The Surface Laptop Studio is the younger sibling to the bigger Surface Studio 2. Its rather weird formfactor makes it an eye catcher in almost any scenario. Microsoft PCs have always had questionable designs mainly due to the formfactor that they decide to go with. Take for example their top-of-the-line Surface Pro 8.
It’s literally a tablet with a mounted keyboard. It wasn’t until recently, when they started producing the traditional clamshell laptops. In this article we are going to discuss all the features in the Surface Laptop Studio, its downsides, its practicality and I will finally give you my final thoughts.
Specs.
| Dimensions | 12.72” x 8.98” x 0.746” (323.28 mm x 228.32 mm x 18.94 mm) |
| Display | Screen: 14.4” PixelSense™ Flow Display5 Refresh rate: up to 120Hz Resolution: 2400 x 1600 (201 PPI) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast ratio: 1500:1 Touch: 10-point multi-touch Dolby Vision® support6 |
| Memory | 16GB or 32GB LPDDR4x RAM |
| Processor | Quad-core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ H35 i5-11300H Processor Quad-core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ H35 i7-11370H Processor |
| Security | Hardware TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security and BitLocker support Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in Windows enhanced hardware security |
| Software | Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 Pro8 Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps9 Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or Microsoft 365 Apps 30-day trial10 |
| Sensors | Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer |
| What’s in the box | Surface Laptop Studio Intel® Core™ i5: 60W Surface Power Supply Intel® Core™ i7: 95W Surface Power Supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents |
| Weight | i5: 3.83 lb (1,742.9 g) i7: 4.00 lb (1,820.2 g) |
| Accessories support | Integrated Surface Slim Pen 21 storage for charging Compatible with Surface Dial1 off-screen interaction |
| Storage3 | Removable solid-state drive (SSD)4 options: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB SSD |
| Battery life2 | Intel® Core™ i5: Up to 19 hours of typical device usage Intel® Core™ i7: Up to 18 hours of typical device usage |
| Graphics | Intel® Core™ i5 models: Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics Intel® Core™ i7 models: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti laptop GPU with 4GB GDDR6 GPU memory or NVIDIA® RTX™ A2000 laptop GPU with 4GB GDDR6 GPU memory |
| Connections | 2 x USB 4.0 with Thunderbolt™ 4 technologies support Supports external dual 4k monitors each at 60Hz natively and up to four 4k monitors each at 30hz with display support for daisy-chaining or display adapters with support for multiple displays 3.5mm headphone jack 1 x Surface Connect port |
| Cameras, video, and audio | Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 1080p resolution front-facing camera Dual far-field Studio Mics Quad Omnisonic™ speakers with Dolby Atmos®7 |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax compatible Bluetooth Wireless 5.1 technology |
| Exterior | Casing: Magnesium and Aluminum Color: Platinum |
| Warranty11 | 1-year limited hardware warranty |
| Pen compatibility | Surface Laptop Studio supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) Surface Laptop Studio supports tactile signals with Surface Slim Pen 212,1 |
Design Language.
The Surface Laptop Studio is a well-crafted machine but with it brings a lot of controversy. Some people tend to think that the foldable screen is just a gimmick while others find it quite useful. I personally love this design. It looks kind of futuristic(somehow).
The Surface Studio seems like a traditional clamshell laptop but when you tilt the screen it can turn into different modes. The first mode is obviously the “laptop” mode. The second one is where the screen covers the keyboard and leaves the touchpad exposed. The third and final mode is the tablet mode, where both the keyboard and the touchpad are covered with the screen. Each mode has its own use depending on your workflow. For example, an artist would much prefer the tablet mode since it is much easier to draw.
In addition to this, the Surface Laptop Studio supports the Surface Slim pen 2. This makes it much easier to draw or even jot down some notes. It gets even better with the 120Hz refresh rate. With this much refresh rate, animations and transitions are silky smooth. Drawing and taking notes also take advantage of this feature making the experience as real as it gets.
The display is no joke either. It is a 14.4” PixelSense display with a resolution of 2400 X 1600 and an aspect ratio of 3:2. Although it is not as good as the 3.5K OLED in the Dell XPS 13 plus, it is still good enough for most tasks. Furthermore, it supports Dolby Vision which means the colors will be punchier and more vibrant not to mention the deeper and richer blacks.
Ports selection.
The port selection in the Surface Laptop Studio is rather disappointing. It only comes with 2 USB 4.0 (Thunderbolt 4), a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Surface connect port. The Surface Proprietary port is mainly for charging and docking. This is so disappointing considering this is a creative focused machine.
A USB-A and an SD card slot would be really handy. For those who might be wondering what the difference between a normal USB-C and one which is Thunderbolt enabled, here you go. Thunderbolt is a technology developed by Intel, which boosts the transfer speeds, bandwidth capacity and adds more functionality to a normal USB-C.
For example, Thunderbolt 4 can support dual 4K displays each running at 60Hz which a normal USB-C can’t. More capabilities of Thunderbolt 4 include: supporting up to four 4K monitors each running at 30Hz, support for eGPU, up to 40Gbps of high-speed bandwidth and so much more.
Processor and GPU.
The processor in this device is somehow worrying. Don’t get me wrong, its great but definitely not the best. On the spec sheet it seems like the perfect CPU especially the Core i7 one, but not all processors are made equally. For example, if you were to have the maxed-out Intel® Core™ i7 it wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as other Core i7 CPUs in this class. This is mainly because the Core i7 in this machine is way underpowered although it is the “H” version.
To put this into perspective, a normal “H” version Core i7 comes with 6 cores and draws about 45 watts of power while the one in the Surface Laptop Studio comes only in 4 cores and draws about 28 watts of power. The only advantage to this kind of processor is may be longer battery life.
The GPU is equally not as good especially for that price point. The highest configuration which is about $2700, comes with a mid-range Nvidia RTX 3050Ti. Compared to the Razer Blade 14 which has up to Nvidia RTX 3080, Microsoft should at least provide it as an option. You may argue that this formfactor is unlike anything else, but performance is also a key factor.
Storage, RAM and Webcam.
This is one area that Microsoft deserves a pat on the back. There is plenty of configurations to choose from in both the RAM and the Storage. For RAM you can either go with the 16GB or the 32GB while for the Storage you can get the 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or the 2TB option.
The Surface Laptop Studio comes with a 1080P front facing camera which is as good as they come. Windows Hello is also available in form of face recognition which makes logging in much easier. Microsoft really put some thought into Video conferencing. Apart from the High definition 1080P camera, this device also comes with dual far-field microphones. This simply translates to an amazing voice clarity during meetings.
Final Thoughts.
The Surface Laptop Studio is obviously not a perfect machine but nonetheless it is still a great one. The folding screen definitely makes it an eye catcher and has proven to be useful in some niche specific industries. Take for example a creative professional. Whether you are working with Apps like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe illustrator, the 120Hz touch screen and the Surface Slim Pen 2 can prove to be a great asset.
If you are thinking of getting this laptop, I’d suggest you look into some of its competition like the Razer Blade 14 or even its predecessor, the Surface Book 3.
Definitely amazing 🤩