“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

As you might have noticed, each of these options forces you to make a compromise. That's where the Surface Laptop 3 finds its niche, because as an ultraportable laptop with a large display, there's nothing else like it.

Slim; lightweight chassis; Attractive metal design; Bright; vivid 15-inch display; Loud; clear speakers

Mediocre battery life; Underwhelming performance; Slow; expensive SSD; Limited ports

The 15-inch version of the Surface Laptop 3 represents the biggest change to the clamshell laptop since Microsoft launched the first Surface Laptop in 2017. And yet, it is remarkably similar to the prior models, despite the fact that it’s bigger and has a completely different processor.

Excellent keyboard and trackpad; Sturdy build quality; Good performance for everyday productivity tasks; 3:2 aspect ratio screen is great for productivity; Relatively little bloatware out of the box; Windows Hello facial login works great

Only two USB ports; No Thunderbolt 3 ports; Below average battery life; No SD card slot; Matte black model gets full of fingerprints almost immediately; Struggles editing and even playing back 4K video

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

The main advantages of our Core i7 SKU versus the Ryzen 5 SKU include Wi-Fi 6 compatibility, faster storage performance, faster CPU performance, integrated AI acceleration, faster gaming performance, and higher performance-per-Watt.

full performance on battery power; good performance sustainability; faster storage performance; no DPC latency issues; long battery life; generally quiet

hardware-based AI acceleration has yet to be exploited; no card reader or Thunderbolt 3; PWM at lower brightness levels; barebones set of features; no vPro or WWAN

With a large 3:2 screen, a comfortable touchpad, light weight for its size, and decent performance (powered by new partner AMD), Microsoft's larger-screen Surface Laptop 3 is an excellent mainstream machine.

Attractive, unassuming design; Thin and light for a 15-inch laptop; Bright, vivid 3:2 display; Comfortable touchpad.

Optional extras (such as the Surface Dock) are pricey; Limited selection of ports; No Wi-Fi 6 support.

The new 15in Surface Laptop 3 retains much of the charm and style of the 13.5in version, while adding some welcome extra desktop space

Slim and light; Big; sharp display; Excellent keyboard and touchpad

Performance isn't first class; Lacks Wi-Fi 6; Limited physical connectivity

Despite finally embracing USB-C and a new larger 15in model to choose between, the Surface Laptop 3 still has work to do to become best-in-class

The Surface Laptop 3 13 may not be a massive upgrade on the Surface Laptop 2, but upgrades such as Intel's 10th Generation Ice Lake processor and a couple of new colour options are enough to keep this ultrabook among the very best

Classy; ultra-portable design; Excellent performance; Stunning 3:2 display; Fantastic keyboard

Middling battery life; Lack of Thunderbolt 3

Microsoft's Surface Laptop 3 for Business, with Intel's 10th-gen Ice Lake architecture inside, is a solid all-around laptop with higher performance...

All-day battery life; Excellent performance; Bright; beautiful screen

Keyboard isn't quite as good as in previous models; No Thunderbolt I/O tech behind its USB-C ports