Which one should I buy? I need an insanely fast, light weight, nice screen and long battery life, windows based laptops, with amd ryzen 5800u processor. (not want the MacBook pro) 1. Asus zenbook 13 (2021) OLED version. 2. Dell xps 13 3. Hp spectre 4. Any other you can recommend? Thanks :)
Just got surface laptop 4 after using xps 13 , and i just love this surface. You can feel the charm of brand when you use Microsoft rather than Dell..!
@@theab5867 do u think it was worth it? Bc i usually play the Sims and MC on my laptops but i want this to be able to handle that along with classwork, ik u only got it a bit ago, but I'm trying to get more recent reviews 😭
As an update, I upgraded to Windows 11 on my Laptop 4 and it upgraded pretty flawless. Still very solid, no issues, no bugs and it has kept me very happy. I really like the 15" laptop which has a more solid keyboard than the 13" screen.
Don;t try creating AI art (through a website is fine, but not when you install the program and do it locally). That's all I have to say about that :( @@josephferraraccio7457
Based on this review, a 13" brand comparison between the new Surface 13", Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air 13" with similar specs would be very interesting indeed
@@Fozzee.1970 imo leaving aside the massive performance advantage the m1 Mac air has, the only thing the xps rlly has going for it is the thin bezels as it loses on other fronts like battery life, track pad, OS (I guess this is more personal but the general consensus is that MacOS is more reliable/stable), build quality, price
@@c.221 that wasn't my point. My point is can you really compare benchmarks from different OS? I don't like MacOS so wouldn't consider a MAC regardless. Plus I use Windows at work so don't want to have to learn two different OS.
I loved the macbook air but hated that it had no touch screen because I always use laptops with touch screens! Ended up returning it! Now checking out light touch screen options with good battery life!
Thanks for the even-handed review. It seems that a lot of reviewers have become biased against Intel due to Intel's lackluster progress in recent years. But it does seem that Tiger Lake is a bigger leap forward for them than usual. While they certainly have their work cut out for them, I think the reports of Intel's impending death are overblown.
@@loosabway3400 True. For many, including me, the touchscreen is a very, very big plus for example. And I couldnt use MacOS if i wanted to so the MacBook Air wouldnt even make the first cut for me.
I went for the Laptop 4 over the 2021 XPS as I really like the 3:2 screen ratio. The XPS is a beautiful machine, but I've had one previously and always felt like I was hunched over it. The screen looks tiny by comparison in your video! No complaints so far - the screen & audio are excellent, battery life is fantastic (i7 13" version). The keyboard and trackpad, as you say, are excellent. I've also got it paired with the Surface Mouse, which is perfect for travelling with. I went for the aluminium chassis and it's a stunner (once you've wiped your fingerprints off for the 324th time that day!) Thanks for the great review!
We have 5 MS Surface devices in our home - we're very happy with the ongoing use of the Surface connector as it means we can all use the same power adaptors and, most importantly, our older and bloody expensive MS docking stations. They can add USB-C in future, as long as they retain the Surface connectors 🙂
Great video. Here in Guangzhou China. Both MacBooks and Surface devices are commonly seen in the office and Starbucks. And a lot of people are using HP, DELL, Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi, Acer, Asus which combine makes the larger majority.These brands offer more affordable devices. I've been using an i7 version Surface Laptop 3 for more than a year and an M1 MacBook Air for about 5 months. (I sometimes charge my Surface Laptop with the adapter of MacBook. But Surface adapter is twice faster.) I think Windows 10 offers the best value on Surface devices (I also used Surface Pro 3 and Surface Laptop 1 as my only computer. And Surface Go). And the fan-less M1 MacBook gives me great pleasure with insane long battery life. But now Microsoft is claiming 17 hours battery life on Surface Laptop 3 with Intel and AMD CPUs, that is amazing. Huge and most important progress for user like me who use the laptop for daily office work, I think. We can be free of power adapters. Battery life doesn't bother any more when having long-hour meetings.
I would get an XPS. I've been using a 2016 model for five years now and it still runs fantastically. Dell's support, at least here in Switzerland was fantastic the single time I needed it.
To be fair on Lenovo, ThinkPads are supposed to be durable and long lasting. I feel other products in the lineup like X1 Nano would fill the gap for people looking for thinner bezel variant.
Only Alcantara on the Ryzen 13 inch killed it for me. I would've loved to have the ice blue 13 inch with a Ryzen processor, Alcantara starts to yellow from the oils in your hands.
this is gonna sound like a weird commercial lol, but I used to have trouble with oily hands and always used to leave finger prints on laptops. I can just recommend you to always rinse your hands with very cold water as hot water makes you sweat directly after drying - I never had issues with the alcantara yellowing or showing any sign of oil, you should definitely clean it with a damp cloth from time to time that has a bit of soap on it!
2:25 perhaps a reminder to not pigeonhole products? Good job with the review as always, Tom! I do tend to lean towards 2-in-1s these days, so the XPS having that option looks more compelling, but the base spec Surface Laptop sounds like a pretty good allrounder for average users.
Thanks for this... I'm considering buying a new laptop and I've been comparing the editing capabilities (and ease of learning curves) for shorter videos - 15-20 minutes in length... I definitely want touchscreen/stylus options... Sounds like the 13.5 inch could handle all of that...
The Microsoft charger has saved me on my surface pro many times. I understand that you can also use the USC-C port to charge and it supports up to 45 watts. Of course that means you don't have a USB-C port for other things. But if you lose your charger or want to add a little juice in a car USB-C charger while on the road, you can.
have owned apple products my whole life, today I decided to buy the 13.5” surface 4 in ice blue with 16GB RAM and 256GB ssd. Excited for it to arrive! And there’s No denying that it’s better looking than the xps and the Mac book :)
I see the 13" helpful if your traveling with it a lot. However if your computer stays home usually, the 15" is much nicer. if your watching videos, or just generally reading on it the bigger size is it for me. I don't like that they only allow 2 colors with the 15" however and I don't like the black color which so many other companies like Dell have, The Silver is much better which is not metallic. Still I wish they had the cool blue ice color that the 13" has.
Yeah, I agree with that. I really want the ice blue one as well, but I was thinking of getting the 15" in the black matte color. Now you said you don't like the black, is that just a personal preference or is the silver better?
Interesting in my opinion that you have chosen 8 Gb as best deal. I would appreciate to see a comparison between MacBook Air M1 to Surface 4 both entry level. I never own MacBook but now it is first time I’m considering due to M1 chip
I considered Macbook Air M1, but I think Surface Laptop 4 (Ryzen) is better for Github Codespaces / VS Code & Microsoft 365. 🤓 M1 on iPad Pro is limited and software development seems pretty difficult on it, even if it supports 5G. Surface Pro 7+ display is maybe too small, even if you can remove it's screen to use it as a tablet which is good. Also, Surface Pro 7+ i5-1135G7 is not maybe powerful enough.
Between the XPS, Gram, Galaxy Book, Thinkpad, Razer Book, Matebook, Zenbook or HP Envy/Spectre it's hard to argue for the Surface. Most are thinner or lighter, most have more modern designs, most have more ports and some have more power with the Zenbook and Envy having dedicated graphics and the Matebook 14 having H series Ryzen chips.
I like the surface charger. I've tripped over and the mag connector saved my laptop too many times to count. I just wish MS would allow alcantara (sp??) option on the more powerful 13.5 models.
The turn-off for me would be the charging cable and the lack of ports. And if I did go with a Surface 4, I would get 16 GB RAM which obviously would hike up the price. I'm done with HP; I'm thinking about Lenovo Yoga i9 or other 2-1's by Lenovo. Don't know. I don't like the idea of any of the laptops being soldered. I'd like to know more about that and how many years these laptops will last until you have to yet spend an arm and a leg to buy another one. Great review. Thank you.
The AMD performs moderately when on the battery as MS has power throttled it to get that good battery life. There are no clever M1 four efficiency cores, it is simply killing the performance. A bit of a trick and really this should be noted by reviewers as influencers suggesting it is MS magic! I can get 10h SoT with the original Surface Laptop if I power those settings down, so not really excited by the battery life. In fact, looking at my Surface Laptop it looks exactly like the new one and still performs an ultrabook workflow without any issues. Not sure why I would buy the newer version and I suspect those with older Surface Laptops are asking the same question? Mine has stood up well, including the Alcantara, so as for QC on the original it is impressive (the Laptop 3 did have screen issues). I certainly prefer a multiple of ultrabooks over this in 2021 and find it hard to be as enthusiastic as the YT creator gang! For instance, I have seen the same spec Dell XPS 13 (i5/8gb) for £450 less! Then again, the Surface line is very niche with low quarterly revenue compared to the big sellers, so probably caters for the affiliated buying community (SME).
Let's be honest, both of those webcams are appalling! How about a review on Samsungs new beast by the way, it would be interesting to see that against the M1 and maybe the new Dell?
11th gen from intel still falls short on a lot of tests to the M1 (4k encoding, photoshop, benchmarks, etc.) I want to see what the new ARM chip from Samsung with AMD GPU will be able to do, and see if it can compete with the M2 from apple when both get out.
Please do a comparison between surface and dell xps. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I need a new windows laptop and can't decide between dell and Microsoft. I think MacBook isn't necessary to compare because it is still untouchable in my opinion.
I have to disagree with Chap saying these aren't work stations. While I bought mine mostly for lightroom CC I now use PowerBI, Python, R studio, Tableau and all the other office apps as well as remote desktop and I'm very happy with performance. i'm running windows 11, surface laptop 4 AMD Ryzen 7 and 8 GB RM. only regret is that i went with 256 GB drive and thats because going higher really increased the price. My only complaint is battery life...i can maybe get about 6 hours out of mine but not really an issue because I usually only use it in my home office. So great laptop overall specially becuase they look and feel solid.
Hi there, I have had a run of surface laptops over the years from Pro 3 to the Surface Laptop 2. I went in for an upgrade and picked up the 15 inch I7 with 16gb ram.... ($2850 AUD) after a day I had returned it and moved back to the Surface laptop 2. It was noisy (fans) running at a 50% memory usage on day 1. Chatted to Microsoft about it and they said they were new and some bugs were being detected on the Intel model. I don’t use anything overly advanced, I have this plugged into a surface dock 2. Now I’m considering the Spectre x360 or XPS13..... but for now the Laptop 2 is working very well. I guess it’s not time to upgrade just yet.
I don't if it's a local thing(I'm from Denmark), but I just bought one(R7 4980u 16Gb/512Gb) secondhand here for a mere 260$, and they seem to be much cheaper than equivalent models from Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. More or less the same CPU benchmark(multi-thread) as the newer 7730u or the M2. Massive bang for the buck.
If this was 10% less than the M1 Air I'd happily buy it because I love the keyboard, but you can get the Air for $900 right now so... it's really no contest. If you don't need windows for your workflow of course.
i really like the macbook but the problem is that it isnt touch screen :( I am a college student and sometimes i want to draw and then a touch screen helps
I'm considering Surface 4 vs the LG Gram. I want something light. I agree about the charging. I think modern tech should be converging to having one charger for all your devices. I tried the Macbook Air M1 and regret it. MacOS has terrible window management and Word for Mac has many limitations.
Had issue on surface 3 with docking. No power button on dock extension. Also it crashed when adding two external monitors, OK with one. Would love to see performance when docked and connected to two external monitors. I noticed if you use all USB ports on docking station it started to freeze. Great review. 15' for me
I really like the Surface products and the Surface Laptop is a great option. That being said, Microsoft will not make massive changes to the line, as it is not in their best interest. If you look at who really buys these, it is not really the general consumer. Microsoft sells most of these devices to companies. Companies want a known entity that they can simply slot in, one that does not change drastically from one version to another. Especially big companies have an IT roll out and maintenance procedure, and they would rather not change it if they don't have to. For example, they love the Surface Connect port. They have already kitted themselves out for it, so if Microsoft were to remove it and instead put more USB-C/Thunderbolt ports in, they may anger their biggest clients.
To users of the Surface 4: What is the typical operating fan noise level of your Microsoft Surface 4? Is it at least as quiet as the x64 MacBook Pro that have good cooling with their metal magnesium cases? For those that don't have: the x86 MacBook Pros only really get super loud when doing huge CPU loads like heavy rendering, 3D gaming, or some runaway bad Javascript coding on web pages. Other than that, most of the time the MacBook Pro's are near silent running. The M1 MacBooks will be even quieter but I just want to compare with the x64 CPUs for now. A loud laptop which is literally right in front of me is now a huge turn off and I can't stand it anymore. I've sworn off Apple products but their M1 ARM based laptops might actually having me switch my main laptop to MacBook Pro which I only ever use for work.
Bough a Surface 3 a long time ago. The screen is so ridiculuosly reflective I spent a lifetime avoiding lights; even at night, I could see my mug on it whenever there was a black bacground, even while watching movies. Your video shows exactly the same, as it always has been with the Surfaces. I´ll never ever buy them again, until they have proper screens. Even less know, when high quality matte screens are coming back. P.S. The lack of Thunderbolt, equally appaling.
I ordered the 15" and I got it in the silver color. I hate the Dell black color on the Laptop 4. With that being said, I wish they offered the Blue ice color in the 15" and not just in the 13.5 size. I guess the 15" is not a popular which is why they only offer it in 2 colors. But I want something a little bigger and Im glad I got the 15" screen. Watching videos, and having a larger screen is nice.
I would never get a 13 or 15 inch XPS unless they fix their thermal issues. If Dell wants to put a 3060 in 15 inch and make thin chasis then atleast put a vapour chamber cooling. The pipe right now makes it run hot then ever. I would go Surface for windows or M1 for Mac right now.
I love your videos, really reviews! Could you please recommend me the smallest most powerful multicore for virtualization and also less noisy and best cooling system and 3:216:10 productivity ratio laptop with best screen quality please?
Macbooks currently look somewhat outdated, so waiting for the redesign. But if the new design is anything controversial like having white bezels or a rounded screen, I'm going straight to XPS.
Would you recommend the Intel chipset for video editing and other creative work? You showed the render time, but how is the editing experience itself? Is a dedicated GPU still necessary?
Hey tom, I'd like to tell that u're reviews are certainly going to the great limits as an F1 car, so keep pushing🙂 But coming to the topic, I had this question, Is the AMD Ryzen 7 version enough to edit videos on this laptop? And which one to take between AMD and Intel?
Hey Tom, thanks for another great video. Question if possible - some people have reported significant keyboard flex with the alcantara model in comparison to the metal. Do you notice much difference if any? Cheers!
Is that the Garmin Vivoactive 3 at 6:08? Would love to see a "Which Smartwatch to Choose" video that includes the latest Garmin offerings. Most tech reviewers seem to exclude Garmin and focus only on the Apple Watch & WearOS watches!
Of the 3 (Surface Laptop, XPS, MacBook Air), mac easily top my list, the M1 performance seems too good to be true for the price but it's really legit tho haha plus ARM is truly the future of computing. But forget those 2 Windows ultrabooks, I'm actually way more excited with the newly launched Galaxy Book Pro lineup, imo these are the most compelling alternative from Windows side against MacBook M1. Hopefully you'll fully review them very soon Tom 🤭
Hey, really love your videos however, i do think that the lack of background music and the lack pauses in between, make your 12mins video FEEL a bit too long. i think adding these two might bring some positive effect. Nevertheless, really appreciate these HQ videos! 👍
And I certainly appreciate not having to filter out background music while I’m trying to listen to someone talk. Why don’t you turn the radio on in the background or something if you need more noise.
Great review as always! I've seen some complaints of keyboard deck flex on the Alcantara version. Do you see issues on your unit? Do you have any thoughts on the Surface vs. the new X1 Carbon Gen 9 as well if you've had a chance to check one of those out?
Thank you so much! I've been waiting for your review :) Awesome, in-depth review as always! Just curious if video editing in premiere pro was smooth for both the ryzen and intel versions? (for playbacks and such)
Here is a crazy thought I spoke to two different resellers one quote me saying the 13in SL4 is more expensive than the 15in. The other said and quoted me the opposite 🤔
I wish the XPS 13 had an AMD option. Intel may be more favorable for business, or for someone whose work flow demands Thunderbolt, but I just want a thin and light that preferably has 2-in-1 functionality. Hopefully DELL can get out of its lockstep with intel and start putting AMD on its flagships to keep better pace with the M1 macs. All that the DELL XPS line now has going for it now is the thin bezel looks, the 2-in-1 convertible options and Thunderbolt. I’m actually surprised the M1 Macs have retained Thunderbolt despite the jump to their proprietary chipset. It almost makes you wonder was any of the Surface products still don’t include it in 2021.
I’m not a Windows person, but that XPS 13 is pretty nice. I’d buy that over the Surface Laptop 4. I can imagine that Alcantara would get pretty gross after a while…
Just bought myself a black 15". I wish it had something like that "magic keyboard" the MacBook has, that looks so cool and is so usefull. But other than that im really happy with my purchase. Oh, and the screen being very reflective is a little bit annoying but only rarely.
Thanks for a great review. Tom. I know someone's already mentioned this but I'd be interested to know whether the Surface 4 can handle two external monitors with independent displays (via a Dock or similar, obviously). This is sort of a deal-breaker for me.
As a current surface user Ill take the Surface second preference will have be the mac ( so I could sell it to buy a Surface) then the Dell (Ill just keep telling myself it is still Windows). Not sure, but I think you could say that I am a Windows guy? Well all that said and done 15inches will do as I prefer a larger screen. Speaking about Intel vs AMD. With all the recent Intel chips being slower then most I wonder are they working on something that will blow is away?
I bought Surface laptop 4 15' and love it. The bigger screen, light size, amazing screen, great build quality, awsome Webcam, great speaker, and awsome compatiblity with Microsoft services such Cortana, iris, office, etc. Touch screen is also good to have.
Hey Chaps! Quick correction - you can charge via USB C (like most laptops), but it's not as fast as Surface Charger 👍
Surface book for me. Need that detachable screen
Neither.
I really want a dell xps 13.. Love it..
But waiting for a 5800u laptop.
Mac this year
I also got the 13inch SB3. Happy with that size to carry around and draw on.
Which one should I buy? I need an insanely fast, light weight, nice screen and long battery life, windows based laptops, with amd ryzen 5800u processor. (not want the MacBook pro)
1. Asus zenbook 13 (2021) OLED version.
2. Dell xps 13
3. Hp spectre
4. Any other you can recommend?
Thanks :)
Hell yes! M1 Air vs Surface vs Xps would be a good one- but compare according to the price- and so get the models for all 3 at around 1000$.
Just got surface laptop 4 after using xps 13 , and i just love this surface. You can feel the charm of brand when you use Microsoft rather than Dell..!
Which version did you get
Is it good?
How was it?
Literally bought the Microsoft laptop 4 yesterday and tho it’s not set up yet I am excited to use it for classes
@@theab5867 do u think it was worth it? Bc i usually play the Sims and MC on my laptops but i want this to be able to handle that along with classwork, ik u only got it a bit ago, but I'm trying to get more recent reviews 😭
As an update, I upgraded to Windows 11 on my Laptop 4 and it upgraded pretty flawless. Still very solid, no issues, no bugs and it has kept me very happy. I really like the 15" laptop which has a more solid keyboard than the 13" screen.
I’m not sure if you watch things like twitch but can it run that fine?
Don;t try creating AI art (through a website is fine, but not when you install the program and do it locally). That's all I have to say about that :( @@josephferraraccio7457
Based on this review, a 13" brand comparison between the new Surface 13", Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air 13" with similar specs would be very interesting indeed
i have a suspicion that the macbook air would demolish them
@@c.221 yes but it's not just about the speed as its overkill for most users. There's a lot more to consider like display size, OS Etc.
@@Fozzee.1970 imo leaving aside the massive performance advantage the m1 Mac air has, the only thing the xps rlly has going for it is the thin bezels as it loses on other fronts like battery life, track pad, OS (I guess this is more personal but the general consensus is that MacOS is more reliable/stable), build quality, price
@@c.221 that wasn't my point. My point is can you really compare benchmarks from different OS? I don't like MacOS so wouldn't consider a MAC regardless. Plus I use Windows at work so don't want to have to learn two different OS.
@@Fozzee.1970 is there any reason why one couldn't compare benchmarks between different OS?
I loved the macbook air but hated that it had no touch screen because I always use laptops with touch screens! Ended up returning it! Now checking out light touch screen options with good battery life!
Thanks for the even-handed review. It seems that a lot of reviewers have become biased against Intel due to Intel's lackluster progress in recent years. But it does seem that Tiger Lake is a bigger leap forward for them than usual. While they certainly have their work cut out for them, I think the reports of Intel's impending death are overblown.
Yes, Macbook Air, XPS 13 and Surface 4 would be an excellent comparison! Feel like the Surface is going to get left behind though ...
Actually! The Surface would fade into the background pretty quickly.
Depends on your criteria though, doesn't it..
@@loosabway3400 True. For many, including me, the touchscreen is a very, very big plus for example. And I couldnt use MacOS if i wanted to so the MacBook Air wouldnt even make the first cut for me.
I wish someone would address the difference in build quality of alcantara vs the metal variant and compare them in detail with the MacBook air
@@thefarazomair I have both finishes in older versions of the Surface - what are you worried about?
I went for the Laptop 4 over the 2021 XPS as I really like the 3:2 screen ratio. The XPS is a beautiful machine, but I've had one previously and always felt like I was hunched over it. The screen looks tiny by comparison in your video!
No complaints so far - the screen & audio are excellent, battery life is fantastic (i7 13" version). The keyboard and trackpad, as you say, are excellent. I've also got it paired with the Surface Mouse, which is perfect for travelling with. I went for the aluminium chassis and it's a stunner (once you've wiped your fingerprints off for the 324th time that day!)
Thanks for the great review!
I love that we are finally starting to see more taller aspect ratio Windows laptops! Long overdue.
We have 5 MS Surface devices in our home - we're very happy with the ongoing use of the Surface connector as it means we can all use the same power adaptors and, most importantly, our older and bloody expensive MS docking stations. They can add USB-C in future, as long as they retain the Surface connectors 🙂
I can't decide on laptop vs pro 8. I honestly don't think I'll use it in tablet mode. I don't know.
You can already charge them with USB-C on the surface 4
@@shatterpointgames what does that have to do with the surface connector on my gen 1 MS docking stations that I use with my older Surface devices?
@@nztpv9920 you said "they can add USB-C in the future as long as they retain the Surface connectors". That's something that already happened.
@@shatterpointgames no shit Einstein
Great video. Here in Guangzhou China. Both MacBooks and Surface devices are commonly seen in the office and Starbucks. And a lot of people are using HP, DELL, Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi, Acer, Asus which combine makes the larger majority.These brands offer more affordable devices. I've been using an i7 version Surface Laptop 3 for more than a year and an M1 MacBook Air for about 5 months. (I sometimes charge my Surface Laptop with the adapter of MacBook. But Surface adapter is twice faster.) I think Windows 10 offers the best value on Surface devices (I also used Surface Pro 3 and Surface Laptop 1 as my only computer. And Surface Go). And the fan-less M1 MacBook gives me great pleasure with insane long battery life. But now Microsoft is claiming 17 hours battery life on Surface Laptop 3 with Intel and AMD CPUs, that is amazing. Huge and most important progress for user like me who use the laptop for daily office work, I think. We can be free of power adapters. Battery life doesn't bother any more when having long-hour meetings.
I would get an XPS. I've been using a 2016 model for five years now and it still runs fantastically. Dell's support, at least here in Switzerland was fantastic the single time I needed it.
Big chunky bezels? 🤯 *Looking at my Lenovo Thinkpad.*
Fair point!
To be fair on Lenovo, ThinkPads are supposed to be durable and long lasting. I feel other products in the lineup like X1 Nano would fill the gap for people looking for thinner bezel variant.
@@joeljustin Oh screw the thin bezel on Thinkpads. I want the old keyboard back. Still reminiscing the days typing on my X220.
Thank you so much for this video, I commented on your last surface video asking for it and you came through!
Only Alcantara on the Ryzen 13 inch killed it for me. I would've loved to have the ice blue 13 inch with a Ryzen processor, Alcantara starts to yellow from the oils in your hands.
this is gonna sound like a weird commercial lol, but I used to have trouble with oily hands and always used to leave finger prints on laptops. I can just recommend you to always rinse your hands with very cold water as hot water makes you sweat directly after drying - I never had issues with the alcantara yellowing or showing any sign of oil, you should definitely clean it with a damp cloth from time to time that has a bit of soap on it!
my alcantara version stayed clean for years!
@@ToriZealot Many other peoples did not, check the used market, it's gross.
2:25 perhaps a reminder to not pigeonhole products?
Good job with the review as always, Tom!
I do tend to lean towards 2-in-1s these days, so the XPS having that option looks more compelling, but the base spec Surface Laptop sounds like a pretty good allrounder for average users.
Waheyyy!
Thanks for this... I'm considering buying a new laptop and I've been comparing the editing capabilities (and ease of learning curves) for shorter videos - 15-20 minutes in length... I definitely want touchscreen/stylus options... Sounds like the 13.5 inch could handle all of that...
The Microsoft charger has saved me on my surface pro many times. I understand that you can also use the USC-C port to charge and it supports up to 45 watts. Of course that means you don't have a USB-C port for other things. But if you lose your charger or want to add a little juice in a car USB-C charger while on the road, you can.
Is it a good laptop
have owned apple products my whole life, today I decided to buy the 13.5” surface 4 in ice blue with 16GB RAM and 256GB ssd. Excited for it to arrive! And there’s No denying that it’s better looking than the xps and the Mac book :)
@@leaht-pu1tm already returned it... LMFAO the thing has too much key board flex for me.
@@leaht-pu1tm got the new Mac book pro instead🤮
I see the 13" helpful if your traveling with it a lot. However if your computer stays home usually, the 15" is much nicer. if your watching videos, or just generally reading on it the bigger size is it for me. I don't like that they only allow 2 colors with the 15" however and I don't like the black color which so many other companies like Dell have, The Silver is much better which is not metallic. Still I wish they had the cool blue ice color that the 13" has.
Yeah, I agree with that. I really want the ice blue one as well, but I was thinking of getting the 15" in the black matte color. Now you said you don't like the black, is that just a personal preference or is the silver better?
@@laurentahuka5172 I just like the silver which looks like a Mac. Lol
@@revelationsoundstudio ah ok thanks
@@laurentahuka5172 o
Interesting in my opinion that you have chosen 8 Gb as best deal. I would appreciate to see a comparison between MacBook Air M1 to Surface 4 both entry level. I never own MacBook but now it is first time I’m considering due to M1 chip
I considered Macbook Air M1, but I think Surface Laptop 4 (Ryzen) is better for Github Codespaces / VS Code & Microsoft 365. 🤓 M1 on iPad Pro is limited and software development seems pretty difficult on it, even if it supports 5G. Surface Pro 7+ display is maybe too small, even if you can remove it's screen to use it as a tablet which is good. Also, Surface Pro 7+ i5-1135G7 is not maybe powerful enough.
Between the XPS, Gram, Galaxy Book, Thinkpad, Razer Book, Matebook, Zenbook or HP Envy/Spectre it's hard to argue for the Surface. Most are thinner or lighter, most have more modern designs, most have more ports and some have more power with the Zenbook and Envy having dedicated graphics and the Matebook 14 having H series Ryzen chips.
which one of these are the most reliable ?
I like the surface charger. I've tripped over and the mag connector saved my laptop too many times to count. I just wish MS would allow alcantara (sp??) option on the more powerful 13.5 models.
The turn-off for me would be the charging cable and the lack of ports. And if I did go with a Surface 4, I would get 16 GB RAM which obviously would hike up the price. I'm done with HP; I'm thinking about Lenovo Yoga i9 or other 2-1's by Lenovo. Don't know. I don't like the idea of any of the laptops being soldered. I'd like to know more about that and how many years these laptops will last until you have to yet spend an arm and a leg to buy another one. Great review. Thank you.
The AMD performs moderately when on the battery as MS has power throttled it to get that good battery life. There are no clever M1 four efficiency cores, it is simply killing the performance. A bit of a trick and really this should be noted by reviewers as influencers suggesting it is MS magic! I can get 10h SoT with the original Surface Laptop if I power those settings down, so not really excited by the battery life.
In fact, looking at my Surface Laptop it looks exactly like the new one and still performs an ultrabook workflow without any issues. Not sure why I would buy the newer version and I suspect those with older Surface Laptops are asking the same question? Mine has stood up well, including the Alcantara, so as for QC on the original it is impressive (the Laptop 3 did have screen issues). I certainly prefer a multiple of ultrabooks over this in 2021 and find it hard to be as enthusiastic as the YT creator gang! For instance, I have seen the same spec Dell XPS 13 (i5/8gb) for £450 less! Then again, the Surface line is very niche with low quarterly revenue compared to the big sellers, so probably caters for the affiliated buying community (SME).
Let's be honest, both of those webcams are appalling! How about a review on Samsungs new beast by the way, it would be interesting to see that against the M1 and maybe the new Dell?
Also the new huawei matebook.
Yes, besides MacBook M1, I'm actually more interested with the new Galaxy Book Pro lineup than the Surface Laptop or XPS ...
11th gen from intel still falls short on a lot of tests to the M1 (4k encoding, photoshop, benchmarks, etc.) I want to see what the new ARM chip from Samsung with AMD GPU will be able to do, and see if it can compete with the M2 from apple when both get out.
Please do a comparison between surface and dell xps. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I need a new windows laptop and can't decide between dell and Microsoft. I think MacBook isn't necessary to compare because it is still untouchable in my opinion.
I prefer quality and better support surface will be my first pick. Had few xps it didnt went well.
@@christopherng5847 that’s fair. Frustrated with XPS but I’m to hesitant to make the switch. It’s the devil I know😂
I have to disagree with Chap saying these aren't work stations. While I bought mine mostly for lightroom CC I now use PowerBI, Python, R studio, Tableau and all the other office apps as well as remote desktop and I'm very happy with performance. i'm running windows 11, surface laptop 4 AMD Ryzen 7 and 8 GB RM. only regret is that i went with 256 GB drive and thats because going higher really increased the price. My only complaint is battery life...i can maybe get about 6 hours out of mine but not really an issue because I usually only use it in my home office. So great laptop overall specially becuase they look and feel solid.
Hi there,
I have had a run of surface laptops over the years from Pro 3 to the Surface Laptop 2.
I went in for an upgrade and picked up the 15 inch I7 with 16gb ram.... ($2850 AUD) after a day I had returned it and moved back to the Surface laptop 2. It was noisy (fans) running at a 50% memory usage on day 1.
Chatted to Microsoft about it and they said they were new and some bugs were being detected on the Intel model. I don’t use anything overly advanced, I have this plugged into a surface dock 2.
Now I’m considering the Spectre x360 or XPS13..... but for now the Laptop 2 is working very well. I guess it’s not time to upgrade just yet.
The wallpapers in both the laptops are awesome 👌
I don't if it's a local thing(I'm from Denmark), but I just bought one(R7 4980u 16Gb/512Gb) secondhand here for a mere 260$, and they seem to be much cheaper than equivalent models from Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. More or less the same CPU benchmark(multi-thread) as the newer 7730u or the M2. Massive bang for the buck.
Pls give comparison video between the 3 laptops i.e surface, apple, dell
That sharp part would obviously dull out after a while. I've had multiple Surfaces with that keyboard and I like it a lot!
If this was 10% less than the M1 Air I'd happily buy it because I love the keyboard, but you can get the Air for $900 right now so... it's really no contest. If you don't need windows for your workflow of course.
i really like the macbook but the problem is that it isnt touch screen :( I am a college student and sometimes i want to draw and then a touch screen helps
I'm considering Surface 4 vs the LG Gram. I want something light. I agree about the charging. I think modern tech should be converging to having one charger for all your devices. I tried the Macbook Air M1 and regret it. MacOS has terrible window management and Word for Mac has many limitations.
Had issue on surface 3 with docking. No power button on dock extension. Also it crashed when adding two external monitors, OK with one. Would love to see performance when docked and connected to two external monitors. I noticed if you use all USB ports on docking station it started to freeze. Great review. 15' for me
Would really enjoy a XPS 13 , Macbook Air and Surface 4 comparison!!
I really like the Surface products and the Surface Laptop is a great option. That being said, Microsoft will not make massive changes to the line, as it is not in their best interest. If you look at who really buys these, it is not really the general consumer. Microsoft sells most of these devices to companies. Companies want a known entity that they can simply slot in, one that does not change drastically from one version to another. Especially big companies have an IT roll out and maintenance procedure, and they would rather not change it if they don't have to. For example, they love the Surface Connect port. They have already kitted themselves out for it, so if Microsoft were to remove it and instead put more USB-C/Thunderbolt ports in, they may anger their biggest clients.
To users of the Surface 4: What is the typical operating fan noise level of your Microsoft Surface 4? Is it at least as quiet as the x64 MacBook Pro that have good cooling with their metal magnesium cases?
For those that don't have: the x86 MacBook Pros only really get super loud when doing huge CPU loads like heavy rendering, 3D gaming, or some runaway bad Javascript coding on web pages. Other than that, most of the time the MacBook Pro's are near silent running. The M1 MacBooks will be even quieter but I just want to compare with the x64 CPUs for now.
A loud laptop which is literally right in front of me is now a huge turn off and I can't stand it anymore. I've sworn off Apple products but their M1 ARM based laptops might actually having me switch my main laptop to MacBook Pro which I only ever use for work.
Yes! Been waiting for this video, keep it up
Keep it up! You answered to all my questions. Thanks!
I will take XPS, thank you
I'm hoping there is a amd 5000 variant
Bough a Surface 3 a long time ago. The screen is so ridiculuosly reflective I spent a lifetime avoiding lights; even at night, I could see my mug on it whenever there was a black bacground, even while watching movies. Your video shows exactly the same, as it always has been with the Surfaces.
I´ll never ever buy them again, until they have proper screens. Even less know, when high quality matte screens are coming back.
P.S. The lack of Thunderbolt, equally appaling.
XPS is still the best looking laptop. Hopefully we'll see Dell release XPS 15/17 with a high end AMD processor this year
Great content like always,can't wait for your next video😄😍🙂🙂🙂🙂
I ordered the 15" and I got it in the silver color. I hate the Dell black color on the Laptop 4. With that being said, I wish they offered the Blue ice color in the 15" and not just in the 13.5 size. I guess the 15" is not a popular which is why they only offer it in 2 colors. But I want something a little bigger and Im glad I got the 15" screen. Watching videos, and having a larger screen is nice.
Man I was about to buy the AMD. Thank you! Great review. Subscring
Alcantara is awesome. Have been using it for the past one year. Only issue is keeping it clean. I struggle with it a lot.
I would never get a 13 or 15 inch XPS unless they fix their thermal issues. If Dell wants to put a 3060 in 15 inch and make thin chasis then atleast put a vapour chamber cooling. The pipe right now makes it run hot then ever. I would go Surface for windows or M1 for Mac right now.
I found this a very honest and helpful review!
The oldies like the bigger screen, thanks for the review
I love your videos, really reviews! Could you please recommend me the smallest most powerful multicore for virtualization and also less noisy and best cooling system and 3:2 16:10 productivity ratio laptop with best screen quality please?
Great Comparisons, especially with the XPS Option. Waiting for the Review of the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 [When you get it] 👍🙏🙏🙏
Great video, really helped me to choose! Thanks to you :)
Always great detail. Gadget reviews 5 star ⭐️
Well done on hitting the million mark
congrats for the 1 million subs
Thanks!
You gotta be nuts to pay £999 for one of these over a M1 mac. Crazy that a MB delivers better value for money.
Wish the MacBook had a touch screen
MB is useless for manny as it doesn't run any software pro's need. (yes pro's mean more than just video editors)
Not with a £500 trade in for my Surface Laptop 2 it's a steal. And I don't want MacOS!
Macbooks currently look somewhat outdated, so waiting for the redesign. But if the new design is anything controversial like having white bezels or a rounded screen, I'm going straight to XPS.
Yes but some people don't use macOS and prefer windows to run natively
Well, I already got the M1 base Air, solid laptop, all of the three are great
Would you recommend the Intel chipset for video editing and other creative work? You showed the render time, but how is the editing experience itself? Is a dedicated GPU still necessary?
Hey tom, I'd like to tell that u're reviews are certainly going to the great limits as an F1 car, so keep pushing🙂
But coming to the topic, I had this question, Is the AMD Ryzen 7 version enough to edit videos on this laptop?
And which one to take between AMD and Intel?
Kinda hard to decide... The new ones look nice, but the Surface Laptop Go still looks more appealing. Too bad they did not release a new one.
I’m thinking of replacing my 2015 XPS 13 but can’t decide if I should go with SL4 or a new XPS 13
Hey Tom, thanks for another great video. Question if possible - some people have reported significant keyboard flex with the alcantara model in comparison to the metal. Do you notice much difference if any? Cheers!
i was looking for this comment - i feel a massive amount of keyboard flex after just buying and i do not like it at all
Is that the Garmin Vivoactive 3 at 6:08? Would love to see a "Which Smartwatch to Choose" video that includes the latest Garmin offerings. Most tech reviewers seem to exclude Garmin and focus only on the Apple Watch & WearOS watches!
It's actually the AmazFit GTR 2e
Where do you gets your wallpaper, they’re all so good 🤤
Ikr
Of the 3 (Surface Laptop, XPS, MacBook Air), mac easily top my list, the M1 performance seems too good to be true for the price but it's really legit tho haha plus ARM is truly the future of computing. But forget those 2 Windows ultrabooks, I'm actually way more excited with the newly launched Galaxy Book Pro lineup, imo these are the most compelling alternative from Windows side against MacBook M1. Hopefully you'll fully review them very soon Tom 🤭
Impressed that the XPS looks definitely next gen compared to Mac Air and Surface 4
The included Usb-C port charges the laptop. It doesn't need seperate USB-C charging port. I charge mine via USBC everyday.
Hey, really love your videos however, i do think that the lack of background music and the lack pauses in between, make your 12mins video FEEL a bit too long. i think adding these two might bring some positive effect.
Nevertheless, really appreciate these HQ videos! 👍
And I certainly appreciate not having to filter out background music while I’m trying to listen to someone talk. Why don’t you turn the radio on in the background or something if you need more noise.
Great review as always! I've seen some complaints of keyboard deck flex on the Alcantara version. Do you see issues on your unit? Do you have any thoughts on the Surface vs. the new X1 Carbon Gen 9 as well if you've had a chance to check one of those out?
Thank you so much! I've been waiting for your review :)
Awesome, in-depth review as always!
Just curious if video editing in premiere pro was smooth for both the ryzen and intel versions? (for playbacks and such)
@2:33 not a pigeon actually. It is dove that makes that sound.
great video i like the wallpapers too🙂
Just picked up a surface laptop 4 13.5 i7 32gb 1tb model like new for $500 from FB marketplace. Hope it will hold up all right!
Very good video. I learned a good deal.
Glad it helped!
yes pls! Macbook Air vs Microsoft Surface Pro vs Dell XPS 13 video!
02:00 You could have stopped the video right there. I honestly have no idea why manufacturers are still using these outdated designs.
Here is a crazy thought I spoke to two different resellers one quote me saying the 13in SL4 is more expensive than the 15in. The other said and quoted me the opposite 🤔
Thank you for the video. Definitely helped me not spend too much money.
I wish the XPS 13 had an AMD option. Intel may be more favorable for business, or for someone whose work flow demands Thunderbolt, but I just want a thin and light that preferably has 2-in-1 functionality. Hopefully DELL can get out of its lockstep with intel and start putting AMD on its flagships to keep better pace with the M1 macs. All that the DELL XPS line now has going for it now is the thin bezel looks, the 2-in-1 convertible options and Thunderbolt. I’m actually surprised the M1 Macs have retained Thunderbolt despite the jump to their proprietary chipset. It almost makes you wonder was any of the Surface products still don’t include it in 2021.
You could do the storage repair on the laptop 3. Also you can charge through the USB c port.
I feel like the Macbook Air is by far the best option, the performance, battery life and build quality are all top notch!
@Panda Angry been using Mac for two years and so far MacOS is way better for me than windows
I just picked up a surface 4 with 32 GB and 1 TB for $1,300 on the Microsoft website. I felt it was a better deal than purchasing the new surface 5.
I'd say M1 MacBook Air is a better choice and Surface Book 4 is the least favorite choice for me. The M1 Chip is just amazing.
I am watching this video from Asia at 2 AM in Midnight 😂
Cz I love your content
Dedication! 👊
Keep it up Chaps! Love your contents:-)
I’m not a Windows person, but that XPS 13 is pretty nice. I’d buy that over the Surface Laptop 4. I can imagine that Alcantara would get pretty gross after a while…
Sure... if you don't clean it every once in a while. It's not cheap cloth material dude.
Great review!
These are some really nice wallpapers, where did you get them?
Hope you do a review of the Surface Laptop Studio.
Just bought myself a black 15". I wish it had something like that "magic keyboard" the MacBook has, that looks so cool and is so usefull. But other than that im really happy with my purchase.
Oh, and the screen being very reflective is a little bit annoying but only rarely.
Coming from desktop PCs, it's hilarious that 8GB more RAM costs can cost me several hundred dollars more ....
Thanks for a great review. Tom. I know someone's already mentioned this but I'd be interested to know whether the Surface 4 can handle two external monitors with independent displays (via a Dock or similar, obviously). This is sort of a deal-breaker for me.
We use j5create 13-in1 USB-C triple docking Station on our Surface 3, gives 3 screens and charges via USB C. Hope this helps.
You can but you need a dock
As a current surface user Ill take the Surface second preference will have be the mac ( so I could sell it to buy a Surface) then the Dell (Ill just keep telling myself it is still Windows). Not sure, but I think you could say that I am a Windows guy?
Well all that said and done 15inches will do as I prefer a larger screen.
Speaking about Intel vs AMD. With all the recent Intel chips being slower then most I wonder are they working on something that will blow is away?
I bought Surface laptop 4 15' and love it. The bigger screen, light size, amazing screen, great build quality, awsome Webcam, great speaker, and awsome compatiblity with Microsoft services such Cortana, iris, office, etc. Touch screen is also good to have.
Good sir, you've earned my subscription to your channel :)
Thanks for the review. I would advise against using the battery life computer manufactures claim, because most are in no way accurate.
I'm really surprised. The medium setup (i5, 8gb) outperforms the high end setup (Ryzen 7, 16gb RAM)
surface laptop 4 good for editing video?