This has shown up in other laptops, such as the leather-bound HP Elite Folio. When open, the bottom half of the lid can be pulled forward into “Stage Mode.” It magnetizes to the keyboard deck, leaving the touchpad available for use but the keyboard covered. While the Surface Laptop Studio opens and closes like any other laptop, Microsoft couldn’t help but also integrate some wacky, 2-in-1 modes. For the first time in a long time, Surface hardware and Window software feel like they go hand in hand. That’s a distinguishing look from even the other Surface products, and directly unifies it to Windows 11. The rounded corners of the Surface Laptop Studio make it stand out from the crowd, Microsoft takes it one step further by rounding the corners of the display, too. A laptop with the same screen size like the Razer Blade 14 is both thinner and lighter. The Surface Laptop Studio is also fairly heavy at 4 pounds, though it’s only slightly lighter than the XPS 15 and MacBook Pro 16-inch. It’s 0.7 inches thick, which is thicker than both the MacBook Pro or Dell XPS 15. This design does mean that from a complete side view, the Surface Laptop Studio appears thicker than it really is. The cooling is inspired, even though the top half of the openings are actually for venting audio, not hot air. It also provides a nifty spot to magnetically store the Surface Pen (along the front) and, in theory, could also be a way of keeping heat away from the palm rests. From most angles, in fact, the vents are completely hidden. This amount of airflow is a thermal engineer’s dream scenario, all without getting in the way of the ports or the minimalist design. The MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 15 are both examples of this philosophy.īut the Surface Laptop Studio gets to bake its cake and eat it, too. Laptop manufacturers tend to prefer a simpler design with less visible openings. It’s rare to see this amount of airflow on a premium laptop like this in general. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in a laptop design before. The base of the laptop is cut in half and made from two pieces - one with ports that hangs over the side and one lined with open vents. By the time you’re pulling the screen forward over the keyboard, it dawns on you that this is no orthodox laptop. Next, you see the fold in the back of the lid. Then, your eyes are drawn to the vents along the sidewalls of the laptop.

It’s a silver, 14-inch laptop with a Microsoft logo on the lid. From afar, the Surface Laptop Studio looks fairly conventional.

Surface studio laptop review