Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: The best Surface in years
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 ($999 to start) is the most significant update yet for the company’s 2-in-1 laptop line. Though it looks identical to its predecessors, the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Pro 8, the new machine features two firsts for the lineup: an OLED display option and a Snapdragon X chip. These additions distinguish it from prior models and make it the most exciting Surface Pro in years.
As one of the new Copilot+ PCs, the Surface Pro 11 supports all of the AI features Microsoft is introducing to Windows 11 in 2024 and beyond. These features are enabled in part by the NPU built into the Snapdragon X Plus or Snapdragon X Elite chips that drive the Surface Pro 11. Though Recall has been recalled and the Copilot button on the keyboard is effectively useless, features like Cocreate, Live Captions and Studio Effects work as intended.
Beyond their AI capabilities, the Snapdragon X chips — specifically the Snapdragon X Elite chip in our review unit — offer excellent performance. Our testing revealed that Qualcomm’s new laptop processor can match or exceed the Apple M3 chip in many key benchmark tests. Snapdragon X Elite also keeps pace with the equally AI-focused Intel Meteor Lake chips. Battery life is also excellent, with the Surface Pro 11 lasting over 12 hours
This is the third Surface Pro I’ve reviewed and can safely say it’s the best iteration yet. The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 might not be revolutionary, but its svelte design coupled with Snapdragon X power makes it one of the best 2-in-1 laptops. Find out why in my full review.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: Cheat sheet
What is it? The first Surface Pro to feature an OLED display and Snapdragon X chip.
How much does it cost? The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 starts at $999 on Microsoft’s online store.
Who is it for? Those who want a powerful and long-lasting 2-in-1 laptop with AI capabilities.
What do we like? The fast Snapdragon X Elite performance, OLED display and longer battery life.
What don’t we like? The keyboard and pen are pricey and some CoPilot features are missing.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: Specs
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: The ups
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 impresses thanks to its eye-catching design, powerful performance and long battery life. Its webcam and optional keyboard type cover also impress.
Same stellar design
The new Surface Pro 11 is virtually indistinguishable from previous models. At 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches and 1.97 pounds, it’s as thin and light as ever. The aluminum alloy chassis is not only sturdy but feels good to hold. Available colors include Black, Dune, Platinum and Sapphire. The Sapphire model I reviewed is absolutely gorgeous.
Port selection on the Surface Pro 11 is skimpy, with only two available USB-C inputs. Thankfully, you don’t need to use one of these ports to charge the 2-in-1 thanks to the dedicated charging connector on the device’s side. Also, if you’re looking for a headphone jack, you won’t find one here.
My favorite feature is the kickstand on the back. Thanks to the smart weight distribution, I’m able to set the kickstand to just about any angle without fear the Surface Pro 11 will fall on its screen. The kickstand is also sturdy, which gives me peace of mind when I’m adjusting it.
The Surface Pro 11 works nicely as a tablet. It’s light enough to comfortably hold for long periods, and its responsive touchscreen makes it easy to work on and navigate through. It’s certainly on par with the best tablets in terms of usability and performance.
And speaking of performance …
Excellent Snapdragon X performance
Qualcomm has touted that its silicon is better than Apple and Intel’s. While that’s not entirely true, the company’s new laptop processor matches or surpasses its rivals in certain benchmarks — as evidenced when we benchmarked the first Snapdragon X Elite laptops.
The Surface Pro 11 I reviewed packs the mid-range Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 chip. It features 12 cores, a base clock of 3.4GHz and 45 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second). This processor’s power was more than enough for my average workflow. Even when I had over 30 open tabs and a YouTube video running in the background, the Surface Pro 11 didn’t break a sweat.
How well did the Surface Pro 11 perform in our lab tests? On Geekbench 6, which tests overall CPU performance, the Snapdragon X Elite kept pace or surpassed the Apple M3 chip and the mid-range Intel Core Ultra 7 processor. As you can see in the table above, Apple’s silicon has better single-core performance but laptops with X Elite and Core Ultra 7 processors have better multi-core performance.
Snapdragon X Elite laptops also did well on our Handbrake video editing test, which involves transcoding a 4K video clip to 1080p. The Surface Pro 11 performed the task a minute faster than Acer’s notebook.
The Surface Pro 11 is great for everyday work but don’t expect it to run the best PC games natively. Games like Fortnite aren’t compatible on ARM-based devices like the Surface Pro 11, and others, like Civilization VI, run poorly since they’re not optimized for ARM. However, this isn’t a major issue since Snapdragon X machines aren’t meant for dedicated gaming.
Long battery life (for Windows)
The best MacBooks have set a new standard for battery life since M-series laptops launched in 2020. Their Windows counterparts have rarely come close, with most of the devices I’ve reviewed barely lasting more than eight to ten hours. While the Surface Pro 11 doesn’t endure longer than MacBooks lasting for 15 to 17 hours in our testing, it still offers phenomenal battery life for a Windows machine.
In our battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi with the display set to 150 nits of brightness, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 endured for 12 hours and 10 minutes. That doesn’t top the 15 hours and 10 minutes we saw with the 13-inch MacBook Air M3, but it’s much better than the Intel Core Ultra 7-driven Acer Swift Go 14, which lasted for 8.5 hours.
Vibrant OLED display
You can select a Surface Pro 11 model featuring an OLED panel. The OLED screen delivers good contrast between dark and light elements on the screen, though the iPad Pro 2024’s OLED display does a better job in this area. Even if the OLED isn’t the most impressive I’ve seen, it’s better than the LCD panel of previous models.
While the OLED panel is a nice addition and HDR brightness is plenty bright, its color accuracy left me disappointed. Most of the laptops I’ve reviewed have a Delta-E score of 0.2 but the Surface Pro scores 0.3. That doesn’t seem like a big deal on paper but it stood out during my testing. Because of that, colors aren’t too vivid, even though the display’s sRGB and DCI-P3 values are well over 100%.
Even though I wish colors were more accurate, the contrast provided by the OLED panel and the display’s overall brightness help offset this aspect.
Sharp front and rear cameras
The 1440p front camera delivers a sharp and vibrant picture that ensures you’ll look your best during video calls. The 10MP rear camera also delivers sharp images if you’re in the mood to snap photos with the Surface Pro 11.
Studio Effects has automatic framing, creative filters, portrait blur, portrait light, and several other AI-driven features. The front camera automatically improves picture quality even without you diving into its higher-level settings. As you can see in the photo above, the camera delivers sharp resolution and vivid colors.
Improved Surface Pro Flex keyboard
Our Surface Pro 11 review unit came with the optional Surface Pro Flex keyboard. This redesigned type cover has a built-in battery that lets you use the keyboard detached from the laptop. Microsoft says the keyboard can last up to 41 hours on a single charge. I’m inclined to believe this claim since I’ve yet to charge the keyboard after almost a week with the laptop.
The old keyboard worked well enough but I always found it too flimsy. I also wasn’t a fan of the key’s shallow travel distance. The new keyboard is slightly heavier and thicker, while the keys have better travel distance. Because of that, the peripheral is more comfortable to type on.
The Surface Pro 11 touchpad now has haptic feedback, which was missing from the previous model. As before, the smooth and responsive touchpad never failed to register my gestures. Though I wish the touchpad was bigger, it worked as intended.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: The downs
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 has a lot going in its favor but it’s not without its share of flaws. These might not be deal breakers, but they mar what could have otherwise been a perfect 2-in-1 laptop.
Less-than-useful AI features
One of the major selling points of the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 and other Copilot+ PCs is AI features meant to streamline your workflow. I’ve reviewed several AI laptops this year and have yet to see any tangible benefits of said features. The same is true for the Surface Pro 11, especially given how Copilot features like Recall have been shelved. The few AI features built into this device are good but not transformative.
The AI-driven Cocreator feature in MS Paint exists to help improve your drawings. You can write a prompt like “walking cat” and the program will know that’s what you’re attempting to draw — even if it comes out as terrible as mine did, as seen in the photo above.
Live Captions is a neat feature that translates languages in semi-real time. I tried this on an old Dragon Ball Z episode dubbed in Spanish. The translation was mostly accurate, though Live Captions would sometimes take several seconds to actually translate.
I would discuss Recall, but that feature has been recalled due to security concerns. The Copilot key on the keyboard either doesn’t work or brings up display settings. You can still use the Copilot app, but it’s running off the cloud instead of on-device.
Right now, Copilot+ PCs aren’t making a case for why you’d want a laptop with AI features. However, that could eventually change.
Expensive peripherals
The new Surface Flex Pro keyboard is a vital component if you want to get the most out of the Surface Pro 11. Unfortunately, it’s an expensive peripheral.
Right now, the keyboard costs a whopping $349. Adding the Slim Pen bumps the price to $449. If you opt for these peripherals and the $1,499 OLED Surface Pro 11, it’ll cost you a staggering $1,949! In comparison, the starting configuration of the M4-powered iPad Pro plus the Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro costs $1,777.
I should also note that the Surface Flex Pro only works with the Surface Pro 11 since there’s no pairing button to let you use it with other Bluetooth devices.
Compatibility issues
This problem isn't specific to the Surface Pro 11 but it's something you should know if you're considering any of the new Snapdragon X-powered laptops.
As we've previously reported, CoPilot+ PCs won’t run various apps and games at. Samsung posted a list of apps and games that won't run on its Galaxy Book 4 Edge, which packs a Snapdragon X Elite chip. Because of that, we expect said apps and games also won't be able to run on similar laptops like the Surface Pro 11.
I downloaded the Google Drive desktop app, but when I tried to launch it, I got a message saying: " This Windows architecture is not supported." You'll see this message with any app that isn't compatible with Arm processors.
At time of writing, certain Adobe software also won't run on Arm. However, this will change soon. According to Microsoft (via Windows Central), Adobe Illustrator and InDesign will be compatible with Arm PCs in July 2024. However, these apps will run emulated via Microsoft PRISM (an emulation layer in Windows 11 24H2) and not native to Arm64. Premiere Pro and After Effects will have Arm-native versions "later this year," says Microsoft. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom are already Arm64 native.
Games like League of Legends and Microsoft’s Halo Infinite also won't run on the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge AI and presumably all CoPilot+ PCs. However, there are over 1,000 games on Steam, Battle.net, Epic Games Launcher and more that are playable at full HD at 30+ frames per second on Copilot+ PCs, says Qualcomm. The company says Snapdragon X Elite also supports cloud services like Xbox Game Pass and GeForce NOW.
Compatibility issues could be resolved as more developers create apps and games for Arm architecture. However, other applications may take longer to work on Arm, if at all.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: Verdict
Despite its half-baked AI features and expensive peripherals, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is the best version of the company’s popular 2-in-1 laptop. Its design is as great as ever, and the inclusion of the powerful Snapdragon X chip gives this device a nice boost in performance and efficiency. And while I wish the Surface Pro Flex keyboard was more affordable, it’s a marked improvement from the previous model.
The Surface Pro 11 is an excellent Windows 2-in-1 for people who want a device that’s both a laptop and tablet. However, if you’re not a fan of Microsoft’s operating system, the iPad Pro with the M4 chip is a solid (and less expensive) alternative.
But if you can stomach the steep price with included peripherals, the Microsoft Surface Pro excels as a powerful and long-lasting computer you can take wherever you go.
