If battery life and larger storage capacity are important to you, and you're okay with spending more, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 stands out. However, the Gigabyte Aorus 5 offers a higher refresh rate display and better performance for 3D tasks and engineering at the expense of some portability and screen quality. The Surface Laptop Studio 2's touchscreen and higher resolution may benefit creative professionals, while the Aorus 5's numerical keypad and gaming appearance may be more appealing to gamers, despite having a shorter battery life. Both run Windows and have similar connectivity options, but the Surface Laptop Studio 2's lighter weight makes it easier to carry around. 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 Aorus 5
Very good overall display quality
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall build quality
Good portability
Good battery life
Key differences
General Use
7.5/10
8.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
280.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
6.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 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.
Content Creation
7.6/10
8.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte Aorus 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.
Software Development
7.3/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aorus 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.
Screen Quality
8.0/10
7.9/10
15.6in
SIZE
14.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
280.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the Gigabyte Aorus 5 provides clear visuals and brightness, but its resolution may not be as high as the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, which offers finer detail and vibrant colors. With engineering and design tasks in mind, both laptops offer high color accuracy, crucial for precise work, with the Surface Laptop Studio 2 possibly boasting a wider color gamut, ensuring more nuanced color representation. However, for gaming and 3D applications, the Gigabyte Aorus 5's lower refresh rate could hinder smooth motion rendering compared to laptops designed explicitly for gaming, which typically have higher refresh rates to support fluid visuals.
Battery
5.0 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 has 5 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 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
Good
15.6in
SIZE
14.4in
5.0 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has very good build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,359
$3,300
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 has a price of $2,359 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 are both good for gaming and AI.
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 offers a high screen refresh rate, which along with the Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU, makes it good for gaming and 3D uses, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, although having a lower refresh rate, compensates with a superior RTX 4060 GPU and high-resolution screen, enhancing gaming and creative 3D applications.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
8.7/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Gigabyte Aorus 5 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Gigabyte Aorus 5 is equipped with a high-performance CPU, GPU, and a comfortable 16GB of RAM suitable for demanding engineering software, while its standard FHD display is outpaced by the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2's sharper and more vibrant screen, which, along with its higher RAM capacity, makes it exceedingly favorable for detailed design work.
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How the Gigabyte Aorus 5 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 compare to other laptops
"The Gigabyte Aorus 5 SE4 is a capable mainstream gaming notebook that will run the latest PC games with aplomb. However, it's not your stereotypical flashy gaming PC. Gigabyte has added some interesting tweaks. For example, the webcam placement and its Microsoft Azure AI tool — to automatically switch between power modes — are unusual for this genre. But more importantly, the pricing is fairly competitive and reasonable."
"The new Surface Laptop Studio with its foldable display is supposed to replace the old Surface Book and the overall impression is good after our review. The build quality and the materials are top-notch, the performance utilization of the two components is solid and the device does not show any major flaws in terms of display or speakers, either. The folding mechanism leaves a sold impression as well, but it remains to be seen how it will hold up over the years. The so-called presentation mode is also not ideal since it covers the whole keyboard."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aorus 5 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 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.
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