The LG Ultra 13 is a cost-effective choice for general use, offering solid performance for everyday tasks with its AMD Ryzen 7 processor and ample RAM. It's lightweight and has a good battery life, making it highly portable. The screen is sharp with an IPS panel, though it lacks touch capability and has a standard refresh rate. It's a great option for those who prioritize portability and value for money, and it can handle light engineering tasks.
On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is pricier but brings a high-resolution touchscreen with a higher refresh rate, which is excellent for smoother visuals and creative work. The Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and Intel Arc graphics provide superior performance for more demanding tasks, including gaming and intensive engineering applications. It also comes with Windows 11 Pro for enhanced business features. The Surface Laptop is heavier and has a shorter battery life compared to the LG, but it offers a better display, a more premium build quality, and a keyboard with a number pad, which is ideal for productivity.
In summary, choose the LG Ultra 13 for its portability and value, especially if you're focused on general use with some light engineering work. Opt for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" if you need a more powerful machine with a superior display and don't mind a higher price and slightly reduced portability. 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 LG Ultra 13
Excellent portability
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15"
Good for engineering and design
Very good overall display quality
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.2/10
7.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
300.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
10.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
9.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.9/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and LG Ultra 13 are both good for general use, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
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
6.1/10
6.6/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and LG Ultra 13 are both only fair for gaming and AI, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
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.
Engineering and Design
6.6/10
7.8/10
4.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is good for engineering and design, while the LG Ultra 13 is only fair.
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
7.2/10
7.8/10
4.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and LG Ultra 13 are both good for content creation, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
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
7.2/10
7.8/10
4.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" and LG Ultra 13 are both good for software development, though the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" is somewhat better.
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
6.9/10
8.1/10
13.3in
SIZE
15.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2496 x 1664
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" has a better screen than the LG Ultra 13 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Portability
Excellent
Good
13.3in
SIZE
15.0in
2.1 lbs
WEIGHT
3.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The LG Ultra 13 has excellent portability, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$529
$1,200
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The LG Ultra 13 has a price of $529 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15" costs $1,200.
"The 13.3-inch LG Gram is a fine fit if you need to travel as light as possible for as long as possible without spending a fortune to do it. It might not be particularly sturdy or have an eye-catching design and its webcam is less than ideal, but with its sharp touch display, comfortable backlit keyboard, responsive touchpad and a fingerprint reader for extra security, the Gram makes a respectible everyday laptop for business or school work."
Get a great deal on the LG Ultra 13 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 15"
About LG
LG is a South Korean conglomerate company. While LG is mainly known for various products outside of technology, LG also develops laptops. Within the laptop industry, they are known for their thin-and-light Gram series, as well as their value-oriented Ultra series. LG laptops offer very thin and light laptops with phenomenal battery life, 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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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Laptops Expert
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