Slim and portable design ; Finally has Thunderbolt 4 connectivity ; High resolution display ; Good battery life

Design looks severely outdated ; Slower performance than competition ; No fingerprint sensor ; Lacks a killer feature

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 has seen minor upgrades, with a slightly faster processor and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. But with an outdated design and underwhelming performance, it’s difficult to understand why anyone would be willing to purchase...

Lots of color options Still thin and light Thunderbolt 4, finally Upgradable storage

Still uses 720p webcam Limited performance gains No more AMD options

“The Surface Laptop 5 doesn't do enough to move the ball forward, and even loses ground in some areas.”

Sleek, sturdy alumnium design ; USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 support ; 13.5-inch touchscreen display

No fingerprint sensor ; Lacks an SD card slot ; Thick bezels around the screen ; Not a great choice for gaming

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a good-looking PC with a lot going for it, but it's not perfect. It'll cope well with day-to-day computing but it won't be so good for more demanding tasks like gaming.

Expanded accessibility options ; Enhanced touchscreen and productivity features ; Excellent sound quality

Port selection is poor ; Very expensive ; Performance is below average

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is not the worst laptop in the world, but a combination of performance issues, an outdated look, a terrible port selection, and a trumped-up price tag leave it lagging behind plenty of rivals.

Strong single-core performance ; Super thin and light chassis ; 3:2 display ; Thunderbolt support

Camera still 720p ; Would like some more ports ; Battery life a step back from last year’s AMD model

Ultimately, the Laptop 5 continues to be a well-built and well-performing laptop that, while expensive, is not so high in the retail clouds that any substantial flaw is a nonstarter. (Cough, ThinkPads .) It is a good computer that I enjoy using. It has...

Great clean design ; Thunderbolt 4 ; Latest Intel hardware ; Good battery life

Few changes over previous interation ; Some flex in centre of keyboard ; 720p camera ; No AMD version

The Surface Laptop 5 doesn't really move things along a great deal, with only a couple to tweaks to support the new hardware. That's a shame, because this is a great-looking laptop and there are easy gains that could be made.

Expansive display ; Great hardware ; Solid sound ; Lovely keyboard

Iterative update ; Not upgradable

Several things hold the Surface Laptop 5 back from greatness, but it’s still one of the best ultraportables