The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Review: Dynamic Design

Final Words

As a self-professed fan of the Surface Book series of notebooks, it is a bit sad to see that device family depart. They were completely unique in the laptop world, with a style all their own. But there is no doubt that the Surface Book had some quirks and usability issues that created some user friction, and which Microsoft has aimed to solve with the Surface Laptop Studio.

The good news is that Microsoft has indeed delivered a worthy successor to the Surface Book. The new design with its dynamic woven hinge provides almost all of the same functionality as the Surface Book did without any of the clumsiness of having to detach the display to change modes. The Surface Laptop Studio allows you to seamlessly transition from Laptop to Stage to Studio mode, all with a single hand. The design also gets the benefit of the stability of a traditional clamshell laptop, with the weight on the bottom, and does so with barely any extra bulk from the display hinge itself. The display is only marginally thicker than a comparable notebook. It really is a great solution.

The rounded corners of the Laptop Studio, which flow into the display, are a great design touch as well. It is a bit sad to see the magnesium-alloy used on previous Surface devices be supplanted with aluminum, but Microsoft nailed the texture of the aluminum making it feel the same as the Surface Book. Despite being quicker than the Surface Book 3, it is also significantly smaller, and slightly lighter as well.

The new 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow display is wonderful to use. The 120 Hz refresh makes everything incredibly smooth, but thanks to the automatic refresh rate control, it can lower the refresh to save power when the faster response is not needed. It does lose a bit of pixel density compared to the outgoing Surface Book, but the added response time makes up for it. And, as usual, the display is incredibly accurate in its color reproduction.

The new keyboard and haptic touchpad also take the Laptop Studio to that next level. The key feel is superb, improving on the already great keyboards in previous Surface devices. The new trackpad is large, but not too large, and the adjustable haptic feedback works seamlessly.

Pen input is also well-executed with the new Surface Slim Pen 2, which can dock to the underside of the step, and charge right off the laptop. The Studio mode makes for a great writing surface and is a wonderful pairing with the pen support.

The Surface Laptop Studio has everything going for it. The design is striking. The functionality is fantastic. The performance is excellent. Even the battery life is superb. Can there even be a downside? Yes of course there is, and it is the price.

The Surface Book was a very expensive computer, so it should be no surprise that the replacement is also very expensive. Starting at $1599.99 USD for the Core i5 / 16 GB / 256 GB model and topping out at $3099.00 for a Core i7 / RTX / 32 GB / 2 TB model, the Surface Laptop Studio is most definitely expensive. Whether or not it is worth it is always a personal or business decision. Microsoft has delivered a worthy successor to the Surface Book which integrates wonderfully with Windows 11. Do you need it? Likely not. Do you want it? Likely yes.