The ultra-portable Surface PC

The Surface Laptop Go is an imbalanced machine. On one hand, it's one of the best $550 USD laptops you can find because its 10th gen Core i5 CPU, 3:2 touchscreen, and metal design are better than anything else at this price range.

faster display response times than Surface Laptop 3; USB-C charging and DisplayPort support; quiet fan during low-medium loads; >95 percent sRGB coverage; affordable starting price; well-calibrated display; crisp 3:2 touchscreen; small and lightweight; metal chassis

low-end SKUs are stuck with 4 GB of RAM; below average Turbo Boost sustainability; serviceability could be more user-friendly; no Thunderbolt 3; HDMI; or SD reader; higher-end SKUs are overpriced; slow NVMe SSD write rates; slow graphics performance; hinges could be more rigid; Wi-Fi 6 connectivity...

The Surface Laptop Go is Microsoft's most accessible Surface yet, a very good budget laptop that can compete against other midrange models.

Competitive price; New fingerprint reader works as well as a camera

Average performance; USB-C hub may be needed for I/O expansion

“Surface Laptop Go is an affordable way to stay productive and enjoy premium Surface design without breaking the bank”

Thin and light; Comfortable keyboard and trackpad; Good port selection; Good performance

No backlit keyboard; Display's pixel density is low; No Surface Pen support

The Surface Laptop Go is an enjoyable device to use, but sub-par battery life and a lack of competitive specs mean most people will find better value for money elsewhere.

Thin and light; Impressive keyboard; Solid performance on top-spec model

No backlit keys; Average battery life; Comparatively expensive

The Surface Laptop Go looks like a Surface, but it doesn't impress like some of its bigger brothers. I love the Surface Laptop Go as the sleek mid-range laptop that it almost is. You can get its great keyboard, elegant chassis and decent performance at a respectable price — if you choose the $699...

Elegant aluminum lid and deck, Thin bezels and 3:2 display, Wonderful typing experience, Both USB-C and USB-A ports

Highly disappointing battery life, Display could be brighter, Gets a little warm

Every mid-priced laptop comes with tradeoffs. The Surface Laptop Go’s concessions are largely straightforward: you get an excellent design in exchange for a couple of useful features and some performance overhead. For many people, that’s fine.

Light; attractive; and high-quality design; Comfortable keyboard and trackpad; Minimal bloatware; Good value for money

The keyboard isn’t backlit; Mediocre battery life; Only 256GB of storage at maximum; Slightly less-than-1080p display; The cheapest configuration probably shouldn’t exist

The Surface Laptop Go joined me in the woods last week. It lived in my backpack for a few days and came along for a 20-mile hike through footpaths and across bridges of questionable integrity. It is, without a doubt, light.

Microsoft has a really good lower-cost Windows 10 laptop in it, but unfortunately the Surface Laptop Go isn’t quite it. It has many of the right elements: a great keyboard, good trackpad, nice look and reasonable performance.

solid performance; good keyboard and trackpad; fingerprint scanner in mid-or-high model; USB-C; nice look; solid build; recycled plastic.

weak battery life; runs hot; no backlit keys; screen not that crisp and not 1080p HD; not that much cheaper than premium machines; software niggles.

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 is well-regarded for its high-quality hardware in a good looking package. But at a starting price of $1,000, it’s relatively expensive. The new Surface Laptop Go aims to solve that problem, thanks to its affordable starting price of $549.