Opinion post by

Calvin Wankhede

If you’re shopping for a Windows laptop, Microsoft is probably the last brand that comes to mind. And yet, the company unveiled its fifth-generation Surface Laptop just last month. I won’t blame you if this is the first time you’re hearing about it, though. It’s neither as exciting as the Macbook Air M2 nor as controversial as Dell’s decision to omit the headphone jack on the XPS 13 Plus. In fact, it looks nearly identical to the first Surface Laptop from 2017. So why do I think Microsoft still makes the best Windows laptop? Let me explain.

Most people — including me at one point — base their laptop purchasing decision on a handful of factors: CPU performance, RAM capacity, and perhaps battery life. Microsoft’s internal hardware seems middling in those aspects, but the overall experience is better than the sum of its parts. And from that perspective, it’s hard to find any laptop as good as the Surface Laptop in the sub-$1,000 price segment.