Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 - Unique, expensive, and kind of lacking ...

[@Sergio124]

I use the Surface Laptop Studio 1 as a teacher. For that it is awesome. I can use it for teaching or to correct some homework of students. The good quality of the webcam and the awesome microphone are a huge plus for me.

[@bharat5194]

This is a good device for people who know they dont want to own or carry seperate devices. That's the purpose of this device. Once you understand this, then the price might make sense.

[@mynameissang]

As a uni student that gets way too much money with GI Bill, there's simply no other device like this. Full laptop experience, no ULV processor with compromised performance, seamlessly switch to pen for taking notes, roomy 14in screen for that purpose (it comes out to about the size of letter paper). The preorder sale even included 4 years of free accident coverage. Yes, it's stupidly expensive, but it simply has no competition for that niche.

[@ZAcharyIndy]

The battery capacity is a JOKE for that price and configuration

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Nonetheless, they have squeezed some very competitive run times out of it.

[@davidwong7283]

nowadays u need a laptop powerbank to give extra mileage ( + 50 USD ) . i am not concerned if there is a solution like this . take note also surface devices have a battery limiter function at 50% . if you are like me who is mostly plugged in , this is great . after 2 years , my surface studio laptop 1 is now at 97% battery health . its amazing really .

[@CowenGittens]

The price is actually justified. There's no other laptop/convertible with those specs.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

True, if you really want that flippy-screen functionality, than the Surface Studio is your only option. But I still feel like they cut some corners at that price point.

[@kilacore3868]

@@NotebookcheckReviewsatp they don’t want to make the perfect laptop

[@galekeoma7276]

While I think the price can be justified for those who just so happen to want a tablet and a laptop, I think that the price being what it is-is downright robbery.

[@jamesrichardson645]

Was there any audio popping on your model? I have had two Surface Laptop Studio 2's (16gb ram rtx 4050), and both have exhibited the problem.

[@tiemji]

This one I really like it, the price is high but versatility is too

[@alptaken_]

Does the response times make the pen unusable?

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Not at all. The pen experience was quite enjoyable. I do not think response times are connected to the pen experience.

[@davidwong7283]

@@NotebookcheckReviews according to Cbutters Tech the SLS2 is 35% worse than SLS1 in terms of ghosting . u cant game on this sls2 .

[@farishanafiah8461]

While it is a much-needed improvement over the first-gen model, I'm still not sure if I like this over the Surface Book. What I still love about the Book is the ability to easily detach the screen as a normal tablet if I don't need the dGPU and the keyboard. It's not possible to do so with Laptop Studio, and that's a huge bummer. As much as I love this laptop, I think I'll stick with the Surface Pro 9 instead.

[@steveellsworth2547]

While I agree the laptop has a use in some settings, it is lacking. The screen response time is around 23ms. If you call Microsoft Tech Support, they will let you know.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Or you watch our video until the display section ;) We actually measured even more than that.

[@steveellsworth2547]

@@NotebookcheckReviews Apologies if you noted that. I thought I had stayed through the video. If missed on the exact value, my apologies.

[@camilstoenescu]

The base being quite tall makes it uncomfortable to type.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Have you tried it? It's definitely not the most comfortable base, but not terrible either.

[@g1981c]

no HDMI for a machine with with RTX graphics is a major oversight ...

[@Havanu81]

Priced like a Macbook Pro, less performance than a Zenbook Pro 14 and inferior in every way except perhaps build quality. Hard pass.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

It is indeed a tough sell at this price point.

[@chr0n0tr1gger3]

The device has incredible performance. Equivalent to a MacBook. I think the problem is armatures. Not everyone is a hardware specialist I guess. Especially the one’s complaining about performance. How about you figure out how this device works before reviewing performance. All it takes is 2 clicks. One in the power settings and one in the NVidia setting. Incredible performance after that. These settings are turned off as defaults to allow longer battery life. If you are going to be doing task that require high GPU and CPU usage then you might as well do it at home while connected to power. Even a Mac will drain your battery if you try to process a 1 hour video. Yes a Mac is more efficient and does have longer battery life, but seriously where are your touch features. Surface studio is 3 times better for graphic designers. Processing video use a Mac.

[@AhmadQ.81]

Would be great to have a 16 inch version with 4080 rtx option

[@Enchancher]

The Screen itself literally looks like a giant iPad Pro

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

True, did not even notice that before

[@DuneDee]

Where's that wallpaper from?

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

I found it on unsplash.com

[@scottdpeterstv]

Please review the 2024 16' Hp Spectre with the 4050 and intel Ultra chip to compare to this

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

I think we have one coming already! ;)

[@scottdpeterstv]

@@NotebookcheckReviews Oooh, can't wait. Really curious what the TGP is on the 4050. Seems like a great comp to the 4050 ver of the SLS2.

[@devils13]

Trying to decide between Surface Studio (32G and 4050) and a ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024 with 32G and 4070). Surface Studio is a much better user experience and the one I will probably keep. Benchmarks aren't everything

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

User experience is definitly a very big factor, that is often overlooked. What do you like more about the surface tho?

[@devils13]

@@NotebookcheckReviews Keyboard is better and touchpad is miles ahead. Haptic is so good. Click anywhere and no rattle. Other than that, the convenience of the touchscreen and multiple positions is a plus. Also, I mostly use it on my lap on the couch and it runs cooler than the G14. G14 is a hell of a machine. Much better specs but something about using the Surface that has me hooked and probably worth the extra $200 that I paid. Love the channel!

[@tride.design]

Good review, just get ROG flow x13 2023 instead of this, thank me later.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

I think I would rather go for something like the Zenbook Pro 14.

[@michaelrads1365]

Thank You

[@andyH_England]

No one is yet to convince me that 2-in-1 devices like this with their obvious compromises are a better option than a laptop and tablet combo. I spent 15 years carrying two devices around and it did not ruin my life, so the convenience of one unit is an overplayed hand. I am no fan of MS products, they are nice and all in quality but MS appears to be barking up the wrong tree with the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Studio. I think they have had a chance and the market has no interest in them apart from a niche following. I am sure some people will think they are great, but give me an MB Pro 16 M3 Pro and an iPad Pro 12.9 M2 combo for a slightly higher price, and I would be far more productive. Or a Windows combo if you do not like iOS or need specific Windows apps (say Dell XPS 17 and Galaxy Tab S Ultra). Easy pass.

[@danielfransix]

Ain't nobody ask you all that

[@applepulse]

Flow x16 is so much better that this Performance is so poor😑

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

I think they are both very different devices

[@DuneDee]

The Flow X16 has a terrible pen experience, plus folding the screen all the way around and having the keyboard face-down on a desk made me cringe. I sold mine for a Surface Laptop Studio 2. The screen latency is my only problem with it, it's excellent otherwise.

[@rey6253]

The price thou 😂, not sure how many items they will sell like that. they can not compete Macbook Pro Max, hence price is a bummer

[@taupangnang1245]

Actually i prefer this thing more than Macbook pro, it's very helpful to have this kind of form factor for an artist or 3d modeller...BUT!! Because of the price tag, at the end we will chose MacBook Pro if we have that much money 😂

[@rey6253]

​@@taupangnang1245exactly that is my point, price tag. 😅

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

I do not think this competes only with macbooks, but I would have to agree that at this price point, there are a lot more capable machines. But that also holds true for the Macbooks.

[@JimKanaris]

Way overpriced for what it delivers, in my opinion. Also, I can't get used to the base of the chassis. Pass (for me). Thanks for the review, though!

[@gawa7114]

Surface book design makes more sense.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to use one, but it looked intriguing!

[@j.p.9522]

Surface Book > Surface Laptop Studio

[@lars2894]

Returned mine after getting 3-4 hours of battery life while simply web browing and using the pen, not even the GPU. (3h at max brightness outdoors, 4h at medium brightness indoors) Horrible product.

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

That seems surprisingly short.

[@fahimijimi]

Same just charge d my brand new out of the box sls2 and after installing premiere and Photoshop its down 20%, not what I would expect for a £2000+ laptop

[@eduardogarcia8654]

Thickkkkkk

[@NotebookcheckReviews]

Sure is! :D

[@toronado455]

_T H I C C_

[@marcinb.8664]

I think You dont have to be so plastic in what You saying... I have Surface laptop studio 1. Bought it after surface book 3, book2 and suface pro 4. Not worth it. Never any surface again. Microsoft kills the good idea after book3. Also how to work on the small screen ? Where is the bigger version. I am an interior architect, im also using rendering software, photoshop, indesign sometimes sketchbook. I guess they promote this kind of laptop for me. So I can clearly say dont buy this s.

[@albrecht-sebastianwitte-re4280]

It's a shame there is no iGPU/32GB variant, so one has to aim for an RTX 4050 and a 1TB drive to get this RAM size. As much as I despise Apple and their infantilizing attitude towards their clients, they still got you covered in terms of configurations, allowing for a MacBook Pro with a 16Core-GPU M2 Pro, 32GB of RAM and 512GB of NVM. But then again, the latter will probably lose against an RTX 4050 in the graphics competition, while getting rather close to the price of the most affordable 32GB SLS2. And of course there is no such thing as the Surface Laptop Studio's versatility in Apple's portfolio. So chances are a 32GB/1TB/RTX4050 SLS2 will be my next machine once there is a reasonable offer which allows me to get well below 3000€ including the pen. I just hope that Microsoft will address the abysmal DPC latencies in future UEFI/firmware updates. In the Surface Laptop 5, they managed to do so.