Should I Buy a Surface Laptop in 2024?

The Surface devices produced by Microsoft are some of the best laptops on the market with an excellent build quality. The keyboards are a pleasure to use, the trackpads may be small, but they’re precise and the screens are bright and detailed. But, there are considerable drawbacks too, the number of ports are limited, they lack upgradeability, they lack professional-grade power and they are virtually impossible to fix. So, it’s fair to say that a Microsoft Surface is a mixed bag and it may not be the choice for every prospective user. In this article, we will take a closer look at these devices to help you make an informed purchasing decision.

The Aesthetic Appeal

Let’s start with how the Microsoft Surface looks, the manufacturer has adopted a simple ethos and the chassis doesn’t change much over time. In fact, to a casual observer the Surface Laptop 5 released last year looks exactly like the model released five years ago? The design is excellent, but there is room for improvement, the trackpad could be larger and some diversity in the ports would be nice. It’s almost like Microsoft developed this device and then just decided to stick with it for much longer than other OEMs. The design may be a little outdated (some would say classic), but the components within are regularly upgraded. 

Sources of Concern

The Surface devices have been in production for almost a decade and there are still flaws in the design that may annoy a potential user. Some people purchase the Surface to use the excellent Surface Pen accessory, but this is still a separate purchase. In recent years the Surface Book and Surface Pro came with the Surface Pen as standard, but then Microsoft pulled the plug. We mentioned the ports earlier, there are USB-C ports on every model and newer models have Thunderbolt 4 support. But, Microsoft continues to use the magnetic Surface Connect charger which is redundant. Why? Well the Surface can be charged via USB-C anyway so why not use that real estate to simply add an extra USB-C port? 

Microsoft Surface Accessories

The Surface devices are expensive, but the range and quality of the accessories is excellent. These are all separate purchases unless you can score a good bundle deal. Some of these Microsoft add-ons are well worth the investment and there are more affordable third-party accessories to explore:

• The detachable Surface Pro Flex Keyboard was designed for the Surface Pro 11th Edition and it can be positioned anywhere in tablet mode. It comes with a larger touchpad and it has a bold key option to reduce eye strain

• The Surface Pro Signature Keyboard is designed for the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Pro X models that come with the Slim Pen 2 (more on this later). The keyboard has built-in stylus storage that does double duty as a pen charger.

• The Surface Pro Type Cover is a satisfying clicky feel typing cover that’s easy to attach and it compatible with the Surface Pro 8 and earlier models. 

• The Surface Pen works with many tablet and laptop mopeds with thousands of pressure points, virtually no lag, precision ink and tilt for shading duties. The Surface Pen runs on batteries unlike the newer Surface Slim Pen 2.

• The Surface Slim Pen 2 is the second-generation slim pen and it’s supported with wireless charging. For this release Microsoft improved the already impressive latency and added haptic feedback. Again, this pen is compatible with a wide variety of Surface devices and it’s a must for those that like to write, sketch and draw on their tablet.

Which Microsoft Surface Should I Buy?

If you like the form factor of the Microsoft Surface and the workflow over raw power it could be an ideal device to meet your needs. There is no one-size-all solution and it all comes down to how you want to work with the hardware and software. The Microsoft Surface certainly has a passionate user base that wouldn’t work with anything else. One of the main attractions is that the Surface Pro is that it’s powerful and it can be used as a tablet and a traditional laptop when the keyboard cover is fitted. At this time this is the most versatile Microsoft Surface device in the lineup. The Surface Laptop is more like a traditional laptop, it looks a little outdated in comparison to the Surface Pro. But, it is less expensive and it works well as a day-to-day machine to handle most computing tasks. The Surface Pro X, Surface Go and Surface Laptop Studio are all pretty specific devices that would be hard to recommend. The reason for this is that they have a dizzying array of pros and cons that would be difficult to quantify for most users. The fact is that these three devices don’t represent good value for money. They tend to have poorer build quality, they are underpowered for the most part and yet they are expensive. There are no standout or must have features and there are many other non-Microsoft products on the market that do more for less. So, if the Microsoft Surface ecosystem seems to be attractive, it’s a better idea to skip the “budget” models and go with the Surface Laptop or the Surface Pro.

In Conclusion

Should you purchase a Microsoft Surface device in 2024? The answer is a resounding yes if you like the workflow and you can live with the lack of ports. The chassis may not have changed much over the years, but it’s tried and tested and it works. A Surface Pro or Surface Laptop can be an excellent productivity machine for most users. This is especially true if you enjoy using pens to write notes or create art. The only “budget” model worthy of consideration is the Surface Laptop Studio because it has a unique form factor that some people love. That said, this model does need a refresh and an updated model should be available soon.