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Surface Laptop Go 2
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Surface Laptop Studio 2
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What we think

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The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is less expensive, lighter, and offers better portability with a higher portability score, making it suitable for everyday tasks and travel. However, it has lower performance scores across the board, making it less ideal for demanding tasks. In contrast, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a heftier price tag and is heavier, but it boasts a more powerful processor, a high-end GPU supporting hardware ray tracing and DLSS, significantly more storage and RAM, and better performance scores, especially for 3D and machine learning, engineering, and intensive gaming. It also has a larger and higher resolution screen with greater color coverage and brightness, though this contributes to its reduced portability. Both laptops offer similar battery life, but the Studio 2's features suit professional-grade applications like video editing, 3D modeling, and gaming, whereas the Laptop Go 2 is more for general use and light productivity. 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 Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
  • Excellent portability
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
  • Very good for general use
  • Very good for engineering and design
  • Good for gaming and AI
  • Very good for software development
  • Very good for content creation
  • Good overall display quality
  • Very good overall build quality
  • Very good keyboard

Key differences

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General Use

7.0
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.3
1536 x 1024
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
401.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
9.2/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for general use, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is good.

Gaming and AI

6.0
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
7.7
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
1536 x 1024
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 2 is good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is only fair.

Engineering and Design

6.5
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.7
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is only fair.

Content Creation

7.1
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.4
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
1536 x 1024
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is good.

Software Development

7.0
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.2
4.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1536 x 1024
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for software development, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is good.

Screen Quality

6.9
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
7.9
12.4in
SIZE
14.4in
1536 x 1024
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
401.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.

Portability

Excellent
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
Good
12.4in
SIZE
14.4in
2.4 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has excellent portability, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

7.8
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.5
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has very good build quality, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has good build quality.

Cost

$774
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
$3,300
Product image
Product image

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has a price of $774 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
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Key similarities

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Battery

8.0 Hours
Surface Laptop Go 2
Surface Laptop Studio 2
8.0 Hours
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 has 8 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has 8 hours of battery life.

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How the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

GENERAL

Price
$774
$3,300
Release Date
June 1, 2022September 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
11'' x 8.1'' x 0.62''12.7'' x 9.1'' x 0.86''
Weight
2.48 lbs4.41 lbs
Width
10.95"12.72"
Depth
8.12"9.06"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i5-1135G7Intel i7-13700H
RAM
8 GB64 GB
DDR Memory Version
45
RAM Slots
00
Storage
128 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
8 Hours8 Hours
Battery Capacity
41 Wh58 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
12.4"14.4"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1536 x 10242400 x 1600
Refresh Rate
60Hz120Hz
Display Brightness
401 nits503 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
7.8/108.5/10
Portability Score
9.3/107.5/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
NoNo
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
7.5/106.8/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
7/108/10
Speaker Quality Score
8.4/108/10
Webcam
720p1080p
Fingerprint Reader
YesNo
Backlit Keyboard
NoYes
Number Pad
NoNo

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
10
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
NoYes
Display Outputs
12
Thunderbolt Version
N/A4

Shopping

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Andreas Osthoff | August 2022
"The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 review is a compact companion with old hardware. The Surface Laptop Go 2 shows some weaknesses. Microsoft didn't really develop the second generation of the Surface Laptop Go 2 any further but has only equipped it with a slightly more powerful Core i5 processor. However, the performance still remains at a fairly low level overall, but for many users, it definitely should still be sufficient for everyday tasks."

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Andreas Osthoff | March 2022
"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 Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

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.

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Why trust us

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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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125,295
Recommendations made
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About the laptop team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

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.

Craig Russell

Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.

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