The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 has one of the best keyboards we’ve ever used, so it might be one of the best laptops for writers. It could use a few more ports, but if you’re going to type a lot, it’s an easy laptop to recommend. The Surface Laptop has always been a beautiful piece of technology, and the Surface Laptop 4 is no different. The 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 4 we were sent to review is one of the lightest and thinnest laptops we’ve ever used that was also easy to type on.
It comes in four different colors, and we chose Platinum. It’s lovely. The Platinum Surface Laptop 4 has a platinum-colored lid, and the only thing on it is a chrome Microsoft logo in a square in the middle. The bottom of the laptop looks about the same, but the keyboard tray is a bit darker. The laptop is only 0.57 inches (14 mm) thick and weighs 2.79 pounds (1.3 kg), so it’s easy to carry in your bag while you’re traveling. Even though the Surface Laptop 4 is very thin, it feels very strong.
Specifications
- CPU: 11th-Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 (Core i5 also available)
- RAM: 16GB (8GB, 32GB also available)
- Display: 13.5-inch touch-screen, 2256 x 1504 (201 PPI)
- Storage: 512GB SSD (256GB, 1TB also available)
- Ports: 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A, Surface Connect port, headphone jack
- Battery life: 10:46 (tested, web surfing) | Up to 17 hours (Microsoft’s claim)
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth 5.0
- Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.8 x 0.57 inches
- Weight: 2.79 pounds
Where to get Microsoft Surface Laptop 4?
The top is made of aluminum and doesn’t bend at all. And, unlike many other touchscreen laptops, when you poke the screen, the hinge is so strong that you don’t have to readjust it or hold it up with your other hand. This alone makes using the touchscreen much easier and makes it seem less like a gimmick, which is something that other laptop makers can learn from. But the keyboard deck is all about comfort, no matter how solid the top of the laptop is.
As is usual with the Surface Laptop, the keyboard and trackpad are surrounded by a soft, suede-like microfibre pile material called Alcantara. It’s so much easier to type on right away because instead of being made of hard metal like most other laptops, it’s nice and soft. It’s nice to see a classic USB-A port on a modern machine like this, and pairing it with a USB-C port gives this laptop a nice amount of flexibility when it comes to connecting external devices. But this USB-C port doesn’t work with Thunderbolt 4, which is a bummer for anyone who bought a GPU or a high-capacity external drive.