Microsoft's Surface Book 2 is the most technically impressive laptop we've ever tested.

Great keyboard and touchpad; Versatile; and light when used as a tablet; Sharp; high-contrast; pixel-dense touchscreen; Excellent performance in all areas; Unparalleled battery life

Display's color accuracy could be better; GTX 1060 held back by custom driver; Extremely expensive

Microsoft promises a lot with the new Surface Book 2. The 13.5-inch convertible is a really good device in some respects, but we are sometimes wondering why the manufacturer ignores known issues or waives modern standards. Let us begin with the good things.

high-quality case; very good screen without PWM; high performance; despite passive cooling; very long battery runtime; comfortable input devices; decent camera; often silent

very loud GPU fan (depending on the power setting; power adapter not always sufficient; no Thunderbolt 3; Surface Pen not included anymore; considerable throttling (especially CPU) on battery; display bounces during touch inputs; no LTE connectivity; basically impossible to maintain; long charging...

Microsoft adds to its "ultimate laptop," the Surface Book 2, by increasing the performance, battery life, and display size.

Top-notch; all-day battery life; Excellent performance; particularly in graphics; Stellar display; complete with additional visual modes

Premium notebook; premium price; Underpowered Dock makes multi-monitor support problematic; USB-C without Thunderbolt is a mistake

The Surface Book was an odd fish in a sea of 2-in-1 Surface wannabes. It was Microsoft's first attempt at building a proper laptop and it was good if a tad expensive. Now that the Surface Laptop is here, you might have forgiven Microsoft for conveniently shelving its ambitious detachable and...

This is an exceptional laptop that I have been completely blown away by how capable it is in relation to its size. Microsoft hows outdone themselves and created their best product yet. The screen is spectacular and I love the 3:2 aspect ratio, it works great for both tablet mode and laptop mode.

Despite these slight niggles, there's no denying the Microsoft Surface Book 2 has unique appeal. It's a laptop that can be a tablet, a graphics pad and notepad, a workstation, portable workhorse and games console all in one compact package, and there's nothing else around that can match its power...

Microsoft's hardware arm took years to produce its first proper laptop, but when it did it struck mobile gold. The only problematic thing about the Surface Laptop is the fact that it runs Windows 10 S.

Incredibly versatile and powerful; Good battery life considering the power; Compact and portable

Pricey; Base model isn't worth considering

As an update to the original, the Surface Book 2 makes some neat nips and tucks - mainly under the skin, with improved power and performance - that add up to make this Microsoft a seriously powerful contender for Apple's MacBook Pro.

Great muscle-wire release system to separate laptop and screen into two parts for versatile use; Oodles on power on tap; Solid design

It's rather heavy; Big price tag; Combined battery life is less than quoted; A little top-heavy and upright; Screen lacks ultra-wide colour gamut

I always wanted Microsoft to build a laptop, and it finally went ahead and built one without any tricks earlier this year. The Surface Laptop has no gimmicks, no kickstand, and no detachable screen. It's simply the best laptop you can buy right now.

Great keyboard and trackpad; Powerful machine with Nvidia graphics; Xbox Wireless support

Display still wobbles when you touch it; Battery can drain under heavy GPU load; No Thunderbolt 3 support

Given that, unless you're an Apple loyalist or simply need macOS software for work, it's hard to argue against a touch-enabled, gaming-ready system with fantastic battery life that can also become a tablet at the press of a button.

Premium alloy construction; Elegant convertible design; Sharp high-resolution touch display in new larger size; Discrete Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics; Very long battery life; Multiple configuration options; Xbox wireless controller receiver is integrated

16GB RAM maximum; Surface Pen is an additional purchase; Adding SSD storage is pricey; Some finicky issues required troubleshooting in our tests