ISSUE 379|COMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER (^201987)
ULTRAPORTABLES
JUSTLIKETHESurface Pro 6, the most
recent entry in Microsoft’s flagship2-in-1
range,this ultraportableis visually
indistinguishablefrom its 2017 predecesso
However,italso atones forthe greatest sin
the originalSurface Laptop (Shopper 356) y
ditching Windows10 Sinfavour of Windo
10 Home,soalready it’s an improvement.
Besidesthe lack of external changes,th
is abeautiful,sleek and lightweight
machine.The first Surface Laptop felt
like aMicrosoftcover of Apple’s
MacBookAir,and the Surface Laptop 2
carries that legacy forward. At 1.25kg, this is
the kind of ultraportablelaptop that you can
hold comfortablyin the palm of your hand
while you type with the other.It’s slender,too,
measuring308x223x14.5mm.
HIGHAND DRY
As before,the sturdy aluminiumchassisis
beautifullycomplemented by hydrophobic
Alcantarafabric that surroundsthe keyboard
and touchpad.This spill-and-stain-proof
material will ensure that any droppeddrinks
will run right off,althoughyou should still try
to avoid drenchingthe keys.
The Surface Laptop 2has aparticularly
well-crafted hinge,which allows the lid to be
openedor closed with only gentle pressure,
but it’s still strong enoughto prevent screen
wobble.Ifthere’s an art to openingup a
laptop,Microsofthas perfected it here.
The lid is aclean, silvery slatewith an
elegantMicrosoftlogo in the middle.Every
edge is curvy,smooth perfection. Likewise
with the black bezels that frame the display.
The vents are located at the rear of the
laptop’s base,while the speakersare hidden
below the surface at the point where the
keyboardmeets the screen.Youwon’t be able
to playmusic loudly,but audio quality is fine if
you’re only watching the odd video.
Connectivityisn’t quitesoimpressive.
Besidesthe snap-onpower connector,all you
get are asingle USB3 port, aMini DisplayPort
video output and a3.5mm audio jack. That
might be fine fora2-in-1 tablet, but fora
clamshelllaptop (and a£1,000-plusone at
that), the lack of USB Type-C, any kind of card
reader or HDMI output is painfullyapparent.
The keyboard,however,isahighlight.
There’s areassuringsturdinessto each key;
fingerfeedbackislovely,providingconsiderable
travel and aheftyclick that makes every
typed sentence apleasure.The touchpad,too,
is as responsiveas any we’ve used.
MICROSOFT
SurfaceLaptop2
★★★★★
£1,079•From http://www.microsoftco
VERDICT
TheSurfaceLaptop2isaworthwhileupd
to Microsoft’soriginalclamshell
The 13.5in, 2,256x1,504touchscreendisplay
has receivedonly aminor upgradefrom the
first Surface Laptop,though since the original
was so good, that’s fine by us. sRGB gamut
coverage,for example,isupfrom 95.6% to
96%, while the average delta-Eis down from
1.41 to just 0.85, so the Surface Laptop 2is
even more colour-accuratethan before.
Screen brightnessis the only step backwards,
but at 334.6cd/m^2 ,it’s still very decent.
Performancesees amuch bigger
improvement,on the back of Intel’s Core
i5-8250Uprocessor.Inour 4K benchmarks,
the Surface Pro 2scored 84 overall, battering
the originalSurface Laptop’s 49.Italso clearly
outperformed our Surface Pro 6unit, which is
equippedwith the exact same processor,so
we suspectthe thicker Surface Laptop 2is
simply giving the CPU more room to breathe.
UPSAND DOWNS
In fact, the Surface Laptop 2isn’t even that
farbehind the Dell XPS 13, which scored 95 –
not bad at all, consideringDell’s laptop both
costs more and includesthe faster Core
i7-8565Uprocessor.
The PCI E NVMe SSD is slower than most,
however.Using AS SSD,wemeasureda
sequentialread speed of 629MB/sand a
sequentialwritespeed of 377MB/s,which are
more in line with SATA-standarddrives.
There is one more chink in the Microsoft
Surface 2’s shiny armour,and that’s battery
life. During our video playback battery test,
the power ran out after 7h 7m. That’s an
awful lot shorter than the originalSurface
Laptop,which made it to 10h 42m. Microsoft
promisesabattery lifeofover 14 hours on
the Surface Laptop 2but, realistically,you
could only achieve that throughextremely
conservative use.Ifyou’re travelling long
distance,you’re going to want to bring a
power bank or find aplug socket.
HOME BOUND
In what we hope is areactionto overwhelming
negativefeedbackabout Windows10 S–
which limits the applicationsyou can install to
whatever is on the MicrosoftStore –the
Surface Laptop 2comes with the more
open-mindedWindows10 Home as standard.
This alone is abig improvement:apremium
laptop such as this makes much more sense
withoutsuch afussy OS limitingits potential
as adevice forboth work and play.
It’s true that Surface Laptop ownerscould
upgradeto Windows10 Pro forfree,but
besidesthis only being atime-limited offer
(good forjust one year after purchase),the
onus should never really have been on the
consumerto make their laptop as flexibleas
it could be.Windows10 Home deliversthis
from the off,aswell as the cosy familiarity
you’re likely to have when switching from a
differentWindows10 device.
It’s ashame about the battery lifeand
limited port count, as otherwise,the Surface
Laptop 2isafantasticultraportable.Its design
is flawless,its performanceis up there with its
rivals, and the displaymeets professional
standardsforphoto- and video-editingtasks.
ULTRAPORTABLES
ssor.
in of
by
ows
his
rosoft.com
date
The 13.5in,2,256x1,504 touchscreendisplay The PCI-E NVMe SSD is slower than most,
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
#1