For a balance of performance and portability, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a strong choice with its powerful AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics, making it suitable for gaming and engineering tasks. It offers a high refresh rate screen, which is great for fast-moving visuals, and has a good balance of ports for connectivity. However, it's heavier and larger than the Surface Laptop 6, making it less ideal for frequent travelers.
On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 is more compact and lightweight, with a high-resolution touchscreen that's excellent for general use and has a versatile 3:2 aspect ratio. Its Intel Core Ultra processor and Intel Arc graphics provide solid performance for everyday tasks, and the laptop scores high in build quality, keyboard comfort, and speaker quality. While it's not as powerful for gaming or intensive engineering work, it's a top pick for those who prioritize portability, battery life, and a premium business look. 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 Slim 7 15.6"
Good for gaming and AI
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
Very good portability
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
6.6/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is only fair.
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
7.7/10
7.8/10
15.6in
SIZE
13.5in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
350.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has a better screen for general use, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Portability
Good
Very Good
15.6in
SIZE
13.5in
4.1 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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.
Engineering and Design
7.8/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" 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
7.7/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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.
Battery
9.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 9 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has 9 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
7.6/10
7.4/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,200
$1,200
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has a price of $1,200 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" costs $1,200.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
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 Golden, Ph.D
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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
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
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