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Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch Laptop (2021)

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Keywords: amdintelintel-corelaptopmicrosoftmicrosoft-surfaceryzenwindows

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Product Overview

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15 is a premium 15-inch laptop that bridges sleek design with professional minimalism. For the first time in Microsoft's Surface lineup, AMD Zen 2 Ryzen 7 is available alongside 11th-gen Intel Core i7.
Unlike the 13.5-inch model introduced at the same time, the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 is not available with Alcantara. Like the former, it retains 10-point multi-touch despite its clamshell form factor.
Inside, the Surface Laptop 4 supports similar memory and storage options as the Surface Book 3, including up to 32GB LPDDR4x and 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. However, the model equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 4980U comes with full-power DDR4 memories: This allows the AMD to stretch its legs out while still being more efficient than the Intel.

Ratings

What we found**

Pros
  • Great performance for the price
  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
  • Long battery life
Cons
  • Not the best AMD Surface Laptop 3

What external reviewers found***

External score 81% (not directly comparable across industries)
Pros
  • Great performance for work and school
  • Excellent performance
  • Great battery life
Cons
  • Lacks a discrete gaming GPU
  • Mediocre webcam
  • Not as sharp as competitors
  • No headphone jack
  • No Thunderbolt 3 port
Read More
See Product Comparison

Price Comparison

Specifications

IntelAMD

Connectivity

Ports1x USB-A + 1x USB-C + 1x 3.5mm Audio jack + 1x Surface Connect ports
Wireless ConnectivityWiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0

Construction

Battery | Capacity47.4 Wh
Camera | Front720p HD f/2.0 camera with Windows Hello
ColorsMatte Black, Platinum
Form FactorClamshell laptop
MaterialAluminum chassis
MicrophoneDual far-field Studio Mics
SpeakersOmnisonic Speakers with Dolby Atmos9

Dimensions

Size | Depth244 mm / 9.6 inch
Size | Height14.7 mm / 0.58 inch
Size | Width339.5 mm / 13.4 inch
Weight1542 g / 3.4 lbs

Display

Aspect Ratio3:2
Contrast Ratio1600:1
Display Diagonal15 inch
Display TypeIPS
Pixel Density201 ppi
Resolution2496 x 1664

Function

GraphicsIntegrated Intel Iris Xe GraphicsIntegrated AMD Radeon Graphics
Keyboard BacklightYes
Operating SystemWindows 10
Processor11th-gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 or AMD Ryzen 7 4980U
SecurityHW TPM 2.0 chip, Windows Hello face sign-in
SensorAmbient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer
Touch Screen10 point multi-touch
TouchpadPrecision trackpad: 115 x 76.66 mm, glass

Performance

Battery LifeUp to 16.5 hoursUp to 17.5 hours
Key Travel1.3 mm
Memory | CapacityUp to 32 GB
Memory | TypeLPDDR4x 3733MHzDDR4 2400MHz
Power Supply65 W
StorageUp to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD

Production

Debut2021-04-13
See Product Comparison

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Launch Comparison
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3rd-Party Review Videos

External Review Video qHqA6E7Ivoc for Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch Laptop (2021)
External Review Video UqovTcyQqeI for Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch Laptop (2021)

External Reviews

gizmodo[1]

Reviewer score 80%
Reviewers from gizmodo have found the following***:
Microsoft has improved battery life on its latest Surface laptop by nearly five hours. With that longer battery life, the Surface Laptop 4 is a better overall laptop for work and school. The graphics might be a little small on the 13.5-inch version, especially if you have the in-game ratio set to 16:9.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Great performance for work and school
  • Good battery life
  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
Cons
  • No Thunderbolt 3 port

digitaltrends[2]

Reviewer score 77%
Reviewers from digitaltrends have found the following***:
The Surface Laptop 4 has an excellent keyboard and touchpad. It's a spacious layout, and the keys have a long 1.3mm travel. Dolby Atmos adds some much-needed stereo separation. The screen hits 97% of the sRGB color space but only 73% of AdobeRGB.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Gorgeous 2256 x 1504 screen
  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad
  • Good battery life
Cons
  • Not as sharp as competitors
  • No fingerprint reader

laptopmag[3]

Reviewer score 87%
Reviewers from laptopmag have found the following***:
The Surface Laptop 4 lasts for 12 hours and 4 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test. Microsoft promised better photo and video quality out of the 720p camera. The new Edge browser is a major improvement over Internet Explorer. Microsoft Whiteboard works for jotting down notes on the touchscreen.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Sleek, stylish design
  • Fast performance
  • Long battery life
  • Comfortable keyboard
Cons
  • No Thunderbolt 4
  • No Thunderbolt 3

notebookcheck[4]

Reviewer score 67%
Reviewers from notebookcheck have found the following***:
Under low load, the case remains comfortably cool, but with high load levels, the surfaces become quite warm. Surface Laptop 4 has the smallest battery by far, since as in the smaller 13-inch model, Microsoft also uses a 47-Wh model here. Despite the large display, the battery life is not bad, and we also definitely see an improvement compared to the older model.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Bright 3:2 display
  • Long battery life
  • High-quality case
Cons
  • Nothing in particular

pcmag[5]

Reviewer score 80%
Reviewers from pcmag have found the following***:
The 15-inch Surface Laptop is an excellent big-screen laptop, though it didn't offer standout performance when we tested it in 2019. The new AMD Ryzen 7 processor brings significant performance improvements to the Microsoft Laptop 4. It's an excellent choice for general-purpose computing on a big screen.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Excellent performance for the price
  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad
  • Good battery life
Cons
  • Lacks a discrete gaming GPU
  • No Thunderbolt 3 port

pcworld[6]

Reviewer score 86%
Reviewers from pcworld have found the following***:
The Surface Laptop 4 is one of the few laptops I think you could tolerate evenwithout headphones. The Precision trackpad, as usual, is close to perfection. Microsoft may have quietly done away with the crapware-free Signature Editions of laptops and tablet it used to sell via its online store.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • High-quality aluminum chassis
  • Excellent keyboard and trackpad
  • Excellent battery life
Cons
  • No headphone jack

theverge[7]

Reviewer score 76%
Reviewers from theverge have found the following***:
The Laptop 4's fans did a really excellent job cooling the system. It's a good purchase for someone who wants an excellent combination of efficiency and multicore performance in a 15-inch chassis. But that window of opportunity may be closing, because there's very likely a larger M1 MacBook Pro on the way.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Sleek, light design
  • Excellent performance
  • Good battery life
Cons
  • Chunky bezels

tomsguide[8]

Reviewer score 79%
Reviewers from tomsguide have found the following***:
The 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 is a potent ultraportable for the productivity-minded. It offers good performance and battery life in a slim, bloatware-free package. It's a strong contender for one of the best laptops you buy if you need to get work done.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Gorgeous 15-inch display
  • Great battery life
  • Comfortable keyboard
Cons
  • Slim bezels
  • Mediocre webcam

tomsguide[9]

Reviewer score 88%
Reviewers from tomsguide have found the following***:
Microsoft's Surface Laptop 4 runs on an 11th Gen Intel i7-1185G7 CPU with 16GB of RAM. The 13.5-inch, 2256 x 1504-pixel panel offers accurate touch input. Microsoft rates the Intel-based Surface L laptop as lasting up to 17 hours on a single charge.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Gorgeous, ultra-wide display
  • Long battery life
  • Excellent keyboard
Cons
  • No 720p webcam
  • No Thunderbolt 3

tomshardware[10]

Reviewer score 86%
Reviewers from tomshardware have found the following***:
The Surface Laptop 4's battery life doesn't quite meet Microsoft's lofty claims, but still, it's very impressive. Microsoft continues to include very little software on its laptops, choosing to let Windows 10 shine. The big addition is the Surface app, which lets you make customizations to the Surface Pen, if you have one.
Find the original article here.
Pros
  • Powerful AMD processor
  • Comfortable keyboard
  • Long battery life
Cons
  • No discrete graphics
  • No Thunderbolt 3

User Reviews

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References

  1. ^ Microsoft's Surface Laptop 4 Is Nearly Perfect. [gizmodo]. https://gizmodo.com/microsofts-surface-laptop-4-is-nearly-perfect-1846694212. 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  2. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 review: Steps in the right direction. [digitaltrends]. https://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-review/. 2021-04-17. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  3. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch, AMD) review. [laptopmag]. https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-15-inch-amd-review. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  4. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15 laptop review: New AMD processor and more endurance. [notebookcheck]. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-Surface-Laptop-4-15-laptop-review-New-AMD-processor-and-more-endurance.535914.0.html. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  5. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-Inch) Review. [pcmag]. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-15-inch. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  6. ^ Surface Laptop 4 review: Microsoft returns to form with a solid notebook. [pcworld]. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3615275/surface-laptop-4-ryzen-7-review.html. 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  7. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch review: redemption. [theverge]. https://www.theverge.com/22392778/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-15-inch-review. 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  8. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch, AMD) review. [tomsguide]. https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-15-inch-amd-review. 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  9. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 review (hands on). [tomsguide]. https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-review-hands-on. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  10. ^ Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (15-inch, AMD) Review: Long-Lasting Comeback. [tomshardware]. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-15-inch-amd. 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-04-18.

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These key takeaways ("pros" and "cons") and summaries are identified from third-party reviews. They may differ from the original texts.

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