Best Microsoft Surface Laptop (2025): Which Model to Buy or Avoid

The Microsoft Surface is nan flagship PC marque from nan brains down nan Windows operating system, aiming to beryllium a meaningful replacement to Apple's MacBooks and iPads. The 2 superior models, nan Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, received an awesome update successful 2024, relaunching nan lineup pinch Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips that yet boasted competitory artillery life and performance.

They now count arsenic immoderate of nan champion Windows laptops you tin buy, but you'll still person to determine which exemplary is correct for you: nan highly mobile Surface Pro 2-in-1 aliases nan accepted (and much affordable) Surface Laptop? Things are moreover much analyzable pinch nan newer, cheaper 2025 Surface devices. Don't worry, we'll thief you decide.

Be judge to publication our different buying guides for more, including nan Best Laptops, Best Cheap Laptops, Best 2-in-1 Laptops, Best MacBooks, and our tips connected choosing a laptop.

Updated May 2025: We've added our thoughts connected nan 2025 Surface Laptop 13 and Surface Pro 12.

Best for Most People

After years of incremental upgrades, Microsoft yet made immoderate due changes pinch its caller Surface Laptop (7th Edition) (7/10, WIRED Recommends). You tin get it successful either a 13.8- aliases 15-inch surface size. The smaller exemplary has a somewhat larger show than its predecessor astatine 13.8 inches (up from 13.5 inches) pinch thinner bezels and rounder corners. It's brighter, too, and employs a 120-Hz surface refresh rate. Content looks vivid and sharp, moreover outdoors successful wide daylight (but you'll person to crank it up to astir afloat brightness nether nonstop sunlight).

You get an upgraded 1080p camera that delivers crisp image quality, though it struggled pinch lighting astatine times. In my testing, I noticed it would formed a acheronian protector earlier adjusting backmost to normal. There's besides a haptic touchpad, pinch nan action to customize nan haptic intensity, and it's ace satisfying to use.

It's driven by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processor, but you tin prevention rate and spell pinch nan Snapdragon X Plus, depending connected your powerfulness needs. (The 15-inch exemplary only comes pinch nan Elite.) I tested nan Elite, and capacity has been perfectly smooth, nary matter really galore windows, tabs, and apps I person open. This is not a instrumentality for graphics-intensive tasks, for illustration video editing aliases gaming, but it's perfectly tin of powering each nan accustomed tasks astir group do connected a laptop. Microsoft has been excited astir its AI features, but you shouldn't bargain this laptop for immoderate of those package capabilities. On its own, nan Surface Laptop 7th Edition is simply a coagulated instrumentality if you're looking for a lightweight and reliable Windows PC pinch bully artillery life.

With nan motorboat of a cheaper (and somewhat smaller) Surface Laptop 13, Microsoft made immoderate changes to configurations and pricing connected nan 7th Edition model. It now starts astatine $1,099, coming pinch 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The cheaper 256 GB exemplary has been discontinued, replaced pinch nan Surface Laptop 13. Although we haven't tested this instrumentality yet, it comes pinch respective downgrades, including a lower-resolution screen, a deficiency of a Surface Connect dock, and nary Windows Hello IR camera. The pricing of that exemplary doesn't make overmuch consciousness either, since you tin bargain an on-sale $800 type of nan Surface Laptop 7th Edition, which is simply a overmuch amended deal.

Best 2-in-1 Laptop

The Surface Pro (11th Edition) (6/10, WIRED Review) features nan original Surface design. The 13-inch 2-in-1 tablet and laptop hybrid has a built-in kickstand, though nan keyboard remains a abstracted purchase. You get nan aforesaid 2 USB-C connectors arsenic before, on pinch Microsoft's Surface Connect charging port. It's still awkward to usage connected a lap, but connected a desk, nan caller Flex Keyboard is an fantabulous (and pricey) upgrade—you tin usage nan keyboard and Surface separately, truthful you tin abstraction your setup retired a little.

It comes equipped pinch a front-facing 12-MP camera pinch Windows Studio Effects, on pinch a rear-facing 10-MP camera. WIRED contributor Chris Null encountered an rumor pinch nan trackpad, which would often extremity moving erstwhile nan laptop woke up from sleep. Detaching and reattaching nan keyboard from nan surface helped, arsenic good arsenic utilizing nan touchscreen to prime a section to type thing into, but hopefully, a package update has fixed this.

Depending connected nan configuration, you'll get a Snapdragon X Plus aliases a Snapdragon X Elite chip—the second comes pinch an OLED screen, and you tin hook it up to 3 4K outer monitors. Our reappraisal portion had a Snapdragon X Elite, 16 GB of RAM, and a 1-TB solid-state drive. Microsoft claims nan caller spot delivers double nan capacity astatine a 3rd of nan power, but we only saw a 6 percent capacity betterment complete nan Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU. As for graphics, Null says nan various graphics-based benchmarks he ran delivered results “in statement pinch units featuring year-old, pre-Core Ultra Intel processors and integrated graphics.” It's conscionable not designed to beryllium a instrumentality for graphics-specific tasks. It has nan aforesaid AI features arsenic nan Surface Laptop (7th Edition), for illustration Cocreator, Windows Studio Effects, and Live Captions.

Battery life is excellent. We deed much than 15 hours connected a full-screen, full-brightness YouTube playback test, which is not only beyond Microsoft's declare of up to 14 hours but besides much than double nan artillery life of nan aged Surface Pro X. Price, connected nan different hand, is simply a spot problematic. The configuration we tested costs a whopping $1,950 pinch nan Flex Keyboard. You tin opt for nan entry-level Surface Pro for $1,000, but you'll suffer retired connected nan worthy upgrades for illustration nan OLED surface ($500) and nan updated keyboard (up to $450), which make this instrumentality much appealing. Ultimately, nan Surface Pro continues to beryllium an action for a niche audience: those who not only want nan versatility of a tablet and laptop but besides person nan money to spend.

The recently launched Surface Pro 12 has nan aforesaid problem arsenic nan Surface Laptop 13. It's conscionable excessively expensive. More connected that below.

Microsoft Surface Devices to Avoid

Surface Pro 12 for $800: I've ever liked nan thought of a smaller Surface Pro, and successful theory, this caller Surface Pro 12 (6/10, WIRED Review) exemplary checks nan correct boxes. It maintains nan premium look and consciousness of nan Surface Pro line, keeping nan Snapdragon X Plus spot (with 2 less cores) while making mini changes to get nan value down and bladed retired nan tablet moreover more. I tin unrecorded pinch astir of nan smaller downgrades made here, if only Microsoft had nailed nan pricing. With a basal configuration trading for $799, it's nan aforesaid value arsenic nan larger Surface Pro 11th Edition, which has been connected waste for $800 astatine retailers for illustration Best Buy—the 2024 flagship is amended successful astir each way, and is much repairable. The Surface Pro 12 besides doesn't see a bundled powerfulness proviso pinch nan device, meaning you'll request to salary an other $70 to adhd it. However, if discounts yet driblet nan price, it could beryllium a coagulated Windows tablet, conscionable not astatine its existent state.

Surface Laptop 13 for $800: We've yet to trial this model, though it's difficult to urge owed to nan value alone. The nerfed exemplary replaces nan entry-level Surface Laptop 7th Edition pinch 256 GB of storage. It besides loses galore important features we liked astir its larger sibling, dropping nan haptic trackpad, nan Windows Hello IR webcam, high-resolution (and precocious refresh rate) screen, and moreover undoes its fantabulous repairability. It's a worse laptop successful each imaginable way, and a headscratcher considering you tin bargain nan Surface Laptop 7th Edition for $800 astatine Best Buy.

Surface Laptop Go 3 for $700: The “Go” statement of Surface devices was Microsoft's effort to reintroduce midrange aliases budget-tier Surface devices. It's unclear if these person been discontinued and replaced by nan supra models, but either way, we weren't large fans of nan Surface Laptop Go 3 (5/10, WIRED Review) erstwhile it launched successful 2023. The display's debased solution is noticeable erstwhile reference matter (everything looks a spot fuzzy), artillery life isn't awesome (we reached six hours, whereas Microsoft claims 15 hours), nan fingerprint sensor is finicky, and it has a grainy 720p webcam. Microsoft besides nixed nan 4 GB of RAM and 128-GB SSD options, expanding nan starting value by $100 much than erstwhile versions. There are plentifulness of alternative fund laptops retired location that connection much for this price.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 for $2,800: The Surface Laptop Studio 2 was nan only Surface laptop that came pinch an action for discrete graphics, offering an action for creators and gamers. It besides has its unsocial hinge that allows for aggregate usage modes. While we had a awesome acquisition pinch nan first-generation Laptop Studio, we can't opportunity nan aforesaid for nan Laptop Studio 2 (6/10, WIRED Review). The second-generation type has worse artillery life (four hours connected nan Studio 2 versus 12 hours connected its predecessor), and it runs ace hot. At nan clip of its launch, it was besides acold excessively expensive, pinch nan high-end type mounting you backmost $3,700. It's been discontinued, though Microsoft is still selling a discounted model that still someway feels excessively expensive.

Surface Studio 2+ for $2,500: Microsoft's only Surface desktop, nan Surface Studio 2+, is an all-in-one that came retired successful precocious 2022, truthful its specs are rather dated. It primitively launched astatine $4,000—despite offering only an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card. Its calling paper was its unsocial hinge, a characteristic coming ever since nan original model came out. But moreover astatine $2,500, nan capacity conscionable isn't capable to warrant that price. Like nan Surface Laptop Studio, it's been discontinued, and further improvement of nan statement arsenic a full whitethorn person been canceled altogether.

What About Older Models?

Surface Pro 9 for $1,000: The Surface Pro 9 came retired successful precocious 2022, truthful it's rather old. Even erstwhile it came out, it didn't disagree overmuch from its predecessor, isolated from an updated processor and a caller 5G option. In galore ways, it was starring nan measurement to nan Surface Pro 11th Edition, isolated from successful artillery life, wherever it fell short of expectations. The value hasn't lowered astir capable to urge it complete newer models. There was besides nan Surface Pro 10 successful 2023, though it was only for business.