THE SURFACE PRO LAPTOP 4 IS A SERIOUS BIT OF KIT

Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 4 laptop proves the company is getting serious about making its own hardware.

While it looks no different to 2019’s 3 series, it’s all changed on the inside. For the first time Microsoft is offering a couple of processor options – an AMD Ryzen 5 4680U chip or an 11th gen Intel Core i5 or i7 – both offer upgrades in performance over previous models and I can tell you, these things are fast.

There’s acceptable battery life too – between 15 and 19 hours are claimed but I found approaching 10 hours possible in the real world.

These devices are aimed at students wanting decent performance and battery life, but in a good-looking machine.

The machine runs Windows 10 and obviously all the software you might ever need is available in the Microsoft Store.

The Windows Hello face-unlock system is built in and Microsoft has clearly put a lot of effort into improving the Surface Laptop’s video calling capabilities.

The touch-screen is also a winner – bright and clean, although I would have gladly sacrificed the touch element in favour of more battery life.

There’s really nothing bad to say about the Surface Laptop 4, and if you’re a Windows fan, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better laptop for the price.

The Windows Surface Laptop 4 is available now with either a 13.5in or a 15in screen, and starts at £999 – find out more at microsoft.com