The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) is a powerhouse designed for high-end gaming and intensive tasks like 3D rendering and machine learning, with its top-tier i9 processor and RTX 4080 graphics card, ensuring excellent performance in these areas. It has a high-refresh-rate screen, making it suitable for fast-paced gaming, and offers superior color accuracy and brightness for professionals who need it for engineering tasks. However, it's bulkier and has a shorter battery life, which might not be ideal if you need a laptop for extended periods away from an outlet.
On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is more versatile, with a touchscreen and a flexible hinge that allows for different modes of use, including as a drawing tablet. It's equipped with a capable i7 processor and RTX 4060 graphics, which will handle general use and light gaming or creative work well. It's also more portable, with a longer battery life, a lighter build, and a design that's more suited for business environments. While it may not match the Legion's performance for demanding tasks, it strikes a balance between performance and portability, making it a strong all-rounder for someone who needs to work on the go without sacrificing too much power. 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 Pro 7i (2024)
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Very good for software development
Good portability
Good battery life
Key differences
Gaming and AI
9.1/10
7.7/10
9.8/10
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 Pro 7i (2024) is excellent 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
469.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a better screen for content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
5.0 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 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
16.0in
SIZE
14.4in
5.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$2,100
$3,300
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) has a price of $2,100 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (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
9.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (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
8.3/10
8.4/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (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
7.9/10
8.2/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 to be very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) 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.
Build Quality
8.5/10
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 both have very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (2024) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 compare to other laptops
"Passionate gamers who want to play demanding modern titles with maximum details and don't mind spending the moolah will find the Lenovo Legion 7 Pro to be the right choice. The bright, sharp, and color-accurate 16:10 QHD 240 Hz display makes for an immersive viewing experience. The hardware is housed in a stylish chassis that feels premium and scores well in terms of workmanship and stability. Other aspects such as sound quality, input devices, and connectivity also seem to be near-perfect."
"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 Pro 7i (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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