Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 Review: Lightweight With Great Battery

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: At First Glance

Microsoft has provided us with nearly the precise hardware we’ve been looking for in a thin, lightweight, powerful, and attractive general-purpose laptop. Moreover, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 comes preloaded with the student-friendly Windows 10 S.

Additionally, this laptop features a bright, sharp, and vivid touchscreen display. However, despite having such wonderful attributes, this laptop failed to impress in some key areas such as its ports. 

On top of that, the laptop is pretty pricey. The laptop starts at a price of $999.99 at the time this review was written (August 2021).

There’s still a lot to talk about when it comes to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1. So, let’s get down to business.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Design, Dimension and Weight

The Surface Laptop 1’s sleek design is similar to the Surface Pro 2-in-1 convertible and the high-end Surface Book. The laptop is built with aluminum, but the palm rest and keyboard deck are covered with Alcantara fabric.

The interior Alcantara fabric gives the laptop a warm, inviting feel. It does, however, have a tendency to wear out quickly and pick up stains easily.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 is available in four colors: Graphite Gold, Burgundy, Platinum, or Cobalt Blue. It is worth noting that the standard color is Platinum.

Moving on, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1, like other Surface devices, has a distinctive display. It features a 13.5-inch PixelSense touch display with a screen resolution of QHD (2256 x 1504).

Additionally, this display comes with a 3:2 aspect ratio. As a result, it can display documents on the screen, as well as images and video at high resolutions.

Furthermore, like that of other Surface devices, the Surface Laptop’s display is covered in Gorilla Glass 3. The Gorilla Glass 3 protects the screen against scratches or any sharp impact.

In terms of performance, the Surface Laptop 1’s display is very bright and has a nearly perfect gamma score. That is, it renders content with about the same brightness as the original, without blowing out highlights or omitting shadow detail.

Above the display is a front-facing 720p webcam. This webcam captures sharp, clear photos, and it is also compatible with Windows Hello facial recognition.

Moving on, the Surface Laptop 1 is compatible with a surface pen, but it is an optional feature that is sold separately. Microsoft created the Surface Pen as an active stylus and digital pen for its Surface devices.

A Surface Pen can also be used with creative apps like OneNote, Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite, Drawboard PDF, CorelDRAW, and others. So, if you are a graphic designer, it’s best you purchase the Surface Laptop with a surface pen.

The Surface Laptop 1 has a chiclet keyboard with three levels of white backlighting that is generally comfortable to type on. Additionally, the keyboard is also extremely responsive, with a key travel of 1.5 mm.

Below the keyboard is the laptop’s glass trackpad which measures 105 x 70 mm. The surface of this trackpad is very smooth and it supports up to five-finger gestures.

The trackpad’s integrated mouse keys have solid feedback but they are somehow loud when pressed. Moreover, key travel is quite short, although the trackpad’s solid feel compensates for this drawback.

Windows 10 S comes preinstalled on the Surface Laptop 1. With Windows 10 S, you can only install apps from the Windows Store.

However, the Windows Store offers a limited range of apps, and that is where the problem lies. By default, the Surface Laptop 1 doesn’t support any application that isn’t from the Windows Store.  

Therefore, you can’t use third-party Windows applications such as Steam or Discord unless you upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Also, you won’t be able to use any other browser apart from Microsoft Edge.

For a 13.5-inch laptop, the Surface Laptop comes with a below-expectation number of ports. There are no Thunderbolt 3 ports, USB Type-C ports, SIM slots, or even SD card slots on this device.

Even most smartphones feature USB Type-C ports and MicroSD readers. However, with Surface Laptop 1, you only get a single USB 3.0 port, a mini display slot, and a headset jack on the left side of the laptop.

On the right side, there’s a SurfaceConnect jack for connecting to the Microsoft Surface Dock. For wireless connectivity, there is 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

Due to the limited amount of ports on the Surface Laptop 1, it is very thin and lightweight. The laptop measures 308.1 x 223.2 x 14.4 mm and weighs 1252 g.

Comparatively, the Surface Laptop is lighter than the Dell XPS 13 but heavier than Apple’s MacBook Pro 13. The Dell XPS 13 weighs 1290 g, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 weighs 1080 g.

Overall, the Surface Laptop is a good-looking laptop that is also incredibly light and portable. However, its selection of ports is disappointing.

Therefore, I will rate the overall design of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 an eight out of ten.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 comes with three processor options. The laptop is available with an Intel Core m3-7Y30, Intel Core i5-7300U, or Intel Core i7-7660U processor.

Moreover, all three processor options have a dual-core and they all feature a cache of 4 MB. However, the Intel Core i7 processor is the strongest amongst them, this is because it features a higher clock speed.

Specifically, the Intel Core i7-7660U has a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.0 GHz. The Intel Core i5-7300U, on the other hand, has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz.

Lastly, the Intel Core m3-7Y30 processor has a base frequency of 1.00 GHz and a maximum frequency of 2.60 GHz.

The laptop I reviewed came with an Intel Core i5-7300U processor. This processor is based on the Kaby Lake architecture and can be found on laptops like the Yoga 910 and Spectre 13.

I performed a Cinebench R15 benchmark test to see how well this processor can perform. Cinebench R15 test is based on two tests: Multi-Core test and Single-core test.

The Multi-Core test determines how fast the CPU will be when performing Multi-Core optimized tasks like CPU rendering. Single-core test, on the other hand, tells you how responsive the processor can be when running a specific or single task.

Based on the Cinebench R15 test result, the Surface Laptop 1 scored 324 points on the multi-core test. While on the single-core test, the laptop scored 126 Points.

In comparison, the Surface Laptop and the Apple MacBook Pro 13 both got an almost identical score. On the multi-core test, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 scored 309 points.

However, on the single-core test, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 scored 124 points. It is important to note that an Intel Core i5-6360U processor powers the Apple MacBook Pro 13.

In conclusion, I will rate the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 an eight out of ten in this processor review.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 comes with a single 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM slot. The maximum memory supported on this RAM slot is 16 GB.

My review laptop came with 16 GB of RAM. Most laptops, including my review laptop, with 16 GB of RAM should be able to multitask with ease.

However, to test the multitasking capabilities of my review laptop, I opened about 30 tabs on the Microsoft Edge browser. One of those tabs was downloading a movie, while some were streaming a video on YouTube.

Despite these tasks running simultaneously, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 held a steady performance without slowing down. To further determine the performance of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1, I ran a PCMark 8 test.

The PCMark 8 is a benchmark test that assesses a computer’s ability to execute common office operations such as web browsing, and word processing. Based on the PCMark 8 test results, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 scored 3071 Points.

Unfortunately, this score isn’t enough to beat the score achieved by the Apple MacBook Pro 13. On the PCMark 8 test, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 scored 3280 Points.

In conclusion, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 proved to be great at multitasking with its 16 GB RAM. However, it failed to emulate the same performance on a benchmark test I conducted. 

Therefore, I rate the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 an eight out of ten.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Storage Options and Performance

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 ships with SSD storage which supports a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB. My review laptop came with a 512 GB SSD.

To determine the performance of this storage, I conducted a CrystalDiskMark 3.0 test. CrystalDiskMark is a freeware disk drive benchmarking tool for Microsoft Windows.

This graphical benchmark is often used to measure the performance of solid-state storage and is based on Microsoft’s MIT-licensed Diskspd tool. It works by reading and writing in a volume-dependent manner through the file system.

On the CrystalDiskMark 3.0 test, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1’s SSD storage achieved a sequential read speed of 425.6 MB/s. In addition to that, the laptop also achieved a sequential write speed of 128.2 MB/s.

I also conducted an AS SSD test to further determine the performance of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1’s SSD storage. AS SSD Benchmark is a simple software that can be used to evaluate the performance of an SSD drive.

On the AS SSD benchmark test, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1’s storage recorded a sequential read speed of 561.28 MB/s. Also, it recorded a sequential write speed of 117.15 MB/s.

The read and write speed of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1’s SSD is quite impressive. Hence, the laptop’s boot time would be fast, launching applications and transferring files will also be swift.

However, despite achieving an impressive read and write speed, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 wasn’t able to outperform the MacBook Pro 13. On the AS SSD benchmark test, the MacBook Pro 13’s SSD storage achieved a sequential read speed of 2405 MB/s.

It also achieved a sequential write speed of 1499 MB/s.

In conclusion, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 offers decent SSD storage. However, its storage speed is nowhere near its closest competitor, the MacBook Pro 13.

Hence, I believe the laptop doesn’t deserve a rating of more than a seven out of ten.

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Graphics Card Performance

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 comes with three integrated graphics card options. You can either purchase the laptop with an Intel HD Graphics 615, Intel HD Graphics 620, or Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640.

All three graphics card options feature a base GPU frequency of 300 MHz. However, their boost GPU frequency differs.

The Intel HD Graphics 615 has a boost GPU frequency of 900 MHz.  The Intel HD Graphics 620 and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, on the other hand, both feature an 1100 MHz boost GPU frequency.

Unfortunately, none of these graphics card options features a dedicated VRAM. Therefore, the laptop won’t be able to run graphics-intensive applications or perform excellently at gaming.

Moreover, the laptop isn’t designed for gaming, so I don’t really feel the need for a dedicated VRAM. But still, some users might want to try out some games on the laptop.

So, I conducted a gaming test on my review laptop to determine its graphics card performance. By the way, my review laptop came with an Intel HD Graphics 620.

On the gaming test, I played Sid Meier’s Civilization VI on a low graphics setting. The laptop delivered a frame rate of 17 fps which is quite poor.

With the laptop’s gaming performance, it is fair to say that games on the Windows Store are pretty much the only option.

However, to further determine the graphics performance of my review laptop, I ran a 3DMark Fire Strike test. According to the 3DMark Fire Strike test results, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 scored 909 points.

This score means the laptop would be able to run 3D games but the gaming experience won’t be satisfying. Comparatively, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 performed better than the Huawei Matebook X.

On the 3DMark Fire Strike test, the Huawei Matebook X which is also equipped with an Intel UHD 620 graphics scored 883 points.

Finally, in this graphics performance review, I will rate the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 a seven.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 1: Battery Life and Performance

Microsoft sells the Surface Laptop 1 with a 45.2 Wh Lithium-ion battery. The same Microsoft claims the battery will last about 15 hours on a normal office workload.

Therefore, I decided to put the laptop on series of battery tests to verify Microsoft’s claim. The first battery test involves leaving the laptop idle, turning off the WIFI connection, and setting the brightness to medium.

On this battery test, the laptop lasted an impressive 22 hours and 31 minutes. Furthermore, the second battery test entails using a WIFI connection to continually surf the internet while setting the laptop’s brightness to medium.

On this battery test, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 lasted 10 hours and 2 minutes. In comparison, the MacBook Pro 13 lasted 16 hours and 28 minutes on the first battery test.

While on the second battery test, the MacBook Pro 13 lasted 9 hours and 26 minutes. Therefore, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 has a better battery runtime than the MacBook Pro 13.

In conclusion, the Surface Laptop comes with an impressive battery and also lasted longer than its competitor. Therefore, I’ll rate it a nine for its exceptional battery performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 is an attractive mid-range ultraportable laptop with excellent performance and impressive battery life. Microsoft is pitching the Surface Laptop against Apple’s MacBook line with its elegant aluminum design and lightweight.

However, because of its Windows 10 S operating system, this laptop is limited to applications only on the Windows store. This laptop also has a limited number of ports due to its small size.

Overall, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 1 is a good-looking laptop, portable enough to move around with.

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