When choosing between the Gigabyte Aero 5 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, consider that the Gigabyte Aero 5 offers higher performance, especially for engineering, 3D work, gaming, and machine learning tasks, thanks to its more powerful processor and dedicated graphics card. It also has a larger and higher resolution OLED screen which is better suited for multimedia tasks and creative work, but this also results in heavier weight and potentially shorter battery life, making it less portable. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, on the other hand, is more affordable, lightweight, easier to carry, and may have longer battery life, making it ideal for general use and better for people on the go. If your work doesn't require intensive processing or you value portability and lower cost over high performance, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is the wiser choice. 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 Gigabyte Aero 5
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
Excellent portability
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
7.0/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
446.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
401.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
6.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
9.2/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 are both good for general use, though the Gigabyte Aero 5 is somewhat better.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is better suited for general use than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 primarily due to its superior CPU, more RAM, high screen quality with an OLED display, and a better GPU, all of which contribute to smoother performance and visuals, although it's less portable and has shorter battery life.
Gaming and AI
7.9/10
6.0/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a high-end Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU, making it very good for gaming and 3D applications, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 uses the Intel i5-1135G7 Iris Xe graphics, which is less powerful, rendering it only fair for gaming and 3D tasks. Both have similar screen refresh rates, but the superior GPU in the Gigabyte Aero 5 provides much better performance for graphically intensive tasks.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
6.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is very good for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is outfitted with more robust components like a high-performance CPU and a powerful GPU, and it boasts an OLED screen with superior resolution and color accuracy, which significantly enhances engineering and design work. In contrast, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, while highly portable with a smaller and lighter frame, has a less powerful CPU and integrated graphics, alongside a lower resolution IPS screen, making it capable but less ideal for demanding engineering and design tasks.
Content Creation
8.2/10
7.1/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Gigabyte Aero 5 is very good for content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 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.
Software Development
7.9/10
7.0/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 5 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 are both good for software development, though the Gigabyte Aero 5 is somewhat better.
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.
Screen Quality
8.6/10
6.9/10
15.6in
SIZE
12.4in
3840 x 2160
RESOLUTION
1536 x 1024
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
446.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
401.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Gigabyte Aero 5 typically features a high-resolution display with vibrant colors and satisfactory brightness, which is why it's excellent for general use and engineering design work as those tasks benefit from sharp, color-accurate screens. However, its refresh rate may not be high enough for the smooth visuals required in gaming and 3D applications. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has a display that's also good for general use and engineering thanks to its decent resolution and brightness but falls short in gaming and 3D environments due to a lower refresh rate and potentially less color coverage compared to more specialized gaming laptops.
Battery
7.0 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has 7 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
15.6in
SIZE
12.4in
5.0 lbs
WEIGHT
2.4 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has excellent portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,250
$565
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Gigabyte Aero 5 has a price of $1,250 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 costs $565.
"It is unfortunate that the Gigabyte AERO notebook series have seem to lost its charm, as it’s not exactly any much different from the AORUS series now. Regardless, content creators and designers will certainly still appreciate the features on the AERO 5 XE4, which are fundamental to their work. This largely revolved around the notebook’s display, which is colour calibrated and validated, high resolution (4K) and with great AMOLED colour representation. Now that the AERO 5 XE4 has improved its performance with the latest CPU and GPU, the professionals can also appreciate the improved productivity from the notebook."
"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 Gigabyte Aero 5 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
99,195
Recommendations made
21,493
Consumer hours saved
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
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
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.