For a balance of performance and cost, the Lenovo Legion 5 16 is a strong contender, offering a high-performance processor and GPU that excel in gaming, 3D rendering, and engineering tasks, with a fast refresh rate screen that's great for motion-intensive activities. However, it's heavier and less portable than the Surface Laptop Studio 2, which has a more compact design and a touchscreen with a versatile hinge suitable for creative work. The Surface Laptop Studio 2, while pricier, provides a premium build quality, a better color-accurate display, and longer battery life, making it ideal for professionals who prioritize portability and screen quality for general use and creative work. It's also worth noting that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a more limited selection of ports and less powerful gaming capabilities compared to the Lenovo. Your choice should be guided by whether you value portability and screen quality over raw performance and cost savings. 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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Very good overall build quality
Good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
Gaming and AI
8.5/10
7.7/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
8.7/10
7.9/10
16.0in
SIZE
14.4in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
500.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has 3.5 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
16.0in
SIZE
14.4in
5.6 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) 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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,600
$3,300
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has a price of $1,600 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very 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
9.0/10
8.7/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be excellent for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very 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
8.4/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very 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
8.0/10
8.2/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for software development.
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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 compare to other laptops
"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 Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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