When looking for thin & lite laptop that had high end productivity features, I researched many different models with me settling on the M$ Surface Laptop 4 due to it being more than capable on fulfilling my needs for a portable workstation. This AMD model of the Surface Laptop 4 13.5 is a good alternative to the Intel Ultrabook’s with some strong key advantages: More affordable, better battery life on a Windows device (Yes, I know the MacBook Air is still the king on battery life), and the multi-core CPU performance is superior to the most expensive Intel option, even on the entry-level model.
So why this one over the others? I work at home doing multiple video calls (Zoom, Teams & Skype) while connected to a Voyager 4310 Bluetooth headset. I also usually have two browsers open with over 20 in each & connected to a corporate VPN. With that also have multiple spreadsheets, documents & do light video/presentation work. Not only does this handle all of that at the same time the experience is trouble free thanks the seamless integration of Windows 11 & the hardware. Everything is just better than other laptops when it comes to Windows. No need to use a 3rd party app for software upgrades as just updating which works automatically BTW if put device in hibernation (just close the lid) instead of shutting down the power. Windows Hello logs you instantly & I have not encountered any bugs with everything just working very well. This is essentially a Windows Mac Book. The 3.2 display aspect ratio is a definite plus with more screen real estate to work with.
Negatives: The glossy screen on is very reflective in direct sunlight outside.
Ratings with 5 being the highest
Quality Control: 5 out of 5 No flex anywhere on laptop, built with good & quality materials
Display: 4 out of 5 Bright, sharp & vibrate display with color just slightly being off
Keyboard: 5 out of 5 One of the best typing experiences on a Windows Laptop
Trackpad 5 out of 5 Very accurate & precise so another homerun for the M$ design team
Speakers: 4 out of 5 Sound is decent but not
spectacular “sound comes through the keyboard”
Performance: Single Task: 4 out of 5 Decent enough for most
Multitasking 4 out of 5 Outstanding!
Battery Life 4 out of 5 Getting over 7 hours with display brightness set to 75%, keyboard backlight on low, Bluetooth headset connected & power settings on Better Performance on battery on heavy days. On lighter days get close to 9 hours but no were near the advertised 17 hours with my usage.
Geeky Stuff
Note: Windows 11 Home 21H2 /w Windows Features Experience Pack 1000.22000.856.0
All Cumulative Updates for Windows 11 has been updated as of 08/21/2022 before tests.
Battery Benchmarks
Cinebench R23 / Single Core 872 pts (To compare an Intel Core i5-1135G7 gets around 1200 pts)
Cinebench R23 / Multi-Core 6122 pts
PCMark 10 Productivity: 6641 Digital Content Creation: 5055 pts
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 4680U 6 x 2.2 - 4 GHz, 44 W PL2 / Short Burst, 23 W PL1 / Sustained, Renoir (Zen 2)
Graphics adapter AMD Radeon RX Vega 7
Memory 16 GB , LPDDR4X-4266, Dual-Channel, onboard
Display 13.50 inch 3:2, 2256 x 1504 pixel 201 PPI, capacitive, LQ135P1JX51, IPS, 60 Hz
Mainboard AMD Promontory/Bixby FCH
Storage Samsung PM991 MZ9LQ256HBJQ, 256 GB, 197 GB free
Weight 2.79 pounds), Power Supply: 10.79 oz
Battery 47.4 Wh