Microsoft Surface Studio Review

Complex jobs like making digital art, engineering, building, or graphics usually require a lot of computers and tools. Microsoft’s Surface Studio (starting at $2,999; $4,199 as tested) is a touch-screen all-in-one (AIO) PC that can stand upright like a traditional desktop display or lay flat to serve as a digital canvas. This lets designers draw, sketch, and edit as they would on a dedicated drawing tablet or physical medium, and the company hopes this will encourage more creatives to move to the Windows platform. All of this comes in a slim, well-designed case that looks nice and is also creative and useful. Even though the Surface Studio is expensive and has old parts, it is our top choice for a high-end all-in-one computer.

PROS

• Beautiful style.
• Elegant digital production tool that does everything.
• Doing things quickly.
• A device that is very small and has great picture quality.
• Touch screen that works well for art and design work.

CONS

• Not made with the newest parts.
• It doesn’t have ways to grow.

Microsoft Surface Studio Specification

Price

But this growth doesn’t come for free. With a better CPU, more memory, and storage space, as well as a separate graphics processing unit (GPU), the price of a Laptop Studio could easily go up by $1,000 from its base model price of $1,599.99. Even so, the best computers and graphics cards on the market can’t be used with the Laptop Studio. You’d have to really want the Laptop Studio’s rotating screen or head-turning design to justify the price, especially since there are so many other good creator-focused computers out there, many of which offer more power for much less money.

Screen

To move the screen closer to you, you have to reach up and bend the top half backwards, which releases the magnets that are holding the bottom half in place. Then, you can put it halfway over the deck and let it hang over the keyboard. The trackpad will still be easy to reach. On the bottom of the deck, magnetic strips “lock” the screen in place. The angle of the screen is still too steep for writing with a pen, so I had a hard time coming up with a good reason to use this mode other than watching movies on a tray table or playing with the touchscreen.

From the “tent” position, you can fully flatten the screen, turning the computer into a big, heavy tablet. This mode is great if you want to draw or write because the screen is flat and you can lean over it to start. But it is too big and heavy to replace an iPad or other small computer for watching movies or reading in bed.

Display

If you hold the top screen and turn it counterclockwise, however, things start to happen. The bottom of the screen is magnetic, so it can be taken off and placed on magnets just in front of the keyboard for “stage mode” or folded flat for “studio mode.” Studio mode turns the laptop into a writing screen that works with Microsoft’s excellent but extra Slim Pen 2 pen. This mimics the unique Studio desktop computer from the same company. Stage mode is the best way to watch movies. The software makes it easier to edit photos, draw ideas, and add notes to documents. When the laptop is on a table, the fan base is out of sight because it is set back. The powerful Nvidia graphics chip and the H-series Intel CPUs, which make a lot of heat, are at the bottom of the machine. After a minute or two of picture editing, the fans turned on, making a quiet noise that wasn’t needed for web surfing or light work.

Performance

The Laptop Studio doesn’t always work well. When tested with the system’s highest setup, which includes a Core i7-11370H quad-core CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics chip, the laptop easily handles normal office tasks, advanced photo editing, and other fairly taxing everyday tasks. It can do everything, but it’s not as strong as other workstations in the same price range, which often have more powerful CPUs with 6 or 8 cores. Users who need to do things like handle huge 3D models, write a lot of code, or create a lot of video can’t do all of these things on the Surface. It also can’t run AAA games on any graphics setting but the lowest.

Sustainability

Microsoft doesn’t say how long the Studio Laptop’s battery is supposed to last. This type of battery can usually go through at least 500 full charge cycles and still have 80% or more of its original capacity. The laptop can be fixed outside of its guarantee for a total of £551.46, which includes the cost of the battery.

Verdict

Microsoft’s Surface Studio is yet another Windows 11 laptop that is both special and flexible. It might not look as modern as the Surface Book it replaced, but it has almost all of the same features in a smaller package. It’s a little heavier than a typical laptop, but it’s great for work and doesn’t cost too much. It’s fast, quiet, and has a great screen, keyboard, and the best mouse that Windows can give. However, those who require a really powerful portable computer might be dissatisfied with its performance in comparison to other options at comparable prices that have more powerful specs but less freedom. The Laptop Studio is in an annoying limbo because it can’t work and is too expensive to be a specialized laptop.