The Bare Minimum (was enough) - Microsoft Surface Laptop 5

Microsoft is back with another Surface Laptop, and Alex is here to see if the minor refinements added to the new Laptop 5 make a difference or if Microsoft is losing the laptop war to Apple's Macbook.

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 It's BACK!
0:25 15" unboxing and ports
1:58 13.5" unboxing and ports
2:27 Windows Hello works GREAT!
2:53 Sponsor - Brilliant
3:20 Keyboard flex test
4:11 Display, trackpad, and keyboard impressions
6:58 CPU specs and Cinebech testing
8:20 Display/Speaker test and MacBook comparison
10:08 Gaming performance - Valheim
10:57 Webcam and mic test
11:22 Teardown
13:25 Overall thoughts and pricing
14:39 Outro

[_Turbocat]

I would actually appreciate a longer rant/standalone video from Alex going a bit more in depth about Windows modern standby and why it's terrible and what would be better. maybe Anthony could also be in it and add some more helpful ideas on how to fix it.

[HarryPhillips]

That's a pathetic amount of I/O for an expensive 15" laptop

[Doum]

I like that Alex keeps complaining about Windows modern standby. Hopefully one day Microsoft will finally fix it.

[Grumbo]

I always enjoy Alex's windows modern standby rants. I'd echo others in being interested in a standalone video about it.

[ChilisauLP]

12:49
A quick note for the editor. A watthour is not watt per hour, but watt times hour.

[roshan]

Alex, I would really appreciate it if you could channel all that rage you have for Windows Modern Standby and make a stand-alone video about it. I am one of these 'die-hard' Windows Users (never purchased a single Apple product) and I am definitely getting a Macbook this holiday because of the terrible sleep issues that Windows laptops have. Maybe if you guys ran a full story on this issue, someone at Microsoft will attempt to fix it. Please and thank you!!!!

[braydennturner]

Could we please get a dedicated video about Windows modern standby? I would love video of Alex just going into depth on the issue. Use this channels position to encourage Microsoft to finally do something about it.

[Thiagovnd]

Hey editor, I really liked that shadow effect when showing the lasptop that was playing the audio, I used to be confused on that part of the video with only the text cue.

[jasikes]

Amazing energy! My SL3 is the best small laptop I've ever used, by far. As a regular engineer / consultant guy (doing PDF and occasional autocad) with a separate gaming desktop, I would choose this over the XPS's I've owned, or anything made of plastic that sucks air from my thighs for cooling. AND, standby has never, not once, messed up. One day with my XPS 15 and my backpack almost melted and fused to my t-shirt. If you do the office things, buy a used one, even an SL3 for much cheaper and forget about the latest tech - just pure joy in the typing, trackpad, and screen experience.

[sanj_]

I love it when he talks about windows modern standby. Its like a demon inside him just comes out for a second.

[thatpitter]

9:30: 1600nit peak brightness in HDR only. The typical max brightness is 500nits, so that’s a LOT closer to the 400 nit on Surface

[RodriR]

The Surface Pro 9 comes with a 1080p webcam (since 2015) and 120hz screen (since 2021). There is absolutely no reason this more expensive laptop can't have both of those things.

[Makish]

love the sleek design, but I wish it had a bit better performance :)

[tipoomaster]

I'm whelmed by this update. Last years AMD option got three hours more battery life according to the verge, and this year they'd have 5nm and RDNA 2 IGPs. This one is still struggling to meet that last years multicore and IGP performance and just wins single core by a bit, but that's against last years AMD, again. It's also launching well into the 12th gen lifespan so even with just looking at Intel it's going to spend half the year competing with 13th gen, which hopefully fixes the efficiency. And the years old design. To me, this is the very last generation they can get away with this, hopefully they refresh to 13th gen and a full physical refresh faster. I'd give up Thunderbolt for the option for a 5nm AMD model.

[marcopfeiffer]

The macbook advertises 500 nits of brightness in SDR content. So the similarity is expected. You'll need HDR content to get the 1600 nits from it.

[NewtHew]

I had a Surface Laptop 3 - loved it. Good speakers, excellent screen, great build and good performance. What let it down was the design - the housing looked sleek (if a little bland) but the bezels were downright ugly. I'd had a Huawei Matebook before it, and although the Huawei's build quality was awful, the display looked much more modern thanks to the slim bezels.
Kind of disappointed to see the large bezels remain, but they are fantastic laptops.

[jackjoshlin]

MS fails with the power adapter, they missed the chance to add data access to the brick and add a useful port.

[BigBoss]

13:00 wait for it
My favorite moment of Alex's reviews of laptops.

[abeb.]

Great review but a few comments regarding the surface laptop 3 that I have been using since launch (3 years to the day).
1)You mention a thunderbolt port FINALLY being added. While that is great- I don’t think it really matters to your average user. Using the usbc port I connect to a dock that has 2 displays, a headset, charger, keyboard, and mouse. A dock is worlds cheaper than a whole new laptop.
2)personal opinion but I think the keyboard deserves more than you give it credit for
3)You mentioned we previously needed to use the MagSafe port to connect to things… I don’t think that is necessary (same logic as 1)
4)Build quality is on par with newest gen laptops.

Again personal opinion but until they do a complete redesign I think the 3 is still a great option 3 years later.

[waaghals]

Just to note: The MBP is only 1000/1600 when displaying HDR content. The Crab Rave-video is not HDR.... (If you want higher than 500 nits on the MBP during normal use you need a third party app).