The Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 Review: Surface Essentials
by Brett Howse on March 28, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Microsoft
- Surface
- Surface Laptop
- KBL-R
- Surface Laptop 2
Final Words
Prior to the launch of the Surface Laptop in 2017, every Surface device had a trick up its sleeve. Whether that was the kickstand and removable keyboard of the Pro, the detachable display of the Book, or the amazing display and hinge of the Surface Studio. Surface Laptop offers no tricks. It just wants to be a laptop. Does it succeed? Yes, mostly.
The design of the Surface Laptop 2 is fantastic. Microsoft has achieved the thin-bezel look, while still keeping the webcam and Windows Hello IR camera properly located in the upper bezel. The laptop is thin and light, and very easy to carry around. Although it shares the same display size as the Surface Book 13.5, it’s significantly lighter, making it easier to take on the go. The 3:2 aspect display also provides the laptop with great proportions, and a display that fills the entire space, rather than a large chin on the bottom.
Microsoft makes some of the best laptop keyboards around, and the Surface Laptop 2 is no exception. The keys have a great feel, and the Alcantara keyboard deck provides a really comfortable surface to rest your wrists on. Added to this is the excellent trackpad, which is right-sized and very responsive.
The performance jump from the original Surface Laptop is significant, thanks to the quad-core Kaby Lake Refresh based processor options, and buyers can choose a Core i5 or Core i7 to suit their needs. Microsoft has also dumped the 4 GB RAM option for this generation, which is a welcome change. There’s plenty of storage options available to fit different budgets too, from 128 GB to 1 TB, but make sure you buy enough upfront, since the BGA SSDs are soldered on.
The battery life is likewise excellent, with Microsoft managing to squeeze an incredible amount of runtime out of a relatively small battery.
The new matte black color scheme available with this generation is also a stunner, and looks even better than the matte black did on the Surface Pro 6. The glossy black Microsoft logo on the top adds a touch of character and contrast, and really rounds out the look.
The real controversy with the original Surface Laptop is unfortunately not fixed though. Offering just a single USB port is a strange decision, since it is not very user friendly. It would have been very refreshing to see Microsoft replace the Mini DisplayPort connector with a USB Type-C like they did on the Surface Book 2; but for reasons that are only known to the design team, they’ve chosen to keep this sore spot around with this generation. Microsoft has been slow to adopt this port, which is definitely a mark against this laptop, and precludes being able to charge it with the same charger as a phone, which would be a real benefit while travelling.
The display is also not quite as nice as the other Surface devices in its price category. Both the Surface Pro and Surface Book offer a higher pixel density, along with an Enhanced color option that the Surface Laptop 2 lacks. Considering all of these devices are similar in price at the low end, it would have been nice to see the Surface Book’s excellent 13.5-inch panel used here rather than a unique one for the Surface Laptop 2. It still offers a better display than most notebooks, just not quite as good as other Surface devices.
Overall, the Surface Laptop 2 is an easy laptop to fall for. It offers great styling, a good display, and the Surface touches such as a touch display, great keyboard, and great design. Some people won’t be able to live with a single USB port though, and that decision will knock this laptop out of consideration for those users. But if you don’t need a lot of connectivity, the Surface Laptop 2 is a fantastic device and worthy of consideration. The pricing is generally $100 more than the equivilent Surface Pro though, and that price gap expands significantly at the top end of the range to $400 more for the Surface Laptop for a 1TB Core i7 with 16 GB of RAM. That's a steep price hike over the Surface Pro 6, and is possibly why Microsoft sells far more Surface Pros than anything else in their lineup.
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damianrobertjones - Saturday, March 30, 2019 - link
Buys a usb to usb c cable for a few pounds. Connects his phone and gopro. Carries on with life.Chrispy_ - Friday, March 29, 2019 - link
These are still utterly unserviceable, utterly impossible to upgrade, and have the terrible combination of very high price and one of the worst and shortest warranties legally permitted.Watch a video of someone trying to repair one and then ask yourself why you'd support idiocy like that, at your own cost - Ifixit teardown of the Surface Laptop 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eShF-PFQfAk
mrboonmee - Friday, March 29, 2019 - link
how would you plug into 4K TV? DisplayPort isn't always perfect for this and not even DisplayPort? Lame. What are good alternatives?dickeywang - Friday, March 29, 2019 - link
So basically, when in comparing with the matebook x pro, the surface notebook has a weaker GPU, lacking of thunderbolt port (for eGPU)/type-c USB, a worse display but costs $700 more?LOL
PS, Huawei custom service is also better(at least in mainland China), e.g. you can buy a SSD with larger capacity and ask the custom service to replace it with the smaller one.
peconi - Saturday, March 30, 2019 - link
And still no thunderbolt. Why?VictorBd - Saturday, March 30, 2019 - link
Love my Surface Laptop 2. It’s elegant, light, snappy, and it just works. Love the keyboard and Surface Connect and dock. Easily drives 32” 4K 60hz external displays at home & office, while also perfect on the go. I also prefer USB-A and the fabric deck. Tried Asus, Samsung, Dell XPS, HP - nothing else provided me an all around balanced, light, reliable, package. And I get amazing first party service from the Microsoft store. Glad this is in my inventory.InvidiousIgnoramus - Sunday, March 31, 2019 - link
The only laptop that is literally impossible to repair.ballsystemlord - Sunday, March 31, 2019 - link
Only 1 typo, keep it up!"A few players, such as Huawei, have skirted the issue by adding a NVIDIA GeForce MX class GPU, but the added cost and complexity of that is not something that many manufacturers have gone."
Should be "done" not "gone" at the end of the sentence.
"A few players, such as Huawei, have skirted the issue by adding a NVIDIA GeForce MX class GPU, but the added cost and complexity of that is not something that many manufacturers have done."
amosbatto - Friday, April 5, 2019 - link
It is very irresponsible for Anandtech to do a long review of a product like this and not mention that it is literally impossible to repair without destroying the device. ifixit gave the previous version of this laptop a repairability rating of 0 out of 10.https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+...
A lot of people are going to buy this laptop and discover in a year or two that they are screwed when something fails. A key on the keyboard stops working, and you have to throw away the entire laptop because the keyboard can't be replaced. The motherboard dies and it is impossible to get your data off the machine, because the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. The battery will start to degrade after 500 full charge and discharge cycles, so you have to throw away the machine after a couple years of use or accept that you can only use it for an hour or two without being plugged in.
Every Anandtech review should mention the fixability of a device in its reviews, because that dramatically changes the longevity of a device. A laptop which costs $500 but lasts 2 years is more expensive per year than a laptop which costs $700 but lasts 4 years. Anandtech should be an advocate for consumers, not the advocate for the planned obsolescence being pushed by the hardware industry. At the very least Anandtech should forewarn consumers so that they know that they are getting planned obsolescence when they buy a Surface laptop.