“The 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 is a beautiful laptop, but its mediocre performance limits its potential.”

Large 3:2 display; Build quality is rock solid; Comfortable keyboard and touchpad; Stays quiet and cool

Not powerful enough; Graphics are disappointing; Bezels are large

This was meant to be it. After working with AMD on Xbox, Microsoft was going to unleash an AMD-powered laptop that would blow the figurative doors off every laptop held back by having Intel silicon.

Metal appearance is far better than cloth; 3:2 display; Points for giving AMD a run; Nice keyboard

Disappointing battery life; One side vacant of USB ports

Having being hamstrung on desktop, Intel needs a win and is eager to highlight its advantages in the mobile space, where efficiency, Wi-Fi capabilities and battery life are more pressing concerns than sheer core count.

15in 3:2 PixelSense display; Sleek; robust aluminium chassis; Outstanding keyboard and trackpad; Choice of Intel or AMD configurations; Enough GPU power for casual gaming; LPDDR4X and Wi-Fi 6 on Intel model; Silent at low load; quiet when pushed

Middling battery life on AMD model; Lacks support for Thunderbolt; Limited port selection

The Surface Laptop was a fine device when it launched, and the Surface Laptop 2 improved it quite a bit with the addition of quad-core processors. But both had their success hampered somewhat by some bad design decisions, which Microsoft has thankfully corrected with the Surface Laptop 3 family.

Now, that we’ve spent some time with both the consumer and business version of the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 the winner seems pretty clear. We expected things to be rather close on the performance front, but the Intel powered business version of the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 dominated most all of the...

Thin; Portable; Incredible GPU performance.

Battery life is middling; Keys can feel mushy; Aluminum finish picks up hand grease fast.

The Surface Laptop 3 is everything a laptop should be, if not everything a lot of modern laptops are today

Superb keyboard; Great speakers; Excellent build quality

The USB-C isn't Thunderbolt 3; Purist design may seem feature-light

A sensible upgrade to the already stellar series, the introduction of a USB-C port, larger trackpad, and more power add plus-points onto its impressive score sheet. However, there's no Thunderbolt 3 speeds from that USB-C port, which is an oddity. And there aren't that many ports either.

The PixelSense display is still brilliant; Great-looking design - in a variety of finishes; USB-C is a welcome addition

No Thunderbolt 3 speeds; More ports would benefit; Battery life a little down on previous version; Slightly reflective screen

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 seems painfully plain on paper. There's no second screen, no graphics card, no hybrid hinge, and even no fingerprint scanner. But Microsoft has put so much attention to detail into every part that matters, this ends up one of the best Windows laptops at any price. Its build is superb, the keyboard is fantastic, the screen is good and its unusual speakers are up there with the best available in Windows laptops. There's nothing showy here, and some rivals last a little longer between charges. But Microsoft has nailed everything it has focused on here.

Superb keyboard; Great speakers; Excellent build quality;

The USB-C isn't Thunderbolt 3; Purist design may seem feature-light;

It's a great laptop and it's has an unbelievable price for it's incredible pdtech