Surface Laptop 3 15 Ryzen 5 Review: Microsoft Can Do Better

[Redaktion]

The metal Surface Laptop 3 is the sleekest Surface laptop yet and its implementation of AMD Ryzen is one of the better examples in the Ultrabook space. Unfortunately, almost everything else feels outdated.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Surface-Laptop-3-15-Ryzen-5-Review-Microsoft-Can-Do-Better.440183.0.html

[Julien999]

Look at those Cons, so funny.

[william blake]

However, its uncommon 3:2 form factor means the chassis is squarer and longer in length as a result which can potentially make it incompatible with laptop cases designed for 16:9 systems

also bezels 2mm thickier how sad
you has no shame guys.
3:2 400 nit for a non-gaming 15 inches is THE DREAM. 10% up for this please.

[not_anton]

Microsoft does not offer a 3-year warranty? Even at extra cost? What a sick joke!

If you take a loan to pay your expensive work laptop over 3 years, it must be under warranty for the same 3 years. A 5-year warranty is even better, although hardware will get outdated by the end of 5 years period.

Only 1-year warranty means the price of a laptop is spread over a single year, making it much more expensive than even Macbooks.

[Gobrel]

You write dual channel would help in gaming. The screenshots from cpu-z show clearly that there is dual channel.

[bobo]

The cons section is pretty funny.

[Ford Prefect]

You write dual channel would help in gaming. The screenshots from cpu-z show clearly that there is dual channel.

Also in the specs table: "Memory 8192 MB, DDR4-2400, 17-17-17-39, Dual-Channel". Would be great if you could clarify this.

Thank you for a very insightful review.

[Jim Adler]

I've read from multiple reviews/posts that you are able to charge the Surface Laptop 3 using the USB-C port?

[Jim Adler]

Microsoft has sourced SK Hynix once again for all its storage needs. The single M.2 2230 slot houses an SK Hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG NVMe SSD for slow sequential read and write rates of just 1100 MB/s and 500 MB/s, respectively, to be in line with last year's Surface Laptop 2. Competing flagship Ultrabooks tend to come with much faster drives from Toshiba, Apple, or Samsung.

This also isn't entirely accurate... they also use the new Toshiba BG4 drives. Sequential read/write on mine at home is 2343 MB/s and 1588 MB/s.

[jsm]

Actually the bezels are thinner, not thicker, when you include the bottom bezel. For example, the ratio of screen area to laptop area for the Surface is 0.807 vs 0.76 for an X1 extreme. Also, it's worth noting that the area of the screen is almost identical to that of a 15.6, 16x9 screen (103.85in vs 103.99in).

[dpazz]

I've read from multiple reviews/posts that you are able to charge the Surface Laptop 3 using the USB-C port?

I'm typing this from a Surface Laptop 3 i7 16GB whilst charging from a 45W USB-C dell charger.

[dpazz]

Microsoft has sourced SK Hynix once again for all its storage needs. The single M.2 2230 slot houses an SK Hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG NVMe SSD for slow sequential read and write rates of just 1100 MB/s and 500 MB/s, respectively, to be in line with last year's Surface Laptop 2. Competing flagship Ultrabooks tend to come with much faster drives from Toshiba, Apple, or Samsung.

This also isn't entirely accurate... they also use the new Toshiba BG4 drives. Sequential read/write on mine at home is 2343 MB/s and 1588 MB/s.

The inaccuracies in this review are becoming embarrasing for Notebookcheck. Jim Adler you are correct, my Surface Laptop 3 is running a Toshiba BG4 22x30 M2 NVMe drive. 1900MB/s Seq Read. 2636 AS SSD total score.

[xpclient]

It's Microsoft! They always want to be like Apple or Mercedes and sell overpriced mediocre products.

[Kevin_Au]

Quick question though
I thought this Surface Laptop ran on dual-channel RAM? I mean, your screenshot on the specs said dual-channel not single, so why are you saying it's single channel?

Thanks

[Alex M]

I am currently in the market for a laptop and have spent significant time on notebookcheck.net in the past week or so. I really appreciate the guys here doing detailed analysis that speaks to my engineer's heart and brain.

However, I noted Allen's reviews are less helpful than others in their current form, as other reviewers here noted, too. There is misleading info (here: dual-channel RAM, USB-C charging). Also, there seems to be a long list of cons in his reviews, over things that are likely a non-issue for the vast majority of buyers. For another example, check out the LG Gram 13Z980-A - 04/13/2018 review by Allen (and the comments section) – identical issues (wrong info + inflated cons list) in there, as well. [can't put link here, but please do search]

Allen, please sync with the rest of the staff and standardize your approach to research and the verdicts section, so that the reviews are consistent for us, the readers. Many thanks for your work, looking forward to your further reviews