Microsoft is reportedly about to kill the Surface Laptop Studio 2. After over a year on the market, it appears production on Microsoft's most versatile laptop is coming to an end. Originally announced in September 2023, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 was a bigger and beefier successor to the original, with better performance and "AI" capabilities.

However, just 8 months after its debut, Microsoft launched Copilot+ PCs, ushering in a new era of AI PCs with next-generation AI features that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will never get. Microsoft is slowly moving its entire Surface portfolio under the Copilot+ umbrella, and the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is not part of that.

Now, The Verge is reporting that production on Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be ending imminently, with resellers confirming that there are no plans to restock the product over the summer. That means Microsoft is done manufacturing the device, and once stock depletes, that will be the last of it.

The company did the same with the Surface Studio 2+ last year, ending production after a couple of years on the market. This is typical for most PCs; however, what's not reassuring is when production ends before a successor is announced. With no immediate plans for a Surface Studio 3, this effectively killed Microsoft's AiO PC line.

It appears the same is happening with the Surface Laptop Studio. With production on Surface Laptop Studio 2 ending, a successor should be imminent. However, The Verge's Tom Warren says, "there doesn’t appear to be a Surface Laptop Studio 3 on the horizon."

In the last year, Microsoft has significantly streamlined the Surface portfolio, killing off more experimental and less popular products in favor of the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 (and the new Surface Pro 12-inch). Since 2024, the company has updated the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop no less than four times, more than it ever has in the same amount of time before.

That trend is expected to continue later this year, as the company will likely refresh the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop with Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X2 chips, which are expected to debut in September.

It’s been a very busy year for Surface, the first under new leadership with Pavan Davuluri at the helm. In March, Microsoft launched its first ever specialized commercial Surface PCs with the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, featuring Intel Core Ultra processors and anti-reflective screens.

Just a few short months later, the company unveiled its first ever Copilot+ PCs with the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7, both headlining Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X SoCs along with updated designs and accessories. It's the first time we’ve seen Microsoft ship multiple generations of hardware in such a short time span.

This year was all about AI PCs, specifically Copilot+ AI PCs. The focus was on Microsoft’s hero devices to kickstart this new category of AI-powered Windows computers. I fully expect this trend to continue as we head into 2025 as Microsoft aligns more of the Surface portfolio under the Copilot+ umbrella.

According to my sources, Microsoft is planning to ship new versions of the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop Studio, and maybe even a new 11-inch Surface of some kind.

Up first are new versions of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, this time with Intel Lunar Lake chips powering things under the hood, joining the Snapdragon X versions already on the market. These devices are expected to ship as Microsoft’s first Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs, something many Surface customers will have been waiting for.

The Surface Laptop with Intel Lunar Lake has already leaked, confirming that its design will remain identical to the existing Surface Laptop 7 with Snapdragon X. This is unsurprising given the Surface Laptop was only just refreshed with a new design, so I don’t expect to see another design update for at least a few years yet. The Surface Pro with Intel Lunar Lake will be a similar affair.

I think Microsoft will bring the anti-reflective coating from the Pro 10 and Laptop 6 to the new Intel Lunar Lake models, which was confusingly missing from the Laptop 7 and Pro 11. I also hear the Surface Laptop with Intel Lunar Lake will be configurable with a card reader, just like the Laptop 6. And for the first time, Microsoft may even offer a variant of Surface Laptop with 5G.

I’m also expecting Microsoft to bring Copilot+ capabilities to other members of the Surface portfolio, such as the Surface Laptop Studio. I'm unsure which chips will power this, it could be Intel or AMD, but for it to be classed as Copilot+ compatible it needs an NPU of 40+ TOPS. I don't expect too much to change in regard to design, but I did hear whispers that a 16-inch model was being considered.

I’ve also heard that Microsoft is working on a new Surface device with a display size of around 11 inches. I'm not fully sure what form factor this will take—my sources have described it as a Surface Go-sized Laptop Go hybrid that uses premium materials and components. UPDATED December 9: I believe this smaller device is a Surface Laptop, likely replacing the Surface Laptop Go. Sources say it will feature premium materials and components, and be powered by an Arm processor.

Lastly, I hear a new Surface Dock is on the way, but I have no idea what’s actually new with it at this time. Microsoft’s last Surface Dock dropped Surface Connect in favor of USB-C, so it will be interesting to see if that change sticks with the new one.

The timing for when all of these products will arrive is uncertain for now. I believe the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop will likely land in the first quarter of 2025, but the rest of the lineup could arrive from spring to fall.

As always, there may also be some surprises that we're yet to know about. We'll be sure to keep you updated if things change.

There are countless laptops on sale this week for Amazon Prime Day, but most of them won't be as unique or cool looking as the Surface Laptop Studio 2. This is Microsoft's "flagship" high-end laptop, designed for creative professionals who find themselves rendering high-resolution video, 3D modeling, data crunching, and drawing.

It's also the only Surface laptop on the market with a dedicated GPU, making it the best Surface you can buy right now for gaming. Because of that, we think this deal that shaves $200 off its usual price is one you shouldn't pass up, especially if you need a versatile device that's good for both laptop and touch usage. 

Today's top Amazon Prime Day deals

• Logitech MX Master 3S wireless mouse | was $100 now $86 at Best Buy
• EVGA X20 wireless gaming mouse | was $70 now $20 at Newegg
• GameSir G7 SE gamepad | was $60 now $42 at Newegg
• MATEIN travel laptop backpack | was $40 now $22 at Amazon
• Baseus 9-in-1 USB-C hub | was $70 now $39 at Amazon
• Kensington SD2480T Thunderbolt 3 dock | was $180 now $55 at Amazon
• SK hynix Tube T31 1TB SSD | was $100 now $70 at Newegg
• SK hynix Beetle X31 1TB SSD | was $135 now $88 at Amazon

Who should buy the Surface Laptop Studio?

Microsoft positions the Surface Laptop Studio line as its premiere laptop offering, above the standard Surface Laptop and budget-friendly Surface Laptop Go. It's the device for people who use Windows for intensive tasks, whether that be creative, gaming, scientific, or somewhere in between.

It's also Microsoft's most unique Surface product, featuring a form factor you've likely not seen from other Windows laptop makers. It's a 2-in-1 with a screen that can be pulled forward and laid over the keyboard deck, allowing you to draw on the screen at a comfortable angle.

That screen is excellent, too. It's a high-resolution 120Hz panel that supports pen and touch, and it looks beautiful. Plus, you're getting an excellent keyboard and haptic touchpad, one of the best on the market even.

Is the Surface Laptop Studio 2 good for gaming?

Because the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is Microsoft's only offering with a dedicated GPU, it's technically the best Surface you can buy for gaming. It features an NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, which is plenty powerful and capable at running most PC games at 1080p or 1440p with medium-high graphics settings at smooth frame rates.

So if you like the Surface aesthetic, or intend to use your Surface for more than just gaming (but still want to game,) the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is really your only choice if you specifically need a PC with this unique form factor. All the other Surface PCs on the market feature integrated graphics, which are not as powerful when it comes to gaming.

What is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

Windows Central is dedicated to rounding up the best tech deals throughout Amazon Prime Day, a two-day event running July 16 and 17 where Prime subscribers can save big money on popular products, including laptops, accessories, and more. Since we know it can be challenging to find the actual good deals, we've compiled a collection of the best Prime Day deals for you. This collection will be continuously updated, so keep checking back! 

Best Buy is hosting a Surface-Savings event with excellent deals on all Surface products, covering various form factors from tablets to powerful laptops. From high-end to entry-level devices, discounts are available. 

If you need guidance, Windows Central offers comprehensive coverage on various Surface products found in our Surface Laptop Studio review, Surface Pro 9 review, Surface Laptop 5 review, Surface Go 3 review, and Surface Laptop Go 2 review. One trick is finding potential steals on Open-Box items, depending on your location, which might be slightly higher priced on Amazon from third-party sellers.

Another deal worth highlighting is The Surface Laptop 5. This is the newest option for the Surface Laptop numbered series released at the end of 2022. We gave it a nearly perfect score in our detailed Surface Laptop 5 review.  It comes in various colors and configurations, so finding the one perfect for your needs and tastes should be easy. Like all Surface laptops, the keyboard is a dream, and the Laptop 5 boasts excellent battery life. 

Here at Windows Central, we love the Surface devices. They might have slowed down a bit in the last year, but their technology and convenience are still top-of-the-line. It's worth calling out if you're a tech enthusiast and love Surface as much as we do that Best Buy currently has the Surface Laptop Studio 2 in stock. Read our full Surface Laptop Studio 2 review for all the details. Spoiler: we loved it. 

Are you seeing great Surface deals we didn't highlight here? What do you think the future is for the Surface product line? Let us know in the comments. 

What you need to know

• The Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop Studio both received new firmware updates.
• Both devices should see improved networking and Wi-Fi stability.
• The Surface Laptop Studio will also receive fixes for unexpected shutdowns and various battery issues.

Microsoft has rolled out 2 new firmware updates for the Surface family of devices. The older family members of the Surface product line were on the receiving end of firmware updates this past June, and now it's time for the Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop Studio to get a little bug-fixing attention. Firmware updates for the tablet and laptop and users of both can expect to see some improvements on networking and Wi-Fi stability after updating—though the hows and whys vary with each product.

Surface Pro 9

According to Microsoft's support website for the Surface Pro 9 users whose tablet features an Intel processor will be able to utilize the Intel Connectivity Performance Suite (CPS) app which improves your networking performance thanks to Intel's proprietary method of creating a personalized network experience depending on your own use case scenario. 

You'll need to be running Windows 11 and have a hard disk drive larger than 256GB to utilize this new app, however. Microsoft also expects users to see better device and wireless connection stability thanks to some new drivers, listed below:

• Intel Corporation - Bluetooth - 22.230.0.2
• Intel Corporation - SoftwareComponent - 2.1123.505.3
• Surface - Firmware - 161.35.5.48
• Intel - net - 22.230.0.8
• Surface - System - 93.51.139.0
• Surface - Firmware - 11.0.143.0
• Intel Wireless Bluetooth - Bluetooth
• Intel Connectivity Performance Suite - Software components
• Surface TCON - firmware
• Intel Wi-Fi- 6E AX211 160MHz - Network adapters
• Surface Integration - System devices
• Surface UEFI - Firmware

Users with a Surface Pro 9 powered by an Intel processor can visit the Microsoft Support website to download the necessary firmware updates.

Surface Laptop Studio

Like the Surface Pro 9, the Surface Laptop Studio is set to get Wi-Fi stability improvements, but the overall update for the Laptop Studio is much larger than what was dished out to Surface Pro 9 users.  Surface Laptop Studios are powered by NVIDIA's RTX 3050 Ti graphics cards, and users can expect a new driver to be bundled with the firmware update that will improve graphics stability and overall performance. 

If your Surface Laptop Studio has been repeatedly throwing a notification that reads "battery not genuine" up on the screen you can breathe a sigh of relief as the July 2023 update will finally fix that error along with some other ongoing battery issues including the battery not charging even when connected to a charger. WiFi stability and overall system stability including unexpected shutdowns when the battery is not fully charged are also being fixed as part of this update.

New drivers for the July 2023 firmware update include:

• Intel - Net - 22.230.0.8
• Intel - Bluetooth - 22.230.0.2
• NVIDIA - Display - 30.0.15.1215
• Surface - Firmware - 8.201.139.0
• Surface - Firmware - 18.105.143.0
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz - Network adapters
• Intel Wireless Bluetooth - Bluetooth
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU - Display adapters
• Surface System Aggregator - Firmware
• Surface UEFI - Firmware

Additional information and the update itself can be found in Microsoft's Support for Surface devices. Regardless of whether you own the Surface Pro 9 or the Surface Laptop Studio you'll want to be certain that you're using Windows 10 20H2, Windows 11 20H2 or a newer version of Windows prior to updating. 

Microsoft released the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock earlier this year. The device allows you to connect a massive number of accessories to your Surface PC. It features three USB-C ports, three USB-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port.

With all those ports and support for Thunderbolt 4, it tops our last of the best Surface Pro docks and docking stations. Right now, you can pick one up for 15% off through Amazon. That $45 savings brings the price down to $255. That's close to the lowest price we've ever seen for the dock. The price fluctuates a bit, but it dropped into the general price range it's currently at over the past month.

Microsoft moved away from its proprietary Surface Connect cable when it made the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock. That means your PC needs to have a USB-C port. the Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, and Surface Laptop Studio can all take full advantage of the new Surface Dock.

Assuming your PC can handle it, the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock can extend across up to two 4K monitors at 60Hz. It also supports 96W passthrough charging, so your PC will be fully charged when you take it on the go. You can charge additional devices as well, since the dock has a total of 1655W of charging capability (only 96W of which can be used to charge a PC).

The Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock can work as part of a home setup or an office setup. If you need to use your PC in a public space, you can secure it to the dock's built-in security slot.

While there are more affordable docks on the market, few offer the port selection, charging, and feature set of the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock. The case for Microsoft's dock is made stronger with its current 15% discount.

What you need to know

• A new Geekbench listing has appeared for what looks to be the Surface Laptop Studio 2.
• The listing reveals Intel 13th-Gen and NVIDIA RTX 40XX series graphics are being tested.
• The device is codenamed "Ersa" and is targeting a late spring launch window.

Microsoft is gearing up to ship a handful of new Surface products this spring, and according to my sources who are familiar with the company's plans, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is on the cards. I'm told the device is codenamed "Ersa," and benchmarks for the device have now appeared on Geekbench revealing some new spec details.

The listings were first spotted by Gustave Monce on Twitter, who linked to the Geekbench results in a series of tweets. It appears there are multiple SKUs in testing, including one with an Intel Core i7-13800H, 64GB RAM, and NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. This SKU would be the most powerful Surface to ever ship, and the first to do so with 64GB RAM on board.

(It's worth mentioning that not all internal configurations end up shipping. Just because Microsoft is testing models with 64GB RAM doesn't mean this SKU will ship, though it's certainly more likely to do so.)

The benchmarks reveal a single-core score of 2564 and multi-core score of 12463. To compare, the original Surface Laptop Studio earns a single-core score of around 1985, and multi-core score of around 6788.

Other specs benchmarked include a version with an Intel Core i7-13700H, 16GB RAM, and Intel Iris Xe graphics. This is more likely to be an entry-level or mid-tier configuration, without a dedicated graphics card. Microsoft sells the original Surface Laptop Studio without a dedicated graphics card too, so this wouldn't come as a surprise.

The good news is these benchmarks confirm that Microsoft is testing models of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 with Intel 13th-Gen chips and NVIDIA RTX 40 series chips. My sources tell me not to expect any major design updates to the external chassis, and that there's unlikely to be a new, larger model to accompany the 14.4-inch variant.

The first Surface Laptop Studio shipped in October 2021, so we're well overdue a refresh. Let's hope the device is able to meet its spring shipping target, and isn't pushed to later in the year.

Picking the best Cyber Monday deal on laptops can be difficult, but it’s easier if you’ve decided to jump into the world of Microsoft Surface. The Surface line ranges from the iconic Surface Pro to the super expensive Surface Studio 2+. Choosing which one can be a daunting challenge. As someone who literally has all of them (including Studio 2+) if I had to choose just one Surface to use as my daily machine it’d be Surface Laptop Studio.

•  Laptop deals: Dell | Best Buy | Walmart | Lenovo | HP | Newegg | Amazon

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio came out late last year as is spiritually the successor to the Surface Book line, but it’s better in every way. The pull-it-forward display is more practical and amazing for watching videos or inking. It has a more powerful CPU and GPU that doesn’t throttle under pressure like Surface Book, and it has the best touchpad around thanks to its haptic mechanics.

As to why I like it so much it comes down to the fact that at its heart, it’s just a semi-powerful, beautifully designed standard laptop that has a few useful tricks up its sleeve.

I always remark about the “fundamentals” when it comes to a laptop: Keyboard, touchpad, display, webcam, and speakers. If the laptop nails all those the rest mostly falls into place and comes down to personal preference.  Surface Laptop Studio excels in all these areas. The 120Hz touch display looks fantastic, is color accurate, and is a perfect match for the Surface Slim Pen 2 and its haptic engine. The keyboard and haptic touchpad are the best. Audio from the hidden speakers is outstanding, especially with support for Dolby Atmos. And no one does webcams like Microsoft – they’re simply the best.

And battery life is actually good on this thing!

What are the downsides? Well, it’s running an older 11th Gen Intel processor instead of 12th Gen. They are the more powerful H-series (Core i5-11300H and Core i7-11370H, respectively). Intel 12th Gen is very impressive, and I look forward to Microsoft adding them or 13th Gen to this series. But Intel 12th Gen is also not amazing on battery. It’s worse than the 11th Gen unless you “fix it” by adding a larger, heavier battery. So, trade-offs.

Now, if this was a low-powered 11th Gen Intel U-series chip, that’d be tough to swallow, but 11th Gen H-series is great. Case in point: Surface Laptop Studio with a Core i7 performs just as well as the Razer Blade 15 (2021) – a full-blown top-tier gaming laptop – on PCMark 10.

You can’t call it weak.

And the NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti? Well, RTX 4000 Mobile series doesn’t yet exist and the 3050 Ti – for a non-gaming laptop – delivers excellent performance. Certainly, more than Surface Book could ever muster. I could play Destiny 2 on it and hit 90 FPS, so that’s good enough for me. Bumping it up to full resolution (2400x1600) and still hitting 46-65 frames per second with medium graphics.

Another possible negative is the port selection with just two Thunderbolt 4, Surface Connect, and a headphone jack. It’d be nice to have a Type-A, but I have no issue with my workflow. Surface Laptop Studio also works great with the best Thunderbolt 4 docks.

But in the end, it’s just the design of Surface Laptop Studio that I adore. The 14.4-inch 3:2 display is a perfect size – not too big, not too small. The laptop’s build quality is stellar, and I just prefer to use it whenever I can.

As to which model should you get? You could go certified refurbished and go with Intel Iris Xe graphics if you just want a powerful non-gaming laptop with exceptional battery life. Pricing for that version with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is $1,159 ($200 savings). Unfortunately, the refurbished models with discrete RTX graphics are all sold out, but I’m sure more will appear in the future.

And if I had to choose one model? Go for the Core i7/16GB/512GB/RTX 3050 Ti for $1,800. That’s $300 off the regular $2,100 price. It gives you the best bang for the buck and won’t feel outdated in 2 years.

In my mind, you can’t go wrong with Surface Laptop Studio. It’s one of the best laptops I’ve used that finds the right balance between power and performance. And it’s just fun to use, so I think you’ll like it too.

Need more? Make sure to read my deep-dive review of Surface Laptop Studio.

With the rise of Thunderbolt and desk docking stations, it’s not uncommon to see more people use their personal laptop as their only computer. But the display of a laptop is significantly lower than a desktop display, meaning you’re always looking down at an angle.

Kensington’s new SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser (K50825WW) — which also won a 2022 Red Dot Design Award — solves that problem by putting the laptop’s display up at eye level, ensuring all-day comfortable computing.

Developed in partnership with Microsoft and meeting the Design for Surface standard, any laptop can benefit from this riser. Still, Surface owners will want to give it an even closer look.

I’ve been using it for the last week, and here is what you need to know about it.

Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser: Price and availability

The Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser is now available from Kensington directly with a two-year warranty for $79.99 and partner retailers.

There are no options for configuration.

Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser: Thinks I liked

A laptop riser is a simple accessory: It puts the laptop at eye level like a desktop monitor. Since the keyboard is too high, you presumably use Bluetooth or a wired one instead. With a desktop dock connected, you also get more ports for a mouse, external storage, a high-performance webcam, or a premium microphone.

This riser from Kensington can fit any laptop that is 16-inches or smaller, but it’s made with Surface devices (like Surface Book, Laptop, Laptop Go, and Laptop Studio) in mind.

There’s not much to the Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser itself. Open the box, and pull out the various parts, including the base, the neck, and the laptop riser itself. The base and neck were attached via three hex screws using the included hex wrench, and assembly took two minutes.

The stand is a combo of aluminum alloy and steel with a sturdy feel and some weight at 3.9lbs (1.78kg). The bottom has a rubber grip, so there is no sliding on the desk. The metal is painted white, which gives a clean, minimalist look, especially for those who don’t like standard bare aluminum or black-painted laptop risers.

The color-coded neck is to be used with the instruction manual, where you can measure your hand size. Whatever color zone your hand falls into is where you should mount the riser in one of five positions for optimal viewing. The riser fits in with a stem and can be moved without needing tools.

The top of the riser has large rubber feet at the front and back, which helps keep the laptop in place and prevents sliding. It also allows a small gap between the riser and laptop to enable air circulation, which is suitable for non-Surface laptops with bottom-fed air ventilation.

On the rear is a headphone hook mount. Drop your headphones onto the hook when you’re no longer in a meeting for safekeeping.

The bottom of the riser has a fabric-covered cutout built for placing any modern dock, including Kensington’s SD5750T, Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma, or ones from other companies like Dell (see our best Thunderbolt 4 docking stations). At the rear is some cable management to properly channel the dock’s power cord for tidiness.

If you don’t have a Thunderbolt dock, you could use the cutout for things like your smartphone or any other accessory for quick access.

For this review, I used the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. While you could just put the Laptop Studio on the riser like any laptop, it was more fun to reverse the computer and flip the display backward. By doing so, the Surface Laptop Studio’s screen is now a significant 9-inches closer to your face, a nifty trick that no other laptop can do (besides Surface Book).

Connecting an external keyboard and mouse and the flexibility to move the riser closer, you now have an ergonomic and pragmatic desktop setup.

Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser: Thinks I didn’t like

While the rise is easy to pop in and out for toolless repositioning, I wouldn’t mind a locking mechanism to hold it in place. There’s a bit of wiggle with the riser where I’d prefer something a bit firmer.

You also must be careful if you put any closed laptop down on the riser and have it pushed too far back. When you open the laptop’s lid, the moving lid’s bottom edge begins to protrude, and it could scrape against the riser’s stem. Placing the laptop on the riser with the display already in an open position is best to avoid this.

While the raised rubber pads do offer some ventilation, I think a design with grill lines or holes on the riser platform would make more sense for laptops with bottom-feeding ventilation. Granted, this accessory is mainly positioned at Surface devices, which do not have bottom ventilation making the point moot, and regular laptops can still pull in air from the bottom sides.

Also, unlike many laptop risers on the market, Kensington’s does not slope at an angle downward. This really isn’t a huge issue, but because Kensington (and Microsoft) didn’t opt for front “hooks” to keep the laptop in place, it is a unique design.

Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser: Competition

Laptop risers are a dime a dozen on Amazon, but none quite match what Kensington offers here, which may help explain the $80 price tag (no doubt discounted for business bulk orders).

The Besign LSX3 Aluminum Laptop Stand is just $28 on Amazon but lacks any dedicated area for a docking station, cable management, or headphone mount. Its height is adjustable but lacks the SmartFit system for “finding the most ergonomic height for your Surface laptop screen,” like Kensington.

The LIFELONG Ergonomic Laptop Stand ($59) uses a hinge mechanism for height adjustment, which can be cumbersome, but gets the job done. Again, it omits any dedicated area for a docking station, cable management, or headphone mount.

The Tounee Laptop Stand ($65) offers a unique (and perhaps gimmicky) 360-degree swivel hinge in addition to going up to a very high 21-inches, which is good enough to make it a pseudo-standing desk. It also does not have any area for a dock, headphone hook, or cable management.

Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser: Should you buy?

You should buy this if …

• You want a proper and official laptop rise for Surface
• You want more than just a generic riser
• Design and looks are important
• You work in an office or have a serious desktop setup

You should not buy this if …

• You want something cheaper

The Kensington SmartView Organizing Laptop Riser is a solid piece of kit. It is simple to set up, the SmartFit system is clever, and I liked the added cable management features, rear headphone hook, and space for a dock at the bottom.

Sure, there are other more affordable options on Amazon that all look the same. But the Kensington riser is more interesting between the off-white aesthetic, being made for Surface, and value-added features.

This observation is especially true if you own a Surface Laptop Studio or Surface Book where reversing the display is an option.

It's been a busy 24 hours thanks to Amazon Prime Day, with deals popping up not just on Amazon, but on other retailer websites too! Even hardware makers are getting in on the fun, with companies like Lenovo slashing prices of many of their products in the UK, including its foldable tablet, the ThinkPad X1 Fold which can currently be had for just £899, down from £1,669.

Launched in 2021, the ThinkPad X1 Fold is the world's first foldable Windows PC, with an Intel Core i5-L16G7, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage powering things under the hood. It has a large 13.3-inch OLED touch display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536, and comes with a mini keyboard accessory in the box that you can lay on one side of the screen to transform it into a mini-laptop.

• See all the Prime Day deals: USA | UK | Canada | India

Grab the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold right now!

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold also supports pen input, making it the first foldable tablet to do so. The foldable display has been reinforced and designed in such a way that it can survive being poked with a digital pen with no issues. Plus, thanks to the hinge design used by Lenovo, there's also a minimal crease where the screen begins to fold, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

Stay tuned to Windows Central for the next few days as we're rounding up all the best Prime Day laptop deals and Prime Day monitor deals too if you're really looking to upgrade your computing setup.

It's Prime Day, and with it comes a big sale on Microsoft's new Surface Laptop Studio! Today only, you can grab the Surface Laptop Studio with an Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage for just $2,123 at Amazon. Keep in mind that this model usually goes for $2,699, so you're saving $576 if you buy one today! The entry-level model is on sale with an Intel Core i5 for $1,399, too.

Surface Laptop Studio is the replacement for Microsoft's older Surface Book line, with a larger 14.4-inch display, 11th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, and up to 32GB RAM with 2TB storage. It also has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 on the inside for excellent graphics performance when video editing or gaming.

• See all the Prime Day deals: USA | UK | Canada | India

Get a Surface Laptop Studio this Amazon Prime Day

Additionally, Surface Laptop Studio is the first Surface device to feature a haptic trackpad below the keyboard, which uses a vibration engine underneath the touchpad to simulate a physical click but without moving the trackpad at all. It also has an excellent keyboard, and ships with Windows 11 out of the box.

Finally, Surface Laptop Studio has a unique convertible design that allows the screen to be pulled forward and laid flat over the keyboard deck, creating a makeshift "studio" for inking or tablet use. Pretty neat!

Stay tuned to Windows Central for the next few days as we're rounding up all the best Prime Day laptop deals and Prime Day monitor deals too if you're really looking to upgrade your computing setup.

What you need to know

• Microsoft just released an update for the Surface Laptop Studio that enables Dynamic Refresh Rate.
• The feature allows the laptop to switch between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on the content on the screen.
• Dynamic Refresh Rate can save battery by switching to 60Hz or provide a smoother experience by bumping up to 120Hz.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio just gained a significant feature in its latest firmware update. The laptop now supports Dynamic Refresh Rate, which allows it to switch between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on the content it's showing. The 2-in-1 can drop down to 60Hz to reduce battery life or bump up to 120Hz to deliver a smoother experience.

Insiders have been able to test out the feature for about a month, but it is now rolling out to everyone.

While Dynamic Refresh Rate was in testing among Insiders, we tried it out a bit. We found that it switched between refresh rates well depending on the content being displayed.

Here are the highlights from the update and a chart detailing the changes, as outlined by Microsoft:

• Improves system graphics stability and enables Dynamic Refresh rate for Windows 11.
• Improves touch experience
• Improves performance and stability of Surface Dock and Pen.

While Dynamic Refresh Rate is the largest addition in this update, the Surface Laptop Studio also gained improved inking and touch support. Microsoft recently shipped an update to the Surface Pro 8 that included similar improvements to inking.

Surface updates roll out in stages, so you may not see the latest one just yet. You can search for it through the Windows 11 Settings app to see if it's available on your device. You can also manually update your device. Microsoft has a guide on how to do so on its website.

Note that firmware updates cannot be uninstalled or reverted to an earlier version.

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and this week, the inexorable march of new features and bug fixes continues thanks to a new build of Windows 11 for Beta and Dev Insiders. We cover what's new along an experimental design in Edge Canary. Dan and Zac also talk about the Microsoft-commissioned study on device repair and waste, dynamic refresh rate for Surface Laptop Studio, Dell's XPS 13 Plus, and some hot takes on Twitter.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on April 29th 2022.

Links:

• Windows 11 Build 22610 now available for Beta and Dev Insiders | Windows Central
• Microsoft Edge Canary gets new experimental Windows 11 design with rounded tabs | Windows Central
• Microsoft delivers promised study revealing device repair reduces waste, climate emissions | Windows Central
• Microsoft begins testing 'dynamic refresh rate' mode on Surface Laptop Studio | Windows Central
• The spectacular Dell XPS 13 Plus is finally now available, starting at $1,299 | Windows Central

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  • Zac Bowden

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What you need to know

• Dynamic refresh rate is finally rolling out to the Surface Laptop Studio in preview.
• It's available now for Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channel.

Microsoft has started rolling out a new firmware update on the Surface Laptop Studio for devices enrolled in the Windows Insider Dev or Beta Channels, which appears to finally enable Windows 11's new "dynamic refresh rate" feature that's compatible with certain high refresh rate displays.

The update is rolling out in the form of two driver updates, one being a firmware release and the other an update to the Intel display driver:

• Surface - Firmware - 10.0.156.0
• Intel Corporation - Display - 30.0.101.1340

Once these updates have been installed, restart your computer to apply them, then head to Settings > Display > Advanced Display > and select the drop-down menu where it says "choose a refresh rate." You should now see a new option called "Dynamic (60Hz or 120Hz.)"

Microsoft says that the dynamic refresh rate feature is designed to optimize when your PC is using 120Hz in an attempt to save battery life. Instead of blasting 120Hz all the time, Windows will intelligently lower your refresh rate to 60Hz when it thinks 120Hz isn't needed, and dynamically adjust back up to 120Hz whenever you begin an activity that requires a more fluid experience.

In our brief testing, it appears to do as advertised. When sitting on the desktop doing nothing, Windows scales down to 60hz, but when scrolling in a Word document or inking in OneNote, Windows bumps the refresh rate up to 120Hz and things definitely feel smoother as a result.

I have noticed that some of Windows built-in animations don't seem to initiate 120Hz when dynamic refresh rate is enabled. Hopefully that's just a bug and will be fixed in the future — this is still in preview after all.

Thanks for the tip, @squimjay!

Best Buy has a brand new set of deals every day. The Deals of the Day section is loaded with some good savings today, too, and the featured deal is the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio on sale for $2,699.99. That's $400 off what this configuration would normally go for. This is also $150 better than Microsoft's current price on the same configuration, which is part of another sale over at the Microsoft store. This is the best price anywhere is what I'm getting at, and even though this particular model is one of the most expensive options in MIcrosoft's lineup, the savings are worth pointing out in case you're interested. This price will only last through the end of the day, though, as the Deals of the Day section implies. Grab it while you can.

Daniel Rubino gave the Laptop Studio 4 out of 5 stars and a Recommended badge in this review you can read for yourself. He said the laptop "delivers a powerful, flexible, workstation-style PC perfect for artists, engineers, and some light gaming. No other laptop currently does everything it can do at this level."

What you get with this configuration is a machine that has an Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB RAM, and a 2TB solid state drive. It is even equipped with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card, which is enough to play most modern games at a high level. It has a 14.4-inch screen with a 2400 x 1600 pixel resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and full touchscreen support. You get plenty of extra features, too, including Thunderbolt 4 ports with crazy fast data transfer speeds, Dolby Vision for HDR support, and Dolby Atmos for an improved audio experience.

The Laptop Studio has a unique design that the Surface has made pretty popular at this point, which lets you flex your machine from a laptop to a tablet and back again easily enough. Just simply pull the display forward to activate tablet mode, which gives you the ability to quickly get up and close and personal or use the Surface Pen in unique ways.

One of Best Buy's daily deals includes the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio on sale for just $1,499.99. That is $300 off its regular price, and this sale even beats Microsoft's current sale taking $200 off the same configuration. While this price will only last through the end of the day, it is the best deal available right now.

Our review of the Surface Laptop Studio gave it 4 out of 5 stars and a Recommended badge. Daniel Rubino said, "if you're wondering whether it's a banger of a laptop that most people would enjoy using every day? The answer is a decisive yes. It's awesome."

The Laptop Studio's specifications include an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB RAM, a 512GB solid state drive, and Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. You also get a 14.4-inch touchscreen with 2400 x 1600 pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It has Windows 11, Thunderbolt 4, and tech like Dolby Vision for HDR support and Dolby Atmos for better audio to ensure you have the best experience possible.

The Laptop Studio continues the tradition of other Surface products, too, with a design that combines the functionality of a laptop with the flexibility of a tablet. In this case, you get a display you can simply pull forward to activate tablet mode on, which makes it an easy transition for creative types or anyone that wants to get up close and personal with a Surface Pen.

Microsoft backs it up with a one-year warranty. Read some other opinions on the Laptop Studio and see how it fared in this roundup of reviews if you need some more information about it.

Intel Core i7 processors are some of the best laptop CPUs available, as they offer a superb balance between performance, thermals, and cost. They're more capable than Core i3 or Core i5 chips, but also aren't as expensive and don't produce as much heat as Core i9 options. This has made the chips incredibly popular. 

That widespread availability is fantastic since it means it's not difficult to get your hands on a Core i7 machine, but it can be tough to know which laptop you should get since there are so many excellent options. If you need the latest generation of Intel chips, we recommend the company's 12th Gen Core i7 processor, which will give you terrific performance and long battery life. However, if you're on a budget, stepping down to a slightly older 11th Gen processor can still deliver some terrific results. We think the Dell XPS 13 Plus is the best Core i7 Windows laptop due to its top-notch specs, display, battery life, and design, but there are plenty of great alternatives as well.

Dell's traditional XPS 13 has widely been considered the best Ultrabook on the market for several years, but the bold new Dell XPS 13 Plus is arguably an even better laptop. Sporting superb specs, a stellar new chassis design, and the same phenomenal display that folks love with the regular XPS 13, the Plus sits comfortably at the top of the Core i7 hill.

The mighty 12th Gen i7-1270P and i7-1280P CPUs are available here, which are Intel's most powerful laptop CPUs on the market aside from the power-hungry chips in the H-Series that are typically reserved for workstations and gaming laptops. You also get Intel's excellent Xe graphics, up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and up to 2TB of SSD storage space. You also get Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, as well as the choice between an FHD panel, a 3.5K one, or a jaw-dropping 4K UHD display. Each screen has a peak brightness of 500 nits, an anti-glare coating, and an amazing color gamut. The FHD option is ideal for folks who want to maximize battery life, while 3.5K and 4K UHD are for people who want the best visual quality. Battery life unfortunately falls a little short compared to some other devices, as you'll get between 5-8 hours with one of the higher resolution options (expect more with the FHD screen).

What truly sets the Dell XPS 13 Plus apart from the competition is its design. Featuring an edge-to-edge keyboard with spacious, zero-lattice keycaps as well as a massive and invisible haptic trackpad, the device is both beautifully sleek and remarkably functional. The new design has its caveats — the loss of 3.5mm audio is unfortunate, and not everyone will love that capacitive touch buttons have replaced the function keys — but we think these concessions are worth it, especially since Dell includes a Type-C-to-3.5mm adapter in the box. Overall, between its incredible hardware, amazing display options, and its fresh and innovative design, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is nothing short of a triumph.

The classic Dell XPS 13 represents the pinnacle of what a traditional-style laptop can be, pairing some of the best Ultrabook-class specs available with an industry-leading design. You can configure it with the fantastic Intel Core i7-1250U, which is one of the best processors in Intel's 12th Gen Mobile CPU lineup. The device also comes with Intel's impressive Xe integrated graphics, up to 32GB of memory, and up to 1TB of SSD storage (there's a microSD slot, too). The Dell XPS 13's display is a showstopper as well, featuring superb color accuracy, up to 500 nits of peak brightness, an incredibly effective anti-reflective coating, and options for HD, 3.5K, and 4K UHD resolutions. Other features include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and a battery that lasts for up to 14 hours.

In terms of design, the Dell XPS 13 comes with a comfortable keyboard with bright backlighting, as well as a high-quality trackpad that doesn't have the wobble or looseness often found in inferior laptops. The device also comes with dual Thunderbolt 4 for strong peripheral connectivity, and Dell even includes a USB-C to USB-A converter you can use if you ever need to hook up a USB-A accessory. The device is pricey, and the webcam is just OK, but overall, the Dell XPS 13 is simply an incredible laptop that we strongly recommend if you're not a fan of the Dell XPS 13 Plus' bold new design.

For those who love a tablet-first experience, the Microsoft Surface Pro lineup is definitely one of the best out there with its built-in kickstand, all-metal build, and sleek and slim design. If you're in the market for the Surface Pro 9 this year, you should pay close attention as Microsoft includes both Intel and Arm-based Qualcomm processors in the same family. While the newer Arm models will get you built-in 5G connectivity provided you pay for the data plan, the tried-and-trusted Intel model still delivers the better experience for most Windows users with improved app compatibility and reliable performance.

Unlike some of the competing laptops on our list, the Surface Pro 9 won't come in cheap if you fully outfit it with the optional keyboard cover and pen, both are considered necessities if you intend on using the device for productive work or taking digital notes. Price for the tablet alone starts at $1,399 for the Intel Core i7 build, which will net you an i7-1255U processor alongside Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive. The device is built on and certified for Intel's Evo platform, which delivers promises of sustained performance and long battery life. At the top configuration, you can get a build with up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of solid-state storage. 

And alongside Microsoft's magnetic Surface Connect port, you'll also find two Thunderbolt 4 over USB-C ports on this tablet. Sadly, 3.5mm audio support is gone, so you'll either have to switch to Bluetooth or USB-C wired headphones for listening to music. 

Looking for something that ditches the traditional clamshell design in favor of something more flexible? Check out the HP Spectre x360 13.5, a top-notch 2-in-1 that we absolutely love. Its 12th Gen i7-1255U brings plenty of power to the table, while its Intel Xe graphics ensure you can enjoy unrivaled integrated graphics performance. It's also got up to 32GB of memory and up to a 2TB SSD, giving you all the memory and storage you need in an Ultrabook. The rest of the specs don't disappoint, either — the 3:2 HD or 3K2K display with inking support, an anti-reflective coating, and excellent color accuracy is a treat, and the inclusion of a 720p webcam with a privacy shutter, quad Bang & Olufsen speakers, large 66WHr battery, and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity options are great, too.

Design-wise, the HP Spectre x360 13.5 has a unique gem-cut design with striking angular edges, making it one of the fanciest-looking devices on the market. The keyboard's large size, and the satisfying keycap travel, makes it very pleasant to type on, and the trackpad is sturdy and reliable too. In terms of ports, you get dual Thunderbolt 4 as well as a USB-A port. A laptop of this caliber doesn't come cheap, and we wish that there was an option for LTE, but the HP Spectre x360 13.5 is a stellar 2-in-1 regardless.

If you need a laptop that has more "oomph" than your typical Ultrabook, the Surface Laptop Studio will be perfect for your needs. It can be equipped with the Intel Core i7-11370H, one of Intel's H-Series chips that's rated and optimized for high performance. You can also configure it with up to an NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti or A2000, up to 32GB of memory, and up to 2TB of SSD space. The 14.4-inch 2400x1600 display looks great, too, and it comes with full touch support and a 120Hz refresh rate (the anti-reflective coating is rather ineffective, unfortunately). A front-facing HD webcam, quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, dual mics, and both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 round out the device's specs sheet.

Several other workstation-class laptops have hardware like this, but what sets the Surface Laptop Studio apart is its design. In addition to the standard laptop mode, you can also tilt the display forward and rest it in front of the keyboard for "stage mode" or fold everything down for a tablet-like "studio mode" that's ideal for stylus use. The process of switching between each of these "postures" can be finicky due to how stiff the display is at times, but it's not too much of a concern. In terms of ports, the device comes with dual Thunderbolt 4 as well as Microsoft's proprietary Surface Connect slot.

While most Ultrabooks are great for business use, opting specifically for a business-class one is a good idea if you do a lot of traveling for work. Business laptops are usually even thinner and lighter than regular Ultrabooks, making them easier to carry around. On top of that, they usually also come with business-oriented features like mobile connectivity or additional security measures. One such device is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano, which pairs the power and reliability of a 12th Gen i7-1260P or i7-1280P, Xe graphics, up to 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB SSD with the flexibility and security of 4G LTE and 5G, a fingerprint reader, an IR camera with human presence detection, and Lenovo's ThinkShutter camera cover. The 13-inch 2160x1350 display looks nice, too, featuring great color accuracy, an option for touch support, and a peak brightness of 450 nits.

In terms of dimensions and weight, the ThinkPad X1 Nano comes in at 11.5 x 8.15 x 0.55 inches (292.8mm x 208mm x 13.87mm) and 1.98 to 2.17 pounds (898 to 984 grams) respectively. The keyboard and trackpad are very comfortable as well, and dual Thunderbolt 4 ports ensure that you'll always have the peripheral connectivity you need. We would have liked a sharper webcam and stronger battery life than the 8-9-hour average, but ultimately, the ThinkPad X1 Nano is one of the best business laptops available right now.

The Razer Blade 15 is often considered one of the best gaming laptops on the market, and when you look at its specs, it's easy to see why. Configurations with the Intel Core i7-12800H are available, which is the most powerful Core i7 chip Intel has ever made (there are also Core i9 CPUs to choose from if you want even more horsepower). Everything from the humble NVIDIA RTX 3060 to the beastly RTX 3080 Ti is available when picking a GPU for the system, and the laptop can also be configured with up to 32GB of DDR5 memory and up to 1TB of SSD space. Razer also includes Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for top-notch connectivity.

There are many different displays available as well, ranging from basic and affordable 144Hz HD panels all the way up to pristine and pricey 4K OLED ones. You can also get HD displays with up to 360Hz for maximum FPS support, or you can opt for a jack-of-all-trades QHD display with 240Hz.

It's true that the Razer Blade 15's keyboard isn't the greatest, but the trackpad is stellar, and the Blade 15 also comes with an excellent array of ports. Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as up to three USB-A ports (ports vary depending on which model and configuration you opt for) are included, giving you the freedom to hook up as many peripherals as you want while gaming. It doesn't come cheap at the end of the day, but the Razer Blade 15 is a superb gaming laptop.

Most Core i7-equipped laptops are on the pricey side due to the premium nature of many Ultrabooks, but the Acer Swift 3 is a notable exception. It has an Intel Core i7-1260P, Xe graphics, up to 16GB of DDR4 memory, and 512GB of SSD storage, making it performant enough to rival more expensive options. However, the display is a very basic HD screen that pales in comparison to what you'll get with the other options on this list, and the webcam is rather grainy, too. The display and webcam aren't bad, though, and for people who want something more affordable, these downsides will be easy to look past.

Some other issues with the device include its keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard's keycaps are on the small side, making them easier to miss (especially if you have big fingers). The white-on-silver backlighting doesn't look good in regular lighting, too, and the trackpad annoyingly rattles when clicked. You do get dual USB-A and a Thunderbolt 4 port, though, which is awesome. Overall, this is one of the best budget laptops available if you want the power of a Core i7 CPU, even despite its drawbacks.

Bottom line

Laptops that can be configured with a Core i7 chip are some of the best devices on the market, and while we recommend all of the laptops we included in this roundup, our favorite of the bunch is the Dell XPS 13 Plus. Between its stellar specs, incredible display, and legendary new design, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is unquestionably one of the best Windows laptops with Core i7 configurations available. Dell's classic XPS 13 is also a phenomenal option for folks that want something more traditional and don't like the Plus' bold new chassis.

What if you're after a convertible? We strongly recommend HP's Spectre x360 13.5, as it packs many of the same incredible specs you can get with Dell's options into a 2-in-1, complete with a vibrant touch-enabled display and a striking gem-cut design. It may be pricey, but you won't find a better Core i7-equipped convertible on the market.

Gamers will love the Razer Blade 15's incredible GPU power, while business users should opt for the thin, light, and mobile Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano. People in need of a heavy-duty workstation device don't have to look further than the flexible and versatile Surface Laptop Studio, and if you're on a budget, the impressively low price of Acer's Swift 3 will get the performance of Core i7 into your hands without breaking the bank.

What you need to know

• Intel's generic graphics for 10/14/2021 enable 'Dynamic Refresh Rate' for Windows 11.
• The drivers let specific displays jump between 60 and 120 Hz automatically.
• While it works on Surface Pro 8 and Laptop Studio, users need to install the drivers manually.
• Once approved as stable, Microsoft will push the drivers out through Windows Update.

In June, we noted a new feature in Windows 11 called Dynamic Refresh Rate, which would allow PCs with high-refresh displays to jump dynamically between low and high-refresh based on scrolling, inking, or inactivity. We strongly hinted that new Surface products would likely embrace such technology, and sure enough, Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio both have 120 Hz screens.

Despite the underlying technology being present, Dynamic Refresh Rate is not enabled on either new Surface is something coming later via an update. Today, users on reddit spotted Intel's latest generic display drivers and noticed that upon installation, a new option now appears enabling this new display option.

We've confirmed on Surface Pro 8 that the new drivers add the option for dynamic refresh rate found under Settings > Display > Advanced Display > Choose a refresh rate. Instead of just 60 Hz or 120 Hz, there is now a third option for Dynamic (60 Hz or 120 Hz) that was not present earlier.

The feature seems to work quite well, although more testing is needed for stability and to see any oddities with the drivers.

The drivers need to be manually installed (extract drivers from the zip file, upgrade driver through Device Manager) as the .exe installer will not work.

Microsoft releases its own "Surface-approved" graphics drivers through Windows Update after it has signed off on the drivers as being stable. It also removes things like the Intel Graphics Panel, which is auto-installed with these drivers.

As a rule of thumb, most users should hold off until Microsoft releases its Surface-approved drivers. These new Intel ones could cause unforeseen issues, especially if someone picks the wrong driver to update or the drivers themselves cause a conflict.

However, the good news is it seems Dynamic Refresh Rate for Windows 11 devices (those with 90Hz or higher displays) is right around the corner. We'll likely see many more laptops announced in the coming months that support this feature, which improves inking (reduced latency) and makes scrolling and OS animations a bit smoother while also helping to mitigate the hit on battery life.

One of the cool things about having a lot of technology lying around is trying new setups that push extremes. With Surface Laptop Studio and two Thunderbolt 4 ports, the question of using an external GPU (eGPU) now becomes relevant.

The good news is it technically works, but the bad news is you could also run into issues, especially if you overcomplicate things. None of this applies to Surface Pro 8 (which I'll be doing a separate article on later), but here is what you need to know for now.

Razer Cortex X plus RTX 3080 GPU is wild

The first thing I re-learned about an eGPU is that 40Gbps is a lot, but it does have a ceiling. The ideal setup, which also makes the most sense, is to run an external display from the eGPU. Many people know that if you just run the eGPU without an external display, it needs to send the data back and forth to the Surface Laptop Studio, which reduces performance even more.

On the old Razer Core from 2016, you get four USB Type-A ports and an Ethernet. Its age notwithstanding, the Razer Core is tiny, and I like those ports. I tossed an RTX 2080Ti in it, and it worked. But the 500W power supply (375W GPU max power) was not enough to handle a wired mouse, keyboard, microphone, and webcam, some of which had RGB lighting. The result was some stuttering and the OS dropping and reconnecting some of the accessories.

I then swapped it out for the Razer Core X ($400). That has a 650W power supply (500W for GPU), and it could fit my RTX 3080, which was nice. It's also tremendously girthy at more than twice the width of Raze Core (232mm vs. 105mm) and weighs 14.2lbs (6.48kg) without the GPU installed. It's a chonky boi.

The downside with Razer Core X is it has no external ports, which I needed for my accessories.

Enter Kensington's new SD5750T Thunderbolt 4 Surface dock, which is simply delightful — I'll be reviewing this soon as well. I plugged it into the second Thunderbolt 4 port on Surface Laptop Studio, and suddenly I could plug in all my accessories while the Razer Core X handled the GPU and display output.

(Razer also sells the Core X Chroma ($500), which, yes, adds RGB lights, but also brings back those four Type-A ports, Ethernet, and bumps the PSU to 700W.)

This setup with an eGPU and TB4 dock worked well enough for our recent podcast. It's fast, too, as even with a quad-core CPU, that 3080 makes it a powerful rig.

The issues I had were just minor bugs when I disconnected and reconnected. I've had this problem before with laptops that already have an NVIDIA GPU on board, which is that sometimes the eGPU and the OS get a bit confused loading and unloading drivers.

The point is: For the most part, the setup was working, until my Laptop Studio's internal RTX A2000 GPU got the dreaded exclamation point (!) under Device Manager. I attempted to uninstall and reinstall those drivers, but that is where the real problem began.

Losing all graphics

Upon rebooting to install the NVIDIA display driver, the Surface Laptop Studio effectively blanked out after the Surface logo loaded. I tried a few recovery attempts but opted not to bother with command-line fixes because I had other things to do.

I ended up using a recovery USB and reinstalled Windows 11. Twice.

You see, I tried to do this setup again this morning to see if it was a fluke, and it was not.

Now, is it because I was running a Thunderbolt 4 dock and an eGPU? I don't know. As I said, there were a lot of moving parts here. I'm unsure why Surface Laptop Studio didn't default to the Intel Iris Xe GPU, either.

Of course, I could have micro-managed the GPUs through NVIDIA Control Panel, but to me, this defeats the purpose.

Is an eGPU and Surface Laptop Studio practical?

The bigger question I have is: Who is even going to try this wild setup? If you bought the Surface Laptop Studio with an RTX 3050 Ti, do you need an eGPU? I mean, sure, it's nice, but it doesn't seem very practical.

You're going to drop $400 on the Razor Core X and at least $1,000 (in today's prices) for an RTX 3070 just to make the upgrade worth it. And may your wallets be deep if you want an RTX 3080 or 3090, which push in the $2,000 to $3,000 ranges due to high demand.

Toss in another $350 if you want an excellent Thunderbolt 4 dock in the event you care about adding wired accessories, too.

Some advanced math also needs to be done as eGPUs can shave off around 20% of performance on that GPU. So an RTX 3070 behaves more like a 3060. You also need to factor in the Surface Laptop Studio's quad-core chip versus a proper desktop one. While Surface Laptop Studio earned 11,265 on 3DMark's Time Spy with an RTX 3080 eGPU, that same RTX 3080, when paired in the HP OMEN 30L and a Core i9-10900K, earned a whopping 16,470.

I don't see this as a sensible use of resources, but that's me.

Now, Surface Pro 8 is different, and so far, it's working quite well (but I need to do much more testing). I think an eGPU case for Surface Pro 8 makes much more sense since that device only has Intel Iris Xe. Even adding a 1080 Ti or something in the 20xx series would be a huge performance bump. I'll be doing a separate article on that, including my setup and experience.

I will say, the Kensington dock, so far, is the "keep it simple, stupid" approach. One cable and everything has been working beautifully on Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio. I think for most people using this kind of dock, it's the setup most will go for, and for good reasons: It's much cheaper, easier, and works every time. I can see myself using this as my daily desktop driver, and I plan to do just that.

As far as an eGPU, for me, they still fall into that category of it's so cool!, but very few people get one. A strong argument is made for just getting a darn gaming desktop for $1,400 to $3,500 (depending on the high-end GPU you get). You score more ports, a larger PSU, better thermals, and it's just more straightforward.

What about you? Do you plan on going the route of eGPU, Thunderbolt dock, or risk everything and go for both?

I've been a Surface Book user since the first one was unveiled back in 2015. I dabbled with the Surface Laptop a bit in 2017, but ultimately found myself back with the Surface Book form factor when push came to shove. There's just something about that design that I couldn't get away from; the magnesium finish, the sharp 3:2 display, the hinge, all of it when put together made a laptop that I couldn't help but love.

Unfortunately, the Surface Book was not a perfect product. Its unique design came at the cost of an imbalanced product that was very top heavy and not all that powerful in the CPU department considering its position in the Surface product portfolio. It was essentially a Surface Pro that could detach from a real keyboard deck and GPU packaged in a unique chassis, but was that worth the trade-off in CPU performance?

Because the "brains" of the Surface Book were in the display portion, Microsoft was thermally limited in the kind of chips it could put in there. This ruled out the Surface Book line for many potential buyers looking for something with more power that a Surface Pro under the hood. If the design of your product is limiting its potential growth, then that design isn't sustainable.

And that's exactly what we've seen happen with the Surface Book and the introduction of the Surface Laptop Studio. Surface Book 3 was a real letdown for me, as it was the point in which I was expecting Microsoft to finally figure out how to make the Surface Book a true Surface for power users, and not a glorified Surface Pro with a GPU.

I even tried to replace my desktop with a Surface Book 3 and Surface Dock 2 setup, but after two weeks I was back using my desktop because the CPU just couldn't keep up with some of the tasks I'm required to do in my workflow. Anything that taxed the CPU for longer than a few minutes would see the Surface Book throttle to the point of it being unusable. It even happened as I was hosting the Windows Central Podcast.

In fact, the 13.5-inch Surface Book 3 doesn't even have a fan for the CPU, which should tell you everything you need to know about how fit for purpose the Surface Book 3 was for power users. The answer is it wasn't, and that was becoming a problem for me and I'm sure many other potential buyers looking for a "MacBook Pro" alternative in the Surface line.

So it comes as no surprise to me that the Surface Laptop Studio ditches the ability to detach the display entirely. I assume the detachable nature of the Surface Book was a selling point for only a very small subset of users, because I certainly never utilized it. The selling point for me over a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop was the dedicated GPU and larger, higher-resolution display. It was not the detaching screen.

With that in mind, I know there are people out there who did in fact buy the Surface Book because its display could detach. Those people will be disappointed by the Surface Laptop Studio, but outside of that specific use case, I think the Surface Laptop Studio is an upgrade in pretty much every way. It does the Surface Book line justice and is deserving as a successor to that product line. Here's why.

It's still a unique laptop

Just like the Surface Book, the Surface Laptop Studio embraces unconventional beauty. That's sort of what Surface does best. The Surface Book's hinge was a design choice that many questioned at first, but over time people grew to love it. The same will happen with the Surface Laptop Studio's weird double-layered design which sees the keyboard deck sitting above a smaller base.

I also think the Surface Laptop Studio does a better job at switching between postures. Surface Book required you to detach, flip around, and reattach if you wanted to use it in any mode other than laptop. On Surface Laptop Studio, you just pull the display forward and you're good to go in less than a second. It keeps you in your flow and doesn't get in the way of your work.

I can tell you that I've used the Surface Laptop Studio in stage mode this past week more than I ever detached the Surface Book in the six years I've used one.

I'm also here to tell you the keyboard and trackpad on Surface Laptop Studio is leaps and bounds better than the Surface Book, and the Surface Book had a pretty good keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard on Surface Laptop Studio might be the best laptop keyboard I've ever put my hands on. It's tactile, clicky, responsive, and so satisfying to use.

The trackpad is now haptic enabled too, so it no longer physically moves. Some may like this change, others not so much. I personally love it, and the different levels of intensity really let you dial in the kind of click you want. The Surface Book's trackpad was a little small, and VERY loud compared to the Laptop Studio, and other Surface devices for that matter.

There's other little design changes that I really like on the Surface Laptop Studio that make using this device feel better than the Surface Book. The bezels are thinner with rounded corners, which looks really modern compared to the Surface Book. The feet underneath are also much more pronounced and grippy, whereas the Surface Book's feet are basically non-existent.

And I really like how the Surface Laptop Studio maintains its magnesium finish. Surface Pro and Surface Laptop have switched over to using recycled aluminum, which is fine, but magnesium is a "Surface" thing that I think makes it stand out amongst other laptops, so I'm glad it's still here on Surface Laptop Studio.

Regarding ports, the Surface Book probably has the more favorable selection of port options. But it also misses out on Thunderbolt 4, which I think is a huge upgrade for any device. Surface Laptop Studio only has two TB4 USB-C ports, compared to the Surface Book's two USB-A ports and single USB-C port. The Surface Book also has an SD card reader, which I know is a must-have for those who deal with video.

Thunderbolt 4 on the Surface Laptop Studio enables the ability to do things such as attach an external GPU, giving it more graphical power if the 3050 Ti inside isn't cutting it for you. That's not something you can do on the Surface Book, which is forever limited to the GPU is has on the inside.

Better specs (and room to grow)

Then there's the specs story. Already, the Surface Laptop Studio is at an advantage, finally having a CPU that can be taxed for long periods of time without throttling. It's sufficiently cooled, and the chip itself is able to draw more power as a result. It is still a 4-core CPU, but this design allows for Microsoft to put in even more powerful chips in the future.

The Surface Book was backed into a corner due to its design, but that's not the case with Surface Laptop Studio. It would be very easy for Microsoft to make a 15- or 16-inch Surface Laptop Studio in a year or two with true 6- or 8-core processors inside. That would have never been possible with the Surface Book's design.

In the GPU department, it's a mixed bag. The 3050 Ti in the Laptop Studio trades punches with the GTX 1660 Ti Max Q in the 15-inch Surface Book 3, but it outright beats the GTX 1650 in the 13.5-inch Surface Book 3, which I'd argue is a more accurate comparison to make. The thin bezels on Surface Laptop Studio make this device feel more like the 13-inch Surface Book than the 15-inch one.

And that comes back to how I think it's likely that Microsoft will make a more powerful 15- or 16-inch version in the future, because this new design leaves the door wide open to meaningful processor and GPU upgrades down the line. It's a sustainable design, unlike the Surface Book's that quickly found its limit.

On to the display resolution, which is the only other area outside of ports that the Surface Book still wins out in. Surface Book's display is beautiful, and in my opinion, one of the best you can find on a laptop. It's a very high resolution with a PPI of 264. Surface Laptop Studio has a lower resolution and a PPI of 201, which, to me, is a noticeable difference.

That's not to say the Surface Laptop Studio's display is bad, because it isn't. It's still an amazing display with great color accuracy, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes the slight resolution downgrade totally worth it. But there's no denying that the Surface Book's display looks sharper when compared side by side.

There are also a couple of hidden benefits to the lower display resolution that I don't think many have realized. The lower resolution helps prolong battery life, which when paired with a 120Hz refresh rate is super important. But the other thing that this lower resolution does is change the display scaling of Windows to 150%. Surface Book's display scaling is at 200%, which is great, but Windows isn't good at switching between display scales when docked to external monitors.

Most 4K monitors these days are scaled at 150%, so moving a window between a 4K monitor and the Surface Book's display would require Windows to resize that app on the fly, which can make text and icons look blurry and often cause all kinds of UI bugs to pop up over time. Surface Laptop Studio doesn't have this problem, because its default scaling is also set to 150%, just like most external monitors.

Overall, I really think the Surface Laptop Studio is a better Surface Book in most categories. Sure, its display isn't' as crisp and ports not as rich, but outside of that, the Surface Laptop Studio is the preferred device over the Surface Book any day of the week. It just feels nicer to use. As I sit in front of both, the Surface Laptop Studio is just nicer, and that's important too.

Be sure to check out our full Surface Laptop Studio review if you're interested in benchmarks and a more in-depth look at the hardware. Also be sure to check out our best Windows 11 PCs roundup if you're interested in what new hardware you can get with Windows 11 support.

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and in this massive episode, Dan and Zac review Windows 11, Surface Pro 8, and Surface Laptop Studio. They also touch on Surface Go 3. It's the best Surface Go yet, but still has a long way to go.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on October 8th 2021.

Links:

• Windows 11 review: The start of a new era | Windows Central
• Are you upgrading to Windows 11? | Windows Central
• Surface Pro 8 review: Nearly 10 years in the making, Microsoft finally figures it all out | Windows Central
• Surface Laptop Studio review: Redefining what a Windows laptop can be (again) | Windows Central
• Surface Go 3: Price, release date, features, and everything you need to know | Windows Central

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Hosts

• Daniel Rubino
• Zac Bowden

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Send in your comments, questions, and feedback to:

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In 2015, Microsoft introduced the Surface Book in one of the most noteworthy product reveals ever. With its never-before-done detachable display, later iterations of Surface Book delivered the power of a modest workstation but the flexibility of a tablet PC when required. The idea seemed ingenious, almost too good, and yet years later, the idea has fizzled as people questioned its practicality and tradeoffs in performance.

Surface Laptop Studio is the spiritual successor to Surface Book and, and in many ways, feels just like it did. It's a bigger, heavier, and indeed, a more powerful PC compared to Surface Laptop 4.

This time, the Microsoft trick is that new pull-it-forward display, one Acer and Sony VAIO, have been dabbling in for years. However, unlike those PCs this is a Surface. Everything is more premium with unique features like a 120Hz display, haptic pen and touchpad, quad-audio, a distinctive design, and balance between all the components. It all adds up to an incredible machine despite a few odd choices and early rough edges.

Aimed at mobile creators and engineers I've spent the last few days with Microsoft's most expensive mobile PC yet. I've learned quite a bit about what it can do and what it can't, with a lot of detail that you won't find elsewhere. So, is Surface Laptop Studio a boom or a bust?

Let's find out.

Surface Laptop Studio: Price, availability, and specs

Surface Laptop Studio is now available in the U.S. and Canada, with 47 additional markets coming sometime in early 2022, with the delay due to the ongoing chip shortage.

Consumers can purchase the laptop through Microsoft, Best Buy, or Amazon, while those wanting the commercial version can order through Microsoft, or through retail partners.

Pricing begins at $1,599 for a Core i5 processor with integrated graphics (Intel Iris Xe), 256GB of storage, and 16GB of RAM.

The Core i7 models ship with a more powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics processor, while the commercial version uses an identical NVIDIA GeForce RTX A2000 for ISV-certified professional software. Both GPUs have similar architectures, memory, and performance, with the RTX A2000 having a slightly higher GPU boost clock (1,207.5MHz vs. 1,035MHz) and error correction code (ECC) memory. ECC is vital to commercial applications like CAD, video, and 3D programs, but not gaming.

Surface Laptop Studio: Specs

The top-tier configuration for Surface Laptop Studio includes a Core i7, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and an RTX 3050 Ti GPU costing around $3,100. The same version with an RTX A2000 GPU is $3,800.

The models used for this review feature the Core i7, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, with one using the A2000 and the other 3050 Ti. The cost is around $2,699 for the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti model, while the one with the RTX A2000 is $3,399.

Business editions also ship with Windows 11 Pro or Windows 10 Pro (+$100 license), while the consumer variants use Windows 11 Home.

Pricing also does not include the new haptics-enabled Surface Slim Pen 2, which is an optional $130 purchase.

There's nothing like it

Surface Laptop Studio: Design and features

The overall look of Surface Laptop Studio is distinct. To my eyes, it continues the "Brutalist design" aesthetics with a hint of Dieter Ram's minimalism we've seen in other Surface products. The top lid looks like Surface Pro. When opened, the rounded corners and edges lend themselves to an Apple MacBook Pro. But peeking underneath it is altogether distinct with a curious pedestal-base and aggressive venting. It reminds me a bit of Xbox One S, which also has a similar stepped design.

Few have wondered if that base would detract from use in the lap or cause it to be unbalanced. It does not. That stepped design gives some extra grip points when grabbing the laptop, and the larger front lip lets the Surface Slim Pen 2 magnetically stick while being completely flush and out of the way. I think it's an ingenious, functional layout and makes this PC unlike any other in the world.

For the first time, Microsoft is using a pull-it-forward display in a Surface PC. The concept isn't new as Acer first tried it with the Aspire R7 in 2013 and VAIO in 2014 with the VAIO Duo 13. HP used it with the 2018 Spectre Folio. Indeed, Acer is still making such devices like its ConceptD Ezel series.

But Microsoft is the first to do it this way and at such a premium level.

The pull-it-forward concept is straightforward. You use Surface Laptop Studio like an average workstation laptop, but with a flick, you can bring the screen forward ("stage mode") where the keyboard is hidden, but the touchpad is still visible for navigation. This configuration is ideal for watching a video, conference calls, immersive reading, and light sketching. The shift brings the display about 7 inches closer to you, significantly altering the viewing experience.

It doesn't stop there. Pull it forward again, and now you can lay down the display at a slight angle ("studio mode"), which makes it ideal for extended drawing sessions or manipulating onscreen data using the Surface Slim Pen 2.

You can do all these postures without ever lifting the Surface Laptop Studio off your lap or desk, which is cumbersome on 14- and 15-inch laptops. And, unlike a PC with a 360-degree hinge, the keyboard never gets dirty when in stage mode nor pushes back from taps because it locks into place thanks to some magnets.

If this all looks familiar, it's because Microsoft effectively combined the concepts of its desktop-bound Surface Studio, the tablet-like Surface Pro, and the portable power of Surface Book into one device.

And the idea works. This kind of flexibility with this much power is not unprecedented (see Acer), but it is rare.

Surface Laptop Studio weighs 4 pounds (1.8kg), not light but not too heavy. It's a very dense machine, and unlike Surface Book, there is no gap thanks to the hinge. While Surface Book felt a bit fragile due to that curved, unfolding hinge, Surface Laptop Studio feels tough. It is easy to carry, and the lid opens with one hand.

There isn't much for ports, just two Type-C on the left-hand side, while on the right, there is the magnetic Surface Connect for charging or use with the Surface Dock and a headphone jack.

But, for the first time, Microsoft made those Type-C ports Thunderbolt 4. It's a big deal as it means you could use Surface Laptop Studio with an external GPU (eGPU). Still, the most likely use is for Thunderbolt 4 docks, like the new Surface-certified Kensington SD5750T, or a Thunderbolt external drive where I was able to transfer 7.3GB of videos in just nine seconds. It's a long-overdue technology for Surface and one its target audience will relish.

The keyboard is excellent and is closer to the Surface Laptop with its non-metal dark gray keys and snappier feel than the slightly mushier metal keys on Surface Book. There are four levels (one being off) for backlighting, and the contrast makes these keys easy to see in any condition.

The touchpad is the best of any Windows PC, period, and it feels very similar to what Apple uses in the MacBook Pro. That's because this is Microsoft's first haptic touchpad, which means it doesn't move or click. Instead, it simulates clicking. I've written extensively on this topic as haptic touchpads solve many problems — they can be huge, don't break, are more accurate, and are configurable. While Microsoft takes credit for it, I can reveal that Sensel, whom I have interviewed previously, is behind the technology here. This touchpad is massive, super smooth, and under Settings, users can set how much "kick" the touchpad gives. It's simply phenomenal, and every PC maker needs to adopt this technology now.

The audio is excellent, but it needs a bit more bass and fullness. It is undoubtedly loud as Microsoft uses quad speakers for the first time. Two (bass) push out from the sides while the other two (mids and highs) emanate under the keyboard like Surface Laptop. The result is no visible speaker grills anywhere, which is something unique to Microsoft.

The sound profile also changes based on the posture of the display, which is fascinating. When audio is playing, the mids and highs become more prominent if you shift from laptop to stage mode. Microsoft believes the sound should match the current mode of Surface Laptop Studio, and it is another excellent example of the amount of detail that went into executing this design. Sound is also augmented with the inclusion of Dolby Atmos for increased spatial performance.

The single front-facing camera is a 2.1 MP full HD one. I've said it before, and it still holds that Microsoft makes the best web cameras on any laptop, and that applies here. Color, aspect, and sharpness are all well above average and class leading.

Flanking the camera are dual microphones and infrared sensors for Windows Hello to allow logging in to Windows 11 with face recognition, which is exceptionally fast.

Interestingly, Microsoft skipped Xbox Wireless for directly connecting to an Xbox controller (it was included with Surface Book 3 15-inch). But Microsoft notes that Bluetooth 5.1 advanced so much it was unnecessary. Indeed, connecting an Xbox controller with Bluetooth gave force feedback, something that only Microsoft's proprietary Xbox Wireless could do previously. That said, I did experience some disconnects with the controller, which was frustrating.

So close to perfect

Surface Laptop Studio: Display and inking

Microsoft uses a unique 14.4-inch 2400x1600 touch display with 201 pixels per inch (PPI) and a 120Hz refresh rate. That size falls between Surface Book 3's 13.5-inch and 15-inch screen with a higher 3000x2000 (267 PPI) and 3240x2160 (260 PPI) resolution, respectively. I wouldn't be shocked if Microsoft makes a bigger 16-inch version of Surface Laptop Studio down the line.

Like all Surface products, it has a tall 3:2 display aspect instead of 16:9 or the increasingly common 16:10, making it ideal for inking, but less so for watching 16:9 movies.

I can't say I've noticed a difference in PPI and resolution between Surface Book and Surface Laptop Studio; however, some may be dissatisfied. Microsoft tried to find the right balance between audience, price, and battery life like all laptop makers. While higher resolution would be preferred, it also increases the cost of the device while reducing how long the laptop lasts off the plug.

Color accuracy is better than any mobile Surface product to date and is above average for this class. It measures at 100% sRGB, 81% AdobeRGB, and an impressive 88% DCI-P3. That's a big improvement over Surface Book 3's 97% sRGB, 72% AdobeRGB, and 72% DCI-P3. Those results are still behind the Dell XPS 17 with 100% sRGB, 100% AdobeRGB, and 97% DCI-P3, but are ahead of the Dell XPS 13 and its impressive 3.5K OLED display.

Brightness is also decent. Whereas Surface Book 3 was 495 nits, this measures 508, just above Microsoft's 500 claims. Likewise, this screen can get incredibly dim at just 2.0 nits, making it ideal for working in a dark room late at night.

For the first time, Microsoft is also using Dolby Vision, a form of high-dynamic-range (HDR), which enhances contrast with video content. When combined with movies graded for Dolby Vision, you get deeper blacks, better contrast, and richer colors.

By default, there are no settings for Dolby Vision, but users can install the Dolby Access app in the Microsoft Store. That app can tune audio (Dolby Atmos), and video (Dolby Vision) with some presets.

The display bezels are thin, though not the thinnest, but at least are proportionally equal all around. It's a good look and balanced.

The 120Hz refresh rate is striking and set as default out of the box (unlike Surface Pro 8, which is 60Hz by default). Users can go into settings and reduce the display to 60Hz to save on battery. Windows 11 now supports Dynamic Refresh Rate, which lets displays instantly shift between 60Hz (idle) and 120Hz (scrolling, inking). Disappointingly that feature is not yet enabled, although Microsoft expects a firmware update later to allow it to. The same applies to "Wake on Approach."

That 120Hz is also responsible for the lack of latency with Surface Slim Pen 2. The higher refresh lets the ink "flow" better, simulating a real inking experience. That pen also supports haptics, a type of "force feedback." Haptic inking only works if the app supports it, but there are quite a few that already do, including:

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Journal
• Microsoft Whiteboard
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Adobe Fresco
• Sketchable
• LiquidText
• Shapr3D

Users can control how strong the haptics feel under Settings, as well as turning it off. By default, it is set to 50% though I found turning it up to near 100% is a better experience. The feature makes it feel like friction when writing simulating using a pencil on paper. Changing to pen or marker changes it again. And the pen gives a little "kick" when using Adobe Fresco and the lasso tool when you are nearing the grab points.

Pen haptics is a neat feature, but not quite jaw-dropping either as it's subtle. But when combined with the new pen tip in Surface Slim Pen 2, it positively enhances the overall experience. Toss in 120Hz refresh for no latency, the ability to tuck it away under the Laptop Studio's keyboard deck (where it also recharges), and the whole set is a very impressive advancement in digital inking.

Curiously, while Surface Laptop Studio does include an auto-brightness sensor, it does not feature one for adaptive color found in Surface Pro 8. Microsoft explained why when asked, which makes sense:

I am pleased to report that Microsoft does now let users disable Intel's "adaptive contrast," long a bugaboo of Surface fans. Adaptive contrast dims blacks and reduces contrast to decrease power consumption, making it a valuable feature for the battery conscious. However, the experience can create jarring shifts in brightness when jumping between a primarily white web page and something predominantly black.

Another clever trick not publicized is "Wake on Touch," and it is available as an option under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touch > Touch the screen to wake. It works when the laptop is in stage or studio modes, and the power button is obscured. Users can tap the display, which wakes up the computer and kicks in Windows Hello to log back into Windows automatically. Attention to detail, indeed.

My only complaint with this otherwise exceptional screen is Microsoft's doggedness to omit an anti-reflective (AR) layer to reduce eye strain. HP, Dell, Lenovo, and especially Apple use AR in their pen-enabled products like the iPad Pro. AR keeps contrast and color accuracy while making the device more comfortable to use under bright lights or even outdoors. It's a frankly baffling oversight, and Microsoft has been unable to provide me with a justifiable answer for its absence.

Quite powerful

Surface Laptop Studio: Performance and battery

Microsoft uses a unique processor with Surface Laptop Studio: A quad-core Intel 11th Gen Core i5-11300H or Core i7-11370H. We haven't seen many of these chips used in laptops as they fall between Intel's U-series chips found in Ultrabooks and the 6- to 8-core 45-watt H-series processors. That makes them more efficient than what is used in the Dell XPS 15 and more powerful than the 10th-Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 used in Surface Book 3.

Measuring pure CPU performance (no GPU) in Cinebench 23 Surface Laptop studio matches Apple's MacBook Pro with an M1 processor for single-core performance (Intel's strength). Still, it falls dramatically behind devices with 6- or 8-core CPUs, as one expects.

Things improve with PCMark 10, which measures total Windows performance for productivity (but not gaming), blending CPU and GPU in various tasks, including photo and video editing. As a result, it is accurate to say Surface Studio Laptop is identical to the Razer Blade 15 (late 2020) gaming laptop with the 8-core i7-10875H processor and slightly ahead of the HP ENVY x360 with AMD Ryzen R7 5700U. That's very good.

On 3DMark Night Raid, which is more GPU intensive, the Surface Laptop blows everything else away. But that test is meant for comparing Ultrabooks with integrated graphics, not discrete GPUs per se. It's included because Surface Laptop Studio falls between Ultrabooks and beefy workstations, making classification difficult. But if you were curious if Surface Laptop Studio is much more powerful than Surface Laptop 4, the answer is a decisive yes.

Putting Surface Laptop Studio up against appropriate laptops with discrete GPU, it falls in the middle. In 3DMark Time Spy, it pulls ahead of the last-gen XPS 15 (9500) with a GTX 1650 Ti and octa-core processor but is far behind proper gaming PCs like the HP OMEN 15 or Razer Blade 14 and 15 laptops.

That's the takeaway message for performance: Surface Laptop Studio is a powerful Windows laptop for work, but only a mediocre one for gaming. That experience fits with Microsoft's intended use of Surface Laptop Studio.

Another strong point, for once, is storage. Microsoft typically has mid-range SSD performance, but Surface Laptop Studio ranks near the top. The user-replaceable SSD came fourth in our tests with an impressive 3,500MB/s sequential read and 3,225MB/s sequential write result, even beating the Apple MacBook Pro (M1). Storage performance is vital as when combined with faster LPDDR4x RAM and a decent CPU/GPU it can result in excellent overall system performance, which is what we see.

Related to that SSD, I did hear some minor coil whine when plugged in and set to max performance while transferring data, but it is a non-issue in other scenarios.

For those interested, we didn't find much difference in performance between Surface Laptop Studio with GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics and RTX A2000 with ECC and a slightly higher GPU boost clock. On PCMark 10, again, measuring overall system performance, the model with the A2000 scored 5,746 while the one with the 3050 Ti garnered a very similar 5,698. In Time Spy, the A2000 got 5,034, and the 3050 Ti got 5,077, which is within the margin of error/sampling. Microsoft notes that the A2000 has a "net higher performance throughput," so in some cases it may edge out the 3050 Ti, but only marginally. But for companies with ISV-certified software (CAD, 3D rendering, etc.), the A2000 with ECC is critical and an excellent option.

One exciting change by Microsoft is power profiles. When plugged in, Surface Laptop Studio automatically shifts to "best performance," but when unplugged, it goes back to "recommended" (which balances battery with performance). Users can, of course, override the behavior in Settings, but I think this is the right move with this laptop class.

Fan noise is also very good. The dual fans absolutely kick in when gaming or doing intense GPU work, but there is no high-pitched whine, just a lot of air being pushed. It is audible but also better than gaming laptops, mainly because the intakes and exhaust are all on the sides and not the bottom. During regular Windows usage (web, Office, email, video), the fans are silent.

For temperature, under intense load, the entire keyboard deck does get warm but never hot. Temps never peaked above 104°F (40°C) even at the exhaust points, which is remarkably good. Many PCs, including Surface Pro 8, get a skin temperature around 108°F (42°C) while gaming laptops can hit a scorching 123°F (51°F) on the bottom.

While Surface Laptop Studio is not a gaming laptop it can game. In loading up Destiny 2, you can easily play full resolution (2400x1600) and still hit 46-65 frames per second with medium graphics. Knock that down to "Full HD" 1920x1200 and 70-95 FPS achievable leveraging that 120Hz display.

In a disappointing move, Microsoft includes a 102W Surface Connect charger for Surface Laptop Studio. That's the same charger that shipped with Surface Book 2, but not the larger 127W one that came with Surface Book 3. And yes, that means under heavy gaming like Destiny 2, you will lose around 2% battery for every 10 minutes of gameplay. That's not awful, as even after an hour, you may only be down 15%, but it's a weird choice.

Of course, you could spring for that 127W charger on Amazon ($94) and problem solved (I tested), but that's still lame.

Instant-on is also superb. Closing the laptop for the night, the following day, Surface Laptop Studio logged me into Windows 11 in three seconds.

The 56.3WHr battery is shockingly good. In synthetic benchmarks using PCMark 10 Modern Office, classified as "light and medium office work," including a "realistic balance of writing, web browsing, and video conferencing," Surface Laptop Studio yielded an impressive 11 hours and 19 minutes. That was with the display set to 50%, auto-brightness/adaptive color/contrast disabled, and 120Hz refresh. Repeating the same test at 60Hz yielded 11 hours and 41 minutes — not a huge difference when doing basic work.

Going to the other extreme during PCMark 10's gaming battery rundown test, which is consistent and very GPU heavy, Surface Laptop Studio eked out two hours and six minutes of constant gaming. That's with the display at 120Hz, 50% brightness, max performance, and no auto-brightness enabled. That's not a lot, but better than most gaming laptops, which often fall below two hours.

Keep in mind, factors like display brightness and whether you are using 120Hz for the refresh rate will significantly impact your experience. Tasks like gaming, rendering, or compiling (aka GPU-intensive scenarios) will also considerably affect those results. In our tests, we disabled battery-saving features like auto-display brightness and adaptive contrast, but we also kept brightness at 50%. If you regularly use Surface Laptop Studio at 120Hz at 90% brightness while playing DOOM Eternal, you'll cut those results in half.

A few choices

Surface Laptop Studio: Competition

Despite being a unique device without much competition, a few alternatives to Surface Laptop Studio are worth considering.

The most obvious is the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel. The models sport a pull-it-forward display design, support Wacom EMR inking, and have Pantone-validated screens. They can be configured with much more powerful internals, including an Intel Core i7-11800H processor and up to an RTX 3080 Laptop GPU. You also get many, many more ports. Pricing is unannounced, but Acer is known to be much more affordable. You don't get Windows Hello, a haptic touchpad, the haptic pen, or a 3:2 display aspect, but you can get a 4K display. Audio and the webcam will be much worse, fans are louder, and the build quality (all plastic) is also where corners get cut.

The HP Spectre x360 14 (and newer 16-inch model) are also 2-in-1s but with 360 hinges. They support inking (pen included, but no storage), look amazing, and have excellent software tweaks. The 14-inch model is one of our top-rated Ultrabooks. You do give up a discrete GPU and don't get any haptic pen or touchpad.

HP also has the excellent Elite Folio, but it's ultra-mobile with a much weaker ARM processor. However, you get the same pull-it-forward display and design with pen storage and options for 4G LTE and even 5G.

If you want much more power and just gaming, the Razer Blade 14 with AMD is a good bet, whereas the XPS 17 is good if you want a near-perfect 17-inch display in a 15-inch laptop. Both are straight clamshell laptops with no inking.

Microsoft's own Surface Pro 8 is perfect if you want many of the same features, including a 120Hz display, haptic Slim Pen 2, excellent touch display, but in a smaller package. You can even get it with LTE later in December 2021.

Finally, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme has a model with a touch screen and even inking. It's not a convertible, however, and it is still running 10th Gen Intel parts making a Gen 4 refresh imminent. It won't perform as well with its older 1650 Ti GPU and has weak battery life.

Creator class

Should you buy the Surface Laptop Studio?

Who it's for

• Social content creators (editing video or photos)
• Professional designers and creators (CAD, 3D, drawing)
• Developers
• STREAMi (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, Maths, innovation)

Who it isn't for

• Those who want a gaming PC
• Those on a tight budget
• People who just need a clamshell laptop

Microsoft is clear about who should buy Surface Laptop Studio. It's for those who work with data, engineers, designers, scientists, creators, and developers. It's a professional piece of hardware. While it may look fantastic if you don't need to draw or design, it is overkill at best and useless at worst. Microsoft touts the i5 model (no NVIDIA GPU) for "social content creators," i.e., those doing lighter work who do need a pen for drawing or sketching up ideas, and I think that makes sense for those who want more than a Surface Pro 8.

What can I say if you're not in those lines of work besides that this PC isn't for you? If you want a "Surface gaming laptop," this is not it. Like Surface Book, you can game on it (and it's darn enjoyable), but at this price, you better be able to justify usage of that display that heavily leans on inking or those other two postures.

As far as a successor to Surface Book, this laptop fixes a lot of things. There's Thunderbolt 4, a much stronger CPU, a better (and replaceable) SSD. The audio is louder, touchpad is better, and the display is more accurate. There's Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos now to enhance music and movies. The new haptic pen is superb. And I think this laptop-style is much better than 360-degree hinges.

Turning to the "theory" of Surface Laptop Studio, I think Microsoft nailed it. This design highlights the best of 2-in-1 PCs in an exquisitely premium package. It pushes boundaries with that high refresh 120Hz display and embraces haptics. The design is both unique, but also functional. And like Windows 11, it's not cluttered or complex. It's a tool with purpose. Yeah, it's a bit awkward to transition back from studio mode to laptop mode, but that tradeoff is worth it for the functionality you gain.

As far as grumbles, this is a first-gen device, and while it is incredibly stable and performant with Windows 11, there are some hardware quirks. Leaving out an SD card reader when rumors are Apple is bringing it back is a dumb move. I've harped on no AR for the display. A real "floating" screen like Surface Studio would be even more fascinating (Acer already does this). Bluetooth could use a driver update to fix some disconnection issues.

But these are minor grievances. The design, feel, look, and execution of Surface Laptop Studio is much better than the first Surface Book, which was plagued with software and hardware bugs. It didn't even get a real GPU until version 2, and by then, people were already questioning the usefulness of the detachable display. And like many of Microsoft's hardware creations, Surface Laptop Studio's design is polarizing, but I'd argue that's the point of Surface — to challenge computing norms. Sometimes that works (Surface Pro 3), and sometimes it doesn't (Surface Book).

The jury is still out on Surface Laptop Studio, but it is fairing much better so far.

That brings us to the ultimate question of who buys Surface Laptop Studio. While there is piqued curiosity, it remains to be seen whether people will pay for it, especially at this level. Time will tell. But putting hoity toity questions of economics aside, if you're wondering whether it's a banger of a laptop that most people would enjoy using every day? The answer is a decisive yes. It's awesome.

We've got the new Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio in-house! Our Executive Editor Daniel Rubino just published his full review for both, so make sure you give those a read if you haven't already. In addition to our written reviews, we also have unboxing and hands-on videos for you to enjoy.

First up, we have the Surface Laptop Studio, which I consider to be the star of all the new Surfaces shipping this fall. It's a new form factor for Surface, dropping the detachable design of the Surface Book 3 in favor of a new pull-forward design that cannot be detached.

But it's not the form factor that I think makes this laptop shine; it's the keybord, trackpad, and overall design. This is by far the best feeling Surface I've ever held, and the keyboard is amazing. It's tactile and satisfying to use. The "Precision Haptic" touchpad is also great, with four levels of intensity to choose from.

We've also unboxed the Surface Pro 8, which finally aligns itself with the Surface Pro X in terms of design. If you're a classic Surface Pro user, the Surface Pro 8 is going to be a big upgrade to you. For the Surface Pro line, I think the Surface Pro 8 is basically perfect. The 13-inch 120Hz display is great, and the hardware feels great too.

We have the Pro 8 in Graphite, a new colorway for the Surface Pro line. It's a slightly lighter black than that found on the Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro X, but it's also less fingerprinty. Microsoft has changed up how it applies the paint so that it doesn't hold on to smudges as easily, a godsend for anyone who gets annoyed by that kind of thing.

Anyway, like mentioned above, we recommend you check out our written reviews for a complete detailed analysis of these new devices. Our unboxing videos only scratch the surface (heh) of what's new.

I used to be a giant Surface fan, but in the past few years, I dropped off. I wrote an article a while ago detailing why I stopped buying Surface, which can be summarized as general disappointment in quality and usability. It often felt as if Surface devices were developed in a vacuum, and ignored how they were actually being used in the real world. I think the Surface Laptop Studio is the first sign that the team is addressing some of that.

Microsoft's recent Surface event was the best it's had in years, showcasing an impressive slate of, well, slates, from the Surface Duo 2 to the forward-facing Surface Pro 8. At least for me, though, it was the Surface Laptop Studio that stole the show. And while it has a hilariously clunky name (seriously Microsoft, hire a name guy, or something) — the form factor is anything but clunky.

Ditching detachables

Inking on the Surface Book.

The Surface Laptop Studio is Microsoft's most innovative Surface in years, achieving something I'd complained about in my previous Surface Book coverage.

I am someone who considers themself to be the prime target audience for a Surface Book. I dabble in digital art. I work in a creative industry with frequent travel requirements. And I need something powerful for video editing. The laptop that brought me closer to my perfect all-in-one device. A lightweight, dGPU laptop with inking capabilities, complete with a collapsible canvas experience. The problem was the execution.

I'm pretty sure the Surface Book was developed in, and tested, only in labs that have tons of air conditioning. We have virtually no air conditioning in Europe, and this proved to be the Surface Book's Achilles' heel for me.

The laptop's detachable design meant that Microsoft put the CPU up in the display, so it could function as a tablet when detached. Under the lightest of loads in the summer months, this thing would heat up to the point where I'm pretty sure I could've fried an egg on it. Fried food is good, but not exactly a feature I want in my laptop.

The Surface Laptop Studio solves this basic design flaw with its innovative collapsible display system. Other manufacturers have looked to 360-degree hinges to create their "canvas" modes for inking, but it still requires you to lift the laptop up off the desk and awkwardly flip everything around. The Surface Laptop Studio's simple system lets you just draw the display towards you. Easy, ergonomic, and elegant. Emotional as Surface leader Panos Panay put it, during the Surface event.

The Surface Laptop Studio also has a new Surface Slim Pen 2 to compliment it, complete with haptics that imitate paper, complete with a boosted display refresh rate. Inking and drawing on glass always felt somehow wrong to me, so I'm hoping that these changes solve my other Surface Book irritants as well. I suspect most people, however, will be most excited about the spec boost.

Serious spec bump

It felt a bit like the Surface Book line was constrained by its design too. Baking so much of the computer in the display led to the heat problems, but the dGPU in the base also came with a litany of problems associated with the detach mechanism. I appreciate wholeheartedly the engineering effort and precision needed to make a device like that work at all, but as an end-user, I needed something that works all of the time without fail. Particularly at the Surface line's notoriously high price range.

To call the Surface Book 3's GTX 1660 Ti a disappointment would be an understatement, considering it was already less powerful than the years-old Razer Blade I'd switched to after repeated disappointments from the Surface Book line. The Surface Laptop Studio gets more serious, baking an RTX 3050 Ti into the base instead, freed up from the constraints of the Book's form factor.

And finally. FINALLY, we're getting Thunderbolt ports, after years of complaining. As someone who effectively runs an entire studio from his laptop, with professional mics for podcasting, capture cards for getting game footage for videos, and so on, having the ability to expand my I/O beyond the bottlenecks of USB is a great boost.

Will it deliver?

Yet still, despite the exciting improvements, I find myself apprehensive. I've used a lot of Surface devices since the early days, and I'm still concerned about quality on the end products both in terms of hardware and software. The throttling on the Surface Pro and Surface Book line in the summer months made them near unusable for anything but the lightest workloads in my AC-less office space, and I don't want to return to that world. Razer laptops have only ever been wholly reliable workhorses for me, although I've sacrificed my digital art hobby to get them.

I still want a device that lets me do everything on the go: work, creation, and play, while taking up minimal space in my tiny European offices. I'm willing to pay a premium to get it, too. Surface hasn't lived up to the promise thus far, for me, but I'm hoping that the Surface Laptop Studio will change the narrative. Even if it has a silly name (seriously, just call it the Surface Book 4).

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and this week, Microsoft appears to have delivered the goods in a big way at their recent Surface event. Zac and Daniel check out everything that was announced, including Surface Duo 2, Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio, and more!

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on September 22nd 2021.

Links:

• Microsoft Surface 2021 event: Release dates, prices, and everything announced | Windows Central

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Hosts

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• Zac Bowden

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What you need to know

• The Surface Laptop Studio gets a breakdown in the latest Microsoft Mechanics video.
• The Intel H35 CPU can reportedly boost to 64 watts of power when needed.
• The SSD is replaceable, though Microsoft says technically you need a tech to do it.
• Display brightness peaks at 500 nits.

The Surface Laptop Studio is making the news today for a good reason. The creative design merges the best of Surface Pro with Surface Laptop into one innovative and powerful Surface. Its announcement was undoubtedly one of the most interesting of for the event.

The latest six-minute Microsoft Mechanics video sheds some details on Surface Laptop Studio, which we'll summarize here, as some of it has not been answered before until now:

• Laptop Studio uses dual fans with heat pipes that go across the CPU and GPU to maximize and share cooling.
• The Intel H35 CPU can boost up to 64 watts of power when needed.
• You can remove the bottom panel of the Laptop Studio to access the SSD, although Microsoft says only authorized technicians should do so.
• Display brightness peaks at 500 nits and go all the way down to 2 nits, which is very good (most laptops hover around 400 nits).
• The full HD camera uses AI face detection and has a larger sensor resulting in more consistent lighting and focusing than regular webcams.
• Quad audio speakers, hidden, of course, use adaptive equalization for "fuller and richer" sound adjusting automatically as you increase volume.

The Intel Core i5-11300H and Core i7-11370H processors are unique as they can have TDP configured for 28 or 35 average watts (from 3.0 to 3.3 GHz in the i7 model), but can draw more power when needed, which is why it can Turbo to 4.8GHz for short durations.

We grabbed some early benchmarks from those processors and compared them to current Surface devices and PCs. Our bet is Microsoft's thermals and TDP tuning will likely beat the recent averages, but we'll have to wait until our review to find out.

Although not surprising, the removable SSD is also a friendly nod as Microsoft has been doing that for all its recent Surface releases, including Surface Pro X, Surface Pro 7+, and Surface Laptop 4. While Microsoft only wants authorized technicians to do so, anyone with the right tools could upgrade the CPU with not much work.

There are many other tidbits in the video that make it worth watching, including a discussion around how the hinge works.

Related to all of this, Microsoft's Scott Hanselman posted a picture of Surface Laptop Studio compared to his Surface Book 15-inch. You can see just how compact the Laptop Studio is with its design compared to the older Surface Book.

Likewise, you can read more about Surface Laptop Studio and everything else in my hands-on roundup.

Microsoft held its now annual hardware event this week. It unveiled one of its most extensive updates to the Surface line since 2015 — Surface Duo 2, Surface Pro 8, Surface Go 3, updates to Surface Pro X, and the star of the show, Surface Laptop Studio.

Media got a bit of a hands-on with the new devices this week, and I was able to talk to the people who worked on the products about what's new, how they did things, and lots of other little interesting tidbits. While we'll all undoubtedly learn more in the coming weeks — especially with full reviews likely around release time — here's a good primer of things that were not in the press release.

Surface Duo 2: A whole new device

Microsoft's original Surface Duo is intriguing and frustrating, as our Senior Windows Editor Zac Bowden recently opined.

Surface Duo 2 is a whole new beast, a fact that the announcement revealed. It has been redesigned from the ground up with 2021-era smartphone features in mind instead of the original concept behind Surface Duo, which was a pocketable Surface with Windows.

The hardware feels much more substantial now and not nearly as delicate as the first version, which I think required the bumper case to feel secure in your hand. I didn't feel that way with Surface Duo 2, likely because it's slightly thicker now (5.5mm opened instead of 4.8mm). But the hinge is also redesigned. It's a bit stiffer and feels … better. It's hard to describe.

Check out the 20-image gallery below:

Microsoft wasn't shy about showing off the new cameras. From what we have heard, the company outsourced some of the computational algorithms for the camera to a Japanese company which is why it can do well in low-light situations. We'll have to test it, of course, but so far, it easily looks to be upper mid-tier in 2021.

Fun things I learned:

• The snap-on case is like a hard shell with some texture (not a rubber TPU like the bumper). It felt fantastic.
• You don't need that case to stick the Surface Slim Pen to the front cover; you just need it to charge the pen wirelessly.
• The Slim pen really sticks to Surface Duo 2 hard, which is what I was hoping for. It's like a rubber fridge magnet strong, so you'll have to really pull it to get it off. That means, yeah, it should be fine in your pocket.
• Top bezels are still a bit thick but razor-thin on the sides, and the curved inner display is a beautiful effect.
• Microsoft Start (its new News app) now spans, thank God.
• Gameloft optimized three games for on-screen controls, including Asphalt 9. Microsoft is pushing gaming on this thing with Game Pass (they demoed Sea of Thieves on it).
• On the right is your live image, on the left is your camera roll.
• The new camera app spans and is really lovely. Editing is also dual-screen with tons of features, sliders, inking abilities, and more. It's well thought out and purposeful.
• Yes, Microsoft reinforced the entire chassis, so the Type-C port should not crack. And with Gorilla Glass Invictus and that hardcover, Surface Duo 2 feels very sturdy.
• Using Surface Duo 2 one-handed is fiiiiiiine. Yes, it's not entirely flat (it wasn't either on Surface Duo 1 with the bumper), but it felt perfectly OK. Microsoft insists it's very strong, durable. The cover never hits the camera lenses, either. Even with the Surface Slim Pen, cover case, and reverse folded, it's thick, but it was easy to handle.
• Microsoft Launcher is updated. The news/widget feed resembles Windows 11 now. The notification panel has sliders for volume and brightness, so you can adjust them in any posture where the buttons may be blocked. It's also wider now and looks much better.
• The new black colorway looks excellent.
• Screen rotation is very fast, as is the device's overall performance thanks to that Snapdragon 888.
• It has a new digitizer, so touch input/response should be better this time.
• Android 12 should come much quicker than Android 11 for Surface Duo 1.
• The Glance Bar is very cool to see in action.

Look, we need to properly test Surface Duo 2 to know how good it is. Still, between NFC, the new cameras, the processor, new screen materials, 90Hz refresh, curved inner display, and support for Surface Slim Pen, I (along with other present media) was impressed.

Cons: It's still crazy expensive and has an uphill battle to win converts. But this is a massive step in the right direction.

Surface Laptop Studio: "The most powerful Surface ever"

As we told you, Microsoft did make a bring-it-forward design for an all-new device: Surface Laptop Studio, which was just announced.

In my review of the HP Elite Folio, I said that design is the way 2-in-1 laptops should go — not the 360-hinge stuff. Microsoft thought the same as this is a very similar design, but it is executed entirely differently from HP.

At first glance? It's like you merged Surface Pro 8 with Surface Laptop 4 and then added a weird bottom to it. It's both familiar and different, redefining what a laptop could be, which I love.

Some takeaways:

• The hinge design is not the same as the patent from this summer, but maybe they'll do that in a few years.
• Microsoft uses cloth on the inside to hide the wires. It doesn't stretch, is super strong, and goes into the display when you switch postures. Even the cables behind the display move as you switch postures. It's so overly mind-blowingly complicated on the inside but clean and simple on the outside: Pure Microsoft "hinge-engineering!"
• Why not … 6- or 8-core CPU, or AMD, or higher resolution display, or …? No good answers besides balancing price, device and audience intention, thermals, and attaining good battery life.
• The display is default 60Hz. Users can manually put it to 120Hz. A later update will enable Dynamic Refresh Rate in Windows 11.
• Haptic trackpad! I've been pushing this tech hard in 2021, and Microsoft delivered. Microsoft made this one itself, although there may be more to this story: Stay tuned. It felt great, and it even has an adjustable slider for intensity. Loved it.
• RIP Surface Book as Surface Laptop Studio replaces it.

Surface Laptop Studio looks like a killer laptop. The display is excellent, and the camera, GPU, and that design make it unique right now.

Cons? Microsoft is still not using anti-reflective displays. 🤦‍♂️ I'd also lament no LTE, but that's a very niche complaint.

Surface Pro 8: The sleeper hit

Surface Pro 8 is exactly what we anticipated, and frankly, wanted, from Microsoft: Take the design cues from Surface Pro X and put them into Surface Pro 8. Now add Thunderbolt 4.

And that's what Microsoft did with today's announcement.

Surface Pro 8 gets a 120Hz refresh (defaults at 60Hz), thinner bezels, support for Surface Slim Pen 2, two Thunderbolt 4 ports (no more Type-A), and LTE options for all models.

Some quick impressions:

• It looks exactly like Surface Pro X. You can only tell the difference with the vents on the rear.
• Going from 12.3-inch to 13.0 may not sound like a lot, but it makes a huge usability difference.
• New 10MP camera on the rear with 4K video! Interesting.
• Front-facing camera can now "face-lock" onto you, so if you move or take a drink of coffee, your face is always in focus. Subtle, but a nice feature.
• Dolby Vision (HDR for video) and Dolby Atoms audio support! Very happy about that.
• The chassis has a more aggressive tapper now; it looks and feels great.
• Uses the same Surface Type Cover as Surface Pro X.

The Surface Pro line was basically perfect, but Microsoft sorely needed to update critical aspects. They did that with Surface Pro 8. It can connect to an eGPU now, the display looks much better, you get better performance, and many more minor tweaks make this Pro so good. I think this will be a massive winner in reviews.

Cons: No anti-reflective display, again. All models now have fans in them, which is interesting.

Surface Slim Pen 2: Blew my mind

It's kind of hard to get excited about a pen — or is it? The haptics in Surface Slim Pen 2 changes everything, in my opinion.

The pen now has virtually no lag and requires almost no pressure to activate. But the haptics! You can make the pen feel like a pencil on paper. It truly tricks your brain into thinking you are using an analog device.

• Only for Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio.
• Besides drawing, there is haptics for all sorts of things like resizing. Where there are touchpoints, the Surface Slim Pen 2 gives feedback, letting you know you can drag and resize a box. It makes things so much faster and more natural for photo editing work.

I'm very excited about Surface Slim Pen 2. It takes the concept of digital inking to a whole new level. It's so seamless to use but makes a huge difference in usage, whether for taking notes, drawing, or photo editing.

Cons: You'll need new Surface hardware to make use of that haptic ability.

Wrapping up

This was a great Microsoft Surface event. It delivered both what the market demands and what Surface fans have been clamoring for (Thunderboooooolt).

I didn't mention Surface Go 3 or Surface Pro X as those are pretty minor upgrades. Granted, those new processors for Surface Go 3 are welcomed, as there is no such thing as being too fast. We'll have to see how much of a difference it makes.

Surface Pro X just gets a Wi-Fi-only option (see announcement), which drops the entry price to $899. That's welcomed but disappointing for those who wanted a version 3. That said, we hear that Qualcomm is set to announce its Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 in December on a new Cortex base. That means we should get a "major" upgrade for Surface Pro X later in 2022.

I'm not sure which was my favorite of today's news. Surface Duo 2 is the most interesting because it has so much to prove this time. Can it do it? It's evident Microsoft is aware of that pressure. This version really seems like the one to get if you can afford it.

Surface Pro 8 is a slam dunk. I can't see how it doesn't sell exceptionally well and get excellent reviews. Surface Laptop Studio, I think, is also a hit along with that new Slim Pen 2 for both devices.

I'm glad Microsoft is going with this pull-it-forward design for Surface Laptop Studio. Same goes for taking the lead on haptic trackpads. That's the future of convertibles.

We will, of course, have much more coverage of all these devices in the coming weeks.

Let me know what you liked the most and what you found the most disappointing!