Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
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GENERAL USE: Good—7.7/10
GAMING/AI: Fair—6.6/10
ENG/DESIGN: Good—7.7/10
SOFTWARE DEV: Good—7.7/10
CONTENT CREATION: Good—7.7/10
PORTABILITY: Very Good—8.6/10
BATTERY: Good—7.8/10
OVERALL SCREEN QUALITY: Good—7.8/10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Good—7.9/10
SIZE: 13.5"
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 offers a balance of features suitable for general use and light professional work, with a midrange price point. Its 13.5-inch IPS touchscreen display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 and a 3:2 aspect ratio is great for productivity tasks and provides vibrant colors with high DCI-P3 and sRGB coverage, though it may not satisfy the needs of professionals requiring top-tier color accuracy due to its lower Adobe RGB coverage. The high screen pixel density (PPI) ensures sharp visuals, and the 120Hz refresh rate enhances smoothness for everyday use. With 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core Ultra 7 135H processor, it handles multitasking well, but the Intel Arc 8-Cores GPU limits its capabilities for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, or machine learning tasks. The laptop's portability is a strong point, with a slim design, lightweight construction, and decent battery life, making it ideal for on-the-go professionals. The inclusion of a backlit keyboard and a fingerprint reader adds convenience, while the lack of a hardware number pad may be a consideration for some users. Connectivity options are somewhat limited, with only one USB-C port, but it supports USB-C charging which is a plus for simplicity. Overall, the Surface Laptop 6 is a solid choice for everyday tasks, business use, and light creative work, but gamers or those needing high-performance computing for 3D or machine learning should look for a device with a more powerful dedicated GPU. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Evaluation
Pros
- High-resolution touchscreen with 120Hz refresh rate
- Lightweight and slim design for portability
- Good performance for general use and multitasking
- Backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader for convenience
- Latest Intel Core Ultra processor and Arc GPU
Cons
- Limited port selection with no HDMI or Thunderbolt ports
- No hardware ray tracing or DLSS for advanced gaming
- Below average battery life for its class
- Lacks number pad on keyboard, not ideal for spreadsheet work
Ratings by Category
Portability:4.6
PerfectRec’s portability rating takes into account the volume and thickness of the laptop as well as its weight.
General Use Screen Quality:4.4
The general use screen score is based on the screen technology, contrast ratio, resolution, brightness, color gamut and color accuracy. This score does not take into account specialized display features for specific use cases, such as high refresh rate for gaming.
Operating Noise:4.4
PerfectRec’s Operating Noise Score is based on fan noise measurements. Laptops with a fanless design, such as Macbooks, receive the maximum score.
General Use:4.3
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.
The most important factors in this score include CPU performance, amount of RAM, screen quality, storage, and battery life.
Keyboard quality, speaker quality, low fan noise, heat management, and to a lesser extent webcam quality are all moderately important factors for this score.
Engineering & Design:4.3
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, CAD and 3D work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Software Development:4.3
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software development.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Content Creation:4.3
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, and video editing work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Battery Life:4.3
PerfectRec’s Battery Life rating is based on hours of battery life in typical usage scenarios.
Build Quality:4.2
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, chassis rigidity, and overall reliability.
Our assessment of build quality includes many details that are difficult to quantify.
Our laptop experts use their best judgment to produce the final score.
Keyboard Quality:4.0
The Keyboard Quality score is based on the PerfectRec experts’ assessment of tactile feedback, typing comfort, keyboard reliability and typing noise.
Gaming & AI:3.7
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability as well as AI performance, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
While performance (especially graphics performance) is the most important factor determining this score, we also give modest weight to screen quality, heat management, keyboard quality, and storage.
Full Specs
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
| Price | $1,200 | ||
Release Date | June 1, 2024 | ||
Overall Dimensions | 12.1'' x 8.8'' x 0.66'' | ||
Weight | 3.04 lbs | ||
Width | 12.13" | ||
Depth | 8.78" | ||
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 135H | ||
RAM | 16 GB | ||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | ||
RAM Slots | 0 | ||
Storage | 256 GB | ||
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | 9 Hours | ||
Battery Capacity | 47 Wh | ||
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | 13.5" | ||
Display Technology | IPS | ||
Resolution | 2256 x 1504 | ||
Refresh Rate | 120Hz | ||
Display Brightness | 400 nits | ||
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score  | 7.4/10 | ||
Portability Score | 8.7/10 | ||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | ||
Premium Business Laptop | Yes | ||
Fan Noise Score | 8/10 | ||
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | 7/10 | ||
Speaker Quality Score | 8/10 | ||
Webcam | 1080p | ||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | ||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | ||
Number Pad | No | ||
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | 1 | ||
USB-C ports | 1 | ||
USB-C Charging | Yes | ||
Display Outputs | 1 | ||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | ||
Comparison charts
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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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