The previous adage goes that if one thing ain’t broke, do not repair it. Now whereas that is usually sage recommendation, clearly there is a restrict to how lengthy you possibly can maintain one thing going — particularly a gadget — earlier than it begins to lag behind. And with the Surface Laptop 5, it appears like Microsoft is starting to check that boundary as a result of whereas the pocket book is as modern and chic as ever, even with the inclusion of a brand new CPU, it is simple to see the place its getting old chassis may use a number of updates or high quality of life enhancements. So whereas I’ll by no means complain about getting a efficiency increase, it nonetheless appears like Microsoft may do higher.

Design, keyboard and ports

I’m not going to spend an excessive amount of time speaking concerning the Surface Laptop 5’s exterior as a result of it is the identical chassis Microsoft has been utilizing for the final three or 4 generations. Both the 13 and 15-inch fashions characteristic an aluminum physique with tall 3:2 shows for enhanced productiveness. Our 13.5-inch evaluation unit weighed in at 2.86 kilos and measured simply 0.57 inches thick. The entire bundle is tremendous modern and in some respects, I can see why Microsoft does not wish to mess with the design – it truly is a factor of magnificence. It’s skinny and minimalist similar to a MacBook, however totally different sufficient that you’re going to by no means get the 2 confused. Still, I feel Microsoft is greater than able to tweaking the present chassis to accommodate new parts with out ruining its attractiveness.

Pros

• Faster Intel Twelfth-gen CPU
• Elegant design
• Bright 3:2 show
• Now helps Thunderbolt 4

Cons

• 720p webcam
• No AMD configs
• Somewhat chunky bezels
• Could use another port

New for this 12 months is a sage inexperienced coloration choice like we obtained on the Surface Laptop Go 2. But Microsoft did not cease there as a result of the corporate additionally made customized wallpapers for Windows 11 that match the system’s exterior paint job. I do know this can be a fairly minor change within the grand scheme of issues, however the further little bit of coloration coordination is sort of good.

Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop 5’s keyboard and touchpad do not depart a lot to complain about. Keycaps are spaced out properly whereas having good crisp actuation, although after some hands-on time with the 15-inch model, I seen that the bigger mannequin has barely deeper key journey. And whereas its touchpad which measures 4.5 x 3 inches is not fairly as massive as what you’d discover on a equally sized MacBook, there’s nonetheless loads of room to mouse round.

One of the opposite huge modifications on the Surface Laptop 5 is its new USB 4.0/Thunderbolt 4 port, which supplies elevated bandwidth for transferring knowledge or sending video to exterior shows. Sadly, on each the 13.5 and 15-inch fashions, there are solely a complete of two USB connectors: the aforementioned Thunderbolt 4 port and a daily USB 3.1 Type-A slot. Thankfully, Microsoft hasn’t axed assist for wired audio, so you continue to get a 3.5mm headphone jack along with the corporate’s signature magnetic Surface Connect port for charging and docking.

But when you’ll enable me to grandstand a bit, I kind of want Microsoft would ditch the Surface Connect port totally. Due to latest rules from the EU, we’re getting ready to having all telephones assist USB-C for charging and knowledge, and apart from the proprietary connectors Apple and Microsoft use on MacBooks and Surfaces, laptops aren’t far behind. Not solely would eliminating the Surface Connect port release room for an additional USB-C jack — which is each smaller and extra versatile — I discover its weak magnets and awkward form make it tougher to make use of than USB-C.

Display and webcam

Like its chassis, the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 5 options the identical 2,256 x 1,504 PixelSense touchscreen Microsoft used on the earlier mannequin and that is completely tremendous. It has good brightness that hit slightly below 400 nits on my gentle meter together with wealthy, saturated colours. The one new tweak for 2022 is assist for Dolby Vision IQ, which mechanically adjusts issues like coloration profiles and distinction primarily based on ambient situations. It’s a pleasant contact, however contemplating just about each cellphone made in the previous couple of years has an analogous show tech, Microsoft is not [exactly] breaking new floor right here.

That stated, whereas its picture high quality is powerful, the Surface Laptop 5’s show is beginning to present its age a bit. The bezels are a number of millimeters thicker than what we obtained on final 12 months’s Surface Laptop Studio, which makes issues look a bit chunky. You additionally do not get assist for HDR or high-refresh charges.

But the factor that is lagging behind essentially the most is its 720p net digital camera, which is satisfactory at finest. You do not get assist for any of Microsoft’s Windows Studio results such as you do on the Surface Pro 9 5G and I’ve stated it earlier than and I’ll say it once more: 1080p webcams needs to be the baseline on premium notebooks. Thankfully, Microsoft has stored the built-in IR cameras for Windows Hello facial recognition, which nonetheless works nice.

Performance

Inside, the brand new Twelfth-gen Intel CPUs provide an enormous bounce in efficiency. The draw back is that in contrast to the earlier technology, there are not any AMD-based configs, which is sort of a bummer. That stated, with scores which are round 20 p.c increased in PCMark 10 in comparison with the Surface Laptop 4, it is onerous to be too upset.

Just do not get your hopes up about doing any hardcore gaming, as a result of each fashions are restricted to Iris XE built-in graphics. In Overwatch 2, I needed to decrease settings to medium to be able to get a considerably secure 60 fps, although you possibly can eke out just a little extra efficiency when you’re prepared to decrease the sport’s decision or activate upsampling. But no matter what you do, this factor is not actually meant to play AAA titles.

Battery life and ports

As for battery life, with a time of 12 hours and 39 minutes, the Surface Laptop 5 turned in respectable although not excellent outcomes. In comparability, final 12 months’s 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 fared higher with a mark of 15:25, as did different ultraportables from this 12 months together with the Lenovo Yoga 9i at 14:22 and the M2 MacBook Air at 17:05.

As a longtime Surface consumer, I recognize that Microsoft stored the bonus 5-watt charging port constructed into the included energy adapter, which is very nice for powering up small peripherals like a mouse or wi-fi headphones. And I ought to point out that if for some purpose you lose or overlook your charging brick at residence, you possibly can nonetheless prime up the Surface Laptop 5 through USB-C.

Wrap-up

While the Surface Laptop 5 hasn’t gotten a boatload of updates, it nonetheless has a extremely elegant design and the addition of latest Twelfth-gen Intel chips and a Thunderbolt 4 port present an enormous bump up in velocity and value. Sure, it won’t have the sharpest webcam or a ton of ports, but when all you want is a streamlined ultraportable for normal productiveness, the Surface Laptop 5 packs all of the necessities into a really modern bundle.

It is considerably telling, nonetheless, that Microsoft solely despatched out the 13.5-inch mannequin for evaluation, as a result of there are much more modifications I’d prefer to see on the 15-inch model. I do know my dream of getting an Xbox gaming laptop computer in all probability will not ever occur, however I feel there is a ton of potential to rework the larger Surface Laptop 5 into a extremely nice all-rounder by including assist for discrete graphics and some extra ports.

But the onerous half comes when making an attempt to resolve between the 13-inch Surface Laptop 5 and one thing just like the XPS 13. For the identical $1,000 beginning value, Dell’s pocket book comes with an analogous CPU and a bigger 512GB SSD as an alternative of only a 256GB drive, however no touchscreen (although you possibly can improve to 1 if you would like). That means it’s a must to select between getting a barely higher worth within the XPS 13, or choosing a taller 3:2 contact show with the Surface Laptop 5.

Still, if all you need is a trendy ultraportable with a pleasant display screen for productiveness, Microsoft’s newest clamshell has lots to love. I simply hope subsequent 12 months we get a full refresh as an alternative of only a easy spec bump.