Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 review: a quality PC whose trackpad taps you back

Snappy performance, long battery life, great keyboard and excellent new haptic touchpad make the best of Windows 11

Microsoft’s Surface laptop for consumers is back, faster and with longer battery life and a hefty price increase because of the high cost of memory and chips.

The Surface Laptop 8 is a straight replacement for the seventh edition from 2024, which was the first of Microsoft’s new generation of ARM-based, Qualcomm-powered PCs designed to better rival Apple’s MacBook Air and other thin and light machines.

The new machine comes with a choice of Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 Plus or Elite chips but starts at £1,449 (€1,699; $1,600; A$2,799) – £400 or equivalent more than the launch price of the previous edition because of RAMageddon.

Other than some new colours, of which the jade green is very fetching, the outside of the new edition is more or less the same as its predecessor. That includes a solid aluminium body, a satisfying keyboard and a crisp, 120Hz LCD screen in a choice of 13.8in (as reviewed) or 15in versions.

It is one of the first machines to support Window 11’s excellent new haptic signals feature with its generous haptic touchpad. You can feel little taps on your finger through the trackpad for interactions such as mousing over the close (X) button at the top of windows or snapping a window to the side of the screen, which helps bring the on-screen elements alive.

The display is bright and high quality with HDR and Dolby Vision support but the gloss coating is prone to glare from overhead lights in an office. The speakers are good for a laptop. They lack bass but avoid being tinny and are clear even at high volumes.

Screen: 13.8in LCD 2304 x 1536 (201 PPI) 120Hz

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus (10 core) or X2 Elite (12-core)

RAM: 16, 24, 32GB

Storage: 256, 512GB, 1 or 2TB

Operating system: Windows 11 Home

Camera: 1080P front-facing

Connectivity: wifi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB-A, 2xUSB4/C, Surface Connect, headphones

Dimensions: 301 x 220 x 17.5mm

Weight: 1.36kg

The Surface Laptop 8 comes with a choice of Qualcomm ARM chips, starting with the Snapdragon X2 Plus with a more powerful X2 Elite (as tested) available. Microsoft also sells higher-priced versions with traditional Intel chips for business.

The X2 Elite version is between 16% and 20% faster in single core processor performance with about 10% faster graphics than the previous generation in testing, which isn’t a big leap.

It feels very snappy in operation with plenty of power for most things you might want to do on a thin and light laptop, including some light gaming. But it still lags rivals such as Apple’s M5 MacBook Air. It also runs silently most of the time with the fans only audible when pushed to the limit, which cannot be said of the hotter-running Intel versions.

Battery life is equally good, which is the primary reason to buy one of the Qualcomm-powered Windows machines. The Surface Laptop 8 managed just shy of 14 hours of work using at least 15 tabs in Chrome, Evernote, a text editor, chat apps and several hours of photo editing in Affinity. Most will manage about two days of light use before needing the charger or at least a day using more demanding programs, which is very good for a Windows PC.

The Surface Laptop 8 has two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, a headphones port and Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connect port. But since the machine doesn’t come with a charger in the UK and EU, the Surface Connect port is essentially useless unless you buy Microsoft’s £80 power supply.

The Surface Laptop 8 runs Windows 11 for ARM, which lacks any of the unnecessary trials and other bits of software typically found from third-party manufacturers. As a result it is generally a trouble-free and good Windows 11 experience, and includes various Microsoft AI tools, of which most aren’t worth bothering with.

One of the best, though, is the Click to Do feature, which is a shortcut to doing things with images and text elements on screen. Hold the Windows button to change the cursor to a dot and then click on an area to copy text, images, perform searches, access AI tools and other quick actions.

The majority of apps run just fine on the ARM chip, either natively or via the built-in Prism emulation layer, which works transparently in the background, allowing standard Windows x64 programs written for Intel or AMD chips to run. Emulated apps such as the note-taking app Evernote can be a bit slow, and while many emulated games will work at lower graphics settings, some multiplayer titles that require anti-cheat programs may not run. Recent updates have allowed Fortnite and other popular games to run, so the situation is improving.

The laptop is generally repairable with a replaceable SSD and service guides available. Adaptive charging and battery capacity limits help extend the longevity of the battery. The machine contains recycled aluminium, cobalt, copper, gold, rare-earth metals and tin. Microsoft operates trade-in and recycling schemes and publishes out-of-warranty repair costs and product environmental impact reports.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8in (8th edition) costs from £1,449 (€1,699/$1,599.99/A$2,799) with a Snapdragon X2 Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Snapdragon X2 Elite models start at £1,549 (€1,799/$1,699.99/A$2,899).

The Surface Laptop 8 is another excellent premium PC from Microsoft.

It may not be much different from its predecessor but it looks and feels great, the screen is really good, and the keyboard and trackpad are some of the best you can get on a PC. The Snapdragon X2 chips are fast and stay cool, even when pushed, which helps the Surface remain silent most of the time without irritating fan noise. But the biggest benefit of the ARM chip is practical battery life long enough you don’t have to worry about bringing a charger with you.

Windows on ARM has far fewer compatibility problems than before, which means that unless you know you need an x86 Intel or AMD chip for certain apps or games, you probably won’t notice the difference. Windows 11 on the Surface Laptop 8 is clutter and trouble-free, which can’t always be said of competitors, while the new haptic signals feature brings a touch of class.

But like all electronics, not only computers, the Surface Laptop 8 has been hit by a nasty price increase because of RAMageddon, which has made it about £500 or so more than it should be.

The Surface Laptop 8 doesn’t try to do too much, instead providing an all-round quality PC laptop experience that few rivals can truly match.

Pros: long battery life, great performance, good screen, first-class keyboard and trackpad, excellent haptic signals feature, good speakers and mics, Windows Hello facial recognition and good webcam.

Cons: expensive, limited port selection, not a big upgrade, some compatibility issues with Windows on ARM still exist, Surface Connect port can’t be used without buying an additional charger, adaptor or dock in UK or EU.