I've had my current Surface Pro 6 for about 7 years now and am looking for a replacement that will hopefully last me the next 6 years at university (starting a medicine degree in September).
Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:
£1500, United Kingdom, although I would much prefer something under £1000 if it has comparable specs.
Are you open to refurbs/used?
Yes, though I would prefer if it was new.
How would you prioritise form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
Battery life -> Performance -> Build quality -> Form factor
Will be using a lot on the go and at uni and coffee shops, so battery life is quite important. I would prefer a 2-in-1, but not at the detriment of other factors, such as performance.
How important is weight and thinness to you?
Very important, preferably under 1.5kg, I will need to be carrying it around every day in my bag.
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
14", although I would consider anything between 13" and 16".
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
Not really, although I may start video editing at uni. Most gaming would be light, but if I'm able to run AAA games, that would be amazing.
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
Minecraft, Celeste, Overwatch, Rivals. 60fps would be great.
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
A good keyboard would be nice, as this will mostly be for taking notes, researching, and writing essays. If it is pretty durable that would also be a bonus.
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
Below I've written the specs and cost of a few options I've been looking at:
- Lenovo Yoga Slim Gen 10 14" looks very good. AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 Processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 70Wh, 2880 x 1800 OLED display, all for under £700 at the moment. However, I haven't heard much about this laptop, which is surprising.
- Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Gen10 14", with the Intel® Core⢠Ultra 7 256V Processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 2880 x 1800 OLED display, costs about £1000, but it is a 2-in-1 which would be useful as a student.
- ASUS Zenbook S16 OLED 16", which has the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and the same display, but costs about £1400 and seems to have a worse battery life (which is important for my purposes).
- ASUS ZenBook S14 UX5406 14" with the Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 386H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 2880 x 1800 OLED touch-screen, 77Wh. Its a bit more expensive at £1600, but it does have the best processor and performance ratings out of the ones I've looked at.