s answer to the MacBook Air, it’s actually pretty good if you don’t trip over some lingering software compatibility issue with the Arm version of Windows. General performance is good; battery life is good; and I have no quibbles with the touchscreen, keyboard, or trackpad, three major components that fade into the background when done well but which can easily ruin a laptop if done poorly.
But it’s a step down from the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop in a whole bunch of ways, a laptop that Microsoft was selling for just $100 more than this until very recently. The screen is smaller and has a lower resolution, and it only refreshes at 60 Hz instead of 120 Hz. The build quality, while decent, feels a shade or two flimsier and more dentable. Integrated graphics performance takes a significant hit, though it retains the NPU necessary for Copilot+ PC features. Its base specs are fine for everyday use, but Microsoft offers few upgrade options, opting instead to upsell you to the now-$1,100 13.8-inch Laptop.
It’s hard to know what price point Microsoft was targeting with this thing when it was in the drawing-board phase, but its broad similarity to the old Surface Laptop Go design suggests it was intended as more of a budget model. In the end, Microsoft positioned it as an entry-level flagship device—and gave it an entry-level flagship price to match.
It’s hard not to see the 13-inch Surface Laptop as a poster child for our modern era of trade wars and economic uncertainty, factors that are driving up prices of everything from keyboards to game consoles. Cheap laptops still exist, but it feels like it’s become that much harder to find something that’s a step up from bargain-basement chunky plastic while still costing significantly less than $1,000.
Microsoft’s laptops regularly go on sale, both on Microsoft’s own store and at third-party retailers like Best Buy. If you can find it in the $700 to $800 range, it’s a solid deal. But at the regular retail price, it just feels like an inferior remix of a year-old laptop.
The good
Ticks all of the most important laptop boxes for $100 less than a MacBook Air
Solid CPU performance, 16GB of RAM, a nice-looking touchscreen, and a reliable keyboard and trackpad
Minimalist port selection that should still cover most of the basics
Most of the time, running Windows on Arm just feels like running Windows
The bad
Outstanding Windows-on-Arm compatibility issues with some external accessories, niche apps, and games
Somewhat flimsier build than laptops like the Surface Laptop 7 or MacBook Air
Lackluster graphics performance
The ugly
A year ago, you could buy a significantly better version of this laptop for just $100 more
