24 TECH ADVISOR • JANUARY 2020MICROSOFT SURFACE EVENT
welcoming design was a bonus. Two of the four are
as good as ever. Surface engineers cut a slight corner
with the revised keyboard. The low battery life is a
black mark, though. I use both prior-generation Surface
Laptops regularly as test beds for new Windows builds,
and as that user I’m frankly disappointed with the
Ryzen-based Surface Laptop 3’s battery life.
There aren’t too many 15in notebook PCs that aim
toward the high end of the consumer/productivity
space without aiming at gamers. HP’s Spectre
series, though, is worth a hard look.
I think the Surface Laptop 3’s sleek aesthetic
continues to be worth indulging, and the performance,
though not earth-shattering, helps set the Laptop’s
bar higher. Those who are more inclined towards
brutalist efficiency should also consider looking at
recent introductions like the Acer Swift 3 – there’s a
lot of functionality there for under £1,000, even if you
won’t like the display and keyboard as much. Lenovo’s
ThinkBook is also worth considering.
You’ll like this consumer-minded Surface Laptop 3,
even if it doesn’t excel in all areas. We can’t help but
wonder, though, if an even better Surface Laptop 3
waits to be reviewed. Mark HachmanSpecifications
- 15in (2,496x1,664; 201ppi) PixelSense display
- Windows 10 Home
- AMD Ryzen 5 3580U Mobile Processor with Radeon
Vega 9 Graphics Microsoft Surface Edition processor - AMD Radeon Vega 9 Graphics Microsoft Surface
Edition graphics
24 TECH ADVISOR • JANUARY 2020MICROSOFT SURFACE EVENT
welcoming design was a bonus. Two of the four are
as good as ever. Surface engineers cut a slight corner
with the revised keyboard. The low battery life is a
black mark, though. I use both prior-generation Surface
Laptops regularly as test beds for new Windows builds,
and as that user I’m frankly disappointed with the
Ryzen-based Surface Laptop 3’s battery life.
There aren’t too many 15in notebook PCs that aim
toward the high end of the consumer/productivity
spacewithoutaimingatgamers.HP’sSpectre
series,though, is worth a hard look.
I think the Surface Laptop 3’s sleek aesthetic
continues to be worth indulging, and the performance,
though not earth-shattering, helps set the Laptop’s
bar higher. Those who are more inclined towards
brutalist efficiency should also consider looking at
recent introductions like the Acer Swift 3 – there’s a
lot of functionality there for under £1,000, even if you
won’t like the display and keyboard as much. Lenovo’s
ThinkBook is also worth considering.
You’ll like this consumer-minded Surface Laptop 3,
even if it doesn’t excel in all areas. We can’t help but
wonder, though, if an even better Surface Laptop 3
waits to be reviewed. Mark HachmanSpecifications
- 15in(2,496x1,664;201ppi) PixelSense display
- Windows 10 Home
- AMD Ryzen 5 3580U Mobile Processor with Radeon
Vega9 GraphicsMicrosoftSurfaceEditionprocessor - AMD Radeon Vega 9 Graphics Microsoft Surface
Edition graphics