The ASUS ROG Flow X13 is a high-performance gaming laptop with a premium price, offering top-tier gaming and engineering capabilities thanks to its powerful Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and AMD Ryzen 9 processor. It's also quite portable, with a slim design and a touchscreen display that supports fast motion with a 165Hz refresh rate, making it suitable for intensive gaming. However, its battery life is shorter compared to the Surface Laptop, and it lacks Ethernet connectivity.
On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is a midrange business laptop with a focus on general use and productivity. It has a high-quality build, excellent keyboard, and a very good webcam, making it ideal for professional settings. While it doesn't match the ASUS in gaming or engineering performance due to its Intel Arc GPU, it offers a longer battery life, better color accuracy, and a more comprehensive port selection, including an HDMI port and USB-C charging. It's also lighter and has a more traditional laptop design, enhancing its portability.
In summary, choose the ASUS ROG Flow X13 if you prioritize performance for gaming and engineering tasks and can compromise on battery life and connectivity. Opt for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 if you need a reliable, portable device for general use and business applications, with better battery life and a broader range of ports. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the ASUS ROG Flow X13
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.8/10
6.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.2/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.5/10
7.7/10
9.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 is very good for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.2/10
7.7/10
9.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 is very good for content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Screen Quality
8.4/10
7.8/10
13.4in
SIZE
13.5in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
511.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Build Quality
8.5/10
7.4/10
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 has very good build quality, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,500
$1,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 has a price of $2,500 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" costs $1,200.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers ASUS ROG Flow X13 to be very good for general use, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Software Development
8.0/10
7.7/10
9.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers ASUS ROG Flow X13 to be very good for software development, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Battery
8.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 has 8 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has 9 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Very Good
13.4in
SIZE
13.5in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" both have very good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
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How the ASUS ROG Flow X13 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" compare to other laptops
"The Asus ROG Flow X13 is not an off-the-shelf convertible. This quickly becomes clear when you take a closer look at the technical specs. The AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS is a state-of-the-art SoC with 8 cores and 16 threads, which also makes the 2-in-1 interesting as a work device. With 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD, gamers are also well taken care of. The dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q fits well into the overall concept and ensures a solid 3D performance. With the eGPU dock, which is equipped with a GeForce RTX 3080, the small convertible transforms into a full-fledged desktop replacement in terms of performance."
Get a great deal on the ASUS ROG Flow X13 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
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Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.