These are the best Microsoft Surface PCs in 2022

Ever since the inception of Microsoft’s Surface line of products, they were meant to be showcase devices. Like Google’s Nexus (and now Pixel) family, Surface devices are supposed to show other companies what can and should be done with a Windows PC. The original Surface Pro arguably kicked the convertible market into gear. In the years since, the line has expanded to all kinds of devices, but in many ways, that idea is still true. Microsoft makes Surface devices in different kinds of form factors and price points, and they’re all great PCs. If you’re looking to buy a new PC, we’ve rounded up the best Surface devices you can get for different use cases.

Microsoft is very selective with the devices it makes, and what that means is that each one of them is very specifically made to target a certain audience. There aren’t a ton of Surface devices at any given time, but that also makes it easier to choose because you can tell what fits your needs the best. Without further ado, here are the best Microsoft Surface PCs you can buy right now.

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Best overall: Surface Pro 9 (Intel)

The Surface Pro is how Microsoft first got into the PC hardware market, and today, it’s still one of the coolest devices around. The Surface Pro 9 doesn’t change a lot in terms of the quantity of changes, but it does make some significant ones, and it’s one of our favorite models ever.

For starters, of course, there’s the usual spec bump. The Surface Pro 9 comes with 12th-generation Intel Core processors, going up to a Core i7-1255U with 10 cores and 12 threads, capable of boosting up to 4,7GHz on its performance cores. Of course, you also Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics which allow for some lightweight gaming if you feel so inclined. Additionally, you can configure this tablet with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which is removable, and it’s actually easier to remove this year.

One thing that hasn’t changed too dramatically is the display, but it didn’t need to. This is a 13-inch panel with a resolution of 2880 x 1920, which is very sharp for this size. It also supports a 120Hz refresh rate with the ability to dynamically adjust that refresh rate as necessary. One change that was made this year is the inclusion of Dolby Vision IQ support as well as support for Auto Color Management, a new Windows feature that improves color reproduction in certain apps. Of course, the display supports touch and pen input, too, including support for Tactile signals on the Surface Slim Pen 2.

The cameras also remain mostly unchanged, but Microsoft has been ahead of the game for a while here. The front-facing camera is a 5MP sensor supporting 1080p video for calls and meetings, and there’s a rear camera with a 10MB sensor that canr record 4K video. The front-facing camera also supports Windows Hello facial recognition.

Arguably the biggest (and coolest) change this year for the Surface Pro 9 has to do with the design. For the first time, the Surface Pro family is available in actual colors. In addition to the classic Platinum and Graphite, Microsoft has introduced new Forest and Sapphire color options, which look absolutely stunning. It’s a very welcome change of pace, and if you want something with more personality, it’s safe to say this is the best Windows tablet for you. Otherwise, the design is mostly unchanged – it’s still just as thin and light as its predecessor.

A part of the design did change, though, and that has to do with the ports. Microsoft removed the headphone jack from the Surface Pro 9, and now, all you get are two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a Surface Connect port. The Thunderbolt 4 ports have also been moved the left side of the screen. Unless you already have wireless headphones and other peripherals, a Thunderbolt dock or hub might be mandatory here.

It does come with some sacrifices, but the Surface Pro 9 is a beautiful device with a fantastic display and high-end specs, and it’s an easy recommendation. You can buy it below.

Best clamshell laptop: Surface Laptop 5

For many users, like students, all they need is a great clamshell laptop without all the bells and whistles. If that’s you, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 5 is a fantastic choice, featuring a premium but classic design with just enough extras to make for a great experience.

On the inside, the Surface Laptop 5 makes some radical changes compared to its predecessor. It’s no longer available with AMD processors, so all you get are 12th-generation Intel Core models, up to an Intel Core i7-1255U. Just as with the Surface Pro 9, it also includes Intel Iris Xe graphics for some lighter GPU workloads. You can configure the Surface Laptop 5 with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which is also similar to the Surface Pro 9.

Like the models before it, the Surface Laptop 5 comes in two different sizes, 13.5 and 15 inches, but they’re very similar aside from that. They have the exact same pixel density (201 PPI), so while the 15-inch model has more pixels, both look just as sharp, and the difference in resolution is just to accommodate the different sizes. These are both sharp panels and they look great. You get touch and Surface Pen support with both models, even though a laptop like this may not be the ideal setup to use a pen with. The displays all have a 60Hz refresh rate, which is fine, but not quite as nice as the Surface Pro 9.

Above the display is the camera, and the Surface Laptop 4 is one of the few Surface devices that uses a 720p camera, which is unfortunate, especially for a laptop released in late 2022. While it’s not the worst webcam out there, this is certainly a downside compared to the great cameras of other Surface devices. On the bright side, Windows Hello facial recognition is still here.

The Surface Laptop 5 has the most “standard” design among Surface devices, as it’s just a clamshell laptop, and it was one of the first to use aluminum instead of magnesium. However, it still stands out because it comes in four different colors (the 15-inch model only has two), and it does something cool with the keyboard deck, and that’s using an Alcantara cover on some of the 13.5-inch models. Alcantara is a type of soft fabric that makes your hands feel more comfortable while typing, and you can get it with the Platinum version of the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 5. The remaining models are all metal, including the new Sage color that replaces the old Ice Blue option. In terms of portability, the Surface Laptop 5 starts at 2.8lbs for the 13.5-inch models and 3.4lbs for the larger 15-inch versions. It’s also 14.5mm thin for the 13.5-inch model and 14.7mm for the 15-inch model.

For ports, the Surface Laptop 5 includes one USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4, one USB Type-A, a Surface Connect port for charging and docking, and a headphone jack. This is the first model in the classic Surface Laptop series to add Thunderbolt 4 support, and unlike the Surface Pro 9, it still offers legacy ports like USB Type-A and a headphone jack if you need them. In a way, it’s more versatile since it will support more of your peripherals out of the box.

All in all, the Surface Laptop 5 is a great premium laptop with a thin and light design, high-end processors, and some extra features like touch support and Windows Hello that make it that much better. It could have used a better webcam and some other improvements, but this is still a great machine for most people.

Best Arm tablet: Surface Pro 9 with 5G

Yes, we’ve already highlighted the Surface Pro 9 above, but while Microsoft is using similar branding for these two devices, the Surface Pro 9 with 5G still has some significant differences that make it worthy of talking about on its own. This is more so a successor to the Surface Pro X than it is to the Surface Pro 8, so there are some differences to highlight.

Starting with the obvious, the Surface Pro 9 with 5G is powered by an Arm-based processor, the Microsoft SQ3. This is a slightly tweaked version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which is the first major chipset upgrade we’ve seen in the Windows space in a long time. Compared to its predecessor, it promises 87% more CPU performance and 60% more GPU performance, and you’re going to see the difference in real-life usage. Configuring the Surface Pro 9 with 5G is a bit more limiting than the Intel model, since it maxes out with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, but that’s still not a bad setup.

The display is one of the things that’s almost exactly the same as the Intel model. It’s still a 13-inch panel with 2880 x 1920 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate – though that last part is a big upgrade if you’re coming from the Surface Pro X. It also supports Tactile signals for the Surface Slim Pen 2, but the Arm model does lack support for Dolby Vision IQ and Auto Color Management.

One of the benefits of having an Arm processor is that it has a neural processing unit (NPU).  This enables features such as background blur, face tracking, and eye contact without using CPU or GPU resources. So, while the Surface Pro 9 with 5G has the same camera hardware as the Intel model, it has some smart software features that make it a better webcam overall.

Unlike the Intel model, the Surface Pro 9 with 5G doesn’t come in a range of new colors, and compared to the Surface Pro X, it actually loses one of its color options. The only model available for the Surface Pro 9 with 5G is the classic Platinum, which is a bit of a bummer. The rest of the design is basically identical to the Intel model, except there’s no fan inside to cool the processor, since it’s not needed.

Another big benefit of the 5G model of the Surface Pro 9 is, naturally, 5G support. This is the first Surface device to support 5G, and if you want any kind of cellular connectivity support, it’s the only version of the Surface Pro 9 that has it, allowing you to connect to the internet securely from almost anywhere. In select markets, mmWave 5G is supported, though others may only support sub-6GHz 5G. The physical ports are similar to the Intel model, but this version doesn’t support Thunderbolt 4, so you’re only getting standard USB 3.2 Type-C ports here.

You have to make some sacrifices if you want to get the Surface Pro 9 with 5G, but this is still a great device if you want cellular connectivity, and the Arm processor has some benefits like the smart camera features. You can buy this model below:

Best for creators: Surface Laptop Studio

The Surface Laptop Studio is hands-down my favorite Surface device ever, and while it didn’t get a refresh in 2022, it’s still one of the best Surface devices you can buy. This is the most powerful Surface laptop yet, and it comes in a unique form factor that’s simply great.

But let’s talk performance first. The Surface Laptop Studio comes with Intel Core processors, as most Surface PCs do, but unlike most others, this one is using H35-series CPUs. These are CPUs with 35W of power, and they come with four cores, eight threads, and up to 4.8GHz clock speeds. Because of that higher power rating, they can boost higher and maintain those speeds for longer than a 15W processor would. In addition to that, the Surface Laptop Studio comes with an optional NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, giving you an extra kick for graphics-intensive tasks like video and photo editing or gaming. You can also get this laptop with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, so it has the guts to power your day-to-day workloads for a long time.

The display on the Surface laptop Studio is great, too. It’s a 14.4-inch panel, and like every other Surface device, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio. Microsoft has been using this format for a while, and that taller screen means you get more vertical space for text and other UI elements that might usually require you to scroll. It’s a very sharp screen, too, at 2400 x 1600 resolution, and it’s the first Surface device with a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes everything from animations to traditions look much smoother. It also supports Dolby Vision, touch, and active pens, including tactile signals in the Surface Slim Pen 2, which mimic the feel of a pen on paper.

Moving up to the webcam, we’re looking at a 1080p camera, which is great to see on a laptop these days. For Surface, it’s a fairly standard feature, and devices like the Surface Pro 9 actually have better cameras, but compared to other brands, this is still great. The camera supports Windows Hello facial recognition, too, something you’ll find in most Surface devices.

What truly makes the Surface Laptop Studio stand out is its design and form factor, and it single-handedly makes this my favorite Surface device yet. The Surface Laptop Studio is kind of a convertible, but instead of having a 360-degree hinge the display rotates around, it has two hinges, one for opening the lid, and another for rotating the display itself. This lets you pull the screen closer to you to cover the keyboard, which is great for watching content, or you can go all the way and make the screen cover the entire base of the laptop so you can use it as a tablet. This is more convenient than a typical convertible, since you don’t have to lift the entire laptop to rotate the screen around, and you can easily go into tablet mode any time you want.

Aesthetically, the Surface Laptop Studio looks very much like a Surface device. It comes in the signature platinum color, and it’s made of aluminum, though it has very flat edges compared to other Surface devices. It starts at 3.87lbs in weight, so it’s a bit heavier than other Surface devices, but you can still carry it around. It’s also less than 19mm thin, which is pretty good for a laptop with a dedicated GPU.

As for ports, the Surface Laptop Studio is one of the first Surface devices to include Thunderbolt support, though there are a few of them now. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, plus a Surface Connect port for charging or using a Surface Dock. There’s also a headphone jack, but that’s about it. Surface devices always have a limited port selection, but the fact that Thunderbolt is here does give you plenty of flexibility. With a Thunderbolt dock, you can connect just about any peripheral you might want.

It’s one of the most expensive Surface devices, but the Surface Laptop Studio is still my personal favorite, even if it might not be for everyone. It’s powerful, it has a great screen, and my favorite form factor of any Surface. You can read our Surface Laptop Studio review if you’d like to learn more about it.

Desktop alternative: Surface Studio 2 Plus

If you want the power to be a creative professional and you have a lot of money to spend, the Surface Studio 2 Plus is Microsoft’s latest offering for you. The company brought back the Surface Studio lineup from the dead after four years of silence, and it comes with some welcome performance upgrades – though given the price tag, we’d advise you to make sure you need what it offers.

The Surface Studio 2+ is powered by an Intel Core i7-11370H, the same processor that powers the Surface Laptop Studio. It has four cores and eight threads, and it can boost up to 4.8GHz, and it’s a big upgrade over the Surface Studio 2, though this is still a laptop processor. Additionally, the graphics have been upgraded to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, which is also a big upgrade coming from the GeForce GTX 1070 in the previous top-tier model. Aside from that, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage, and all of this makes up the only configuration available.

The display hasn’t changed much, but it’s still a phenomenal screen. The Surface Studio 2+ has a 28-inch panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and it comes in a super-sharp 4500 x 3000 resolution, making for fantastic media creation and consumption experience. The display can be used in both DCI-P3 or sRGB color spaces for content creation. This is also a touchscreen, and it supports the Surface Pen, while also being the only device to support on-screen interaction with the Surface Dial accessory. You can easily adjust the screen on the Surface Studio 2+ so it comes down over the able, and you can use it to draw or paint, with the Surface Dial offering easy controls in certain creative apps.

Above that display, the Surface Studio 2+ uses a 5MP webcam similar to the Surface Pro 9, so you should look great during video calls. Windows Hello facial recognition is also supported, as usual with Surface devices.

The design of the Surface Studio 2+ is one of the best things about it. Core elements of the computer are housed in the base, which is very compact, and it uses a “zero-gravity” hinge that makes it easy to lift the screen or push it down depending on how you need to use it. It looks incredibly clean and modern, even though it’s the same design that debuted in 2016.

Another big upgrade for the Surface Studio 2+ compared to its predecessor is in the ports. This model finally introduces Thunderbolt 4 support, with three Thunderbolt ports on the back, in addition to two USB Type-A ports, and gigabit Ethernet. Thanks to the three Thunderbolt ports, you can use up to three external 4K displays at 60Hz with the Surface Studio 2+.

With a price tag of $4,499.99, the Surface Studio 2+ is definitely not for most people, but if you need the kind of power, display, and experience it offers, it might just be worth it.

Best budget tablet: Microsoft Surface Go 3

The Surface line is known for its premium devices, but Microsoft has been catering to the budget market for a few years, too. The Surface Go 3 is the latest result of those efforts, and it’s naturally the best one yet. It delivers the basic performance for day-to-day use and some features you won’t really find in other devices at this price.

Performance is indeed one of the areas where the Surface Go 3 may falter, but it’s not necessarily bad. The base model is powered by an Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor, and you can upgrade to an Intel Core i3-10100Y, and while these won’t blow your mind, they’re a noticeable upgrade over the previous generation. If you’re just browsing the web and writing up a document every now and then, this is certainly usable. The base model of the Surface Go 3 also includes 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, which is enough for it to run Windows 11, but this is where we’d recommend upgrading to the 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD, as that will hugely improve your overall experience. Of course, it’s more expensive, but if you can afford it, it’s definitely recommended.

To compensate for the less impressive performance, Microsoft packed the Surface Go 3 with a solid display. This is a 10.5-inch panel, and just like other Surface devices, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which you won’t find on any other devices at this price. It’s also quite sharp at Full HD+ (1920 x 1280), something else you won’t find on many Windows devices at this price. Of course, since it’s a tablet, touch and Surface Pen support is also included.

The upsides continue as we move onto the webcam. The Surface Go 3 uses a 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p video, just like the more expensive Surface Pro models. Not only that, it also includes an 8MP camera on the back, which is similar to Surface Pro models prior to the Pro 8. Even Windows Hello facial recognition is included, all impressive stuff for a device that starts at $399.

The design of the Surface Go 3 is closer to the classic Surface Pro design, with its magnesium build and the flat edges designed to accommodate the Surface Pen on the left side. However, being the smallest of the Surface devices, the Surface Go 3 is also the lightest, weighing just 1.2lbs without the optional keyboard and pen. It’s also fairly thin at 8.3mm, and overall, it’s the most portable device in the Surface family. You can truly take this anywhere, even if you add the Surface Go Type Cover.

For ports, the Surface Go 3 suffers from many of the same problems other Surface devices do. You get one USB Type-C port, a Surface Connect port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. When you think of it as a tablet, this is a fairly generous supply of ports, but for a PC, you’re probably going to need some adapters if you want to connect an external monitor or a peripheral that uses USB Type-A.

At this price, sacrifices are inevitable, but the Surface Go 3 focuses on areas that you might not always think about but are just as, if not more important than performance. A Full HD+ display, two great cameras, and Windows Hello facial recognition are practically unheard of at this price. And if you spring for the 8GB/128GB models, you’ll still have solid performance for basic day-to-day use. We reviewed the Surface Go 3 if you’re interested in learning more.

Best budget laptop: Surface Laptop Go 2

If you’re the kind of user who does prefer to value performance in your budget laptops, and you just want a classic laptop, then the Surface Laptop Go might just be for you. Microsoft didn’t completely give on the classic premium features of Surface, but it did make some cuts to make room for a more powerful processor.

That processor is an Intel Core i5-1135G7, a quad-core, eight-thread processor that can boost up to 4.2GHz. That’s going to give you great performance for day-to-day tasks, and while it’s not the newest hardware around anymore, it’s still good enough for most web browsing and school workloads. It’s definitely well ahead of anything in the Surface Go 3, and it’s actually a massive improvement over the first-generation Surface Laptop Go, because this model comes with Intel Iris Xe graphics, so some light GPU workloads are actually feasible. The base model comes with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, which is also a big improvement from the eMMC storage in its predecessor. We’d still recommend springing for the 8GB of RAM for the best experience, though.

The display on the Surface Laptop Go 2 keeps the typical 3:2 aspect ratio of Surface devices, but it has the lowest resolution out of any Surface It’s a 1535 x 1024 panel, and considering the screen is 12.4 inches in size, that’s not too bad. It’s not as sharp as the Surface Go 3, but Microsoft always does with its clamshell laptops compared to its tablets, and it’s because those screens will be further away from you, so you won’t see the individual pixels easily. You do get support for touch, but not the Surface Pen, which is one of the corners cut to get to this lower price. We’d argue that’s not a huge loss considering this isn’t a tablet.

What is a bigger loss is the webcam, which is only 720p resolution on the Surface Laptop Go 2, though Microsoft says it has been improved compared to the previous generation. That’s the same resolution as the more expensive Surface Laptop 4, but here, you don’t get Windows Hello facial recognition, and this is the only Surface PC that doesn’t have it. In fact, the base model has no Windows Hello support at all, but if you upgrade to a configuration with 8GB of RAM, a fingerprint sensor is also included to make logging in easier.

Design-wise, the Surface Laptop Go 2 uses a combination of aluminum and a resin made of polycarbonate and glass fiber, but it still looks and feels like a Surface laptop. The Surface Laptop Go is 15.69mm thick and weighs 2.48lbs, so it’s still very portable and you can easily take it to school for a day. It also comes in four different colors, which is good if you want something a bit more unique to you, but unlike the more expensive Surface Laptop 4, there’s no Alcantara cover here.

As for ports, it’s once again a familiar story. There’s one USB Type-C port, one USB Type-A, a Surface Connect port, and a headphone jack. That should cover most basic needs; you can connect a basic peripheral with the Type-A port and use a USB-C hub or a Surface Dock for more expansion. It’s not ideal, but it’s in line with other Surface PCs.

All in all, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is a good value proposition if you want something that’s affordable but still decently fast, with some bonus features along the way. You get a tall 3:2 screen with touch support, which isn’t that common at this price, and the selection of ports could be worse.

These are the best Surface devices you can get right now. The Microsoft Surface family does a great job of covering a variety of use cases without being too confusing. We chose the Surface Laptop Studio as the best overall laptop because it’s got pretty much everything you could ask for. Great performance, including the ability to run some games, a premium and classy build, a fantastic display, and most importantly (to me, at least) the coolest form factor of any Surface. But that is an expensive device, and you may not need everything it offers, so there are some other great Surface devices in other categories, too.

But if Surface hasn’t won you over, there are tons of great choices from other brands. In fact, we have running lists of the best laptops from HP and Dell, if you’d like to check those out instead.