Surface Laptop 7 Long Term Review

Summary

In this video, the reviewer shares their long-term experience with the Surface Laptop 7, praising its premium feel, stunning design, and quiet operation, thanks to its fanless Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor. They highlight its portability, excellent trackpad, and keyboard, as well as the display's utility and refresh rate. However, they also discuss the battery life not meeting expectations, software compatibility issues, and minor annoyances like palm rejection problems and the sluggish brightness control. The Surface Laptop 7 is recommended for office work and browsing at a competitive price, but potential buyers should consider application support and the lack of powerful graphics for specialized tasks.

Takeaways

• 😀 The reviewer transitioned from a corporate job to a full-time YouTuber and entrepreneur, seeking a lighter, more portable laptop.
• 💼 The reviewer previously used a MacBook Pro 14 for business management, research, script writing, and gaming while traveling.
• 🌟 The Surface Laptop 7 has become the reviewer's daily driver due to its premium feel, stunning looks, and modern sapphire blue color.
• 🔋 The Surface Laptop 7 is praised for its quiet operation and minimal heat, thanks to the use of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors.
• 💻 The laptop's portability is comparable to the MacBook Air, with a larger display and similar weight distribution for easy handling.
• 🖥 The 13.8-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio provides more vertical screen real estate, enhancing productivity for tasks like web browsing and document editing.
• 🔌 The laptop features charging capable ports on both sides, offering flexibility in cable management.
• 🔊 The built-in speakers are good, ranking in the top 10% of the reviewer's experiences, and the SSD is upgradeable.
• 💰 The Surface Laptop 7 offers excellent value for its price, with a recommended configuration costing significantly less than an equivalent MacBook Air.
• 🔌 Battery life is not all-day as claimed by some influencers, requiring adjustments for optimal usage and facing limitations with certain applications.
• 🛠 Some software compatibility issues were noted, with certain applications not running natively on the laptop's architecture.
• 🔄 Minor annoyances include palm rejection issues with the trackpad and the lag in brightness adjustment using the dedicated buttons.

Q & A

What is the main reason the reviewer was attracted to the Surface Laptop 7 as a daily driver?

The reviewer was attracted to the Surface Laptop 7 due to its all-around premium experience similar to a MacBook but running on Windows, its stunning look, portability, and the absence of fan noise and annoying heat.

What were the reviewer's primary use cases for their previous laptop, the MacBook Pro 14?

The MacBook Pro 14 was primarily used for business management tasks, research, script writing, video editing, programming, and playing games like Team Fight Tactics.

How does the Surface Laptop 7 compare to the MacBook Air in terms of weight and portability?

The Surface Laptop 7 is slightly heavier than the MacBook Air but has a larger display, making them feel similar to hold due to their weight distribution. The Surface Laptop 7's chassis is very sturdy, contributing to its portability.

What are some of the unique features of the Surface Laptop 7's display?

The Surface Laptop 7 has a 13.8-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, allowing more content to be seen on the page compared to regular laptops. It also has a fast refresh rate, making scrolling smoother, and no fan noise due to the use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor.

What are the advantages of the Surface Laptop 7's processor in terms of heat and noise?

The Surface Laptop 7 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor, which is more power efficient and generates less heat and noise compared to processors from Intel or AMD, making the laptop more enjoyable to use.

What is the recommended configuration of the Surface Laptop 7 according to the reviewer, and how much does it cost?

The recommended configuration includes the X+ processor, 16 GB of memory, and 512 GB of storage, and it costs around $11,200.

What are some of the issues the reviewer encountered with the Surface Laptop 7's battery life?

The reviewer found that the battery life was not as amazing as claimed by influencers and the media. It does not deliver all-day battery life unless the screen brightness is significantly reduced and the laptop is used sporadically.

What are some applications that the reviewer mentioned might not run well or at all on the Surface Laptop 7?

The reviewer mentioned that some non-native applications might run slowly, and specific applications like DJ software or League of Legends did not work at all on the Surface Laptop 7 due to the different processor architecture.

What minor issues did the reviewer notice with the Surface Laptop 7's trackpad and display?

The trackpad had minor palm rejection issues, causing the cursor to occasionally jump to a random spot. The display's pixel density was not as sharp as on high-resolution displays, making small text less crisp.

What was the reviewer's opinion on the brightness control buttons on the Surface Laptop 7?

The reviewer found the brightness control buttons to be frustrating as they only changed brightness by a small amount and had a lag in response.

How does the reviewer summarize the overall value of the Surface Laptop 7 for certain use cases?

The reviewer concludes that the Surface Laptop 7 offers great value for office work and general web browsing, especially at its price point of around $11,000, where it gets many things right compared to other laptops in the same price range.