REVIEW: SURFACE LAPTOP GO IS A GREAT CHOICE... ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRICE

MICROSOFT is doing a pretty good job of building its own hardware these days.

The tech colossus – still raking it in with its Windows software after all these years – now boasts a very healthy line-up of laptops and 2-in-1 hybrids.

The Surface 2-in-1s are delightful machines – well thought-out and easy to use. But there are times when you need a proper lap-top, and Surface Laptop is a very competitive device in its price range. But that price may be a little beyond some. That’s where the 12.4in Surface Laptop Go comes in – it’s aiming to be a premium laptop, but at a cut price, starting at £549.

Obviously, with a price as low as that compared to its £849 sibling, compromises have got to be made.

In some ways the Go hits the target. In some others, not so much. The device is aimed primarily at students – they want decent performance and decent battery life at a decent price.

The performance is certainly there – there’s just one chip available in the line-up (the 10th Gen Intel Core i5), and although it’s obviously not the fastest laptop chip, it’ll do most of the things you’ll want it to do.

I wouldn’t recommend it for heavy lifting like video editing, but this machine is not aimed at those wanting to do a lot of that.

The chip does run a bit hot under even the most moderate strain, so you can expect some fan noise, too. That’s another compromise you might be willing to make for the price.

Battery life is just about OK – Microsoft claims 13 hours with “typical usage” – I’m not sure what typical usage is for them, but in my testing I was looking at under 10 hours of what I call typical usage (web browsing, email sending, video watching, as well as writing and editing some photos). OK, but not spectacular.

Given those compromises, the price tag seems reasonable

– you can boost performance by paying £699 for a model with double the 4GB of ram in the base level device. That also brings you 128GB of onboard storage. £899 brings you 256GB of storage, although at that price I would seriously start looking at the Surface Laptop 3.

What you do get from the Go is premium design and build – it looks cool and seems durable enough for everyday life.

A decent laptop is more or less an essential if you’re still in education, especially during the pandemic. And this machine is a decent choice.

There are better laptops, but they can’t match this price, and there are cheaper laptops that are nowhere near as good. It doesn’t quite hit the bullseye, but it gets pretty close.

Find out more at microsoft.com