In addition to software, Microsoft also has an extensive portfolio of hardware in its range. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is the latest model of normal laptop, after all, most Surface devices are convertibles. Does Microsoft add anything to the laptop market with this?
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (AMD 15 inch)
price From €1449 (€1849 as tested)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 4980U Microsoft Surface Edition (8 cores)
Graphics Card Radeon RX Vega 8 (integrated in CPU)
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Screen 15 inch (2496 x 1664 pixels with 10-point multi-touch and pen support)
RAM 8 or 16 GB LPDDR4x (soldered)
Storage 256 or 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD (removable)
Connections USB-c Gen 2 (data, charging and DisplayPort), USB-a Gen 2, 3.5mm headphone jack, Surface Connect port (charging and docking station)
Camera Windows Hello camera (720p)
wireless 2×2 WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0 bluetooth
Battery 47.4 Wh
Dimensions 339.5 × 244 × 14.7mm
Weight 1542 grams
Website www.surface.nl 8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Sturdy housing
- Excellent screen
- Nice screen ratio
- Good performances
- Negatives
- Few connections
- Awkward charging connection
- Pricey
Appearance is the Surface Laptop 4 no surprise, the housing is identical to the Surface Laptop 3. Basically, that means a sleekly designed laptop with an excellent finish. Microsoft is known for their Alcantara (imitation suede) finished devices, but that material is reserved for the 13.5-inch version. The tested 15-inch variant is only in all-aluminium, which in our test model is finished in black. The matte finish looks nice and is virtually insensitive to fingerprints, so that the laptop still looks presentable even after working for a while.
Microsoft says it has designed the screen lid and hinge in such a way that you can open the laptop with one hand while it is on the table. And that is indeed possible. Although a small notch for just a little more grip would have been useful. Where the hinge opens remarkably smoothly, it is striking at the same time that the hinge is sturdy once it is open. Nice, because the laptop has a touch screen and you can touch the screen without it changing position.
The Surface laptop is a device from Microsoft itself and that comes with an important advantage compared to many laptops from other manufacturers: you get a clean Windows installation on which only software from Microsoft itself is installed. That means no additional bloatware is installed. So you don’t become like so many Windowsharassed laptops with pop-ups from, for example, virus scanners or cloud services. Microsoft does provide two apps for managing the Surface Laptop itself, and Microsoft Office is also installed as a trial version.
Dedicated Microsoft processor
The Surface 4 laptops are available with an Intel or AMD processor. We received an AMD version from Microsoft. Probably not a coincidence, because the processor used in the laptop is, according to the system properties, an AMD Ryzen 7 Microsoft Surface Edition that has been given the type number Ryzen 7 4980U. A chip that does not exist in AMD’s normal portfolio, the Ryzen 7 4800U is the highest energy-efficient U variant. The clock speeds of this special Microsoft variant are 200 MHz higher than the 4800U for both the base clock and the boost clock. Unfortunately, it is not a chip from the newer and faster Ryzen 5000 series like the Ryzen 7 5800U that is now also on the market. This makes this special Microsoft processor a bit of a stale processor when introduced.
Versions
Despite the fact that Microsoft and AMD have jointly designed a processor for this laptop series, the most expensive version of the Surface Laptop 4 still boasts an Intel processor. If you absolutely need 32 GB of ram and 1 TB of storage, you will automatically arrive at an Intel processor in the form of an Intel Core i7-1185G7. The variant with an AMD processor is available with a maximum of 16 GB of RAM and a 512 SSD. The big difference between the AMD and Intel processor is in the number of cores. Where the AMD Ryzen 7 has eight, the Core i7 only offers four cores.
The cheapest 15-inch version with AMD processor costs 1449 euros. For that you only have 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. After that, it quickly becomes quite pricey, because the larger 512 GB SSD will cost you 200 euros extra, while you also pay another 200 euros for the extra 8 GB RAM. The price of the tested configuration thus comes to 1,849 euros.
Few connections
As with its predecessor, the Surface Laptop 4 with one USB-A and one USB-C connection is not exactly spacious in its connections. You can still connect the charger to the special Surface Connect port, a port for which a docking station is also available. You can also charge via USB-C. You will also find a USB port on the charger, but it does not function as a data connection. You can use this port to charge your phone, for example. Think of it as an extra, because with a power of 5 watts, it’s definitely not a fast charger.
The usb-c port is a Gen 2 variant (10 Gbit/s), while the normal USB port is also a Gen 2 variant (10 Gbit/s). If you need more USB ports, this can be done in combination with the Surface Dock 2 that can be connected to the Surface Connect. This docking station offers six Gen 2 ports with a speed of 10 Gbit/s. Faster than 10 Gbit/s is unfortunately not possible, USB 4.0 is missing. Even the Intel variant is not equipped with Thunderbolt.
That Surface Connect connection that you use for the charger is, in addition to the fact that we prefer to see an extra USB-C, also a point of annoyance. A magnet is used to make the plug stick to the port. However, the port sits so low in a beveled edge of the case that it’s almost impossible to plug in the laptop without lifting the laptop. If you do try, then the very magnet that should help you pull the plug crooked. And this problem is not new, the predecessor also suffered from it.
Good picture and sound
The 15-inch screen from Sharp is identical to that in the Surface Laptop 3. As on other Surface products, Microsoft has opted for a 3:2 aspect ratio, which gives you a lot of work space in height. With a resolution of 2496 x 1664, the image is sharp enough. Windows defaults to a display scale of 150 percent, but in itself the whole is also useful on a scale of 125 percent, giving you more workspace.
The screen offers excellent color reproduction and viewing angles. Compared to some other more expensive laptops, the maximum brightness of about 382 cd/m2 is not very impressive. In addition to using your fingers, you can also use the glossy-finished touchscreen in combination with the optional Surface Pen. The screen has fairly wide edges for a modern laptop. You can call that old-fashioned, but it has the advantage that you can easily perform swiping gestures from the side. And that wide screen edge offers at least enough space for a webcam. In terms of image, that is not a very impressive example, but it is sufficient for an average video conversation. However, the camera is equipped with an infrared sensor, making the camera suitable for Windows Hello facial recognition that allows you to log in without a password.
The laptop does not have separate openings for the speakers, instead the sound comes from the gaps between the keys. Despite this somewhat remarkable construction, the sound is very good and it is full and loud enough for watching movies, for example.
Nice work
The keyboard is beautifully integrated into the housing and comes across as calm. That tidy appearance is partly due to the fact that some laptops of comparable size have more keys in the form of, for example, a numeric field or functions such as page up, home and end. Microsoft has given those typical word processing functions a place under F8 to F12. The remaining function keys double as media and brightness controls. These alternative functions are the standard functionality of the keys, to use the classic function keys there is an Fn toggle key. It works like a caps-lock: press it after which a light comes on and the desired functions become active. Nice for users who tap blindly is that the rightmost key in the top row is the delete key, the power button has been given a spot to the left of it. The keyboard has backlight in three brightness levels. The typing comfort is excellent. The keys have a clearly tangible moment of depression and the whole feels solid while typing.
The spacious touchpad has a size of 11.5 by 7.7 cm and works remarkably smoothly. The touchpad is perfectly integrated into the housing and the built-in switch has a remarkably fine click. All the multi-touch gestures that Windows offers are performed smoothly.
Performance
The AMD Ryzen 7 4980U is an eight-core processor with a clock speed of up to 4.4 GHz. This raises expectations in terms of performance and these are also fulfilled. In PCMark 10, this laptop scores 5234 points, making it a fast laptop. Also in Cinebench R23, the laptop achieves excellent results with a Multi Core score of 9690 points. In a somewhat longer test, this drops to a still good 8763 points because the processor then gets warmer. The Single Core score of 1280 points is slightly disappointing, a sign that this processor is especially strong in multicore applications. In modern multicore applications, this AMD version will be a lot smoother than the Intel version of this laptop.
The SSD comes from SK Hynix and with a maximum read and write speed of 2304.43 and 1060.77 MB/s, it is not a very special item. On the other hand, the difference between a fast and a less fast SSD is usually not noticeable in practice. The Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated into the processor is relied upon for the graphics capabilities. With this, the laptop achieves a score of 1379 points in the benchmark 3DMark Time Spy. That is a very decent score for an integrated GPU, and you can use the laptop just fine for photo editing, for example. However, it is not a game monster, you can only play comfortably with a relatively modern game if you limit the resolution to 720p. The laptop is generally quiet and only turns on when the laptop is really put to work.
It is remarkable that Microsoft uses the same 47.4 battery in the 15-inch version as in the smaller 13.5-inch version. Due to the larger screen, the 15-inch version probably has a shorter battery life than the smaller version. Fortunately, it is not a very big disadvantage, because the battery life turns out to be good. In the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test, which simulates office work, the notebook achieves a battery life of 14 hours and 39 minutes. That’s a very neat score. In practice, you can easily work for about 10 hours on a full battery during normal (office) work.
Conclusion
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a nice looking laptop that is solidly built. The processor in this AMD variant is strong in multicore applications and therefore generally faster than the chip used in the Intel variant. It is a pity that the AMD processor is therefore not available as an absolute top model with a lot of RAM and storage. With its high screen ratio and pleasant keyboard, this is a laptop you can work on comfortably. Unfortunately, the Surface Laptop 4 does have a major drawback and is the lack of connections. Two USB ports is not too big for a 15-inch notebook. We also find the Surface Connect inconvenient, it would have been better to have a second USB-C connection, which largely solved the lack of ports.
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