Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

Microsoft’s latest premium notebook, the Surface Laptop Studio, borrows the best from Microsoft’s other products: the flexibility of the Surface Studio, the convenience of the Surface Laptop, and the power of the Surface Book. It might not be the Surface Book 4 we were expecting, but with a new pull-forward display, Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics, Thunderbolt, Windows Hello 2.0, and a high-refresh-rate screen, it’s both an interesting fusion of other Surfaces as well as a physical avatar for many of the new capabilities within Windows 11.

With the Surface Laptop Studio, Microsoft has simply swapped one iconic hardware design for another. The original Surface Book defied description. Though it was probably most often used as a traditional clamshell notebook, a detachable hinge allowed it to be used as a tablet. The drawback was that the tablet component lacked a kickstand, making the tablet a bit awkward to tote about and actually use, save for inking. The Surface Laptop, by contrast, is a simply a traditional clamshell notebook PC, and as our Surface Laptop 4 review shows, a pretty good one—even it faces some tough competition.

Microsoft’s new “dynamic woven hinge” on the Surface Laptop Studio solves that problem. In both its design as well as its name you can see how the Surface Laptop Studio has evolved from the design of the Surface Studio all-in-one. The Surface Laptop Studio operates in Laptop mode, but the 14.4-inch PixelSense display can pull forward into what Microsoft calls Stage mode, where the display is thrust forward, covering the keyboard.

Here, the Surface Laptop Studio looks very reminiscent of the HP Elite Folio, though it appears that the metal hinge may be able to support the display somewhat as it pulls forward. When fully pulled forward and pressed down flat, the Surface Laptop Studio can also operate in Studio mode for inking. PCWorld was offered a bit of hands-on time with the Surface Laptop Studio prior to the launch, and we can report that the hinge seems extremely sturdy, with additional support in the “pull forward” and Studio modes,

The “hybrid” concept extends to other aspects of the Surface Laptop Studio’s design, as well. For one, the Surface Laptop Studio is offered in just one size: a 14.4-inch display neatly combines the Surface Book’s former 13-inch and 15-inch form factors into a single “PixelSense Flow” touchscreen display with 2,400 x1,600 resolution and Dolby Vision HDR support. PixelSense Flow apparently refers to the new Dynamic Refresh Rate feature built into Windows 11. When enabled, the feature allows displays that support it to run at a higher refresh rate for smoother inking. In the case of the Surface Laptop Studio, the display can run up to 120Hz.

Nevertheless, that’s a step down from the Surface Book 3, which offered either 3000x2000 (267 ppi) for the 13.5-inch display or 3240x2160 (260 ppi) for the 15-inch option. At 201 ppi, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio appears to be trading pixel resolution for refresh rate—not unheard of, to be fair, in a world where 300Hz 1080p gaming laptops exist.

This, too, may indicate that Microsoft is fixing one of the Surface Book 3’s flaws: battery life. The Surface Book 3 lasted about 12 hours on battery—not bad at all, but not on par with previous Surface Books. Microsoft is claiming that the Surface Laptop Studio will yield between 18 and 19 hours of battery life, an untested claim that, if true, would outperform the Surface Book 3 by a substantial margin.

There, Microsoft’s port choice plays a role. The Surface Laptop Studio includes a Surface Connector, allowing it to take advantage of earlier chargers. (The Core i5 model includes a 65W power supply, however, while the Core i7 model includes a hefty 102W power supply.)

Shipping Weight: 3.11kg