The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-Inch Review: Refreshing Ryzen
by Brett Howse on May 6, 2021 8:00 AM ESTFinal Words
In late 2019, when Microsoft launched the Surface Laptop 3 – their first AMD-powered Surface laptop – it was an important moment for both AMD and Microsoft's Surface group. AMD finally had a premium design win, and what better manufacturer did they have to work with than Microsoft themselves. Tweaks to improve performance and battery life could be easily replicated across all Windows PCs, which was a big help for AMD at the time. At the end of the day Microsoft's help still wasn't enough to make the AMD Ryzen 3000-based Surface Laptop 3 a bona fide winner – it performed worse than the Intel Ice Lake model and suffered from poor battery life – but it put AMD and Microsoft on the path towards building bigger and better laptops later on.
And now with the Surface Laptop 4 and the Ryzen 4000 APUs, Microsoft and AMD have resolved many (if not most) of the issues that dogged their earlier laptop. In fact, the Surface Laptop 4 is easily the best Ryzen 4000 laptop on the market. Microsoft has worked with AMD to deliver unique processors for the Surface Laptop 4 which are the strongest Renoir-U chips you can get. The increased frequency, coupled with eight cores and sixteen threads, makes for a very capable notebook computer.
And, unlike the Picasso-powered Surface Laptop 3, the AMD choice not only closes the gap in terms of battery life, according to Microsoft, the AMD model even surpasses the Tiger Lake model. Although we have not tested the Tiger Lake Surface Laptop 4 (yet?), the results from this Ryzen 7 model are excellent. Even with the 15-inch, 201 pixels-per-inch display, the Surface Laptop 4 was able to go toe-to-toe with some of the best designs on the market which have smaller displays. That is impressive.
Speaking of impressive, Microsoft’s attention to detail on the display really sets all Surface devices apart from the rest of the manufacturers. With any Surface device you purchase, from the least expensive, to the most expensive, the display accuracy is some of the best in the industry. The 3:2 aspect ratio is always a treat to use in any productivity task. The 201 pixels-per-inch makes the display sharp, and while a bit more contrast ratio would be appreciated, overall, this is an excellent implementation. It even includes a pen digitizer and touch support.
System performance with the Ryzen 7 4980U was excellent. Offering up sixteen threads, the Surface Laptop 4 gobbled up any multi-threaded task thrown at it. The Vega 8 graphics, while not class-leading, are still very strong for an integrated solution. Perhaps one area where the AMD model is let down though is that Microsoft only lets you configure it up to 16 GB of memory, whereas the Tiger Lake powered model has up to 32 GB as a maximum. This is an odd decision and will hopefully be addressed during the device’s lifetime.
Less impressive were the storage results on this review unit, which were some of the lowest we've seen for an NVMe drive in an OEM laptop. But the good news is that Microsoft has committed to utilizing M.2 storage on Surface again, after a brief stint of employed soldered in BGA storage. Customers will be able to replace the drive if it fails, or upgrade it. After years of making some of the most challenging to repair devices, Microsoft has turned a corner somewhat on repairability, with a new design that is easier to get into, and actually has some replaceable components.
With two sizes, a choice of colors, and even keyboard materials, there is a lot to like here. Microsoft offers a single USB Type-A, as well as a single USB Type-C, and additional expansion options through the Surface Connect port. This is not a workstation by any means, but it is nice to have both ports and not need to use dongles for Type-A devices.
Otherwise, although there was a bit of disappointment to see the Surface Laptop announced with the Ryzen 4000 series processors in 2021 instead of AMD's latest 5000 series processors, I believe those feelings can be set aside. There is little doubt that a Ryzen 5000 version of this laptop would be even more powerful with its Zen 3 cores, but Microsoft’s semi-custom Ryzen 7 4980U still performs very well, and should put any of those thoughts to bed. The Surface Laptop design is also mostly unchanged for the last several generations, and it could use a refresh, but that being said, the design was never really a hindrance before, and it is still pleasing to use today.
It is amazing what a generational improvement can do. The Surface Laptop 4 achieves great performance, and great battery life, and does so all in a pleasing package, with a great display, fantastic keyboard, smooth trackpad, and a thin and light design. On the outside, it would be hard to tell it apart from the Surface Laptop 3, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. This refreshed model is just what the Surface Laptop needed.
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Reflex - Thursday, May 6, 2021 - link
This list is silly. Almost all of the things you mention are mostly accessed wirelessly these days. USB-A to USB-C adapters are super cheap and Anker sells a nice line of USB-C hubs that provide additional ports if you truly need them. I have one in my bag due to my Dell laptop having only 2 USB-C ports, but I can't even remember the last time I needed to use it.There are excellent actual bluetooth mice out there, I use a Microsoft one.
Who is using their optical drive on the go, or really at all?
Your storage is better in the cloud or on the network, again how most people use it nowadays.
Also, printers, can you even buy a decent printer that isn't wireless now?
And again, bluetooth keyboards are a thing and they are cheap.
Just bizarre list. Reads like someone stuck in computing from 15 years ago.
If this is your list of needs, modern ultrabooks are not for you.
Kevin G - Thursday, May 6, 2021 - link
Or people reasonably can't afford to repurchase everything. A cheap just to get it done wired mouse can be had for as little as $5 where as a good BlueTooth mouse starts at $20. The kicker is that people already have a wired mouse they could plug-in and use. Yeah, $20 in the grand scheme of things but when you have pay that extra amount five or six times, it starts to get noticed by the masses especially on top of the price of a new ultrabook.Ditto for printers. If you've saved up and purchased a unit years ago and is humming along nicely, why replace it with something new? At some point it does make sense to upgrade due to the lack of ink/toner available on the market or it just breaks down, but realistically things can last a very long time.
My Dell 5540M I'm currently using has two USB-A and one TB3 port and I often find myself limited. I use a lot of hardwired networking to isolated networks so there goes one port dedicated to that. The wired networking port generally gets the TB port even though it is type-A and I'll need an A-to-C adapter. One Type A goes to a wired mouse since it also doubles as a mouse for some systems that either have BT disabled or no wireless connectivity at all (and i'm not going to carry a second one if i don't have to). The remaining type A is often used for removable storage or a wired audio device. Thankfully I still have a dedicated barrel power jack. The TB3 port also supports power in a pinch and I borrowed other people's type-c chargers in an emergency. There are indeed times where I wish I had four USB ports.
I also do have access to a USB external optical drive which I pull out once or twice year to access an old physical media file. I've probably had this over half a decade with the same relative pace of usage and probably will keep on to it until it break at what point I imagine it'll pass the decade mark. My coworkers know I have it and again a few times a year one will ask to borrow it for a similar one-off data transfer. Migrating data to the network/cloud is a generally a good idea but it takes time, has costs (and monthly costs for the cloud) associated for it and a small amount of skill on the user's end.
simonpschmitt - Friday, May 7, 2021 - link
While your desccribed use case seems to need more (USB) ports at times most of it could be managed by a cheap USB-hub.Additionally, you must admit that this is beyond propably 99% of computer users out there.
Most people don't use one mouse for more than one computer.
Actually everyone I know outside IT does not use wired networking on a mobile device.
For my sisters (both teachers) and parents (small buisness owners) switching everything possible to wireless was propably the best quality of live upgrade since they use computers.
Kevin G - Monday, May 10, 2021 - link
Hubs can be problematic vs. having the port natively in a device. Large capacity hubs or those that can power other devices require AC outlets. Small data only hubs exist but generally are not the highest quality. Hubs also run the risk of some one tripping over a cable and unplugging everything off of that hub (uplink is disconnected) vs. a single device. A single home run to the host device is strongly preferred where every possible. This also applies to various adapters from say USB-C to DisplayPort: a single cable with the proper ends is preferred over a USB-C to female DP port and a DP-to-DP cable. Simply less to go wrong in the single path and you carry around less.Wired networking is critical for me as I often work on isolated, wired networks. There have been at times where I've been on two independent wired networks and still had wi-fi going. I realize that my use-case is rather specific but it does drive home the more general idea that the number of USB ports on a system is restrictively small, especially if they're pulling double duty for the likes of power, video, audio and networking.
PaulMack - Thursday, May 6, 2021 - link
I've had a Surface for some time and, while the limitation to one USB port is occasionally annoying, it's never been for a mouse. It's a premium device, and it's not unreasonable to spend $/£/€50 on a Bluetooth mouse. I only ever hit the limit when connecting a memory stick and another peripheral, and that's rare when on the move without the dock.MrCommunistGen - Thursday, May 6, 2021 - link
You can get a pretty inexpensive travel USB-A 3.0 hub for less than $20. I just keep one in my travel bag. A quick search turned up two different 4-port models for $13-15.yankeeDDL - Friday, May 7, 2021 - link
By "expensive adapter" you mean something like this (25usd)? https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Adaptador-USB-Hub-Mult...Using more than 2 USB port at the time is quite rare. Yes, more ports would help, but clearly teh space is rather limited.
Spunjji - Friday, May 7, 2021 - link
If you're using an external optical drive and a printer then you can probably handle using a hub, too.29a - Friday, May 7, 2021 - link
People giving presentations often need more than one USB port which I can see this laptop being used to give a lot of presentations. A flash drive and a Powerpoint presenter are both commonly used when giving presentations, that's two USB ports there.philehidiot - Sunday, May 9, 2021 - link
Typical use case for a business machine - running software that requires a USB dongle to operate. Removing it disables the software. One port down. Need to charge? Both down. How about people who leave a low profile USB drive in a slot for local back up purposes? If my livelihood is based on what is on that machine, I've got a local backup running as well as cloud.Sure, plug in a USB C dongle with a wire and giant block with all the connections you'll need (because having a different one for every use is expensive and fiddly) and you'd better not be using the laptop on your lap on a train or in a car. It'll dangle off your lap, yanking on the port constantly.
A business laptop, in my humble opinion, should have three available ports as a minimum. But as others have said here, they are likely working on feedback from telemetry and real world use. 95% of people don't use it so screw 5%.
In my view, a business laptop like this, with such an asking price should be putting in the extras that ensure more than the bare minimum for the majority. The people who have a use case as I have suggested above simply won't buy it, so it won't be their problem.