Surface Laptop 7 Long Term Review

[@JustJoshTech]

🎉 Surface Laptop 7 13: bestbuy.7tiv.net/oq1GBb 🛒 Surface Laptop 7 15: bestbuy.7tiv.net/Wq7e5M 👉 All Our Favorite Laptops: www.justjosh.tech/best-tech/ 💻 Which Surface Laptop to buy? kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z52ZqaSQmt2NjMk

[@73zhong]

Hope you share one for me, now am broke

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@73zhongHe probably will, just pay for it... Oh wait! 😂

[@cameroncalvert3502]

Did you use ARM software instead of x86/x64 apps when possible? Its my understanding that non native is a big difference maker.

[@canrb]

I got my surface laptop 7 in the base config since 2 months. I use it for my daily tasks and studying. I also work as a Software engineer, and every tool and app I used before my surface laptop 7 on a x86 laptop runs on it natively. Docker, Visual Studio Code, etc. Very energy efficient and very portable. Because I use it for daily tasks (watching youtube, listening to music, watching movies and series), I also wanted to have good integrated speakers, and for my own use case they are more than I could have asked for.

[@enronmusk-k1d]

Zen 5 engined Surface laptop in this format would be a killer! Finally a true macbook challenger without any compatibility issues

[@DT-vc7hd]

thinking the same

[@dgillies5420]

Asus S16 zenbook. Mine arrived (365 model) yesterday!

[@da_volkov]

go buy yourself Zenbook 14

[@shrimpgordita]

​@@dgillies5420any heat issues for light tasks?

[@nhanNguyen-wo8fy]

​@@dgillies5420 if your laptop is slimmer than macbook air, then you doing it wrong.

[@jacksonprovance7841]

Definitely buying one of these for college... I have a built PC but really need a laptop that can still handle a little bit. This one looks the most clean and best performer for the price overall.

[@portraittogo1567]

You should not do that. You can't use lots of apps and there is no pen for this laptop -.-

[@apoorvmishra2973]

@@portraittogo1567but why I liked this laptop too and wanted to buy it

[@adarcohen3103]

I wish there were a Surface Laptop 7 version with the new AMD HX series.. The Snapdragon compatibility issue is a huge dealbreaker

[@SarthakNarnaulia]

i wish but there wont be one with AMD (till date). new intel lunar lake seems to good if it can deliver on its promises ... "if" and there would be a surface laptop with lunar lake

[@AyoHues]

@@SarthakNarnauliaTbh I’ve been disappointed with the performance per watt and battery life of the Zen5 equipped laptops so far. Marginal improvements at best over Meteor Lake. I’m beginning to wonder if against all expectations, Lunar Lake might turn out to be the best SoC for premium thin and light notebooks like this. Not long to find out. Have to confess I most certainly did NOT have buying an Intel powered Microsoft Surface in 2025 on my bingo card! 😅

[@PKperformanceEU]

Lunar lake is for cheap garbage 1000bucks laptops! Arrow Lake is the new x86 boss with significant efficiency improvements ​@@AyoHues

[@SarthakNarnaulia]

@@AyoHues agreed. but zen 5's battery life / performane per watt is equal to snapdragon x elite. just choose zen 5, or m series or just use your current laptop until you find your "dream laptop/ soc"

[@christianr.5868]

@@SarthakNarnaulianot really

[@mauricesoffer8936]

I work in IT and was setting this up for a client of ours… it doesn’t like printer drivers… had to use the windows generic printer drivers

[@ViorelIanasi]

You can use UPD (Universal Printer Drivers). For example Konica Minolta C287 doesn't have Windows 11 ARM.drivers listed but by going and searching on newer models and downloading the Universal Printer Driver, it works as expected with all the features. Other manufacturers have UPD too.

[@henrik2975]

I have had the Surface Laptop 5 , 15” for a year now , and loving it. 5 hours real life battery life, only office work, Outlook\Edge etc. and 6 hours netflix loop on 70% brightness , may beat the SL 7 on versatility. (X86) 😊😊😊 love your work…

[@JamesJohnson-sk3cd]

Windows ARM officially DOA...

[@gtibruce]

How good are the speakers?

[@henrik2975]

@@gtibruce i would say pretty good

[@zoltrix7779]

@@JamesJohnson-sk3cd I think it still had a chance until Core Ultra series 2 was released. We shall see, Qualcomm needs to get out desktop class processors that work with GPUs and get quick smart on their series 2 chips...

[@КонстантинК-ш9щ]

I have Surface Laptop 4 (AMD), 13,5" and I get about 9+ hours of watching movies.

[@billdonaldson5714]

I think the battery life comments are fair because they were based on Josh’s actual use, which was explained in the video. However, I submit that most people who are using their laptops every day have the brightness turned down. Mine is always between 50 and 70 percent because of the great improvement in battery life. Nor do most people use the laptop continuously so that it never shuts off the screen. Other reviewers of Snapdragon devices have reported much better battery life than Josh, but if you look and listen carefully to most reviews, they specify that their measurement of battery life was with brightness turned down to 50 percent, which is the most common practice for reviewers doing reviews of laptops, whether Apple or Windows. This is not hidden from the public and I don’t consider it unfair or misleading.

[@justinnl4332]

Brilliant insight! I use my laptop with 30 % brightness and I am perfectly fine. Guess I'm gonna squeeze even more life from battery 😁

[@auntcleo1997]

Laptop 7 15" here. I have the brightness on auto adjust. Hasn't been a problem for me so far. I've had it for over a month, and for my use caseI'm averaging about 15 hours over 2 days.

[@neodidi]

Yeah.. This is true.. My laptop screen brightness doesn't go over 45% most of the time.. Whether plugged in or on battery.. In fact, sometimes when the room isn't as bright maybe cause it's a cloudy day, I use my screen at 40% brightness.. I try to match my screen brightness close to the room brightness to avoid eye strain.. And I always take a break from it every 45mins to do a quick stretch.. So yeah... I would have gone for these snapdragon laptops right now since I am looking, only if their gpu performance was good.. Even close to macbooks, cause of tools like blender.. For the other tools I use... Affinity Designer, Penpot, Figma, etc.. These would work. But for Blender 3D and FL Studios... I am not sure.. And these are tools I use a lot.. Yeah Macbook Pro will be good for these, maybe apart from blender when compared to Nvidia offerings.. I just am not a fan of Mac OS.. I just prefer windows.. And yeah.. I've looked at other laptops powerful enough.. I just like the efficiency and sleekness of the snapdragon PCs.. But I'll have to consider something else at this point.

[@AlexGFrank]

Very much depends on the screen itself, as well as the coating and surrounding light. TP X1 Yoga g7 and X13 g1 owner here. Depending on the time of the day, i usually run the screen on Yoga at anywhere from 50 to 100%, and even that is sometimes not enough, whereas on the X13 i just keep constant 90%, and it's enough for indoor use

[@omonighoprogressoghenetejiri]

​@@neodidiYeah blender works on the snapdragon PCs, just that their GPU isn't as good Probably you should get a MacBook, that's the only thing that'll give you good battery life and GPU

[@VladdyDaddy369]

The most accurate review of the SL7 out there, 100% spot on! I really like your style, Josh. Your channel is one of the very few that I don't have to watch on 1.25 or 1.5x speed. Fantastic delivery, structure and overall production! Kudos and cheers!

[@jazenka99]

I haven't had one issue with the Lenovo 7x snapdragon for typical non-tech enthusiast work. The build quality is great, the screen perfection, and the battery life superb.

[@JustJoshTech]

Thats good, i'm very glad you like it. Thats what matters the most. Also yes, these X processors are very good for typical non-tech work

[@arainla]

I also went with the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x. I’ve been loving it. I don’t game but run a IT dept and this laptop is quick, slim and light, with amazing battery life. I wanted the Surface laptop but the Lenovo was cheaper and the OLED screen is great to look at. I just went to Best Buy and bought it so I need to upgrade to Windows Pro to join our domain. Also need to figure out how we install our corporate Sophos AV suite and other software which I know some will be a challenge and I hope we can get there to make this laptop the standard for our travelers.

[@MrWh4327782]

I just wish they could make a more tradition cooler on that model, I like the bigger 14.5 inch screen and the keyboard feeling. It is a great laptop.

[@dtordeurs]

@@JustJoshTech how is the trackpad?

[@dtordeurs]

@@arainla how is the trackpad?

[@SarimAshrafi]

My MacBook Air M3 also gets noticeably warm with Magsafe 70W

[@abdinasirmusa8777]

Do you have sluggish MS office as well. I am having spinning rainbow with excel and word.

[@CalmDinosaur-jz9ej]

I hear you but that’s a sincerely high power draw for a battery cell to not heat up. I know this because it utilizes at least 65w of those 75. If you could just use a 45w brick, you’d feel a significant drop in heating and overall charging time would’t change that much cause all Apple devices lower the current after around 60% top up.

[@agoogleuser7147]

You said laptop gets warm when charging with type c, I also noticed it happening with surface dock 2 connector. Additionally, I would find the laptop after charging a few hours with lid closed (in sleep) while while connected to dock 2 connector it would be extremely warm and fan audibly running. I also noticed many graphic glitches mainly while connected to external monitors. MS Teams (arm version) had many glitches with worst being it needing reinstall multiple times because couldn’t open it (even after reboot). Note - I have no issues to this date with my surface pro x, so it leads me to believe its processor issue as windows on arm works pretty solid on that device.

[@alex75hgft]

Worth mentioning windows hello, face login is a very nice feature.

[@iz723]

Most modern laptops have that

[@firestormjupiter]

@iz723 but the main competitor, the macbook, doesn’t

[@water_aspirant]

You'll reconsider that when you walk into a microsoft store and there's an employee wearing your face

[@alex75hgft]

@@firestormjupiter I got a M1 16 inches, the big notch does not have face ID, when the iphone does. Go figure... Windows devices that have windows hello have no notch, and can login with your face. Apple needs to learn that trick

[@tones1161]

ill take an offline windows account over having windows hello anyday

[@gro967]

As long as it is not MacOS on that machine it’s actually usable 👌

[@Gambit166]

MBP 14 with M3 Pro chip and 18GB RAM was just on sale for 1,500 USD this past week. Incredible deal on an awesome laptop. Well worth the few hundred more compared to this Surface 7.

[@jameshuegli3534]

It’s also significantly heavier.

[@andyH_England]

Yes, it is much better than the X Plus which is very poor doing anything intensive and drains the battery worse than Intel during heavier tasks.

[@Gambit166]

@@jameshuegli3534 0.46 lbs is not "significantly" heavier.

[@josephle2381]

Yeah but people prioritize portability, which is why the sl7 or mba were created for.

[@CalmDinosaur-jz9ej]

@@jameshuegli3534mate more than 50% of the entire Windows app library will not be compiled for Arm for a good few years. Weight means nothing compared to being a sour early adopter.

[@ccroy2001]

This does look like a good laptop for me. I'm currently using a ThinkPad X1 Nano and a Chromebook as home computers (My job issues me a laptop and I only work off of it). Just wanted to mention it as a past Surface owner: It's nice to have the Surface Dock. It uses the Microsoft port so your USB ports remain free. I almost sold my dock on eBay, but keeping it around in case I go back to Surface.

[@n0rmal_gamer893]

I've got a question about the 4 hour netflix playback test with the Surface Laptop 7 13" with X-Elite processor. How did you conduct these tests? What settings where the laptops in and which playback quality did you chose? How bright was the display and how loud where the speakers? I didn't trust your test result because I've got the 13" with X-Elite and the battery life feels way longer than claimed in your videos. So I did my own test. 4 hours of netflix playback (The Office) at 40% brightness, 15% volume, laptop in recommended battery mode with 120 Hz at 2304x1536 with HDR turned off. I just used the settings I've used since I bought it and I'm most comfortable with. Laptop was at 83% after those 4 hours. 30% difference between your test results and mine. Would like to know if that is because of different settings used or anything else.

[@JustJoshTech]

It is 4k playback, at 200 nits of brightness, at best battery settings, at 60Hz. Our results are very inline with what we are seeing from similar Qualcomm laptops and other laptops across the board. We wouldn't publish them otherwise btw. Also check out our video coming next week on G16 Intel vs AMD, we cover Qualcomm there too, and you can see clearly in our measurements that in terms of power efficiency it is Apple > Zen 5 > Qualcomm > Intel & AMD Zen 3/4 . Qualcomm is definitely better than what came before it for Windows laptops, but it is no M3, and certainly no M4

[@n0rmal_gamer893]

Thanks

[@alysha10101]

I will 100% buy this if it’s silent!! I don’t know how fan noise isn’t more of a focus for manufactures - it drives me crazy! If it is silent I will buy it 100%! 🙌

[@isaaccummins828]

Geat vdieo. Clear, concise, and informative. You've got a sub from me.

[@pba7]

I have the device with SD X Plus. Like you said, for office use it's fine, but if you try to do more demanding tasks or even just casual gaming is impossible because of the poor GPU driver support from Qualcomm.

[@mickaelsflow6774]

Just curious, what's included in your casual gaming?

[@christianr.5868]

Emulation is 100 percent the way to do for gaming on this chip. It’s amazing for dolphin. And when switch gets native windows on arm support, this’ll eat it up

[@pba7]

@@mickaelsflow6774 CoD, FC24, CS2, Fornite, GI

[@jojonattas]

I am using this laptop for development only and its works fantastic for the price, I shall recommend this model for developers in your website

[@ianmentken8976]

The battery life on my Surface Laptop 7 is SIGNIFICANTLY better than what you are experiencing, Josh, I get maybe 2% drain per hour which means I can go all day and still have a lot left in the tank after several hours. FYI, I am running the laptop at 50% screen brightness on "Recommended" power mode.

[@andyH_England]

Mine is better than Josh's but no way you are losing 2% an hour using it as that would mean 50h SOT which is impossible. I get 8h on a good day. I do not use dark mode and have 120Hz (default is 60Hz). I does not include watching media, that boosts battery life. The battery is small compared to other Snapdragon's.

[@ianmentken8976]

@@andyH_England I don't use dark mode either, but my screen is set to 60Hz (perfectly fine for most tasks...I don't game, which I'm sure would drain the battery considerably). My daily use is mixed, like most people...MS Office, KZbin vids, light Photoshop, etc. Honestly, I'm astounded by the battery life of this machine. I do think the battery indicator can be inaccurate, but there is no doubt that I have maybe 70% to 80% battery remaining after a full day's use. I can comfortably go two days without recharging. Are you using yours in "Recommended" mode? What is your screen brightness set to? Could be that if you switched to 60Hz and 50% brightness you'd get much better battery life in "Recommended" mode, as I do.

[@andyH_England]

@@ianmentken8976 Maybe the QC of the Snapdragon chips are variable meaning a good one will get solid battery life and at the other end will get dissapointing SOT. Certainly looking at reviews of the Galaxy Book4Edge and SP11 neither are very good, so the hype does not translate to everyone. For the record, on my MB Air I get around 12h compared to 8h on the SL7 doing the same workloads. I do use 120Hz as I do a lot of browser stuff and Windows is choppy at 60Hz versus Macbooks.

[@justinnl4332]

I am interested in what are the numbers in battery saver mode. They must have been like 25% more 😮

[@auntcleo1997]

I get great battery life on mine but not that crazy good. For my use case, I get about 20% drain every 3 hours.

[@archaurore3323]

My biggest beef is that it comes only with Windows. I don't use Windows so only look for laptops I can put Linux on. I know it's not impossible to run a Surface laptop with Linux but after doing a quick investigation, it looks like it's kinda rough, with the possibility of some things not working. I wish more PC brands would support Linux as well.

[@AJonVolk]

Sadly I think as new Ryzen processor laptops come out in the 13-15 inch laptop range surface laptops will get left behind which is a real shame because it seems like everything else about them is amazing.

[@AJonVolk]

@Garrus-w2h it'll be interesting to see if it's pricing or compatibility that leads sales. If I'm buying a premium laptop I'm open to spending more money to get everything I want, but others might just want a nice device to watch KZbin on, I still feel like people will go for the x86 laptops despite surface laptops being a better deal.

[@eXis10z]

I’ll love to know how this stacks up against the HP Spectre 2024 as I’m considering between these 2 for my next laptop.

[@abhinandanbanerjee5471]

If Samsung discontinued their Galaxy Crap and instead integrated their ecosystem with the Surface laptop, that would be proper competition for the Macbooks.

[@Testimony201]

They would never ever do that.

[@eraditortv]

Are u genuinely that dumb?

[@cameronbosch1213]

They do though. Samsung (and other Android phones) work with the Your Phone app on Windows. As for Linuc, you've got KDE Connect, which is better with Android.

[@sydguitar99]

Why would they ever do that.

[@akamazjzjajz-ie3sw]

Why should they do that?​@@sydguitar99

[@ljlacierda8358]

Would you choose this over the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x?

[@Cybertron667]

No, I've got the Yoga Slim 7x ! Only 90hz but great OLED screen and size!! No haptic touchpad, but the touchpad is one of the best non-haptic ones and compared to the macbook 14 m3 I don't mis the haptic feedback on this one... I find the 14,5 16:10 display best overall size! Speakers are good, just not as good as the macbook pro m3's but it has a touchscreen :)

[@dgillies5420]

The screaming deal about the 7x is the 32gb/1tb model for just $110 extra!

[@Cybertron667]

​@@dgillies5420 Jup got that one 🎉

[@MrWh4327782]

I just don't like that colour, if they make a traditional black, silver, white, grey colour, I will buy it without the stupid Lenovo keyboard backlit setting. Year after years, they just don't want add backlit timeout setting in there keyboard. The backlit never go off if you not close it.

[@Cybertron667]

@@dgillies5420 idd!

[@Dragonblaster1]

I like playing older games like XCOM 2 and Hitman. Almost all my Steam games work absolutely fine on my 13.9" SL 7.

[@mihir.mishra]

We need more long term reviews.

[@FoxxFire]

I know sales vary and so you have to talk in terms of MSRP. However, surprisingly, both the Samsung Book4 Edge and Dell XPS 13 with the X Elite have gone on sale consistently for under $1k (right now the Sammy is $999 and the XPS is $899). Microsoft machines don't quite go on sale as often, for whatever the reason. With all that said, I love a longer-term review like this, especially with these new ARM chips where a reviewer might not notice issues in the first week or three of using a device. I hope you guys make more like this in the future. (BTW, I love that your channel is soaring in popularity. You freaking deserve it man. Your videos were so polished right from the start. And Sierra (or Cierra?) is so so so much better just a few short videos into her role. When she pops in, the video barely misses a beat. She was a little fast for me in the beginning, but I'm completely used to her speed now :)

[@iFiSiKz]

Can you do a best 2-in-1 laptops?

[@zobtastik]

Im waiting for the new lenovo legion 14" gaming laptop, last years was good, hopefully thell upgade it hard this year, might be a buy

[@aes1373]

I kind of wish they would make a "pro" version of their surface laptops. I know the surface studio exists, but that feels more like an "ultra" version of a surface laptop. A pro version with 14 and 16 inch screens, bigger battery and maybe a better gpu.

[@LearningAndGrowingInLife]

Loved the review Josh, you are a Godsend. Thanks for all your insights. I ended up getting the 13.8 inch surface laptop 7's plus snapdragon version with 16BH and 512GB SSD, especially thanks your insightful review on the surface laptop & your laptop recommendation for business/casual users. It's been good. Though not having OLED screen is a bummer, but a great premium package overall.

[@nina_ms]

I've been following your reviews to help me make an informed decision for my laptop purchase, and greatly trust your advice. One question that I am struggling with is the issue with external drives between macbooks and windows machines. Given that you tend to switch between a mac and various windows laptops, how do you deal with sharing drives between the two? Have you experienced difficulties with the mac not being able to read or corrupting hard drives in the exfat format?

[@alexs.5107]

Josh, stop being ridiculous by accusing other reviewers of dishonesty. Watch the battery tests they performed and judge them on their merits. You are the only reviewer who has reported battery life issues on the surface. All the other ones (including those who were not sponsored by Qualcomm) have quite positive reports on the battery life of the surface. I take your opinion with a grain of salt .

[@mrbobgamingmemes9558]

Yeah, most of people test with video playback which is vastly different compared to josh

[@shruble6288]

For me, it seems like he is actually dishonest, or trying way around to show snapdragon laptops from other side by manipulating with power settings or smth else. He is literally the only reviewer, it is very suspicious. Every other reviewer easily reaching over 12 hours😊

[@MarceloMelo-vm5el]

​@@almblxyou're losing 20% per hour? That doesn't sound right.

[@neroetal]

Then my Linux running on 8th gen does better at battery life @@almblx

[@kokabtasleem281]

He is an apple fan boy

[@lasue7244]

Can other Laptop 7 users chime in with their battery usage numbers.I just don't buy the 5hr battery claim. I have Intel 11th gen H series laptop with dgpu. And it gets around 4-5 hr on normal task (vscode, browser and video play, display at 144hz and 20% brightnessindoors). Unless Josh uses something demanding, always runs at 100% brightness or some un-optimised x86 chugging in the background, I dont buy 5hr claim at all

[@auntcleo1997]

I posted a comment elsewhere in here with some high-level details of my use case on an SL7 15". I'm getting around 15 hours over two days of usage. I am actively using the laptop for maybe 3 hours at a time.

[@ben2058]

I can go a week without charging with a few hours of usage a day. I normally see anywhere from 15-21 hours of battery life. This is the only time I have ever heard claims of bad battery life which makes me not trust this review all that much.

[@fierz805]

Was considering this laptop for mech at uni but was worried about software compatibility Does this laptop work with CAD or Solidworks? If anyone knows, your help will be appreciated!

[@pxncil4430]

i'm thinking you need a laptop with an actual dedicated gpu to run autocad and solidworks

[@verbon47]

lmfao if you use that, just buy a gaming laptop.

[@emrite193]

Im guessing yes but it might not run as fast bc it needs to emulate it to x64/x84

[@nimabaraty6553]

Love ur videos as always ❤

[@Virtgnid]

Charging via USB-C (with a high-wattage charger) might get warm because it is fast charging, the original 39-watts Surface charger will not have fast charging, it sometimes underpowers the X Elite system, M$ should definitely include the 65W Surface charger.

[@auntcleo1997]

The SL7 15" I have came with 65W Surface charger.

[@rolfm6186]

SL7 is your daily driver because you’ve not tested the yoga slim 7x yet:) They are the ones that should be compared

[@JustJoshTech]

Why do you say that? We have an entire video out testing all major Snapdragon laptops including Slim 7x

[@RYzE_B3Y0ND]

Can’t wait until the Lunar Lake variant to come out. One was just sold in China and has leaked online.

[@oalsrouji]

Love your reviews Josh! So how many hours of actual battery life should one expect with the X plus processor for continuous office work? I was hoping this would be my next devise for a portable laptop with long battery life!

[@steshaw6510]

I'd prefer an M2 MacBook Air if money was a problem. That's what I'm currently using as my only laptop. It mostly works well for software development. Occasionally I use my Linux desktop instead (remotely from my MacBook usually). I don't play games these days. I sometimes wonder whether a MacBook 14 base model would be value for money for this use case. I could do with some fans from time to time.

[@jimisnow]

Josh-thanks for the best and most objective review I have seen. I loved the SL7 until I hit a software compabililty issues with a company that makes great PDF OCR for window and now Mac but NOT arm based. That was a deal breaker. in my case

[@andyH_England]

No Google Drive for me is the killer so I had to keep my MB Air. Who knows how long it will take to get that compatibility?

[@matiasbarrios9365]

Does the fan ever stops? Or is it always running, even at its lowest speed?

[@rolih6]

I have both the new surface 7 laptop and m2 mac air… But overall macbook in nicer, better designed..

[@tuandao1564]

have you been able to print ? if so, what printer are you using? I have had no luck finding drivers for win11 arm for canon or hp printers.

[@shaneterrell]

I'm an Encompass (residential mortgage software) dev. I previously had a Robo & Kala (8cx Gen 3, similar to Surface Pro 9). While not lightning fast, it offered long battery life, no fans, and a great form factor for casual tablet use. It was also my travel work computer, including running Office, Encompass, Visual Studio, IIS, MongoDB Server, etc., in a pinch. The Encompass virtual printer driver didn't work, but it at least failed quickly, and I don't need that for dev work. On my Surface Pro 11, it's been a different story. The new Prism emulator tries too hard. 🤣It results in Encompass spending 10 minutes trying to install the virtual printer driver on each launch, so effectively the software is not usable. As a result, my Surface is a glorified Chromebook. I'm using an Asus ProArt PX13 with AMD's great Zen 5 HX 370 as my travel work computer now.

[@Incrediblysimplestudios]

I love this laptop but I want to be able to edit videos and occasionally play triple A games. Hopefully they are working on a surface book or studio that has qualcomm

[@AyoHues]

There’s never been a viable powerhouse creative & gaming laptop in the Surface range. But there are soooo many options with other mfrs, especially ASUS, Lenovo, Razer etc. And the Snapdragon range is a pretty weak iGPU. You need to go AMD & dGPU surely?

[@Incrediblysimplestudios]

@@AyoHues yes I know. I love the yoga pro 9i and the Asus pro art p16 but wish there was a surface answer to this. I don't want to just browse the Web and do light tasks. Those other laptops run windows. Wouldn't it be great to have a windows laptop power house built by windows

[@AyoHues]

@@Incrediblysimplestudios maybe but Microsoft have deliberately chosen not to compete in those segments. They position themselves as a business/general user brand. They use Xbox for their gaming brand. For global players like Microsoft, their strategy tiers are brand first, products after.

[@ZombieRofl]

1:06 In that case you can stop looking for something else, because besides a Macbook there is nothing that check all your boxes.

[@ja_sants]

Hi Josh! Just wondering if you know if statistical softwares such as STATA and NVivo would work/run in the Surface Laptop 7? Anyone who has experience using such softwares in the SL7 is welcome to give insights! Appreciate it, thanks!

[@Smittron]

Thanks for the video. Software summary - if it came installed on the laptop then it'll probably work but if it didn't then it probably won't work.

[@ryankwan1934]

Every time I look into something new and lighter weight to replace my M1 Max MacBook Pro 14, I just get disappointed. Right now, I'm using a Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Hybrid (Gen 5) beside my MacBook Pro 14. It's such a cool device that is hampered by Meteor Lake and glitchy software implementations. Apple is the only one who owns the entire stack and can make sure everything works smoothly together.

[@jb-gg7cd]

I am really hoping you will make a Zenbook S16 review. I am really interested in it.

[@brandonlight621]

Just got the 13-inch X Plus version. Why is no one talking about the downclocked RAM? Microsoft has no customer-facing document stating the speed (which should be 8448, but only runs at 7372). I'm sure its done for battery life, but seems anti-consumer to not publish the truth. I feel like I paid for performance I didn't get (no matter how small a difference it may make).

[@finalenglishguru6269]

Can we get Copilot features in full version in this laptop? Or similar to intel ultra processor laptop? Which one do you recommend for content creation?

[@chrism1051]

@josh, what battery did you get on the MacBook pro 14?

[@MichaelGGarry]

I'm going to guess massively more.

[@yogeshnaidu5819]

I have the X elite version and easily get enough juice to last more than a day easily!

[@sharalove4514]

Hi! Can you share your video editing app?

[@thenubianspeaks4329]

The Macbook Air's keyboard is the same as the one on your 14 inch macbook pro. I tested both at Bestbuy, so why did you eliminate it based on the keyboard?????

[@canrb]

No, they aren't. The Macbook Air has a much more shallow keyboard in comparison to the macbook pro modells. Two of my friends have a mb air and a mb pro and I had the opportunity to compare them.

[@Watchandlearn91]

The MacBook Air 13 M2 has been my favorite laptop I've ever owned and the surface laptop 7 seems to be the only real competitor in the windows world and I'm glad there finally is one. Maybe it'll cause Apple to stop charging $200 for upgrades to RAM and SSD or at least start their machines at 16GB. My guess is they'll keep it at 8 for a while longer or go to 12 just because they can.

[@MrWh4327782]

Don't do that if you get use to Mac OS, it is better for normal people's computing needs. Put it in this way, any software developer just need to consider MacBook Air 13, 15, Pro 14, 16, all these 4 models to design their App. Windows laptop is in a different world. It is good, but you always need to handle something different . About the base model 8gb, if you look at the same build quality windows laptop, with same quality display, speaker, keyboard, trackpad. They are not that much cheaper than 16gb MacBooks. Just build a better using habit, Command + Q, Command + W, close or quit things you don't actually use, you will save a lot of money on a base model MacBook Air. Normally you be able to get a 10% off when Mac go on sale. If you really really want 16gb which I totally understand cause I use to like that, I go for an apple refurbished one. It is same as new.

[@rolih6]

I have both surface 7 laptop and macbook air m2.. And surface is good it is close to macbook but still not as good…

[@shrimpgordita]

Would you take it over the Yoga Slim 7x? If so, why?

[@MrWh4327782]

I will. Better cpu, better screen and 14.5 is prefect to take out and big enough. The keyboard is better with 1.5mm travel, speaker is also same level, But IO is worse, and it is coming with that too blue collar for me. I just don't like that colour. oh, the not prefect straight lid is also an issue for me, I don't like the new Lenovo lid design. With apple's ugly notch, I could hide it by software plus the other space around the notch is the setting raw for Mac OS anyway.

[@arianacortez474]

Yes, I had a lenovo slim for a few months, which got bruised and bumped easily. A horrible cracked screen and geek squad breaking it more. It's like bodies are made of aluminum crap. I just bought a windows cuz the body looks sturdier.

[@proautoscan]

Will you test the Acer Swift 14 with Snapdragon ? It should provide a better battery life i think since it has a similar display but a larger battery.

[@viktoriahf]

Hi, I study engineering and was wondering if this one supports CAD? Thanks:)

[@xtrader5644]

How is Webcam quality vs the Mac air m3?

[@jayb3494]

Hey josh. What is your opinion on the Acer swift 14 AI snapdragon X plus Laptop. The specs are almost good. Will there be a review anytime soon?

[@Mathias_Beaufort]

You make a good job.

[@latinreuben]

Im comparing XPlus with MBP. Curious if any of Josh MacBook have broken down & if he repairs them or has Appoecare.

[@pinkdmag]

Just got mine and seeing if it matches up to my MBP

[@scosee2u]

If a macbook works for your needs, look for a used m1 14 or 16. They're very powerful and you can save a lot of money.

[@EagleFly360]

As far as battery goes just bring your charger with you. Many people do it anyways lol. It is unfortunate that battery life on most windows' laptop sucks and not everyone wants to use an macbook.

[@JustJoshTech]

Highly recommended if you're out for a full day

[@joshual9226]

Josh is the best reviewer on youtube

[@JustJoshTech]

Thank you!

[@tride.design]

Better get Asus ProArt PX13 instead of this one. For 500$ you get Nvidia rtx 4000 card inside, 16gb ram more, oled display, and 2-in-1 device with touchscreen and pencil support. Not to mention more powerful latest and equally efficient AMD Ryzen procesor that works with all Windows applications.

[@isuzu343]

All good specs. What's missing is the build quality and user experience. Asus makes some of the worst keyboards, TouchPad and chassis for modern laptops. They even ruined the promising Zenbook S16 by going for a pointlessly thin chassis which can now make omelettes while smothering the Zen5 chip inside. I wouldn't expect the ProArt PX13 to be any different.

[@andyH_England]

@@isuzu343 I cannot imagine buying an X Elite for 5-7 years with that subpar GPU so I would prefer the ProArt and maybe use a cooler when doing heavy loads at the office/home. Much more future-proofed.

[@rasundesilva6088]

@@andyH_EnglandI’m thinking of grabbing an Asus Zephruis G14 while they’re on sale

[@isuzu343]

@@andyH_England different use cases. I only care about the user experience, fan noise, display and ultra long battery. Snapdragons will. Hopefully catchup with the M-series in their second generation and I personally rate the build of Surface Laptop greater than that of the macbook airs.

[@harrys4800]

Need a proper comparison video from @Josh

[@michaelem7883]

Is there any compatibility website? i wonder if fusion 360 will work or sketchup. thanks

[@diotimaeidos]

What about the comparable yoga slim? That's the comparison I am interested in.

[@JustJoshTech]

We have alot of devices in, if we have a moment I'll cover that

[@da_volkov]

+1

[@rolfm6186]

Thats the comparison many people want:) me included

[@diotimaeidos]

Seems like yoga is lighter (huge for me -- aiming for MB air or lighter and the new SL7 feels heavy to me), bigger screen (though only horizontally, so not *that* useful for me), more powerful charger, less useful ports, I'm not sure if I'd like the OLED better or not -- no experience. But since windows laptops have been so bad, for so long, and MS has clearly been struggling to fix, and has a huge interest in fixing ... I trust MS a bit more. (Re: interest, my comparison class is Dell, and I think they are all terrible, in part because they are selling to IT departments, not users, and neither Dell nor IT cares enough about user experience ... not to mention, in this case, continuing to function well over time)

[@diotimaeidos]

​@@JustJoshTechThat would be so great! I would love to see video of the two side by side, to get a handle on the screens. I don't care about others, e.g. Dell, or whatever that one is with a numeric keypad on a laptop (yuck). I've felt the weight in store and it seems a big win for yoga to me. MS has long been better at clean, functional windows install -- is yoga ok there? Yoga keyboard actually felt nice to me -- both fine here, I think. I maybe should have focused on the trackpad more, but some things there take time to notice, e.g. palm rejection, as you've noted. Also: fan noise?? (I can't leave my MBAir for my old Surface laptop -- the fan and lagginess when warm... terrible). Are windows laptops *really* as snappy as mac again? E.g. just in office apps?

[@auntcleo1997]

Josh, not sure what your use case is but i get around 15 hours over two days. I'm in VS Code, Office, browser (Brave), Teams, for about 3 hours at a time. My brightness is left to auto-adjust. Sometimes it's at 70%, sometime less. 100% is waaaay too bright. Then again, everything i use is ARM native already other than one app.

[@JustJoshTech]

I hear you. And its good you have written this comment so others can read it. No laptop, we have gets that kind of longevity for the use case you have mentioned. Unless you are frequently closing the lid and not using it through the day. None of our 4 Surfaces get that kind of battery life. None of our Qualcomm laptops. Not even our MacBooks. In 250 laptop reviews, I have never seen a laptop get that kind of battery life on the applications you have mentioned. Not on Linux, not on MacOS, and not on Windows

[@JustJoshTech]

Btw not saying you're wrong, but we can't replicate that on any device, without parameters like what I said

[@auntcleo1997]

​@@JustJoshTechOther than getting into the weeds and detailing exactly what I do in each app, I'm not sure what else I can add but I'll try. Let's see, the bulk of my time is in VS Code, with 8 extensions. Teams chats are also going on so I flit back and forth. Outlook, I send maybe 6 or 7 emails a day, but receive a lot more. The other Office apps, Word, Excel, PPT, are opened when necessary, mostly for viewing docs and the occasional editing. I use Brave as my browser, but most of that is spent in either the Azure or AWS portals. The only x86 app I have (or need) is Citrix Workspace. The laptop is in 'Balanced' mode. I should also add, on days when I also have WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux for those that don't know) running, I'm sure I get a couple of hours less testing out stuff, and connecting my VS Code to the WSL session. Exactly how much less, not sure but I definitely haven't worried about it.

[@auntcleo1997]

​@@JustJoshTechMy previous laptop was a Dell XPS 9500 15" circa 2021 with a 4K display. At best I got maybe 3 hours before needing a power point. I get what people are saying about the Qualcomm efficiency not being as good as the Ms, but for me it's been night and day for my uses. I hope Qualcomm stays the course with the X series because it should only get better from here. Should.

[@da_volkov]

@@auntcleo1997 How much RAM do you have? Is 16GB enough for your use case?

[@elwii04]

Why is this laptop starting from 999usd in the US and 1.199€ in EU?

[@Johnny91832]

Is €1299 (roughly $1430 US dollars) for a 16gb 256gb X plus configuration overpriced? Doesn't get any cheaper than that. I like the surface the most compared to the other qualcomm laptops.

[@thisisalain]

maybe you cannmake a video what your motivation was to change vom corporate world to youtube

[@Luke-qs2cg]

At this point, I genuinely question why this over Samsung Galaxy tablets with dex? You get everything that's good about this, along with much better battery life, better displays, and a better price tag. Your hamstrung by windows on arm compatibility almost the same as you are with just using android. Not saying they are equivalent, but for the people who buy this, a galaxy tab s model in dex mode is likely to serve you just as well

[@lukas78655]

Does anyone know if there is the 1.199 € black version anywhere to buy in Germany/Europe? Can't find it anywhere :/

[@thenubianspeaks4329]

FYI Mr Tech, You must know that quite a few laptops with otherwise good thermala, get warm during charging!!!

[@sarunas8002]

6 hours ? wtf ? I program on macbook the whole day 8+ hours

[@adilrashid2838]

Hp specter 360 or Surface laptop 7 xplus? any possibility of pen support on SL7?

[@parthmatanhelia8304]

josh, I'm mad you haven't given us a full video on the xps 13 yet

[@MrWh4327782]

I think he just don't want see the Touch Bar😂

[@vasudevmenon2496]

Josh Microsoft haven't released it in India. Lenovo slim 7x starts at 1500$ and I don't wanna guess how Microsoft will price it maybe at 2000$. Screw off peasents. Ordered the ThinkPad p14s 8840HS at 1500$ with 1TB and 16GB dual channel and extra accidental warranty internationally.

[@icweener1636]

I wonder how this would compete when M4 comes out

[@ssb492]

I need some help. I could get a Yoga 7 with Ultra 7 155H for a reasonable 1100€ (32GB RAM, 1000 GB SSD, I need the 2 in 1). Should I wait for the new generation or is Ultra 7 155H good enough for most tasks? I feel like i am missing out on a lot, if I buy this right now.

[@JustJoshTech]

Wait. You are missing out on alot

[@mehmetalieser3789]

I wish you made a s16 review

[@JustJoshTech]

Coming

[@dgillies5420]

​​​​​@@JustJoshTechJosh after watching all the Snapdragon reviews and S16 reviews please consider the s16 conclusions that I reached! The s16 is thermally limited and the m890 is memory bus limited (and most of the m880/m890 gpu speedup is from +3% higher clocks and RDNA3.5). Therefore, you might as well buy the 365 model because you get a nice GPU bump and bottlenecks prevent the 890m from reaching its potential !! I got mine yesterday! For programming (just need a typewriter i can use on my lap with a big screen!). Many people mistakenly think it's a gaming machine and test this s16 at 34 w and return it to best buy, a mistaken usage! This laptop SINGs at 17w !!!

[@JustJoshTech]

@@dgillies5420 interesting. I'll pass that along

[@ElCarboon]

Gods this dude is good.

[@Bargarz]

How is it with pen support? I’m seeing around the traps that it doesn’t and many reviews are silent.

[@JustJoshTech]

This screen doesn't go right down. It would be very bad for using a pen with

[@wonow7674]

What about yoga slim 7x!?

[@RolandoVargasAguero]

I've been living with one of these for about a week now... using it everyday, for all sorts of tasks (mainly web development). and I've been very impressed. So far, I like everything about it. I had some concerns about it being a different windows architecture, but I've had no issues whatsoever.

[@MrWh4327782]

I have tested it before. I just don't like the colour and the screen lid, there is a bump.

[@SuperRomanHoliday]

dude hardly anyone jumps between pc and mac. IT's NOT the main choice. just compare PCs.

[@MichaelGGarry]

I do. All the software I use is on both platforms and I actually need access to both. I can't be that special....

[@Joske0000]

@JustJoshTech how do they perform for light programing tasks? Visual Studio for arm64?

[@PatonCavaney]

having issues with the touchpad scrolling & clicking simply not working for 5 seconds intermittently

[@bryankho]

I really want a windows laptop as I already have an M2 MacBook Air for work. But 5 hrs of battery life real world use is pretty disappointing considering the claims from Snapdragon. Admittedly I have been spoiled by Apple Silicon.

[@mahamib]

I have the same configuration as him, and I have a lot of tabs, using many installed PWAs, watching a lot of youtube, coding (React on VS code, .NET on Visual studio, and Codesys), and it drains around 9-10% per hour which is around 10-11 hours. If he claims to have 5 hrs of battery life, that would mean his laptop drains 20% per hour which is insane lmao. He might want to check what drains his laptop that much

[@bryankho]

@@isuzu343 thanks for the info! Funny I'm watching Alex Ziskind's video right now 😄.

[@arvandvarahram]

Look at it this way: he says the Surface gets never warm, you never hear the fan. Just wondering how could you end up with just 5 hours of battery?

[@kimochilover]

the clarity of the screen seems off in my opinion. not as clear as my old m1 macbook.

[@Chroniclez0930]

I can't choose between SP11 or SL7. Please help.

[@NMEofdaST8]

is 16gb of ram enough on these??