Microsoft's new Surface Laptop 8 is very good, but too expensive with at least $1599
Microsoft updated its Surface Laptop 8 and we just reviewed the base model with the 13.8-inch IPS touchscreen. It has an RRP of $1599, which includes the new Snapdragon X2 Plus ARM processor from Qualcomm (X2P-64-100), 16 GB RAM as well as 512 GB SSD storage. For $1699, you get the Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-78-100), which we reviewed in the new Surface Pro convertible. The performance difference (both in terms of CPU as well as GPU performance), however, is very small and does not really justify the higher price. Business customers can also get Intel's Panther Lake CPUs including the Core Ultra X chips with much faster Arc B390 iGPUs, but we have already talked about this before.
But back to the Surface Laptop 8, which is a very good everyday laptop with sufficient performance, a decent IPS touchscreen with 120 Hz, good input devices, good speakers as well as long battery runtimes. The big issue is the price, especially considering rivals like the Asus Zenbook A14, for example.
Priced at $1349, you can get the Zenbook A14 with the faster Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-88-100) with 6 additional CPU cores, higher clocks and also the faster Adreno X2-90 iGPU. You can also get the SKU with 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD for $1799. If you want the Surface Laptop 13.8 with this memory equipment, you will have to pay $2649. In terms of mobility, the Zenbook A14 has the advantage of the much lower weight, because it tips the scale at just under 1 kg. Microsoft's Surface Laptop manages a longer battery runtime in our Wi-Fi test at 150 nits, while the Zenbook has an advantage at full brightness (even though we have to be fair and say that the maximum brightness of the A14 is lower).
When it comes to the display, we have a competition between an OLED screen without touch and the IPS touchscreen. Microsoft's Surface Laptop with an aspect ratio of 3:2 is better for productive tasks, and there are no problems with PWM flickering. The OLED screen of the Zenbook A14 only features the Full-HD resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels, 16:10) and just 60 Hz, but offers better image quality with deep blacks, higher contrasts and crisper colors.
There are good arguments for the Surface Laptop, but the price is an issue and the additional price over the Zenbook A14 with the much more powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite and Adreno X2-90 iGPU is hard to justify. If you are interested in the new Surface Laptop, we recommend you wait until the shops start to offer discounts, which should not take too long. Please see our comprehensive reviews for more information about the two Snapdragon X2 devices:
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