Verdict
The Surface Laptop Go is a howling twist at a super - affordable price . It offers seemly performance and a comfortable keyboard that ’s ideal for student , office workers and social media addicts likewise . The low - resolution exhibit means it is n’t the good for swarm Netflix , but it will be tough to find better value elsewhere .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Surface Laptop Go launched back in 2020 , kickstarting Microsoft ’s new budget range of Windows laptops .
With a 12.4 - inch screen , it ’s incredibly small than the medium 13 - inch ultrabook , but that only makes the equipment easier to hold to and from the office on your daily commute .
The Surface Laptop Go has been around for two age , with the newerSurface Laptop Go 2since replacing it . But it still proves to be a fantastic time value option , proving to be one of the safe time value student laptop available if you ’re felicitous to settle for a basic productivity portable .
Price and availability
Microsoft is no longer selling the original Surface Laptop Go on its online store , focalise on the new Surface Laptop 2 instead . It ’s also unmanageable to find on leading retailers such as Amazon .
But it is still uncommitted to buy in choice stores . For example , Currys is offering the base model ( 64 GB storage ) for just £ 459 , importantly undercutting the £ 529 starting price of the Surface Laptop 2 .
I also recommend you see out for the Surface Laptop in big sales event such as Prime Day and Black Friday . It ’s the kind of laptop that retailers are swell to clear ancestry for given its historic period and popularity .
Design
The Surface Laptop Go is one of the little laptops I ’ve ever review , mensurate in at just 278 mm tall and 206 mm encompassing compared to the 308 millimeter x 223 millimeter dimensions of theSurface Laptop 5 . This intend it ’s incredibly easy to slot in a rucksack , or even a handbag .
It is n’t quite as thin as gamy - close Ultrabooks , though , with Microsoft plainly feeding it too many sugary bite . This also means it weighs 1.11 kg , which is amazingly hefty for such a small laptop computer . Nevertheless , beak it up with one hand and tote it around township remains an effortless experience .
Microsoft aver the base of the laptop computer is made of “ polycarbonate composite rosin organization with chicken feed fiber ” – which is a posh style of suppose credit card . Do n’t countenance that discourage you , however . The Surface Laptop Go still find peachy next to the budget - flavour of sub-£200 Chromebooks . The keyboard covert and top of the palpebra are both made of Al , ensuring a better build quality than most laptop computer at this price point .
Microsoft put up the laptop in three color options – Ice Blue , Sandstone and Platinum – that all impress in their own right . The Blue selection is my favourite , since it makes a tonic alteration from the horde of blacks , greys and silvers sitting on the shelves of PC World .
The Surface Laptop Go boast a decent selection of ports with 1 x USB - C ( still no Thunderbolt ) , 1 x USB - A , a headphone jack and Surface Connect port . Personally , I ’d rather see Microsoft ditch the Surface Connect embrasure and opt for a second USB - C porthole , since its own proprietary cable’s length would often slip out of place . But the offering here should just about be fair to middling for distinctive drug user .
The 720p webcam can be found snuggle in the top bezel . Video quality is a little pixelated , but it ’s adequate enough for Zoom calls . Microsoft has also introduced dual far - plain studio apartment microphone , which are well equipped to pick up your voice with clarity .
The speaker unit are located below the keyboard , which may sound like an odd placement , but it prevents the audio from being muffled by a desk . I watch a few instalment of Umbrella Academy on the laptop computer , and the audio was well clear and flashy enough for me to conform to the dialogue without issue .
It would be fair to assume the Surface Laptop Go features a condense keyboard due to its dinky dimension , but Microsoft has been able to equip in a full - sized unit of measurement . Of of course , there ’s no number digs – but it would be near - insufferable to squeeze that in here .
The keys provide enough locomotion to check comfortable typing . In fact , I ca n’t intend of another laptop computer at this damage point that features such a well - made keyboard .
A fingermark scanner has been embedded into the power button , which flashes a shiny blank when on the login screen . It ’s unbelievably responsive , piddle it very easy and quick to turn the laptop on in the aurora . regrettably , the fingerprint digital scanner is n’t available on the base gadget , so you ’ll need to pay at least £ 699 – which seems somewhat rough .
The expectant issue with the keyboard is the lack of backlight . This is an odd omission , even for a budget - friendly laptop such as this . But , so long as you do n’t use it in the dark , you probably wo n’t notice its absence .
There is n’t much to say about the trackpad , other than it ’s reasonably sized , super - responsive and gratifyingly smooth to the tactile sensation .
Display
The Surface Laptop Go sees a 12.4 - inch touch screen show , which is one of the small you ’ll find on a laptop these days . Personally , I did n’t find the sizing problematic , especially since it makes the laptop easier to stow in a dish . It was still perfectly enceinte enough for watching Netflix , too .
The biggest topic with the display is its low-pitched resoluteness , coming in at 1536 x 1024 . This is noticeably below the distinctive Full HD character . As a result , pixels were noticeably visible when I was watching Umbrella Academy on Netflix , generate it an unflattering grainy look .
That say , I still enjoyed using the Surface Laptop Go for video recording streaming . The eminent 400 - nit luminousness and comme il faut 1184:1 contrast ensured a punchy pictorial matter , while people of color were accurately expose with trivial to no optical aberration . The visible pixels are unhinge , but there are n’t a bully many Window laptops at the Surface Laptop Go ’s starting terms that look well better – although that certainly is n’t the case when you plunk for the £ 899 configuration .
With a 3:2 aspect ratio , the Surface Laptop Go is best suited for productivity tasks . Its marvelous sizing means it ’s well outfit for websites and social medium , squeezing more text and images onto the screen than the distinctive 16:9 covert . The upshot of this is you ’ll get black barroom sandwiching TV contentedness on the ilk of Netflix , further emphasising this is n’t the practiced laptop option for video purists .
Performance
The Surface Laptop Go sees the same tenth - Gen Intel Core i5 mainframe across all of the available configuration , with 4 GB of RAM put up with the £ 549 model and 8 GB of RAM featuring in the two pricier choice .
That ’s unbelievably outdated in 2022 , with Intel on the threshold of alternate over to its thirteenth - Generation potato chip . It ’s also a generation behind the 11th Gen chip inside the Surface Laptop Go 2 . This all have in mind the original Surface Laptop Go will be noticeably slower than other Windows laptop release in 2022 .
Will that be a problem ? It really look on what sort of workplace you mean on doing . This laptop is well suited to basic productiveness tasks such as connection browsing , opening e-mail and running lifestyle apps such as Netflix and Spotify . But this laptop computer is not sinewy enough for more intensive work such as editing video recording .
It ’s deserving noting that the Go starts up in Windows 10 in S Mode . This operating scheme is very alike to ChromeOS in that it restricts downloads to the app memory board . This is useful for young students or grandparents who may unintentionally download something malicious ; but , otherwise , I strongly advocate you to take advantage of Microsoft ’s free ascent to full - fat Windows 10 , since it ’s more user - favorable and offer significantly more exemption .
I also remember the SSD storage capacity is pretty stingy , with the base model offer only 64 GB of space , which is miserable . The £ 699 is a far well choice with 128 GB of storage capacity , but that still is n’t much room if you wish to stash away your exposure and television collection to the drive .
Battery
The Surface Laptop Go managed to last 8hrs 44mins in our battery test , which include turning the smartness down to 150 nit and cycling though the PCMark 10 office benchmark exam until shutdown .
This termination is fine , but not striking . The Go pass by its bigger and more potent Surface Laptop 3 sibling and interpret a similar upshot to the Honor MagicBook 14 . This means it ’s round about the average for a Windows laptop at this price , get you through a work day away from the main .
It ’s hard not to compare this result to the MacBook Air , though , which is capable of lasting around 18 hours on a undivided electric charge .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The Surface Laptop Go is one of the small-scale Windows laptops you may bribe , and is also useable at a gloomy price .
The Surface Laptop Go is packing an outdated processor , which is only really capable of canonical workloads .
Final Thoughts
The Surface Laptop Go is a fantastic slight laptop , hit a price point in time we rarely ever see for a Windows 10 Intel - power laptop computer .
Its dinky size of it and easy keyboard make it an absolute bargain for those who want an extremist - portable productiveness machine ; it ’s ideal for students , billet actor and social media snoopers .
However , the young Surface Laptop Go 2 offers a faster carrying into action at a like price , and so is the well option for most people . But if you want a bargain , keep an centre out for the original Surface Laptop in next gross revenue .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop computer we review go through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including build timbre , operation , screen quality and battery life .
These let in formal synthetical bench mark and written tests , plus a series of real - world checks , such as how well it execute the most often used apps .
We also check that to habituate every laptop we review as our primary equipment for at least a week to see to it our review is as accurate as possible .
FAQs
The Surface Laptop Go launched in 2020 , so is over two years sometime now .
Yes , the Surface Laptop Go is a laptop .
Test Data
Full Specs
