It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, but you can save some money and opt for the Snapdragon X Plus (the 15-inch model only comes with the Elite). I tested the Elite and performance was perfectly smooth, no matter how many windows, tabs, and apps I had open. It’s not a machine for graphics-intensive tasks like video editing or gaming, but it’s perfectly capable of running all the usual tasks most people do on a laptop.
It’s worth noting that these are ARM-based processors, which means traditional Windows apps built for Intel’s x86 architecture will require native ARM versions to be truly optimized for the system. There are already tons of native ARM apps, including Microsoft’s own suite of apps, Google Chrome, Spotify, and Zoom. If you’re using more specialized Windows apps, check to see if there’s an ARM version or if it will work with Microsoft’s Prism translation layer, which allows these non-native apps to run.
Native apps worked well for the most part, though I did have an issue with Zoom where I could only access meetings via a direct link. Non-native apps like Telegram and Slack also gave me no issues. One of the benefits of ARM processors is battery life, and it’s excellent here on the Surface Laptop. After about six to seven hours, at 50% brightness, I still had between 20 and 30% battery left.
The AI features aren’t as innovative as Microsoft claims. I struggled to integrate any into my daily workflow. Cocreator (which uses generative AI to provide an enhanced image of your drawing) struggled to fully match the prompts I was typing and felt awkward to use without a stylus; Live Captions, which provides instant, real-time translation of video and audio calls as well as movies, was mostly accurate but struggled to keep up with rapid-fire dialogue; Eye Contact via Windows Studio Effects, the AI-powered camera feature, didn’t work at all and instead made my pupils look strange. the practical function is the reminderwhich uses large language models to help you find everything you’ve seen or done on your PC with a search query, but it’s been delayed due to Major Privacy Issues.
You shouldn’t buy this laptop for any of these AI features. It’s a solid machine if you’re looking for a lightweight, reliable Windows PC with good battery life. It can be expensive, though: The base 13-inch Surface Laptop with the Snapdragon X Elite (with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage) starts at $1,400, and the top configuration (with a Snapdragon X Elite, 64GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage) comes to $2,400If you don’t need that much power, the Snapdragon X Plus-equipped model (with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage) for $1,000 should be enough for most.
Specs to look for: 13-inch, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
Best 2 in 1 Laptop
The Surface Pro (11th Edition) (6/10, WIRED Review) features the original Surface design. The 13-inch 2-in-1 tablet-laptop hybrid comes with a built-in kickstand, though the keyboard remains a separate purchase. You get the same two USB-C connectors as before, as well as Microsoft’s Surface Connect charging port. It’s still awkward to use on your lap, but on a desk, the new Flexible keyboard It’s a great (and expensive) upgrade: you can use the keyboard and Surface separately, giving you a bit of extra space in your setup.
It has a 12MP front-facing camera with Windows Studio Effects, as well as a 10MP rear-facing camera. WIRED contributor Chris Null ran into an issue with the touchpad, which would frequently stop working when the laptop woke up from sleep. Detaching and reattaching the keyboard from the display helped, as did using the touchscreen to select a field to type in, but hopefully a software update can fix that.
