The Surface Laptop Studio: A Versatile and Artistic Companion?

Microsoft's latest laptop, starting at $1,499, has been touted as a powerful device for creative professionals and students alike. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this machine is not without its limitations.

At the core of the issue lies the configuration options available on this device. To get the top-of-the-line specs, including the Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, a half-terabyte SSD, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, one would have to shell out at least $2,100. This is a significant amount of money, especially considering that there are AMD options on the market that offer dramatically better performance at similar price points.

Another aspect to consider is the dedicated GPU. While it's not super powerful compared to other high-end graphics cards, it does provide decent capabilities for general use and creative tasks like graphic design and video editing. However, if you're looking to push the limits of your system or play demanding games, this might not be the best choice.

One of the standout features of the Surface Laptop Studio is its unique design and ergonomic aspects. The device has a built-in easel that allows it to tilt down dramatically, making it ideal for pen art and drafting. This feature is reminiscent of the Microsoft Surface Studio desktop PC, which was designed with creatives in mind. The laptop's slim design and responsive pen make it well-suited for artistic tasks.

The new Slim Pen 2 is an essential accessory for anyone looking to get the most out of this device. While not on par with Apple's Pencil technology, the Slim Pen 2 offers a range of features, including a small vibration motor that simulates the feeling of writing on actual paper. The pen also has a shortcut button and side button, making it easy to navigate and control.

Another benefit of the Surface Laptop Studio is its integration with Windows 11. Microsoft's latest operating system has received praise for its improved start menu, animations, and window controls for multitasking. The touch targets are slightly larger and farther apart when in laptop mode, making it easier to interact with the device.

However, there are some quirks and missing UI features that make one wonder if this machine is truly suitable for everyone. Watching the Verge's full Windows 11 review video can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the operating system's capabilities and limitations.

While Microsoft has certainly created a unique device with the Surface Laptop Studio, it's unlikely to appeal to most people. However, its design and features make it an attractive option for those who value portability and artistic expression. The laptop's dual functionality as both a work machine and a creative tool makes it an excellent choice for students, freelancers, or anyone looking to enhance their productivity.

The Surface Laptop Studio is not the best device in every aspect, but its strengths make up for its weaknesses. With the right configuration and accessories, this laptop can become a valuable companion for artists, designers, and creatives on-the-go. As Windows 11 continues to improve and evolve, this machine will undoubtedly benefit from its advancements.

In conclusion, while the Surface Laptop Studio may not be perfect, it's a device that's designed with specific needs in mind. Whether you're an artist, student, or professional, it's worth considering whether this laptop can meet your unique requirements.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop is kind of trying to be three things at once kinda so this is the surface laptop studio it's the studio version of the surface laptop or the laptop version of the surface studio i mean it's both either way it's an interesting idea it's not completely unique but it is kind of curious now to see this in microsoft's own surface lineup um we've been so busy with so many other reviews that this is the first time i'm really getting to check it out but here we are so the idea is you have three different modes with this form factor you have the standard laptop setup then you have the halfway folded down easel setup where you're covering the keyboard but you still have the trackpad and the touchscreen it's called stage mode and then you have a completely folded flat tablet setup all in one device i guess it's like a three in one so the idea is like pretty cool i but every time i see something like this my first thought is always okay what do you what do you use each mode for so of course the laptop mode that's the most familiar right it's the surface laptop studio for a reason it's perfectly capable of that you've got a 3x2 aspect ratio like other surface devices which is really nice for taller applications and multitasking in windows 11 here and then when you pull the laptop towards you and want to put it in this sort of easel position you sort of pop the bottom of the laptop out from the magnets and then it naturally sort of wants to land on some more magnets in this 45 degree position in this easel stand mode it's the only angle that you can set it up at now this is this always happens whenever i go well who would want to use a something like this i mean it's cool that it can do it but who would use it like this and then everyone who does use it like this comes out of the woodwork and loves to explain exactly how but i'm just going to say from my own use of laptops there's only a couple reasons i would want a laptop to be folded over covering the keyboard but still having the trackpad like this so it is a touch screen and of course you still have access to the trackpad but yeah the way it's sitting kind of reminds me of an ipad in a folio case this is fine for watching videos or watching movies also gaming with a controller which i've seen a lot of in their ads with this guy and any touch first apps now there are android apps coming to windows 11 and those don't work as of yet but they should be in an update soon but if you do have touch first apps they'll work here the screen also definitely wobbles a lot less and feels much more sturdy at this sort of anchored angle as you touch the display with your finger but also yeah there aren't that many touch first apps that i use and i'll get more to the app situation in a second anyway lastly you can just pop it open and fold it completely flat and it's a tablet you know it's not necessarily as fun to hold and use like an ipad or even a surface pro but when it's totally flat there's your tablet this would be your full-time touch screen interaction and where a lot of your use of the new surface slim pen 2 would come into play it doesn't sit totally flat but from what i hear a lot of artists would like it to be slightly propped up because it's easier to sketch on like that so the idea i really like i think it's pretty cool you could even maybe get away with watching a video not at perfectly 45 degrees if you wanted to um but yeah you might have heard of like the acer concept d or the hp elite folio this is more of like the surface refined version of those ideas but even at that i've noticed this version does have some weird build quality issues so of course when this thing is in full-on laptop mode the screen portion is a bit thicker than a normal laptop it's way better than previous surfaces where the whole computer is up top but you can see it's still thicker than a normal single screen because it's two layers instead of one for the hinge mechanics and that's fine you barely ever have to look at that but the air gap around the outside of this display i noticed is very inconsistent like i can see little gaps all the way around the screen that i just like wanted to squeeze shut i thought that was really odd but the rest of the hardware is pretty solid it's the magnesium and aluminum casing that's very rigid and if we're being kind of honest it looks a bit like a double decker macbook pro type thing so the silver is the only color and it's got this top level which is pretty slim and it's the full width all the way around and has all the ports then the bottom piece here is a smaller inset but it obviously gives it much more internal volume so when it's just sitting on a desk it kind of gives this illusion of a thinner laptop that's kind of hovering slightly off your desk depending on your lighting honestly i don't mind it i do hate the ports layout though on this thing for all the positioning as like a creator-focused laptop and something creative professionals we use it's like a macbook pro like every creative professional i know i think all of them use an sd card for something at some point no sd card reader on this laptop and then there's only two usbc ports on the side here with the surface connect port and headphone jack on the other side now i'm happy to see that those two usb-c ports are thunderbolt 4. that's awesome for data transfer so my sd card reader dongle will be fast as ever but that leaves one port left for a mouse or any accessory i might use not amazing but the rest of the design fundamentals are definitely here uh especially with just the hardware it's very rigid even the keyboard itself is pretty nice so it's just a tiny bit of board flex but the keys themselves are very clicky and well laid out i haven't gotten a chance to test the battery yet since i haven't had it for long enough but i have noticed the trackpad is really nice this is something i was hoping to see more of with windows 11 and more well optimized surface devices and i am very impressed with the trackpad's responsiveness and the haptic feedback it's honestly it's on macbook level for me it's reached that level which is especially helped by the fact that the display is also 120 hertz love that even the webcam is pretty good it's only 2 megapixels but it's 1080p so i guess i'm only saying this because of how low the standards have been set but hey it's really quite decent with colors and exposure i will say though the one letdown was definitely the speakers not a whole lot of room to have great speakers in this anyway but there's no grills anywhere it sounds to me like the sound is coming from the keyboard and like from the side vents either way there's almost no bass if you care about good speakers on a laptop this ain't it but anyway microsoft has this laptop starting at 15.99 and that's kind of where it starts to fall apart a little bit because first of all i don't think you'd ever want this spec without the dedicated gpu so that means you're looking at at least 2100 and that'll get you the core i7 16 gigs of ram half a terabyte of ssd and the nvidia geforce rtx 3050 ti and again haven't had it for very long haven't even run any benchmarks but we know that's a decently capable cpu and gpu but in the amd world there's stuff dramatically outperforming this and even the gpu is not super powerful the one up side is if you do want to go the external gpu route which some people do with their laptop you do have thunderbolt 4. but yeah this doesn't have the highest end specs in the world so one of my favorite surfaces ever was a surface laptop 3 the matte black version and whenever i would consider using like a surface book or something else that would sort of convert into a two-in-one the question was always okay am i going to use the tablet version am i going to use the laptop version is it worth getting something slightly worse at each to have both so then this surface laptop studio has a slightly different proposition which is in the name you've probably heard about the surface studio by now the all-in-one desktop pc that tilts down dramatically into this easel position for all kinds of pen art and drafting and things like that so this laptop brings that third form factor on the go but unlike the desktop tilting it down like this immediately covers the keyboard which probably makes the new slim pen 2 a pretty mandatory accessory if you're going to get one of these now again if you know me i'm not the greatest artist in the world i'll admit but i can still appreciate a good responsive pen and while this definitely isn't apple pencil levels of responsive it is very usable and it adds some interesting features like a small vibration motor in the pen to simulate the feeling of writing on actual paper which i don't know if it feels exactly like paper so much as i can feel the pen vibrate a little bit when changing directions and it sort of feels like it adds a bit of a texture with certain tools but nevertheless it really works well with this laptop it's got the shortcut button it's got the side button and whenever you're done using it you can just snap it underneath the front lip of the laptop where it charges and lives with a very strong magnet you basically just you slide the pen in upside down and it is strong and it's not going anywhere you kind of have to peel it back off now here's the fun part if you do slide it in the wrong way uh right side up it kind of misses the laptop but then all you got to do is just lift it up and it snaps into place it's very satisfying so look there's going to be a ton of new windows 11 machines laptops coming out over the next weeks and months and they're all going to have different focuses some will have much better performance than this one some will have better screens some will have more ports of course but the theoretical advantage to the surface one is support this design and the pen windows 11 has treated me pretty well for a couple days with the new start menu and the new animations and window controls for multitasking i like those a lot also i noticed the touch targets get slightly larger and a little further apart when it detects that you're going out of laptop mode but it's also got a lot of weird quirks and missing ui features i would highly recommend watching the verge's full windows 11 review video on their channel i'll link it below since i generally don't do desktop os reviews but yeah they cover a lot of stuff and you know as windows 11 improves this whole laptop will too so i didn't get this laptop expecting to recommend it to most people it's obviously for a smaller group who'll find this easel thing useful or who will find this pen useful but i'm also i'm glad it exists like where else are you going to find a laptop with a design like this with a double decker layer to it like this with this cool hinge it's just a lot of cool stuff going on so that's been it thanks for watching and definitely get subscribed here if you haven't already to be among the first to see what is coming up you're not gonna want to miss it catch you guys in the next one peace hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop oh it didn't and this laptop and this laptop is trying to be and this laptop and this laptop hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptophey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop is kind of trying to be three things at once kinda so this is the surface laptop studio it's the studio version of the surface laptop or the laptop version of the surface studio i mean it's both either way it's an interesting idea it's not completely unique but it is kind of curious now to see this in microsoft's own surface lineup um we've been so busy with so many other reviews that this is the first time i'm really getting to check it out but here we are so the idea is you have three different modes with this form factor you have the standard laptop setup then you have the halfway folded down easel setup where you're covering the keyboard but you still have the trackpad and the touchscreen it's called stage mode and then you have a completely folded flat tablet setup all in one device i guess it's like a three in one so the idea is like pretty cool i but every time i see something like this my first thought is always okay what do you what do you use each mode for so of course the laptop mode that's the most familiar right it's the surface laptop studio for a reason it's perfectly capable of that you've got a 3x2 aspect ratio like other surface devices which is really nice for taller applications and multitasking in windows 11 here and then when you pull the laptop towards you and want to put it in this sort of easel position you sort of pop the bottom of the laptop out from the magnets and then it naturally sort of wants to land on some more magnets in this 45 degree position in this easel stand mode it's the only angle that you can set it up at now this is this always happens whenever i go well who would want to use a something like this i mean it's cool that it can do it but who would use it like this and then everyone who does use it like this comes out of the woodwork and loves to explain exactly how but i'm just going to say from my own use of laptops there's only a couple reasons i would want a laptop to be folded over covering the keyboard but still having the trackpad like this so it is a touch screen and of course you still have access to the trackpad but yeah the way it's sitting kind of reminds me of an ipad in a folio case this is fine for watching videos or watching movies also gaming with a controller which i've seen a lot of in their ads with this guy and any touch first apps now there are android apps coming to windows 11 and those don't work as of yet but they should be in an update soon but if you do have touch first apps they'll work here the screen also definitely wobbles a lot less and feels much more sturdy at this sort of anchored angle as you touch the display with your finger but also yeah there aren't that many touch first apps that i use and i'll get more to the app situation in a second anyway lastly you can just pop it open and fold it completely flat and it's a tablet you know it's not necessarily as fun to hold and use like an ipad or even a surface pro but when it's totally flat there's your tablet this would be your full-time touch screen interaction and where a lot of your use of the new surface slim pen 2 would come into play it doesn't sit totally flat but from what i hear a lot of artists would like it to be slightly propped up because it's easier to sketch on like that so the idea i really like i think it's pretty cool you could even maybe get away with watching a video not at perfectly 45 degrees if you wanted to um but yeah you might have heard of like the acer concept d or the hp elite folio this is more of like the surface refined version of those ideas but even at that i've noticed this version does have some weird build quality issues so of course when this thing is in full-on laptop mode the screen portion is a bit thicker than a normal laptop it's way better than previous surfaces where the whole computer is up top but you can see it's still thicker than a normal single screen because it's two layers instead of one for the hinge mechanics and that's fine you barely ever have to look at that but the air gap around the outside of this display i noticed is very inconsistent like i can see little gaps all the way around the screen that i just like wanted to squeeze shut i thought that was really odd but the rest of the hardware is pretty solid it's the magnesium and aluminum casing that's very rigid and if we're being kind of honest it looks a bit like a double decker macbook pro type thing so the silver is the only color and it's got this top level which is pretty slim and it's the full width all the way around and has all the ports then the bottom piece here is a smaller inset but it obviously gives it much more internal volume so when it's just sitting on a desk it kind of gives this illusion of a thinner laptop that's kind of hovering slightly off your desk depending on your lighting honestly i don't mind it i do hate the ports layout though on this thing for all the positioning as like a creator-focused laptop and something creative professionals we use it's like a macbook pro like every creative professional i know i think all of them use an sd card for something at some point no sd card reader on this laptop and then there's only two usbc ports on the side here with the surface connect port and headphone jack on the other side now i'm happy to see that those two usb-c ports are thunderbolt 4. that's awesome for data transfer so my sd card reader dongle will be fast as ever but that leaves one port left for a mouse or any accessory i might use not amazing but the rest of the design fundamentals are definitely here uh especially with just the hardware it's very rigid even the keyboard itself is pretty nice so it's just a tiny bit of board flex but the keys themselves are very clicky and well laid out i haven't gotten a chance to test the battery yet since i haven't had it for long enough but i have noticed the trackpad is really nice this is something i was hoping to see more of with windows 11 and more well optimized surface devices and i am very impressed with the trackpad's responsiveness and the haptic feedback it's honestly it's on macbook level for me it's reached that level which is especially helped by the fact that the display is also 120 hertz love that even the webcam is pretty good it's only 2 megapixels but it's 1080p so i guess i'm only saying this because of how low the standards have been set but hey it's really quite decent with colors and exposure i will say though the one letdown was definitely the speakers not a whole lot of room to have great speakers in this anyway but there's no grills anywhere it sounds to me like the sound is coming from the keyboard and like from the side vents either way there's almost no bass if you care about good speakers on a laptop this ain't it but anyway microsoft has this laptop starting at 15.99 and that's kind of where it starts to fall apart a little bit because first of all i don't think you'd ever want this spec without the dedicated gpu so that means you're looking at at least 2100 and that'll get you the core i7 16 gigs of ram half a terabyte of ssd and the nvidia geforce rtx 3050 ti and again haven't had it for very long haven't even run any benchmarks but we know that's a decently capable cpu and gpu but in the amd world there's stuff dramatically outperforming this and even the gpu is not super powerful the one up side is if you do want to go the external gpu route which some people do with their laptop you do have thunderbolt 4. but yeah this doesn't have the highest end specs in the world so one of my favorite surfaces ever was a surface laptop 3 the matte black version and whenever i would consider using like a surface book or something else that would sort of convert into a two-in-one the question was always okay am i going to use the tablet version am i going to use the laptop version is it worth getting something slightly worse at each to have both so then this surface laptop studio has a slightly different proposition which is in the name you've probably heard about the surface studio by now the all-in-one desktop pc that tilts down dramatically into this easel position for all kinds of pen art and drafting and things like that so this laptop brings that third form factor on the go but unlike the desktop tilting it down like this immediately covers the keyboard which probably makes the new slim pen 2 a pretty mandatory accessory if you're going to get one of these now again if you know me i'm not the greatest artist in the world i'll admit but i can still appreciate a good responsive pen and while this definitely isn't apple pencil levels of responsive it is very usable and it adds some interesting features like a small vibration motor in the pen to simulate the feeling of writing on actual paper which i don't know if it feels exactly like paper so much as i can feel the pen vibrate a little bit when changing directions and it sort of feels like it adds a bit of a texture with certain tools but nevertheless it really works well with this laptop it's got the shortcut button it's got the side button and whenever you're done using it you can just snap it underneath the front lip of the laptop where it charges and lives with a very strong magnet you basically just you slide the pen in upside down and it is strong and it's not going anywhere you kind of have to peel it back off now here's the fun part if you do slide it in the wrong way uh right side up it kind of misses the laptop but then all you got to do is just lift it up and it snaps into place it's very satisfying so look there's going to be a ton of new windows 11 machines laptops coming out over the next weeks and months and they're all going to have different focuses some will have much better performance than this one some will have better screens some will have more ports of course but the theoretical advantage to the surface one is support this design and the pen windows 11 has treated me pretty well for a couple days with the new start menu and the new animations and window controls for multitasking i like those a lot also i noticed the touch targets get slightly larger and a little further apart when it detects that you're going out of laptop mode but it's also got a lot of weird quirks and missing ui features i would highly recommend watching the verge's full windows 11 review video on their channel i'll link it below since i generally don't do desktop os reviews but yeah they cover a lot of stuff and you know as windows 11 improves this whole laptop will too so i didn't get this laptop expecting to recommend it to most people it's obviously for a smaller group who'll find this easel thing useful or who will find this pen useful but i'm also i'm glad it exists like where else are you going to find a laptop with a design like this with a double decker layer to it like this with this cool hinge it's just a lot of cool stuff going on so that's been it thanks for watching and definitely get subscribed here if you haven't already to be among the first to see what is coming up you're not gonna want to miss it catch you guys in the next one peace hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop oh it didn't and this laptop and this laptop is trying to be and this laptop and this laptop hey what's up mkbhd here and this laptop\n"