Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" 2K Touchscreen 2024 Review

The new Surface Laptop is a battery life champion with a killer screen and build. Its Snapdragon X Plus chip is fast for work but can't game. Worth it at a good price, but avoid the insane markups. Best for students and on-the-go pros.

This new Surface Laptop is Microsoft's big bet on the 'Copilot+ PC' era, and it's a strong one. It's built around the Snapdragon X Plus chip, promising laptop performance with the battery life of a tablet. You're getting a 13.8-inch 120Hz touchscreen, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage in a sleek, 1.34kg aluminum body.

The Snapdragon X Plus chip is the star here. In our database, its CPU performance lands in the 95th percentile, which means it's one of the best on the market for general productivity. It flies through daily tasks and stays cool and quiet while doing it. The integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU, however, is a different story. It's solidly middle-of-the-pack, so don't expect to game on this thing. That's why its gaming score is a dismal 10.3 out of 100.

Here's the tricky part. The specs and user love are there, but the price is all over the map. We've seen it listed from a reasonable $1,750 to a frankly ridiculous $50,090. At the lower end of that range, it's a compelling premium ultrabook. At the high end, it's a joke. Shop around, because Best Buy's pricing seems to be on the more sensible side.

This laptop carves out a unique spot. It's not a gaming beast like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, and it doesn't have the sheer app optimization of an Apple MacBook Pro 14. Its real fight is with other premium Windows ultrabooks like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro or Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i. It wins on raw CPU power and battery life, but those Intel/AMD machines still have a broader app and game library. If you live in a web browser and Office apps, this Surface pulls ahead.

Skip this if you're a gamer or a creative pro who relies on GPU-heavy apps like Blender or DaVinci Resolve. The integrated graphics are a major bottleneck. Also, if you depend on a specific old or niche Windows app that hasn't been ported to Arm, you might run into compatibility issues. Look at an Intel or AMD laptop instead.

Buy this if you're a student or professional who needs a dead-silent, all-day laptop for writing, research, and media. It's perfect for someone who values build quality and battery life over everything else. Just be sure you don't need to run niche x86 Windows apps or play the latest games.