Which Surface Laptop 7 Should You Buy?

Introduction

There are three main versions of the Surface Laptop 7, listed below. We purchased them each with their 16gb RAM and 512gb SSD configuration.

Since we value your time, we'll start by sharing our most surprising result: the Surface Laptop 7's 13 inch version with the X Elite processor simply doesn't allow the CPU to perform at its best. It also doesn't outperform the lower tier processor by enough to justify its cost difference. This means that the 13 inch X Plus version is a better value and the 15 inch X Elite version has stronger performance. If you take one thing from this article it should be to skip over the 13 inch Surface Laptop with the X Elite.

It's also important to note that we planned this article and video out when the Surface was our favorite of the laptops, but as we used them more and experienced more instabilities we started to feel that the Lenovo Slim 7x was the best of the bunch in performance and stability. If you want one of these new devices and you're comfortable with making aesthetic sacrifices for more value and stability, we'd recommend that one. All of them are listed below.

If you want more detailed thoughts on each feature of the Surface, check out our article here and the linked video where we compare them to the MacBook Air. Now let's get into their differences.

Performance

Let's start with performance. The X Plus has 10 CPU cores. The X Elite has 2 additional CPU cores it can run up to 10% faster.

In Geekbench, which tests a variety of common performance tasks, the X Elite processor in both the 13" and 15" machines performs better than the X Plus. They also beat competing laptops with Intel processors.

Geekbench Performance

When we switch over to Cinebench, which tests the laptop's processor when maxed out, you start to see the X Elite's performance differ in the two different chassis. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite 80-100 simply performs better in the 15 inch, likely due to better cooling and more power draw from its included charger. The 13 inch devices only come with a 39 watt charger to the 15's 65 watt.

Cinebench Performance

The conversation about power draw leads us nicely to-

Battery Life

When we look at performance while on battery, its good news for the Surface Laptop 15. The extra power draw fed to its processor and required by its larger display is negated by its larger battery. That’s why, when running Cinebench on a loop for 30 minutes, all these laptops ended up having around the same battery remaining.

Cinebench - Battery Remaining

However, when we switch gears to casual use, you can see a difference. There is a cost of putting the more powerful and power hungry X Elite processor in the smaller 13 inch laptop. You lose a good amount of battery. Those extra 2 CPU cores of the X Elite processor require power. This is another reason to get the 13inch version with X Plus instead.

Netflix - Battery Remaining

Heat & Fan Noise

When it comes to heat you feel, all three laptops felt around the same in light and heavy use. That is, they remain very cool for light tasks. The moment you run anything that requires performance, they feel noticeably warm. Even something as simple as a conference call will make these laptops heat up.

Heat You Feel

When it comes to fan noise, again all three of them were around the same. Quiet for light use and around 45 decibels for performance tasks. This is noticeable, but not overly loud as far as laptop fans go.

Integrated Graphics

For graphics, they all have the same integrated Qualcomm Adreno graphics. No surprises, they ended up performing around the same.

Graphics - Wildlife Extreme

That also goes for their advertised NPU performance. So, if you’re interested in graphics or AI, you could AGAIN save money and just buy the 13 inch with X Plus.

Quality

Before we get into pricing and conclude, we do want to note some things. Given that we got 3 of these laptops in, we did notice some build quality differences. Our Surface Laptop 13 with X Elite did not sit flat on the desk. The others did. And our 13 inch with X Plus was an ever so slightly lighter blue than the X Elite unit.

More importantly, we experienced instabilities in performance, as we noted at the beginning. They were great when they worked, but between the three devices we had the following issues: a crash during a conference call, inconsistent charging issues, and the keyboard turning off completely.

We had high hopes for the Surface specifically, as evidenced by the effort we've put into our recent content covering it. Overall, if you decide to purchase one, we'd encourage you to get the warranty just in case.

Pricing & Conclusion

So let's wrap up with pricing. As listed in our table, our purchased configurations are as follows: the 13 inch X Plus at $1,200, the 13 inch X Elite at $1,400, and the 15 inch with X Elite at $1,500.

Overall, given what we’ve just shown you, we feel the 13inch X Elite model makes the least sense. This is especially so when you consider the ideal users for these laptops: users doing office work, mid-level performance tasks, and web browsing. In these tasks you are unlikely to notice the difference between the X Plus and X Elite. The Plus version also lasts longer on battery. So save the $200!

However, if you do want a higher performing Surface laptop with an X Elite processor, we recommend just skipping the 13 inch and buying the 15 inch instead. There is only a $100 increase in price for a pretty large increase in CPU performance as well as a larger battery.

If you want more details on the Surface before buying, or you want to see whether the MacBook Air might be a better fit for you, go check out our most recent article and video on the subject.