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Microsoft bills its Surface Laptop Go as their lightest, most portable and affordable laptop for everyone.

I’ve been looking for a replacement for my venerable 8+ year old Vaio Z2. With its full powered i7 processor and twin 128gb SSD in RAID, it’s still faster than most ultraportable laptops today. The problem, is battery life and weight. With the extended sheet battery, it would weight about 1.45kg (3.2 lbs) I can only get 3-ish hrs of usage.

Might be weird going from a top-of-the-line VAIO to an entry level Surface product, but times have changed; Unlike the netbook era, basic laptops nowadays are efficient and reasonably powerful. Plus, I’m not using my laptop for GPU intensive games or software. And, I’m intrigued by the 3:2 screen.

So, did I make the right choice?

Surface Laptop Go Variants

The Surface Laptop Go comes in 3 flavours, all in ‘Platinum’ colour option:

I got the middle 8GB Ram, 128GB SSD Variant, and you should to. It sits at an affordable S$1088, has a fingerprint sensor, and double the ram and storage space compared to the entry level version on the left. Also, only the 128/256GB versions are ‘technically’ upgradeable.

Where to buy:
Amazon, Microsoft (Discount Link), Lazada, Shopee

Surface Laptop Go Upgradeability

Note that the Ram on all 3 variants are fixed and cannot be upgraded. The 64GB eMMC is soldered on as well.

The 128/256GB variants however, have standard M.2 Connections that fit 2230 sized SSDs. So, technically, you could just get the 128GB variant and upgrade it to a larger 512GB/1TB M.2 2230 SSD for much less than the $300 premium on the 256GB model.

Note that this will most likely void your warranty of course. Also, M.2 2230 SSDs are really small, and tend to be used mainly in OEM/Commercial applications, so finding them could be a little tricky. You may have to even have to open up other products to get one. Just make sure you don’t buy full sized desktop M.2 SSDs to be used in the Surface Laptop Go.

Amazon seems to only carry small 2242 SSDs, which are too big. One 2230 256/512gb option that’s available in Singapore is from Dell. There are more international options from Newegg.

Performance

Off the bat, I’ll tell you, if you’re looking for something in this price range and you need better specifications, choose something else.

The Intel Core-i5 1035G1 is a decent low-power quad-core cpu, good enough for smooth, speedy general use. The integrated graphics also allows for some light gaming. I’ve had no issues using this combo for some AutoCAD/Fusion360 work as well.

Don’t expect anything from the speakers of course, but the mic and built-in camera is decent enough for things like Zooming and Microsoft Teams. (Watching a long Teams recording that can’t be downloaded? Here’s how to speed things up.)

As for ram, with the small price difference, there’s absolutely no reason to go for the 4GB version. 8GB is the proper minimum nowadays. If 8GB feels low, it’s actually not too bad. It’s more than enough for administrative work and good enough for light gaming.

Appearance & Feel

Microsoft has really transformed since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014. This is reflected in the quality of the software coming out, and in the design of its Surface line of products.

So, long story short? It looks Good.

With the smooth aluminum top and palm rest, it feels smooth, sleek, like a premium product. Even the rubberized plastic bottom doesn’t feel cheap.

The intake and exhaust is placed in front of the monitor swivel, which I thought was pretty smart. This way, hot air isn’t directed to your mouse-using hands, whether you’re a left or right-hander.

Always loved the feel of the keys from previous surface iterations, so no surprise that I love the feel of the Surface Laptop Go’s too. Reminds me of the good old pre-butterfly apple keyboards, but a little lighter and more ‘clicky’. Also love the lightly rubberized texture and the key travel. The keyboard’s definitely a joy to use.

Edit: Last week, I had the ‘D’ key go a little stuck on me, no idea why. Didn’t bump or drop it; Used it one day at home, closed the cover, charged it overnight, and the next morning the ‘D’ key got wonky. Seems to be back to normal now after some gentle prodding and usage. I hope it’s a one-off and not an indication of things to come.

Surface Laptop Go Screen

If there’s one reason to get any Surface product, it’s the aspect ratio of their screens.

The 3:2 screen is godsend for text heavy work. Be it reading pdf documents, working with databases, or editing websites, the extra height gives you see much more viewable real estate. Once you’re used to it, going back to 16:9 screens almost feels claustrophobic.

Only real downside is that you’ll be watching videos and creating powerpoint presentations with black bars above and below. It is an insignificant compromise for me as I’m primarily using this laptop for productivity, not games/entertainment.

My only concerns are the screen resolution and reflectiveness.

The screen resolution seems low at 1536×1024, especially considering most 12-13″ laptops, which have shorter screens, have 1080 pixels running down its height instead of 1024 pixels. Luckily, with a pixel density of 148PPI, it is still decent. For most applications, you won’t be able to see the difference, only becoming a little noticeable when dealing with things like really small text. Definitely prefer at least 1080 pixels on the vertical axis, but not a kill-joy.

My biggest problem with the screen is that they decided to go with a glossy surface. Productivity focused laptops from Vaio, Lenovo and HP have had anti-reflective coatings for literally decades now, so I don’t see why Microsoft isn’t using such coatings for their Surface products. I mean, they chose a productivity focused aspect ratio, and this laptop is meant to ‘go’ places, so, why not a glare-free screen to go along with it?

Now, I’ve got a matte screen protector on my screen. And matte screen protectors suck, because you get that tiny, annoying bit of refraction on each pixel. To be fair, I got a cheap one, so if you have a good matte screen protector that’s not too expensive and does not give you rainbow pixels, drop me a comment yea?

Oh. Also, the Surface Laptop Go has a touch screen. Yay. Almost forgot about it, because it’s absolutely pointless and therefore an unnecessary cost, to me at least. Wouldn’t be surprised if that applies to a lot of you out there as well. Microsoft should keep the price, but drop the touch screen and increase the screen resolution and specifications.

Connectivity

There are only 4 holes on the Surface Laptop Go; 1 proprietary charging port on the right, and 1 USB-A, 1 USB-C and 1 3.5mm audio jack on the left.

The most important port is the USB-C port. From here, it supports external displays, ports and charging via Power Delivery (PD).

My only gripe is the proprietary charging port. Why. It’s 2021. You’re not apple with a whole ecosystem of licensed products to work with. Just put another USB-C port and design your own attachments to work with USB-C yea? That way, even other laptop users who’d prefer a Microsoft branded attachment can use it too.

You’re locking users out of your eco-system instead of locking them in.

Note on power banks with PD: for it to provide power while using, it must be able to provide enough power. My 18 watt PD power bank will only charge with the laptop turned off (It shows ‘plugged in to AC in Windows, but you’ll still see the power levels dropping like normal. Kinda dumb.). The power adapter that comes with the Surface Laptop Go is rated at 39w, so if you’re getting a PD power bank to power the laptop WHILE you’re using it, I suggest getting one that can provide at least 39w of power.

USB-C Hub with HDMI and PD Recommendation: I’ve had to return a few USB-C hubs because the HDMI connection didn’t work. I found this 7-in-1 hub with HDMI and PD that’s cheap and it works: Get it on Amazon.

Surface Laptop Go Battery Life

Microsoft rates the Surface Laptop Go’s battery life as up to 13 hours. As usual, advertised battery life timings are full of sh*t. To get realistic battery life numbers, I always halve the advertised rates.

I can get up to 4-5 hours usage, with active Chrome usage at about 70% brightness. Seems like chrome uses a fair bit of power, since I can push the time to 5-6 hours if I’m in a session where I’m using Word and PowerPoint more often than Chrome.

So. Decent ‘real’ battery life.

You can extend it with power banks that have Power Delivery (PD), and decent ones are pretty cheap nowadays, and they can be easily found on places like Amazon and Shopee. (Remember, better to get those that can provide 39 watts and above.)

Surface Laptop Go Warranty

A standard 1 year limited warranty applies.

From what I understand however, worldwide, there are no ‘service centers’ for your Surface product.

Using the same portal you used to register your product with, you’ll create an appointment for a pick-up / drop-off, and they’ll send you a replacement.

Apparently, they don’t really do repairs to your unit. Instead, they’ll send you a replacement.

Upside? It’s pretty convenient. Downside? It seems like the quality of your replacement can be a bit of a lucky draw.

Great news if you’re the type who doesn’t take care of your stuff I guess. But if you’re one of the few that’s careful, it could seem a little unfair if you end up with a scratchy refurbished unit for a simple problem. Or, you might get a new one.

See the problem? Luckily my ‘D’ key seems to be fully functional now, because honestly, after reading about other people’s experiences online, I’d be quite angry if they didn’t simply repair MY unit’s key, and instead gave me a refurbished unit that’s not in good condition. And, I’d have to apply the screen protector again.

Windows S-Mode

The other annoyance is Windows S-Mode, which is what the Surface Laptop Go is loaded with.

Effectively speaking, it’s Windows 10 Home edition with Locks.

On the surface (heh), they’re trying to (S)implify and keep things (S)afe.

To me, since you can’t install software outside of the Microsoft Store, they’re basically taking advantage of a basic user’s fear to push Microsoft’s own store.

Smart.

Feel free to use it if you’re not a confidant PC user, but for people like me, it’s an idiotic scam. Switch it off.

Once you switch off S-Mode, there’s no official way to turn it back on, which is great.

You can read more about it here.

Surface Laptop Go Review Conclusion

While not without its flaws, I’m thoroughly enjoying my Surface Laptop Go. I would give up the pointless touchscreen for better resolution and better specifications as well as a glare-free screen. You can get a laptop with better specifications at this price from competitors too. Ultimately though, it’s fast, light, has a great screen for productivity, and is powerful enough for most applications, all at a reasonable price.

Where to buy:
Amazon, Microsoft (Discount Link), Lazada, Shopee

A Cheap 7-in-1 USB-C HDMI + PD Hub I Found that Works:
Amazon