Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

4.2

Design

4.0/5

Display

4.5/5

Performance

4.3/5

Battery Life

4.3/5

Other features

4.0/5

The Good Stuff

• Comfortable keyboard & touchpad
• Stunning touch screen
• Lightweight & portable
• Wide choice of stunning colors
• Great performance
• Good battery life

The Bad Stuff

• Limited input ports
• Not recommended for gaming

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

Are you looking to upgrade your older Surface Book 3 or your existing laptop? Do you want a simple but powerful laptop just for working purposes? Then look no further than the new, lightweight, and powerful Surface Laptop 4 from Microsoft. It aims to be better, with improved premium features, and also less expensive. But is it really the better option? Let’s find out from the review.   

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

The main view of the Platinum Alcantara Surface Laptop 4

Specifications

Overview

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 arrives at an odd time when many people are forced to work from home thanks to the global pandemic. Ultrabooks have shone in the world of commuting, which means they’ve lost a bit of their luster.

Yet many people will undoubtedly adopt a more hybrid work model, dividing their work week between home and the office. As a result, having something that is both light and portable, as well as powerful and long-lasting, is key. At this point, the thin and powerful Surface Laptop 4 will truly shine.

The Surface Laptop 4 is thin and portable, yet powerful enough to handle most everyday tasks. It’s also a joy to use, thanks to the stunning PixelSense display and one of the most comfortable keyboards we’ve ever used.

It’s exactly the laptop we’d take to work, and the best part is that it is relatively inexpensive for what it’s worth. The entry-model 13-inch Surface Laptop 4 with a Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, starts at under US$800. 

And, because the Surface Laptop 4 is such a joy to use, the specs are almost incidental, especially if the majority of your work involves word processing and email. So if you need a laptop worthy of corporate life or just for business, that will ease your workload, the Surface Laptop 4 is the one to look out for, and it’s one of the main reasons why this is one of our favorite laptops right now.

What’s to Like

Comfortable keyboard & touchpad

Speaking of comfort, the Surface Laptop 4 has the best laptop keyboard we’ve ever used. Writing on this laptop is a breeze, and despite its ultra-thin chassis, it has plenty of travel. Even the keyboard on the MacBook Pro, which was our favorite laptop keyboard before trying this one, doesn’t compare. 

The keyboard’s deep travel is even more surprising when you realize the speakers are hidden beneath it. And the speakers are excellent and play music perfectly. Even bass-heavy tracks sound great. The bottom line, the Surface Laptop 4 has comfortable typing and good-quality sound.

Stunning touch screen

The display on the Surface Laptop 4 is also truly stunning. The 13.5-inch model we have has a PixelSense display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2,256 x 1,504, which is about right for the display size. This makes watching movies and videos on this laptop a little strange, as viewing 16:9 content results in two black bars. But when we’re working on this, we appreciate the extra vertical space, especially when writing.

Lightweight & portable

All the Surface Laptop 4 models are less than 2kg in weight, making it the perfect lightweight and portable companion for those who work on the go or travel a lot. Starting from the entry model, the 13.5-inch model weighs 1.3 kg (2.8 lbs) and the 15-inch model weighs 1,5 kg (3.4 lbs). That’s pretty light if ask me.

Good design with a wide choice of stunning colors

The Surface Laptop 4 comes in four unique colors: Platinum, Matte Black, Sandstone, and Ice Blue. We especially like the Ice Blue color because it comes with a metallic finish. The Microsoft logo also looks good on the lid. It’s reflective and catches the eye. 

The Alcantara lining on the keyboard of the Ice Blue and Platinum 13.5-inch models is a nice touch that makes resting your wrists on the laptop’s deck feel more comfortable. It’s a minor distinction, but one that we noticed every time we type on the all-metal laptop.

The fabric feels pleasant under my wrists but gets messy easily though the prospect of trying to remove a stain from it heightened my already significant aversion to eating or drinking while working.

Great performance

The Surface Laptop 4 we reviewed here is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 4680U processor, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD storage. So far, it can handle almost anything we threw at it. Even after loading it with dozens of Chrome tabs, listening to music on YouTube, and chatting on social media, the Surface Laptop 4 shows no signs of slowing down.

That is something that most laptops these days should be able to do, but what makes the Surface Laptop 4 so impressive is that it can do all of that while on battery power. If you’re looking for a super-portable laptop that can meet most of your needs, the Surface Laptop 4 is a good option.

Microsoft claims that the Surface Laptop 4 has a battery life of up to 19 hours, which would be enormous if true. Unfortunately, we discovered that it was closer to 11-13 hours. Yet when compared to the Surface Laptop 3, which only lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes, the Surface Laptop 4 is better off and lasts longer on a single charge. To me, that’s an improvement. Overall, great battery life, and is even better than the older model.

What’s Not to Like

Limited input ports

One of the most serious consequences of the thin size is the lack of ports. The Surface Connect port on the right, one USB-C, one USB-A, and a headphone jack are all you get here. We appreciate that the laptop still has a USB-A port, which is rare these days, but it doesn’t leave much room for expansion for those who don’t want to pay the extra money for a Surface Dock.

Not recommended for gaming

Although the Surface Laptop 4 has good hardware specs, it’s certainly not a gaming laptop. You can get away with casual gaming like indie games that are less demanding on graphics, and older games. And there is no discreet graphics GPU that can support AAA titles such as Cyberpunk or Call of Duty.  

Verdict

The Surface Laptop 4 is indeed better than the Surface Laptop 3 in many ways. It comes with a lighter body, a good hardware spec that contributes to overall great performance, looks great, good quality sound delivery, and comes with longer battery life. It indeed is a must-buy for those who are writers, work in corporate life, are freelancers, or just want a good-looking laptop.

That’s the more reason why I recommend the Surface Laptop 4. After that long review of the Surface Laptop 4, what are your thoughts? Are you looking for this type of laptop that’s relatively cheaper? Are you the one who likes the more powerful laptops? 

Please comment below. If you have questions also leave them below and ill get back to you. So what’s the next step for you? If you’re interested, click on the button above to find out more, and to buy if you so desire. 

If it’s not your ideal laptop, then click here to see our review of the Surface Laptop Go 2, or click here to check out some of the best budget laptops that are equally as good.