by In terms of computers, when it comes to Apple, it has its own “biological” Mac series; and Microsoft also has its own “biological” Surface series. And if you want a “deformable” model, there is the Surface Pro series that you have reviewed earlier; but if you want a traditional pen motor model, they also have their own Surface Laptop series. Recently, they launched the latest model of this series, Surface Laptop 5. How is the performance of this relatively affordable and practical “children” laptop? Let Edward test it for everyone.
The metal body is really thin and light
Surface Laptop has been launched to the 5th generation. In fact, the appearance has not changed much. It still adopts a simple and solid color body design made of metal, so it feels good in the hand, and it feels quite clean. In addition, its thickness and weight are only 14.5mm and 1.297kg respectively. Although this configuration is not extremely thin, it is still convenient to take it out for street use as a metal notebook.
▲This is Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop 5, which adopts a traditional laptop design.
▲The fuselage is made of all-metal materials and adopts a simple design.
▲The metal body feels good in the hand, but the side of the machine is designed with square corners, which feels a bit rough to the touch.
▲The weight of the metal body is about 1.3kg, and the thickness is 14.5mm, which is not very thin, but it is still possible to take it out of the street.
▲There are one USB-C and one USB-A terminal on the left side of the fuselage, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the right side is only equipped with the Surface Connect port for connecting to the Fire Bull. The number and types of terminals are not enough.
▲ Of course, the Windows 11 operating system is preloaded.
▲In the “Your Surface Laptop 5” interface, you can also fine-tune different functions. However, Surface Laptop 5 adopts a traditional laptop design. Although the screen supports touch functions, there are not many options for users to adjust.
▲Like Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5 is also pre-loaded with ClipChamp, a simple video editing software, but I believe that few people will use Surface Laptop 5 to edit, so it is not very practical. In addition, it also has built-in handwriting note-taking software, but because it adopts a traditional laptop design, the screen cannot be rotated to the back of the machine so that it can be used as a tablet, so it is also not very useful.
Screen display quality is above average
As for the display, Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 has two choices of 13.5-inch and 15-inch, and the author tested the 13.5-inch screen model, which has a built-in 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 resolution PixelSense screen, although the refresh rate is only average 60Hz level, and it is only an LED backlit LCD screen, but because of the use of Microsoft’s own PixelSense screen technology, the color water is natural, the definition is also high, the viewing angle is also wide, and the brightness generally reaches 450 nits. Generally enough. In addition, it also supports touch function, but the laptop itself adopts a traditional design, and the screen cannot be twisted to the back of the machine to be used as a tablet. The main control system is still using the keyboard and touchpad, so the touch function is not very useful.
▲Surface Laptop 5 has two options of 13.5-inch and 15-inch screens, and the author tested the 13.5-inch screen model.
▲Because the body is made of metal materials, the screen also has a certain thickness. In addition, the frame is not too small.
▲Since the Surface Laptop 5 adopts a traditional laptop design, the screen can only be opened to the maximum angle shown in the picture above.
▲The highest resolution of the screen is 2256 x 1504, and it is only a normal 60Hz update rate screen.
▲However, the screen has built-in support for Dolby Vision IQ technology, which can play HDR videos in Dolby Vision format. In addition, its built-in OmniSonic speaker also supports Dolby Atmos sound effects. I also tested it. The volume of the speaker is sufficient, and the mid-to-high range is good, especially the human voice is very clear, but the bass output is not enough. But for a thin and light laptop Also performed as expected.
▲The screen supports touch function, but under the traditional laptop design, it is actually not very practical.
▲The quality of the screen display is at an upper-middle level. The text is displayed clearly and the colors are natural, which is very good.
▲Although it is not an OLED screen, the PixelSense screen of Surface Laptop 5 has a very high viewing angle, and the display quality has not been reduced when viewed from the side.
The keyboard is comfortable to type on and the touchpad is large enough
As for the control, Surface Laptop 5 has a built-in full-size island-style keyboard design, the keys have a certain key travel, and the pressing area of the keys is sufficient, making it comfortable to type even for a long time. As for the touchpad, although the area is not too large, it is still large enough for a multi-finger control system, barely large enough. In addition, today’s business notebooks basically have a built-in fingerprint login function, Surface Laptop 5 still only supports Windows Hello face recognition function in terms of biometric authentication, and it does not have a built-in fingerprint reader, which is really a pity.
▲Surface Laptop 5 has a built-in full-size keyboard that is generally equipped with 13.5-inch laptops.
▲The keyboard keys have enough pressing area, and there is a certain amount of key travel when pressed. In addition, it adopts a design similar to “soft landing”. Tired, very well designed.
▲The touchpad is not very big, but it is still barely big enough for multi-finger control system.
▲The built-in webcam supports Windows Hello face unlock function, but it is a pity that Surface Laptop 5 does not support fingerprint unlock function at the same time, which is a pity.
Effective enough for daily life
Finally, in terms of hardware configuration, the Surface Laptop 5 tested by the author has a built-in 12th generation Intel Core i5-1245U processor, Intel Iris Xe image processing chip, 8GB LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB SSD, which belongs to the middle class among business laptops. Even so, it is still enough to meet the daily needs of most users, whether it is used to browse the web, do document processing, or even watch movies. However, if you want to use it for photo editing, or even use it as a computer, if you want to have excellent results, Surface Laptop 5 may not be able to satisfy everyone. As for the power, the Surface Laptop 5 has a built-in 47.4Wh lithium-ion battery. The official said that it can be used for up to 18 hours. However, the author has personally tested it. Under normal usage, it is basically no problem to use it for more than 12 hours. In other words, it is generally enough for everyone to use for a day or even longer, so don’t worry too much about the usage time.
▲In terms of hardware configuration, the Surface Laptop 5 tested by the author has a built-in 12th generation Intel Core i5-1245U processor, Intel Iris Xe image processing chip, 8GB LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB SSD.
▲Although it is a thin and light pen motor model, Surface Laptop 5 still has a built-in cooling fan, and there are cooling holes on the back of the machine and where the screen is connected to facilitate the dissipation of heat inside the machine.
▲As for the performance, the author first tested the processor with Geekbench 5. The results showed that the single-core and multi-core computing scored 1,201 points and 6,457 points respectively.
▲The author used 3DMark Time Spy to test the image processing performance of Surface Laptop 5, and the result was 1,418 points, which is similar to that of ordinary thin and light laptops. It can be seen that although its image processing performance is not very good, it is simple Work is still manageable.
▲The author used CrystalDiskMark to test the performance of the SSD. The results showed that the read and write speeds were 3428.12MB/s and 1637.21MB/s respectively. The performance is also at the upper-middle level and belongs to the PCIe 3.0 series.
▲Finally, the author used PCMark 10 and Geekbench 5 – OpenCL to test the overall system performance of Surface Laptop 5, and finally scored 3,949 points and 13,440 points respectively. It can be seen that its overall performance is at the upper-middle level among thin and light notebooks, although it is not so high Very good, but it can be considered to be able to cope with daily work.
Summary: It’s not considered a “biological child” to play
All in all, the Surface Laptop 5 launched by Microsoft this time can be regarded as a “basic” work to a certain extent. Overall, the appearance remains the same, but the hardware is upgraded to the latest version, and there is not much innovation in the function. The functions that were not available in the past have not been strengthened in this generation. Personally, I am a little disappointed. Of course, with the name of “children”, Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 should always have a group of loyal “supporters”, and the appearance design itself is not bad, but there are not too many upgrades other than hardware, and the body is not considered. It is extremely thin and light, and the price still starts at $8,488. If you don’t stick to the name of “Birth Boy”, there are actually many other brands to choose from, and even some models are priced similarly, but their functions and configurations are much better than Surface Laptop 5. So in terms of playability, the Surface Laptop 5 launched by Microsoft this time is not ideal.
