That port is paired with a USB-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Surface Connect port for charging. The Surface Laptop 5 finally gains Thunderbolt 4 capabilities with this generation via a single USB-C port located on the left side of the device. In regards to ports, there's really not much to write home about here. I wasn't able to test the Alcantara version, though previous generations have suffered from considerably more keyboard flex than the aluminum one. There's very little keyboard flex on the aluminum model too. The build quality for the most part is excellent, though I've noticed my review unit will sometimes creak and pop when opening and closing the lid. It's also still using a traditional dive-board mechanism for clicking and not haptics like many other high-end Ultrabooks. Most laptop makers these days are putting in the biggest trackpads they possibly can, so the Surface Laptop 5's relatively small trackpad feels a little conservative. The trackpad is also a little smaller than I'd like on the 15-inch version. They're not particularly offensive, but they're not pushing any boundaries either. As more and more PC makers race to reduce bezels to an absolute minimum, Microsoft is happy to maintain relatively thick borders around the screen. This design is finally starting to get a little stale.īut when open, the dated nature of its design starts to rear its ugly head. It's thin, and light and its all-aluminum enclosure makes for a premium-feeling device in the hand. When closed, the Surface Laptop 5 is a beautiful machine. Over the years, small tweaks have been made to the chassis here and there to perfect this current design, but it's still very much the same original design vision based on the original.įive years is a long time to hang on to the same design, and I feel this design is finally starting to get a little stale. The Surface Laptop 5 is rocking the exact same design as previous generations, all the way back to the very first Surface Laptop which debuted in 2017. If you want to max out a Surface Laptop 5, you can opt for a 15-inch variant with a 2496 x 1664 touchscreen display, Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, and 2TB storage for an eyewatering $2,699.Īs reviewed, our unit is a 15-inch model with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

Surface pro 5 laptop