Microsoft Surface Laptop 7: Snapdragon X Elite powered laptop gets notorious 'frequently returned item' tag on Amazon ^↺

Last year, an Intel executive made a controversial statement about laptops powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips. She said they "suffer from high return rates", a stetement to be debunked by Qualcomm later. However, an Amazon listing for the recently announced Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 suggests there is some truth in Intel's statement.

It bears a "Frequently returned item" tag (H/T Windows Central), with Amazon recommending users to check reviews before committing to a purchase. A cursory glance at the Surface Laptop 7 review section reveals some interesting quirks. One user notes they've had trouble setting up an Android development environment on it. This is puzzling because the Snapdragon X Elite chip powering it is Arm-based.

Next, another user states they cannot stream Hulu in 4K. This is likely because the Surface Laptop 7 doesn't come with Widevine L1 DRM, which, once again, is puzzling. Even the Asus Vivobook S 15 bears the same tag. However, the reviews on this talk about shortcomings on the actual laptop and not the Windows on Arm platform in general, such as non-upgradable RAM.

While most users are satisfied with their purchase, it is clear that Snapdragon X Elite laptops still have some way to go before they offer an identical experience to the ones powered by Intel, AMD and Apple silicon.