Microsoft Surface Laptop 4: Design
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is every bit as beautiful as its predecessors. This review covers the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 4, one of the thinnest and lightest laptops. It is 0.57 inches thick and weighs 2.79 pounds (1.3 kg), making it easy to carry in your luggage while commuting.
Aluminum lids have no flex. The hinge is so sturdy that you don’t have to reposition your screen or support it with your other hand when you poke the display, unlike many other touchscreen laptops. This makes using the touchscreen easier and less of a gimmick, something other laptop makers may learn from.
Even if the laptop’s top is robust, the keyboard deck is about comfort. As usual with the Surface Laptop, the keyboard and trackpad are covered in plush Alcantara. Instead of harsh metal like other computers, it’s squishy, making typing easier straight away.
Surface has a drawback. It seems like this material would be tougher to clean if you spill anything or have crumbs on it during lunch. It should be OK if you’re hygiene-conscious and don’t stuff your face while attempting to finish the morning assignment.
The slim size’s lack of ports is a major drawback. Only the right Surface Connect port, USB-C, USB-A, and headphone jack are here.
The Surface Laptop 4 display is stunning. A 3:2 PixelSense display with 2,256 x 1,504 resolution is ideal for the 13.5-inch model. Watching 16:9 movies and videos on this laptop is odd since you get two black bars.
This laptop is easy to write on and has ample of travel despite its tiny design. Even the MacBook Pro’s keyboard, our favorite before this one, is inferior.
Knowing the speakers are down there makes the keyboard’s deep travel even more unexpected. Microsoft’s design philosophy prohibits visible holes (not ports). Fine speakers. These speakers can play music, but they’re not media players.
Large bezels keep the laptop’s design ideal. They appear like a five- or six-year-old laptop. The bezels don’t ruin the experience, although this laptop may appear outdated compared to the Dell XPS 13.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4: Performance
With its Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor and 16GB of RAM, the Surface Laptop 4 can handle any task we throw at it. The Surface Laptop 4 continues to run well even after we filled it to the brim with literally hundreds of Chrome tabs. We were also able to listen to music on YouTube, talk on Slack and Discord, and watch videos.
The fact that the Surface Laptop 4 can do all of that without slowing down while running on battery power is what makes it so remarkable, even though the majority of laptops these days should be able to do so.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4: Battery Life
If the Surface Laptop 4’s battery life lived up to Microsoft’s predictions, it would be very long. Regretfully, we discovered that the actual figure was more like 11–13 hours. Even so, that’s hardly much to be excited about.
The Surface Laptop 4 lasts 13 hours and 20 minutes in the PCMark 10 Home Office battery test, which mimics a range of activities from word processing to video conferencing. Although it falls short of Microsoft’s 19-hour claim, it’s still more than plenty to carry you through all but the longest international trips.
In our movie playback test, the Surface Laptop 4 performs a little worse, lasting 11 hours and 2 minutes. That’s still not awful, however, and it should last you the duration of a substantial Netflix binge with the Surface Laptop 4.
The Surface Laptop 4 represents a significant generational upgrade when you take into account that the Surface Laptop 3 only lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes in the PCMark 8 battery test. In fact, the Surface Laptop 4 surpasses the Dell XPS 13 by a full two hours.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4: Software and Features
The finest feature of all Surface devices, like as the Surface Laptop 4, is that Windows 10 comes pre-installed and ready to use.
Because there is no bloatware to be found, the laptop starts up quickly every time and you don’t have to spend the first hour using it removing or deactivating startup apps. To be honest, that’s almost plenty for us to suggest this laptop at first.
You may easily personalize the Surface Laptop 4 since, in contrast to the original Surface Laptop, it comes with a complete Windows 10 installation (no S-Mode).
There is a free Windows 11 update available for the Surface Laptop 4. Nevertheless, because we completed our assessment of the new operating system before its release, we were unable to test with it.
Final Thoughts
Unquestionably one of the greatest laptops available for writers is the Surface Laptop 4. Typing on this gadget is a breeze, thanks to its plush keyboard and cozy Alcantara material.
Working on papers and spreadsheets is a dream come true with the Surface Laptop 4’s 3:2 aspect ratio. The more vertical area on this little screen lets you view more of what you’re working on.
There are four distinct color choices for the Surface Laptop 4, and each one looks fantastic. You won’t be embarrassed to flaunt this laptop at your neighborhood coffee shop.
Even the 15-inch model of the laptop has U-series CPUs, so you may want to hunt for anything with an H-series chip if you need to perform a lot of gaming or video editing.
