{"id":1198443,"date":"2023-10-31T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T18:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1198443"},"modified":"2023-10-31T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T18:00:12","slug":"surface-laptop-studio-2-review-the-ultimate-all-rounder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1198443","title":{"rendered":"Surface Laptop Studio 2 review: The ultimate all-rounder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even among 2-in-1 PCs, Microsoft\u2019s Surface Laptop Studio<\/ins><\/a> offers a unique blend of performance and adaptability. But now on the second model, thanks to refreshed specs plus the addition of a USB-A port and a microSD card reader, it feels like Microsoft has given its mobile workstation the finishing touches it needed all along, resulting in what may be the ultimate all-rounder. Unfortunately with a high starting price and costly upgrades for more RAM and a discrete GPU, the Surface Laptop Studio 2<\/ins><\/a> is hard to recommend<\/a> for everyone.<\/p>\n

Design: Funky but functional<\/h2>\n

Francis Bacon once said \u201cThere is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion,\u201d which is a sentiment that feels applicable to the Surface Laptop Studio 2. It features a minimalist aluminum chassis (instead of the magnesium frame on the previous model) but in a somewhat unconventional configuration. The laptop\u2019s lid is divided into two halves, which allows the screen to pivot 180 degrees or tilt down into an easel. Meanwhile, its base features a two-tiered design that allows the laptop to keep its vents away from the sides of the system while also providing a hidden magnetic charging spot for a Surface Slim Pen 2 (which sadly, is not included).<\/p>\n

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The two biggest changes to the Studio 2\u2019s design are the addition of the USB-A port and a microSD card slot. When combined with the existing dual USB-C jacks, you get a solid range of connectivity options. It means you can transfer files from a camera directly to the laptop and you\u2019ll rarely (if ever) have to worry about carrying around extra dongles for peripherals. That said, Surface Laptop Studio 2\u2019s slightly thicker chassis (but only by one or two millimeters) and the change to aluminum does mean an extra third of a pound in weight (4.18 pounds with integrated graphics or 4.37 with a discrete GPU).<\/p>\n

Display: Vivid from any angle<\/h2>\n

The Surface Laptop Studio 2\u2019s screen hasn\u2019t changed much from the previous model, but that\u2019s not a bad thing. Its 14.4-inch panel features the same 2,400 x 1,600 resolution, along with a dynamic refresh rate that can switch between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what you\u2019re looking at. However, brightness is a touch better at around 500 nits, or 650 nits with HDR turned on. And you still get full Windows Inking support with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity.<\/p>\n

Performance: More than enough power, but it\u2019ll cost you<\/h2>\n
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Photo by Sam Rutherford\/Engadget<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

For the new model, Microsoft streamlined the Surface Laptop Studio 2\u2019s specs by offering a single processor across every config: an Intel Core i7-13700H. From there you can choose a base model with integrated graphics or upgrade to one with either an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 GPU. The annoying thing is that, to get that 4060, you also have to get 64GB of RAM, which is overkill for most people. That\u2019s unfortunate because that config costs $3,300. An option with only 32GB of RAM and a lower cost would be appreciated.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s hard to complain about its actual performance. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 kept pace with similarly specced gaming laptops including the MSI Stealth 14 Studio<\/ins><\/a> and Razer Blade 18<\/ins><\/a> across both benchmarks and real-world tests. While it\u2019s not meant to be a dedicated gaming rig, it also hit 62 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 <\/em>at 1920 x 1200 with high graphics and ray tracing set to ultra (though that is with NVIDIA\u2019s DLSS turned on).<\/p>\n

Battery Life: Surprisingly decent<\/h2>\n
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Photo by Sam Rutherford\/Engadget<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Even with a discrete GPU, the Surface Laptop Studio 2\u2019s longevity is closer to a standard ultraportable than more short-lived gaming notebooks. On PCMark 10\u2019s OpenOffice battery rundown test, it lasted eight hours and 40 minutes. That\u2019s three hours more than both the MSI Stealth 14 Studio and the Razer Blade 16, which lasted 5:19 and 5:10, respectively. However, more typical ultraportables like ASUS\u2019 Zenbook S 13 fared even better with a time of 10:39.<\/p>\n

Wrap-up<\/h2>\n

The two major knocks against the Surface Laptop Studio 2 are its price and limited configurations that top out with NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics, which makes it feel more like a great all-rounder than an all-out mobile powerhouse. While there\u2019s no defending its cost, I\u2019m not as bothered by the latter, because there\u2019s a lot of value in a system that offers unmatched adaptability.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Sam Rutherford\/Engadget<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

With its innovative design, brilliant display, above-average battery life and improved connectivity, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 can handle a lot of different assignments with ease. It\u2019s a great system for editing photos and videos, and stylus support makes drawing or taking notes a delight. When you factor in the excellent keyboard, Windows Hello IR cameras and one of best touchpads on a Windows laptop today (courtesy of Sensel), you get an incredibly versatile mobile workstation. And if we revisit that classic line from Shakespeare<\/ins><\/a>, \u201cA jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one,\u201d which is precisely what we have here with the Surface Laptop Studio 2. I just wish it was a bit cheaper.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/surface-laptop-studio-2-review-the-ultimate-all-rounder-specs-price-180012173.html?src=rss
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\nSource: Engadget – Surface Laptop Studio 2 review: The ultimate all-rounder<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even among 2-in-1 PCs, Microsoft\u2019s Surface Laptop Studio offers a unique blend of performance and adaptability. But now on the second model, thanks to refreshed specs plus the addition of a USB-A port and a microSD card reader, it feels … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,110],"tags":[98],"class_list":["post-1198443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engadget","category-unfiltered-rss","tag-engadget"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1198443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1198443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1198443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1198443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}