8. 0 / 10
SCORE

Microsoft Surface Laptop ( 13-inch )

Pros

• wonderful, long-lasting, and small style
• Excellent battery life
• Better-than-expected sound quality

Cons

• 13-inch, 3: 2 show you feel cramped
• The opening of a notebook is more difficult than it should be.
• Lacks Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 communication

The cost is the main factor in choosing Microsoft’s 13-inch Surface Laptop over the 13-inch version, which is cheaper. It starts at$ 900, which is$ 300 less than the cheapest 13.8-inch model. However, when the store on the 13-inch Surface Laptop is increased to meet the entry-level 13.8-inch model, the cost difference decreases to$ 200, where it becomes more challenging to present the case for the 13-inch Surface Laptop.

Like the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop I reviewed, the 13-inch type uses an Arm-based&nbsp, Qualcomm Snapdragon X set CPU and boasts a wonderfully streamlined and expertly crafted style that foes that of the MacBook Air. The 13-inch Surface Laptop has a beautiful design and feel, but I prefer the larger 13-inch model’s improved performance, exceptional display, and sensory touchpad. It’s the better price if you’re shopping for a playmaker, regular computer. The 13-inch Surface Laptop, which is smaller and less expensive, would be my only choice for a tertiary travel computer. It makes sense as your main computer just if you have a job layout with an external check or two.

The Surface Laptop ( 13-inch ) costs$ 900 for a system with a 1, 920×1, 280-pixel resolution, a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1-P42-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, integrated Qualcomm Adreno graphics, a 256GB SSD, and a 13-inch touch display with a boxy 3: 2 aspect ratio. There’s just one upgrade offered, and my test system had it: 512GB of storage for an extra$ 100.

In addition to the standard Platinum color, you can choose from two additional colors, Violet and Ocean, if you choose the$ 1, 000 model. I received the 13-inch Surface Laptop in Ocean, which is a muffled blue color. Using the information from Microsoft’s website, the Violet appears to be more vivid than the Ocean.

The Surface Laptop ( 13-inch ) starts at £899 in the UK and AU$ 1, 699 in Australia. &nbsp,

Microsoft Surface Laptop ( 13-inch ) performance

Microsoft’s 13-inch Surface Laptop has an 8-core Android X Plus computer, but it can’t compete with the effectiveness of Apple’s M4 MacBook Air or the 13.3-inch Surface Laptop, which I tested with a 12-core Android X Elite device. I didn’t check the foundation 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, but it should also provide a bit more functionality than the 13-inch Surface Laptop from its 10-core Android X Plus computer. &nbsp,

Its effectiveness on the Steel Nomad 3DMark standard shows that it’s not a great find for nerds or design pros, even if you were ready to use the little, 13-inch show. The 13-inch Surface Laptop’s Android X Plus has the same TOPS matter and AI processing capabilities as more expensive Android X set CPUs, with a full of 45 TOPS. It performed well on our Procyon AI Computer Vision evaluation, which measures digit math skills for AI tasks. &nbsp,

The little notebook likewise performed admirably in power testing. Its power life was remarkable even among long-running, Arm-based devices. It lasted 24 hours and 20 minutes on our YouTube streaming power drain exam, putting it in a limited group of devices that can last for longer than a morning on a single cost. The 13. 8-inch Surface Laptop was rated at 19 hrs and 50 minutes in part because of the strength of its larger, higher-resolution show. Also, the M4 MacBook Air has an even higher-res screen than the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop and lasted 15 days and 50 days.

Windows foldable masquerading as a little MacBook&nbsp,

With the 13-inch Surface Laptop, you might not get more efficiency for the money, but you do get better build quality and a more contemporary style than most laptops for the$ 900 price tag. It’s every little as well put together as the costlier 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, which is one of my favorite devices. The 13-inch design has an all-metal design that resembles Apple’s simple approach with its MacBooks, and it has a simple, strong all-metal design.

The 13-inch Surface Laptop is smaller than the 13.6-inch MacBook Air and 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, more than even the length of the show might suggest. Its 3: 2 screen makes it smaller and smaller than the other two devices, which have 16: 10 displays. It’s really 11.3 feet wide, compared to roughly 12 feet wide for the MacBook Air and the larger Surface Laptop. It is a little thinner than the larger Surface Laptop with a thickness of 0. 6 feet, but not as narrow as the MacBook Air, which is only 0. 4 inches thick. It may be a mane thicker than the Air, but the two weigh the same at 2.7 weight. The 13. 8-inch Surface Laptop, which is still incredibly compact, weighs only 3 pounds.

I was worried the little 13-inch, 3: 2 exhibit may result in a cramped keypad, but my fears were unfounded. The codes are comfortably coding and are evenly spaced. The spacebar and the keys along the sides, like as Tab, Shift, Backspace and Enter, are shortened to support the narrower console deck, but each is also large enough that I didn’t want to rediscover any browsing habits. The keys had a slightly wider range of motion than those on the MacBook Air, and the response was firm and snappy. &nbsp,

Microsoft makes a sacrifice in order to offer a firm, snappy click response despite the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop’s price. It’s a basic, mechanical touchpad as opposed to the lovely haptic touchpad you get with the larger model. The touchpad is perfectly acceptable, but it suffers a little from the diving board effect, where the clicks become firmer as you move to the top edge and looser as you get to the bottom edge. I much prefer the consistent ( and customizable ) click response you get with a haptic touchpad.

The design of the laptop is the only other thing I’d like to say about, which is difficult to open. There’s no notch cut out on the front edge to help you lift the lid like with a MacBook, and nor does the lid have a tab that overhangs that would also provide something for your fingertip to grab onto to lift. Opening the 13-inch Surface Laptop requires only two hands. I found that the easiest way to lift the lid was by gripping each side of the display. Either that or attempting to open the laptop with a fingernail between the top and bottom.

Once you do manage to lift the lid and open the laptop, you’re greeted with a boxy 13-inch display with a 1, 920×1, 280-pixel resolution. The refresh rate is also slower, and the resolution and pixel-per-inch are lower than those on the 13.2-inch model– 1, 920×1, 280 ( 178 ppi ) versus 2, 304×1, 536 ( 201 ppi ) versus. The 13-inch Surface Laptop runs at a steady 60Hz to the 13.8-inch model’s dynamic 120Hz rate, which results in smoother movement. The 13-inch Surface Laptop’s display still has crisp text and images, but things just aren’t as sharp and scrolling through web pages doesn’t look as smooth.

You also take a hit in color performance and brightness with the smaller Surface Laptop. The 13-inch Surface Laptop had a peak brightness of 414 nits on my Spyder X colorimeter tests, which included covering 96 % of the sRGB spectrum and only 71 % of the larger AdobeRGB and P3 color spaces. Compare those figures with those of the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop: 572 nits and 100 % sRGB, 87 % AdobeRGB and 99 % P3. The 13-inch Surface Laptop’s display is surprisingly bright, despite the larger model being undoubtedly the best for accurate color work. With its non-reflective finish, the display is usable outdoors under all but the sunniest of conditions.

The two-watt stereo speakers ‘ basic sound produced more noise than I had anticipated. You don’t get much bass, but the audio output was loud enough to fill a small room while also maintaining clarity. I give the speakers an above-average grade for such a compact laptop. They are perfectly suitable for video chats and casual listening. &nbsp,

The 1080p webcam produces a sharp, well-balanced image and offers the full suite of Windows Studio Effects. The three automatic framing, eye contact, and background effects are present on many Copilot Plus PCs, but not the creative filters and portrait lighting. With the 13-inch Surface Laptop, you get all five. There is at least one secure biometric feature because the camera doesn’t have an IR sensor for facial recognition, but the power button doubles as a fingerprint reader.

The port selection is a bit of a disappointment because the pair of USB-C ports is of the slower USB 3.2 Gen 2 variety that offers half the 40Gbps transfer speed you’d get with Thunderbolt 4 or USB4. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, which has two USB4 ports, should cost more if fast USB speed is important to you.

Is the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop worth buying?

The 13-inch Surface Laptop’s robust and compact design makes sense as a secondary computer for travel. As a primary machine, the larger 13.8-inch is the better pick. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop offers better value for just$ 200 more ( when you factor in the SSD upgrade required on the smaller model to put things on equal footing ) thanks to its superior display, haptic touchpad, and faster USB connectivity. I like the 13-inch Surface Laptop, but the 13.8-inch model is currently my favorite Windows laptop.