Review: Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Remember the netbook? I loved netbooks. They were great low-budget, tinkerer-friendly machines. I would not call Microsoft's new Surface Laptop Go a netbook as the term was once used, but the company is targeting the same market and using similar tricks to keep the price down to $550.

That includes sticking on a low-resolution screen and limiting performance. Still, this is one of the nicest laptops I've tested in 2020, with a lightweight build and solid battery life to boot. It's a joy to use—as long as you're not trying to edit video or otherwise tax its capabilities.

Photograph: Microsoft

Microsoft's Surface line started as laptops focused on high-end features at premium prices. This changed with the Surface Go, which took key elements of the flagships and wrapped them in less powerful hardware. The result doesn't top any benchmark tests, but it's highly portable, has a decent battery, and won't break the bank. But the Surface Go's form factor—a tablet with a keyboard that's sold separately—isn't for everyone.

That's where the Surface Laptop Go comes in. Add the word "Go" to a Surface and you're left with a stripped-down, less powerful machine that still retains some of the best features of the top end. Namely, a 3:2 aspect ratio touchscreen; a nice, full-sized keyboard; and an excellent trackpad.

As you'd expect from any Surface, the emphasis on design remains despite the lower price. This is a good-looking laptop that looks and feels like it costs $1,000. It's small and svelte, with clean lines and a nice solid feel, something that's rare at this price. The top is aluminum and the bottom is polycarbonate resin, which is nicer than it sounds. It's stiffer and stronger than your typical laptop plastic. You can also easily open it with one finger, which I think is an important feature.

Size is another area where this machine excels. It's small and very light, 2.46 pounds to be exact. I hardly noticed it in my bag, which, coupled with decent battery life, makes it a great choice for frequent travelers (or those of you still able to get out and work at a coffee shop).

There are three models of the Surface Laptop Go, but all feature the same Intel Core i5. It's a 10th-generation Ice Lake chip with four cores and Intel UHD graphics. The chip won't hold up against what's in the more powerful Surface Laptop, but it'll beat the pants off the Core m3 that's in the base model Surface Go. That could make the Surface Laptop Go a Goldilocks device for some, but it depends on what you want to do with your laptop. If you need a workhorse video editing machine or want to play high-end games, this is obviously not the laptop for you.

The only difference between the three models is how much RAM and storage space you get. The base is $550 and will get you 4 gigabytes of RAM, and a paltry 64-gigabyte eMMC storage drive. From there you can step up to a model with 8 gigabytes of RAM and a 128-gigabyte SSD for $700, or go for the top-of-the-line 8 gigabytes of RAM and 256-GB SSD for $900.

Microsoft sent me the top-tier model for testing, but I feel confident in saying the model to get is the middle configuration for $700. The low-end option with 4 gigabytes of RAM is going to struggle to do anything. Windows 10 will eagerly eat up over a gigabyte of RAM just sitting idle, and web browsers assume everyone has unlimited RAM, so it's simply not enough. And the $900 model only gets you an extra 128 gigabytes of storage for $200 more. At that price, I'd have liked to see a bump in RAM to 16 gigabytes too.

Photograph: Microsoft

It's no surprise that a $700 laptop is going to have compromises. Where the Laptop Go really skimps is the display. The 1,536 × 1,024 pixel resolution screen is packed into a 12.4-inch frame, which works out to a pixel density of 148 pixels per inch. What that means in practice is that the display is noticeably less crisp than even a 13.3-inch 1080p screen. Is it noticeable? Absolutely. Text is fuzzy around the edges even when you're only an arm's length away.

Thankfully, the display is plenty bright and has the same 10-point touch support found in the Surface Laptop line. A nice, bright touchscreen is somewhat unusual at this price point, but it might be worth taking a look at in person (if you can) to see if the fuzziness will bother you.

I'll admit that when I first opened the Laptop Go and saw the mediocre screen, my first thought was that battery life would probably be great. Unfortunately, it's more what I would call just OK.

The battery lasted through 10 hours and 22 minutes of looped video playback, which is pretty good for a budget laptop. The Acer Spin 3, which is roughly comparable in specs and price, managed an extra 75 minutes in the same test. The 2019 Dell XPS 13, which compares price-wise to the high-end Surface configuration, manages over 13 hours in the same test. For the money, the Surface Laptop Go has good enough but not great battery life.

Microsoft has included one USB-A and one USB-C port, and the latter can charge the laptop. There is also the usual proprietary Surface battery charger. You also get a headphone port, thankfully. There's sadly no SD or MicroSD card slot, which would be nice given the limited SSD storage available.

The keyboard is nice enough, with a good springy feel, although the keys aren't backlit. Microsoft also managed to cram a fingerprint reader in the power button of the Surface Laptop Go and it works surprisingly well. As with other Surface devices, the trackpad is excellent. I wish Microsoft would license this trackpad somehow, because every cheap laptop should have a trackpad this nice.

The Surface Laptop Go is a capable machine. In many ways, it's 2020's answer to a netbook—the netbook all grown up, if you will. It's well-designed, a pleasure to use, light, portable, and has good enough battery life. Look to the high-end Surface Laptop for a workhorse, but if you're looking for more casual use—something to browse the web, get some work done, and even handle some light photo editing—it's a great choice.

Except ... I keep going back to that low-res screen. It's just so noticeable in everything you do. Considering the screen is what you'll stare at the most, it's tough to recommend you strain your eyes when there are plenty of other cheap laptops with 1080p screens.