Pros & Cons
-
- Work-anywhere connectivity with 5G and eSIM support
- Slick portability and 20-hour battery life
- Potent enough for mainstream productivity
- Rigid construction with repairable design
- Copilot+ features are especially helpful for work
-
- High entry price (and pricier upgrades)
- Optional 5G adds service costs
- No OLED screen option
Microsoft Surface Laptop for Business (13.8-Inch, 5G) Specs
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 512 |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Class | Business |
| Class | Ultraportable |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 0.69 by 11.9 by 8.7 inches |
| Graphics Processor | Intel Arc Graphics 140V |
| Native Display Resolution | 2304 by 1536 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
| Panel Technology | IPS |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 268V |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 120 |
| Screen Size | 13.8 |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 20:02 |
| Touch Screen | |
| Variable Refresh Support | Yes |
| Weight | 2.97 |
| Wireless Networking | 5G |
| Wireless Networking | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Wireless Networking | Wi-Fi 7 |
The best laptops for business focus on three key areas: features, performance, and uptime. Microsoft’s 13.8-inch Surface Laptop for Business (starts at $1,499.99; $2,499.99 as tested) is a potent performer with a sturdy and repairable design, optional 5G connectivity, and a lengthy battery, checking all the boxes. While this is a premium clamshell notebook, the Surface Laptop brings the best elements of the Surface Pro tablet to professionals in and out of the office. The Surface line's sterling reputation, Copilot+ AI capability, 20-hour battery life, and always-on 5G connectivity make the Surface Laptop for Business a formidable work laptop. Still, the five-star Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition holds onto our Editors' Choice award in the category.
Configurations: Plenty of Options at Premium Prices
The Surface Laptop for Business comes in two sizes: the 13.8-inch size reviewed here, and a larger 15-inch model. Since those are two separate laptops, I’ll focus on the 13.8-inch size in discussing the available configurations.
For $1,499.99, the basic Surface Laptop for Business model comes with an Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 2 processor, Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a 256GB SSD. As a business-oriented machine, it ships with Windows 11 Pro, offering additional enterprise tools for IT management. (Microsoft also offers Qualcomm Snapdragon X-based versions of this "for Business" machine; its consumer Surface Laptops are all Qualcomm-based.)
Configuration options include a step-up in the CPU, with an Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 CPU adding $200 to the cost. You’ll find several memory and storage combinations for sale, ranging from 16GB to 32GB of RAM and 256GB to 1TB SSDs, which can add as much as $900 to the machine’s price at maximum capacity.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)While Microsoft’s product page only generally mentions Intel Core Ultra 5 and 7 Series 2 processors, the Surface Laptop actually contains one of four specific chips—two Core Ultra 5 (236V, 238V) and two Core Ultra 7 (266V, 268V) options—that are identical in CPU core counts. The Core Ultra 7 chips naturally deliver faster clock speeds, as well as an extra GPU core and a larger L3 cache.
These CPU options also come with specific amounts of memory embedded into each CPU package (a trait of Intel's 200V "Lunar Lake" chips), with the Core Ultra 5 236V and Core Ultra 7 266V options featuring 16GB, and the Core Ultra 5 238V and Core Ultra 7 268V outfitted with 32GB. The performance differences between these two Ultra 5 variants are negligible—ditto for the Ultra 7 versions. The speed differences comparing a Core Ultra 5 with a Core Ultra 7 are more noticeable, especially for heavier workloads and graphics.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)The different Lunar Lake CPU options also mean that every version of the Surface Laptop is a Copilot+ PC, with built-in AI features. In a business setting, some of those features, such as natural-language file search, real-time language translation for video calls, and preview features like "Click to Do" automation, are especially attractive.
Microsoft's most impactful configuration option is the 5G wireless, which costs extra up front but also requires a service subscription with a wireless carrier. The 5G radio costs an additional $300, bringing the top configuration to $2,699.99 with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB drive. My review unit has an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and the optional 5G, at $2,499.99.
Design: High-Style Function and Repairability
Everything about the Surface Laptop design focuses on work, from its display's 3:2 aspect ratio to its minimalist aluminum chassis. Measuring just 0.69 inch thick and weighing barely less than 3 pounds, this is a business ultraportable, positioned to compete with top systems like the Apple MacBook Pro 14-Inch (2025, M5) or the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. This is Microsoft's answer to those business machines, bringing features and capabilities that are distinctly Microsoft, such as a PixelSense touch screen, Copilot+ AI tools, IT management tools like the Surface Management Portal, and dynamic six-antenna 5G connectivity.
While it has dimensions similar to the consumer-grade Microsoft Surface Laptop, this pro version also has some key differences. The keyboard deck and palm rest, for example, are not the solid aluminum seen on the consumer model, even though that's used on the screen lid and underside of the chassis. Instead, the keyboard deck is made of high-end polyurethane for more reliable cellular signal passthrough (and thus better 5G wireless performance). In addition to all the other internals under that soft-touch plastic shell, the laptop's six cellular antennas ensure reliable connectivity anywhere you can find service.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)But that wireless-focused design isn't a compromise: The construction still feels rigid, and the laptop opens easily. It’s also firm and remarkably quiet when typing, thanks to the keyboard and the frame it's set in. Microsoft's laptop keyboards lack the scalloped keys and best-in-class design found on Lenovo laptops, but they are still premium, with forceful typing feedback and well-positioned square-tile keys.
The accompanying haptic touchpad is broad and responsive, and it never has any issues delivering a consistent, accurate tracking experience. Clicks are clear, scrolling is smooth, and gestures work just how they should with this pad.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)A 1080p webcam is the cherry on top for high-quality interaction, whether you use it for secure logins with Windows Hello or simply to look your best on a work call. The sensor produces natural, realistic colors; it handles different lighting conditions quite well; and Windows Studio Effects lets you toggle AI-enhanced features (such as simulated eye contact and background blur), all handled on-device.
Microsoft’s system is also impressively repairable. Since Microsoft knows that the customer for a business machine is as much the IT department issuing the device as it is the employee using the machine, the Surface Laptop is optimized for standard upgrades, like replaceable SSDs. Microsoft didn't stop there, however: The 5G module, the battery, and the display are also easily swapped out.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Speaking of the display, the Surface Laptop for Business comes with a 13.8-inch PixelSense screen, an IPS panel featuring excellent color and comfortable clarity, thanks to its 2,304-by-1,536-pixel resolution and 3:2 aspect ratio. (Our testing confirms a bright and vivid screen as well.) Touch control comes standard, and the screen’s 120Hz refresh rate keeps everything looking smooth in motion. While I pine for an OLED panel option, since it was one of the best aspects of the Surface refresh in 2024, the screen is high-quality regardless.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Work Laptops for 2026
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Connectivity: Compact, But Capable
The Surface Laptop’s port selection is slim, but potent and versatile, with a pair of Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a USB-A 3.1 connection for attaching older storage and peripherals, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Surface Connect charging port. The embedded Wi-Fi 7 radio is the fastest wireless networking standard right now, and Bluetooth 5.4 is the best-in-class option for connecting wireless peripherals.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)This laptop’s standout connectivity feature is the optional 5G, which lets you take it almost anywhere without losing internet access. With options for both a microSIM and eSIM, you are limited more by where the 5G signal is available than by which carriers and services will work with the machine. That sort of outside-the-office capability is essential for professionals who may not have the luxury of Wi-Fi.
If you're frequently travelling for work, responding to calls in the field, or just need to keep your business expenses separate when working from home, that 5G option is a must-have. The service is broad and reliable, too. My test unit came with Verizon 5G for testing, which I used both in my Idaho home base and in Las Vegas during CES 2026. Whether I’m in the city or the country, the 5G stays connected and capable of getting work done.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Performance Testing: Surface Keeps Pace With the Best
As part of Microsoft’s Surface lineup, the Surface Laptop for Business is its premier professional laptop, a flagship Surface product for the office. As such, I compared it with some of the most prominent 13- and 14-inch business laptops around, from the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro ($2,349 as tested) to the $1,999 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, among the best laptops we've ever tested. The last two competitors are the Asus ProArt PX13 ($1,699.99 as tested) and a $2,199.99 Dell XPS 14 (2026) configuration (with a brand-new Intel Core Ultra X7 "Panther Lake" chip inside). All four are Editors' Choice award winners in their respective ultraportable-laptop subcategories.
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
Our primary overall benchmark, UL's PCMark 10, puts a system through its paces in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC's storage throughput. (Macs are not compatible with these PCMark tests, so the MacBook Pro is not included in those charts below.)
Three more tests are CPU-centric or processor-intensive. Maxon's Cinebench 2024 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the freeware video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution. Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators rates a PC's image-editing prowess through a variety of automated operations it performs in the popular photo editor Adobe Photoshop 25.
In office productivity tasks, the Intel Core Ultra 7 chip inside the Surface Laptop moved fast enough to match the top-rated Lenovo work machine. The Surface Laptop's nearly 8,000-point score in PCMark 10, almost lapping the 4,000-point minimum threshold for office productivity, was fantastic. Similarly excellent scores in Geekbench and Photoshop show that this Surface Laptop is a superb all-around machine for most professionals.
However, when stacked against the MacBook Pro or the Asus ProArt, which housed top CPUs from Apple and AMD, respectively, we see that these more powerful machines are better suited to demanding specialized tasks, like rendering video, editing images, or even the heavy number crunching that workstation laptops are better suited to.
While the Surface Laptop excelled against the ThinkPad, time marches on for Intel processors, too. Both of these leading laptops' Core Ultra 7 chips were put to shame by the newest Core Ultra X7 CPU seen inside the comeback Dell XPS 14, a preview of the potency many of these laptops' successors will soon enjoy.
Graphics Tests
We challenge all systems’ graphics with a quintet of animations or gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. The first two, Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K), use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. The next pair, Steel Nomad's regular and Light subtests, focuses on APIs more commonly used for game development to assess gaming geometry and particle effects. Last up, we turn to 3DMark Solar Bay to measure ray tracing performance.
Thanks to an Intel Arc 140V GPU, the Surface Laptop delivers respectable graphics support for day-to-day productivity, evidenced by it matching the high-end ThinkPad in these graphics benchmarks. Despite this, the Surface Laptop fell short of systems with beefier graphics processors, like the ProArt PX13 (it has a discrete RTX 4050 chip) and the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which are more capable for tasks like content creation. And again, Intel's Panther Lake X7 part blew past the older Lunar Lake CPUs inside the Surface Laptop and the ThinkPad. The processor performance rankings never sit still for long in the endless race for ultraportable power.
Battery Life and Display Tests
We test each laptop and tablet's battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
To gauge display performance, we also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
Microsoft estimates 20 hours of battery life when playing back video, and that's precisely what I found in testing: Our own video rundown test yielded 20 hours and 2 minutes from fully charged to dead. While the 14-inch MacBook Pro beat the Surface Laptop by a good measure, the ThinkPad—lauded for its longevity—trailed it slightly.
Finally, Microsoft’s PixelSense display showed it has real chops in testing, with both superb color quality and the highest brightness in nits among the comparison set. Despite my grumbles about wanting an OLED option, this is still an excellent display for work.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Microsoft Surface Laptop for Business (13.8-Inch, 5G)
With a 20-hour battery and a specialized six-antenna 5G array, Microsoft’s latest flagship work laptop effectively prioritizes connectivity and a repairable design for professionals who can’t afford a day off.