Surface Laptop 4 review: The perfect laptop for everyday use

In today's article, let's take a detailed look at the Surface Laptop 4 with TipsMake to see if this is the right choice for you!

Design of Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

1. Dimensions: 308 x 223 x 14.5mm
2. Weight: 1.3kg
3. Aluminum construction (with Alcantara option)

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is quite similar to one of the Apple MacBook Pro models from 2015. This Surface design is extremely simple. The whole case is aluminum. Lighter magnesium alloys are very popular these days, but they simply don't feel as sturdy as the Surface Laptop 4. This laptop has a great anodised finish, you can choose from light blue, silver, black, light yellow. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4's hinge is also great and sturdy. One part that Microsoft needs to improve in the near future is the slightly thick screen border.

Screen

1. IPS LCD screen: 13.5 inches
2. Resolution: 2496 x 1664
3. Aspect Ratio: 3:2
4. Contrast: 1200:1
5. sRGB coverage: 95.2%
6. Brightness 380 nits (as measured)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 does not have a touch screen. If you've researched the Surface Laptop 4, you've probably seen its screen described in a variety of "beautiful" shades. This is true in a number of ways, and it's a particularly great display for a low-end laptop, but not the best option, in terms of screen technology.

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For example, this is not a wide gamut monitor. You won't see the kind of extreme saturation offered in OLED laptops. It has good colors on average and doesn't deliver eye-catching tones. Everything is fine, like the contrast needs to be a bit better. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 display isn't meant for design professionals or "delta E" and "Adobe RGB" enthusiasts, but it still looks great.

The Surface Laptop 4's 2496 x 1664 resolution looks much sharper than the 1080p panels of laptops at the same price point. Maximum brightness is also very good. This is a 3:2 aspect ratio monitor, the most common shape to maximize screen space, suitable for apps and games, but not ideal for video.

Keyboard and touchpad

1. Textured glass touchpad
2. Backlight 3 levels

Some argue that the keyboard of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a bit shallow or 'mushy', but this does not seem to be the case. The keypress is quite quiet, providing good feedback and feels great when typing long text. The keys have a depth of 1.3mm, slightly less than the standard 1.4mm.

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You also get three-level backlighting, which is handy for nighttime typing. The trackpad is the best you can get in any Windows laptop.

Performance

1. AMD Ryzen or Intel 11th Gen CPU Options
2. Intel Xe Graphics (Intel CPU models)
3. SSD memory from 256GB

The good news from the Surface Laptop 4 2021 is that you can get an AMD Ryzen 5, Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 processor. However, AMD Ryzen support is limited. At the time of writing, you can only get Ryzen in the base model with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

The Ryzen processors are amazing, the battery life is better than the Intel versions, and the performance is more than enough for normal everyday tasks.

The Surface Laptop 4 model is evaluated with an 11th-generation Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a large 512GB SSD. Microsoft is said to charge too much for RAM and SSD upgrades. However, there is a great practical benefit to switching to Intel this year as you will get Intel Xe graphics. This is Intel's first really good integrated graphics card.

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You can play The Witcher 3 at a reasonable 30fps using a slightly lower resolution than the original, at 1400 x 1050 pixels.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is also very quiet under heavy loads. It has a fan system, but never makes much noise. No heat outlet is blocked if you use the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 on your knees or place it on a carpet. Speaker strip on Surface Laptop 4 for loud, powerful sound.

Battery life and connectivity

1. Battery 47.4Wh
2. Battery life (manufacturer-claimed): Up to 17 hours
3. Exclusive magnetic charger

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 has a 47.4Wh battery. That's a pretty attractive number for a laptop that's not too thin. Actual battery life isn't very close to what the manufacturer claims, but it's still better than some Intel-powered laptops at this price point, and better than the Surface Laptop 3. The battery lasted 10 hours and 42 minutes when running. does the job for average mixed-use productivity, with 65% brightness for indoor use.

When working outside, with the screen brightness pushed to maximum to compete with ambient light, 1 hour of use, mostly just typing in WordPad, drained 16% of the battery.

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Microsoft has also kept the Surface Laptop 4's ports to a minimum. You get one old-fashioned USB port (USB-A), one USB-C port, and one headphone jack. There is no Thunderbolt connector support. The USB 3.2 port limits bandwidth to 10Gbps or 1250MBps. Not too bad

The charging port uses Microsoft's smart magnetic connector. To connect to another display, you can use a USB-C to HDMI adapter.

Conclusion

The Surface Laptop 4 is a small upgrade over the third version, but still a favorite. If minor flaws aside - such as old screen bezels - this is a perfect laptop for everyday use in almost every respect.

Advantages

1. Awesome trackpad
2. Lovely aluminum (or optional Alcantara) design
3. Firm and responsive keyboard Bàn
4. Excellent speaker

Defect

1. Expensive upgrade
2. The screen contrast may be higher
3. Large surround screen by 2021 standards

Marvin Fry

Update 22 July 2021