8 Best Microsoft Surface Options

Microsoft is best known for making software like Windows and Office, but the company has branched out to hardware with its Surface line of computers and peripherals in recent years. The Surface brand ranges from desktops to laptops to convertibles, like the Surface Pro, which can be used as a tablet and a laptop.

Specs to Consider

If all you’re looking to do is browse the web and create a few Word documents, any Surface computer will do, and you should just pick one based on the price that neatly fits into your budget. But keep in mind that the specifications get more demanding if you’re looking to do gaming or run multiple applications at once.

Microsoft’s Surface lineup runs from tablets to laptops. The Book devices are laptops while the Pro ones are tablets. There’s also the Surface Go 2 which is a small, light tablet. Processor speed matters if you want to do gaming, although note that none of the Surface devices was designed with gaming in mind. If there’s a particular game you want to play, check out the manufacturer’s recommended device specifications before purchasing.

The advantage to buying a Surface computer is that Microsoft, the maker of the Windows operating system, also made the hardware, which isn’t the case with other PC brands.

Screen size is a significant differentiating factor between the Surface models. The Surface Go is a tiny laptop that’s great for writing emails on the go, but the 12.4-inch display may be too small for many users who want to compose long documents or get serious work done. A sweet spot for many people will be a 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 or 4, which offer portability and also enough screen real estate to comfortably view everything from movies to spreadsheets.

How We Picked

I’m a big fan of the Surface line of computers. I own and recommend the Surface Pro 7 convertible tablet. I’ve tried out many variations of these devices and have found them to be handsome devices with excellent build quality. They also lack the unnecessary software that’s sometimes stuffed onto devices from other manufacturers that can slow down systems.

I’m a technology writer with more than two decades of experience as a journalist. I’ve written for publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic.

I often review laptops and other electronics. For this review, I looked at dozens of Surface options for Microsoft and weighed specs and user reviews. I also relied on my own judgement as an owner of several Microsoft Surface products.