Enlarge / Surface Laptop Go 2 from Microsoft.
Andrew Cunningham
Anyone who buys a Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 should go there fully aware of the shortcomings of the laptop.
First and foremost, the base model, which gives it its attractive starting price of $ 600, includes only 4GB of non-upgradable RAM and almost everyone should be ignored. Seriously, don’t buy it and don’t try to talk about it just to save money.
Behave as if the actual starting price was $ 700, the amount it costs to get the setup with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. This is even closer to the “budget” than the “high-end” as the ultra-books go, but the list of omissions, shortcomings, and strange decisions is harder to overlook as you spend more money. The processor of an older generation. The keyboard without backlight. The small selection of ports. A touch screen that is neither high resolution nor very colorful. A 128GB SSD that will feel small to many people and a 256GB option that (1) isn’t much bigger and (2) adds $ 100 more to the price.
None of these issues should be overlooked or ignored. But as frustrating as some of them are, the truth is that the Laptop Go 2 is a beautiful, light and competent laptop that is a pleasure to use. Microsoft gets most of the important stuff right here and there is no laptop in this price range that doesn’t have any compensation.
Especially if you can find it for sale, and the old Laptop Go had regular discounts from Microsoft, Best Buy and others who sold it, the Laptop Go 2 is a hassle-free laptop that is worth considering if you can live with its defects. .
Announcements
Thoughtful design, minimalist features
Expand / The Surface Laptop Go 2 does not have a backlit keyboard, although its fingerprint reader mounted on the power button is a nice touch.
Andrew Cunningham
Specifications at a glance: Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 display 12.4-inch touch screen 1536 × 1024 (148 PPI) OS Windows 11 Home CPU Intel Core i5-1135G7 4-core / 8-wire RAM 4GB or 8 GB GPU LPDDR4x Graphics Intel Iris Xe (80 UE) NVMe SSD Storage 128 GB or 256 GB Battery 41 WHr Wi-Fi Network 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1 USB-A Ports, USB Type C, Surface Connect, 3 Headphones .5 mm Size 10.95 × 8.12 × 0.62 inches (278.2 inches) 206.2 × 15.7 mm) Weight 2.48 pounds (1.12 kg) 1 Year Warranty Price Revised 799.99 $ Other benefits 720p webcam, fingerprint reader mounted on the power button on 8 GB models
Externally, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is indistinguishable from the original. Microsoft has not changed the keyboard, trackpad, screen or chassis at all, simply opting to replace internal components. The only external difference is the addition of a color called “Sage,” a vaguely greenish silver finish that complements the options of pink, ice blue, and platinum without ink. It weighs less than 2.5 pounds and is very easy to pick up and carry, whether you carry it in a travel bag or just move between the rooms in your home.
If you’re not familiar with the original Laptop Go, here’s a brief summary: the laptop has a lightweight aluminum lid and a handrail, combined with a plastic bottom cover. The combination is lightweight and reasonably robust, though the thin aluminum feels a little more flexible than what you get with a MacBook, a Dell XPS, or Microsoft’s high-end Surface and Surface portable devices. The trackpad is small, but accurate and responsive. And while the keyboard has no backlight, its space between keys and your trip feel nice, and its fingerprint sensor mounted on the power button is a welcome addition.
The most important starting point for other laptops in this price range is a 12.5-inch 1536 × 1024 screen with a 3: 2 aspect ratio, which makes it narrower. but much higher than the 16: 9 or 16:10 screens of most ultrabooks. The screen’s maximum 376-night brightness, 1,159: 1 contrast ratio, and color gamut coverage (94 percent of the sRGB range, only 68.5 percent of the DCI-P3 range) are good for the price.
Announcement Magnification / Screen Brightness Comparisons. The Laptop Go 2 is at the bottom of things, but it’s also a lot cheaper than most hardware here.
Andrew Cunningham
But the screen isn’t as dense as a more typical 13.3-inch 1080p or 1920 × 1200 screen (about 149 PPI, below 160 on average to high), which makes the text look a bit uneven compared, especially in the little ones. lighter sizes and weight. But the size and aspect ratio of the screen are excellent for such a small and light laptop. If you replace a cheap laptop and netbook 11.6-inch 16: 9 older with the Laptop Go 2, the difference is day and night.
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Almost all the ports on the Surface Laptop Go 2 are on the left side: a USB-A, a USB-C (which can charge the laptop but is not the main charging port) and a headphone jack.
Andrew Cunningham
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The only port on the other side is the Surface Connect proprietary port.
Andrew Cunningham
It’s harder to like the Laptop Go 2’s port selection, though it shares this shortcoming with the larger Surface Laptop. You get a single USB-A port, a single USB-C port, a headphone jack, and the proprietary Surface Connect port, and that’s it. It’s nice to be able to charge your laptop without blocking any USB ports, and it’s useful to be able to charge via the USB-C port if you need or prefer it. It’s just a minimal selection of ports and we would swap Surface Connect for another USB-C port any day.
And while it doesn’t really make a difference in everyday device use, there’s something to be said for getting some of the marginal advantages of owning Surface on a less expensive laptop. There are many Windows devices that cannot remove UEFI firmware updates or other security features at the hardware / software level without problems using Windows Update, and most inexpensive devices are lucky enough to get many of these types of updates. To its credit, Microsoft regularly updates budget-focused devices like the Surface Go or the Surface Laptop Go.