Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 Review – A white-collar dream

Available now, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is a wonderfully light, relatively powerful and unbelievably beautiful laptop. You’re not getting anything technically or operationally special, but it’s all class.

The good

• Incredibly light at 1.25kg.
• 14.5 hours of ‘all-day’ or constant use battery life.
• Visually stunning.

The bad

• There aren’t many ports.

The verdict

The sale point for the Surface Laptop 2 is the visual appeal, it’s stunning. I’m reviewing the i5, 256GB black model of this device that retails for $1,998 and it really does feel like value for money. However there’s a base model for $1,498 which is more affordable – all the way up to a $3,996 version if you’re a lunatic.

AESTHETIC

Professional. Simply clean and corporate – the Surface Laptop 2 comes in four colours; Matte Black (as pictured), Burgundy, Cobalt Blue and Platinum. The sleek matte black is new to the Surface series and is a really nice look.

We’re dealing with a 13.5″ touchscreen, sexy back-lit keyboard and Alcantara microfibre material. If that sounds wanky, it is. When I first opened up this device I actually had to look up why it felt really nice and discovered “Alcantara” which I discovered is a patented suede-like material… That’s all way too much for me, but simply put it’s really nice to touch and look at.

The Surface Laptop 2 is very thin and ultimately best described as ‘white-collar’.

PERFORMANCE

The model of Surface Laptop 2 that I got my hands on is the i5, 256GB, 8GB RAM one. It retails for $1,998 and I can confirm that it’s seamless. The user of this device isn’t out gaming, regularly editing audio/video or doing any crazy processing – they’re office bound. You’ll most likely find the Surface Laptop 2 in universities and in the hands of suit-wearing, bluetooth headset commuters (that’s by no stretch an insult, I strive to be that guy).

The only real complaint I could possibly muster about the base performance is in relation to the resolution being 2256 x 1504. The issue is that all of the default wallpapers and photos don’t actually fit the screen, making the screen seem significantly lower quality than it actually is.

For the majority of consumers that don’t know any better, they’ll spend their whole time using this laptop without seeing it reach it’s full potential – and that’s on Microsoft…

The battery is nice and big, their claim is that you’ll get 14.5 hours of “all-day” use. This test is run with constant video playback so you can be sure that it’s a pretty decent battery life. I personally had no problems with it and I compulsively use my laptop.

MISC

• The facial recognition software is incredibly quick.
• There are only a few ports on this bad boy – USB, mini DisplayPort & 3.5mm jack. This means you’ll want a bluetooth mouse in order to fit in any other accessories.
• Sound quality is decent but nothing to write home about.

As I said the base model starts at $1,498, the reviewed model goes for $1,998 and you there are options all the way up to $3,996. You can pick it up online at Microsoft.com, or in-store at JB Hi-Fi & Harvey Norman.