Choosing between the Lenovo Flex 5 16 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio depends on your priorities: the Lenovo Flex 5 16 costs less and offers significant value with good performance for general use and long battery life, making it a practical choice for everyday tasks and productivity. On the other hand, the Surface Laptop Studio, while more expensive, boasts a higher-resolution screen with a smoother refresh rate, a more powerful GPU for 3D rendering and creative tasks, and extra features like hardware ray tracing and DLSS for better gaming. It's lighter and has a high-quality build but falls short on battery life when compared to the Lenovo Flex 5 16. Choose the Lenovo for cost-efficiency and battery life, or the Surface Laptop Studio for advanced graphics and a sleek build. 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 Flex 5 16
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.3/10
8.0/10
16.0in
SIZE
14.4in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
400.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
491.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 16 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 offers sufficient resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and its panel type provides clear images, making it suitable for general use and basic engineering work where sharp visuals and accurate colors are key. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, with its higher resolution and superior color gamut coverage, ensures that professionals working in engineering and design enjoy precise color representation and fine detail, essential for intricate work. Both laptops, however, lack the high refresh rates that gamers and 3D professionals seek, which may lead to less fluid motion rendering in fast-paced scenarios or when working with demanding 3D applications.
Battery
11.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has 11.5 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 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.
Build Quality
7.0/10
8.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$779
$1,700
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has a price of $779 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio costs $1,700.
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 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.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
6.6/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 is fair for gaming and 3D due to its integrated GPU, which is less capable for intensive graphics tasks, and its screen refresh rate, which is standard for non-gaming laptops. In contrast, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio's higher-end discrete GPU and greater screen refresh rate offers better gaming and 3D performance, however, it still may not match dedicated gaming laptops in these areas.
Engineering and Design
7.2/10
7.3/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good 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
7.6/10
7.4/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 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
7.5/10
7.3/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio are both 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.
Portability
Good
Good
16.0in
SIZE
14.4in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
4.0 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Lenovo Flex 5 16 both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
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How the Lenovo Flex 5 16 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a solidly equipped, 2-in-1 in the lower price segment. Performance is definitely sufficient for everyday tasks and in tests the battery proved itself to be very economical. That aside, there is a lot of standard fare on show and a search for real highlights ends in vain. The low color coverage and reflective display can be avoided by going for an optional 2.5K display but this also presumably results in poorer battery life. The cooling uses only one fan and leads to a raised temperature on one side of the device under load. Additionally, there is very loud fan noise, also under load or when gaming. On top of that, we also occasionally noticed electronic noises."
"There’s no doubt that the Surface Laptop Studio is groundbreaking. We’ve come to expect such things from the Surface lineup, so it’s always nice to see a product that exceeds our expectations. The pull-forward laptop-screen concept has been tried before, but never in a device that’s so stylish and packed with innovative features like a haptic touchpad and robust digital stylus support."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Flex 5 16 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
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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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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