The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is a lower midrange gaming laptop with a larger screen, dedicated graphics card, and higher refresh rate, making it suitable for gaming and performance-intensive tasks, but it's heavier and has a shorter battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, being less expensive, lighter, and offering a longer battery life with a touchscreen display, is more portable and ideal for general use, web browsing, and productivity tasks on the go. However, it has less storage and its integrated graphics are less suited for demanding gaming or engineering software. 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 TUF Gaming F17
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has no clear advantages over the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2.
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
Good for software development
Excellent portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.6/10
6.0/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 are both only fair for gaming and AI, though the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is somewhat better.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a dedicated Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti graphics card and a high refresh rate screen, making it more suitable for gaming and 3D applications compared to the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, which relies on integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics and has a standard refresh rate screen.
Screen Quality
6.9/10
6.9/10
17.3in
SIZE
12.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
144Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
264.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
401.0 nits
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, and content creation.
For general use, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2's display offers clear visuals and comfortable brightness, making it easy on the eyes for everyday tasks, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 may have a larger screen which is great for multitasking but might not match the Surface in terms of sharpness and brightness. When it comes to engineering and design work, the Surface Laptop Go 2 likely provides more accurate colors, which are crucial for precise design tasks, as compared to the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 that may fall short on color reproduction. However, for 3D applications and gaming, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17, although not having a high refresh rate, offers a bigger screen and could be more suited for an immersive experience than the Surface Laptop Go 2, which lacks in refresh rate and therefore isn't optimal for fast-paced gaming visuals.
Battery
4.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has 4.5 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has 8 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
Fair
Excellent
17.3in
SIZE
12.4in
5.7 lbs
WEIGHT
2.4 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has excellent portability, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.2/10
7.8/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 and ASUS TUF Gaming F17 both have good build quality, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has somewhat better build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$565
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a price of $1,000 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 costs $565.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 are both good for general use.
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.
Engineering and Design
6.9/10
6.5/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 are both only fair for engineering and design.
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
7.1/10
7.1/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 and ASUS TUF Gaming F17 are both good for content creation.
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.
Software Development
6.7/10
7.0/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 to be good for software development, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
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.
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How the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 compare to other laptops
"One of the Asus TUF Gaming F17’s highlights is without a doubt its excellent gaming performance. The fact that Asus configured the RTX 3060 GPU for its specified maximum of 140 W is became immediately noticeable in our benchmarks. For a 17-inch notebook the F17 also offers a very long battery life, which makes it somewhat portable. On the flip side is the display. It may be saved by its good overall contrast ratio, but its overall brightness is simply too low, and its response times are too slow for a gaming device. The F17’s successor needs to improve upon this."
"The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 review is a compact companion with old hardware. The Surface Laptop Go 2 shows some weaknesses. Microsoft didn't really develop the second generation of the Surface Laptop Go 2 any further but has only equipped it with a slightly more powerful Core i5 processor. However, the performance still remains at a fairly low level overall, but for many users, it definitely should still be sufficient for everyday tasks."
Get a great deal on the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
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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