This is perhaps the most original Microsoft computer ever. What can Surface Laptop Studio do? [TEST]

In recent years, the Redmond company has accustomed us to hybrid designs. You can even mention the Surface Pro and Surface Book models, which could work both in laptop mode and – after disconnecting the keyboard – tablet. Surface Laptop Studio is another experiment with form, but Microsoft decided here for an even more original solution.

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Surface Laptop Studio – APPEARANCE AND FUNCTIONALITY

The Surface Laptop Studio screen is not bonded to the keyboard, but we cannot completely detach it from the base of the device. The display has been placed in a special hinged cover, which allows us to rotate it almost 180 degrees and set it in several different operating modes:

• laptop mode;
• creative mode where the screen rests flat on the keyboard;
• entertainment mode where the screen covers the keyboard and is close to the trackpad.

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In theory this design of the device is to enable us, among others more convenient use of the stylus. And it must be admitted that Microsoft performed this task in an exemplary manner. Both sketching and taking notes on the Surface Laptop Studio touch screen is very comfortable.

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Speaking of the stylus, it is worth adding that it is located under the laptop casing special magnetic cavity, which allows storage and wireless charging Surface Slim Pen 2.

Returning to the design of the laptop itself, the Surface Laptop Studio case is made of alloy aluminum and magnesium. The device seems very solid and durable. This also applies to the potentially most “sensitive” component of the design, the hinges that keep the display in check. These were additionally secured with a material coating.

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My only gripe concerns slight creakingwhich you can hear almost every time I open the top cover of my laptop. However, I do not rule out that the problem concerns only the one I am testing.

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Surface Laptop Studio – SCREEN

Surface Laptop Studio is equipped with a touch screen PixelSense Flow about resolution 2400 x 1600 px and 3: 2 aspect ratio. PixelSense displays have been one of the strongest points of the Surface series devices for years. It is no different in the case of the tested laptop.

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The screen offers brilliant color reproduction as well high contrast (1500: 1) and a very decent maximum brightness (500 nits). An additional flavor is also refreshing here 120 Hz, which definitely improves the smooth use of the device. As I mentioned earlier, the Surface Laptop Studio screen works great as a digital notebook and canvas. It is worth remembering that the Surface Slim Pen 2, necessary for sketching, is sold separately.

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Surface Laptop Studio – SPECIFICATION AND PERFORMANCE

As Microsoft itself claims, Surface Laptop Studio is a device aimed at professionals. We expect more from such equipment than from a standard home laptop – also in terms of performance. On paper, the specification is very decent here.

The heart of the device is 11th generation Intel Core i7 chip, which has 4 cores, 8 threads and maximum clock speed at the level of 4.80 GHz. The computer was also equipped with 16/32 GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB SSD storage.

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As for the graphics, the cheaper variants have Intel Iris Xe graphics. In turn, the more expensive models (including the one that I had the opportunity to test) offer dedicated systems NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti. Such a configuration will not only allow us to freely use programs such as Adobe Premier Pro, Photoshop or Lightroom, but also allow us to launch newer games (eg Forza Horizon 5).

Cinebench R23 DM

In the benchmark Cinebench R23 Surface Laptop Studio won 1479 points in the single core test and 5553 points in the multi-core test. The system test was also decent RTX 3050 Ti. In the 3D Mark benchmark (Fire Strike test) he scored he 10 391 points It is worth remembering that – despite good performance – we are still not talking about a gaming laptop. If we want ray-tracing and 60 frames in Cyberpunk 2077, then we should look for a device with stronger graphics.

3D Mark 3D Mark

The active cooling system deserves praise, which is not only very efficient (the housing rarely gets hot), but also very discreet. This is so impressive that we are talking about the device with an efficient i7-11370H processor with a voltage of 65W.

However, the number of available ports is less impressive. There are only 2 ports here USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), mini audio connector 3.5 mm jack and charging port Surface Connect. At least one connector is missing here USB-A whether still useful and popular the HDMI port. Surface Laptop Studio also has a module Wi-Fi 6 (standard ax) andBluetooth 5.1.

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Surface Laptop Studio – KEYBOARD, SOUND AND BATTERY

I tested dozens of laptops, but I do not remember a device with such a comfortable keyboard as the one that has Surface Laptop Studio. Writing on this device is pure pleasure. The keys offer the appropriate hardness, spacing and pitch. Way to go!

I can not write the same about the built-in the touchpad. I am still waiting for a laptop with Windows, the trackpad of which will be at least comparable to that offered by MacBooks. Here, the touchpad is decent, but only decent and not even saved by the new haptic motor.

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Surface Laptop Studio offers surprisingly good audio. We’ll find here as much as four Omnisonic speakers, which play not only very loud, but also clean and transparent – especially when we set the laptop display in entertainment mode, which only enhances the feeling of “proximity” to the sound.

Microsoft claims built-in the battery with a capacity of 5099 mAh will allow up to 19 hours of operation of the device. In practice however, I did not manage to exceed 13-14 hours, and we are talking all the time about a situation where the laptop screen works in 60 Hz mode. With a 120 Hz refresh, the battery life is halved – to about 5-6 hours, which is quite a decent result anyway.

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Surface Laptop Studio – SUMMARY

Surface Laptop Studio is certainly not a device for everyone. It is also not the fastest and most efficient equipment on the market. Its original design, however, makes it stands out from the crowd and may prove to be a useful work tool for a person who will be able to use his dormant potential. This in turn – let’s face it – is mainly related to the Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus, without which Surface Laptop Studio is incomplete equipment.

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However, we will have to pay dearly for this originality. In the cheapest variant (16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Intel Iris Xe) the device was priced at PLN 7,999. If we want a version with RTX 3050 Ti graphics, we have to prepare for an expense of almost 11,000. PLN, and it is also worth adding another PLN 599 for the Surface Slim Pen 2. In short: it is not cheap.