4 months with Microsoft's Surface Laptop (and Qualcomm Snapdragon X)

Windows on Arm is here to stay. Will it work for your home office?

I’ve spent the past four months using the Microsoft Surface Laptop equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor.

At the time of my initial review, published on PC World, Microsoft was heavily promoting these as Copilot Plus PCs with AI features. But let’s be honest—the AI capabilities weren’t (and to this day, still aren’t) that impressive.

The real story was Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, an alternative to AMD Ryzen and Intel Core chips that came roaring out of the gate. It was fast, efficient, cool, and quiet. In short, it delivered in areas where AMD and Intel chips often fail to impress.

But there’s a downside. Snapdragon is an Arm chip, so it can’t run software programmed for x86 chips, like those from AMD and Intel, without emulation.

And since AMD and Intel were the only options for more than two decades, most Windows software was programmed with x86 in mind.

I’ve now had months to use Qualcomm’s new hardware in the Surface Laptop. The honeymoon is over.

So, do I still like the Microsoft Surface Laptop? And does Windows for Arm…work?

A Quick Primer on Windows on Arm

First, I want to briefly explain Windows on Arm.

This is Microsoft’s initiative to run the Windows operating system on devices powered by Arm-based processors.

Arm processors are known for their efficiency and are commonly found in smartphones and tablets. That means better battery life that can sometimes exceed 20 hours.

Windows on Arm is not exclusive to Qualcomm, but it partnered with Microsoft to help make it happen, and Qualcomm is the only company that currently offers Arm chips for Windows laptops (though that will likely change soon). Their partnership goes all the way back to 2019.

It’s a big shift, and one that brings challenges, particularly in app compatibility.

App compatibility is good…

Microsoft boasts that over 90% of the time people spend using Windows software is spent in apps that have a native Windows on Arm version available.

For me, at least, that’s proven true.

I’m a writer, so I often use Microsoft Word. I also use Excel for graphs and personal tasks like budgeting. I use OneDrive to sync files. I use GIMP and Affinity to edit photos. I use Filmora Wondershare to edit video.

All of these apps have Arm versions available for Windows, and all run beautifully on the Surface Laptop.

What do I mean by “beautifully?”

My custom-built Windows desktop, which I use mostly for games, has a 16-core/32-thread AMD Ryzen 5950X processor with an AMD RX 7800 XT video card. It’s pretty beefy.

Yet when it comes to common productivity software, the apps I use daily are just as smooth on the Surface Laptop as on my desktop.

They’re stable, too. The Microsoft Surface Laptop’s reliability has proven remarkable. Crashes? Not a one. The dreaded Blue Screen of Death? Banished. Literally zero problems in four months of use.

That’s impressive!

…until it isn’t

But of course, not everything is compatible with Windows on ARM.

Google Drive is a big one that I don’t use, but that many people do. I’ve praised the Microsoft Surface Laptop’s app compatibility and stability several times on Thread and LinkedIn. My praise is often met with “yea, but what about Google Drive?”

I don’t use Google Drive. But you might. And if you do, it’s a problem. I expect there’s many other edge cases.

Of course, this will also be a problem if your business or employer uses custom-built apps developed internally. They must be ported to Windows on Arm for best performance and compatibility—which can be a process.

Games are a problem, too. If you want to play on your work laptop, well, you’re mostly out of luck. Some recent games, like Baldur’s Gate 3, play well enough. But many games won’t launch at all.

Battery life wonders and woes

When I first reviewed the Microsoft Surface Laptop, I was stunned by the battery life, which could exceed 20 hours.

That was rare for a Windows laptop before the latest Windows on ARM models were released, and virtually unheard of for a Windows laptop that’s thin, light, and doesn’t have a swappable battery.

Yet, as I’ve used it over time, I’ve found apps and situations that seem to drain the battery. Affinity Photo 2, which I’m trying to use instead of the increasingly archaic GIMP, seems to suck down the juice.

Why? I’m not sure, given it is an ARM-compatible app. And my attempts to troubleshoot these instances of poor battery life have not been successful. Sometimes the battery life is great…but, sometimes, it really tanks.

AMD, Intel strike back

What impressed me most about the Surface Laptop when I reviewed it was its combination of performance and battery life.

It posted CPU results comparable to Intel and AMD chips that targeted a much higher design power and were only found in bigger, thicker laptops.

The 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop performed more like a 16-inch machine, at least when it came to the CPU.

But the newest AMD and Intel laptops are mounting a decent defense. AMD’s Ryzen AI processors, in laptops like the HP Omnibook Ultra 14 and Asus ProArt P16, are quick. So are the new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chips, like the Core Ultra 286V in the Asus ZenBook S 14.

Are they as quick as Qualcomm? Well…that depends. Qualcomm recently accused Intel of overstating the performance of its newest chips. Intel, of course, has a contrary take. Personally, my testing has shown an advantage for Qualcomm…but it’s close.

The new AMD and Intel chips are close to, though generally not better than, Qualcomm in battery life, too.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop is expensive.

Microsoft’s Surface devices are usually pricey, and the new Surface Laptop is no exception.

The model I reviewed, with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM, had an MSRP of $2,000. It’s now discounted, but you can still expect to pay at least $1,700.

Dell’s XPS 13 is one of several great laptops with Qualcomm inside.

That’s a lot! You can save hundreds if you choose a laptop from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, or Lenovo.

And, frankly, there’s nothing about the Surface Laptop that makes it worth spending more.

After my review of the Surface Laptop, I reviewed several other laptops with Snapdragon X Elite processors, including the new Dell XPS 13 and Asus Zenbook S 15. They were just as quick and offered similar battery life.

I like Snapdragon, but there’s nothing wrong with waiting

While my time with the Snapdragon-powered Microsoft Surface Laptop wasn’t perfect, it was a positive experience.

I recommend a Snapdragon-powered laptop if you want a Windows machine that’s quick enough to feel snappy in your home office, yet also has impressive battery life when you need to travel.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop might not be the best option, however, at least not if you’ve a budget to mind. I recommend a look at the Dell XPS 13 or Lenovo ThinkPad T14s.

On the other hand, though—if you don’t absolutely need a laptop, you might want to sit on the sidelines for another year.

A consumer electronics supercycle is coming, and it’s likely to make today’s laptops obsolete more quickly than normal.

Plus, the competition is only going to increase. Other companies that make Arm chips, like MediaTek and NVIDIA, may get into the Windows on Arm fray in 2024. More competition means lower prices.