Yes, the original Surface Go was not a hit, but this model fixed practically everything wrong with the original. Read our full Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 review.Ĭollege students looking for a portable 2-in-1 that can last a while should give the Surface Go 2 a close look. It's a decent enough productivity laptop, but it could have been better. This is the company that Windows built, and it would be great to see it take a leading role in designing the ideal Windows 11 laptop. So while the Surface Laptop 5 is still a very serviceable laptop, it's a disappointing step forward from Microsoft. You can generally get better performance and more useful features for your money from competitors like the Acer Swift 5 and Dell XPS 15 OLED.

The newly-added Thunderbolt 4 support is also welcome, especially if you like to use external displays, and the upgrade to a 12th Gen Intel CPU delivers clear improvements in performance benchmarks.īut those are the only meaningful upgrades Microsoft appears to have delivered over last year's model, and they don't do enough to keep the Surface Laptop 5 competitive with some other laptops on the market. The spacious keyboard and tall screen are great for getting work done, and the fact that Microsoft improved the brightness this time around makes the Surface Laptop 5 more usable outdoors than its predecessor. Not interested in the Plus? Don't miss our Dell XPS 13 OLED review - the base XPS 13 is still a great laptop that we recommend often. We also found the bottom gets a bit toasty when running at full power, so keep that in mind to avoid a scorched lap! However, the short battery life and capacitive function row will give some pause. And the result is a system that can outperform even the mighty MacBook Pro M2 on some tests.

Dell managed to pack a 28W 12th gen Core i7 processor into this sleek 2.7-pound machine.

There’s not even lines to denmark the touchpad the entire area beneath the keyboard is one smooth piece of glass.īut the XPS 13 Plus isn’t just a design statement. And Dell even took away physical function keys, replacing them with a capacitive row.

This is as minimalist a design as we’ve ever seen from Dell. Judging by the name, you might think that the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a bigger version of Dell’s iconic laptop.

Best mac computer for college student