Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 12.4" 2 Platinum 2021

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is tiny and light, ranking in the 96th percentile for compactness, but the screen is one of the worst we've seen at the 9th percentile. The 11th gen i5 and 256GB SSD are dated, though 16GB of RAM helps keep things smooth. At $669 USD used, it's a niche pick for portability fanatics only.

Let's be real about the Core i5-1135G7. It's a 4-core chip from Intel's 11th gen, and it ranks in the 23rd percentile for CPUs in our laptop database. That's not a typo. For everyday tasks like browsing, email, and Office apps, it'll feel fine, especially paired with 16GB of RAM. But the moment you throw anything heavy at it, you'll feel the age. The Iris Xe graphics are technically in the 97th percentile, but that's because most laptops in this category ship with even weaker integrated graphics. Don't mistake that ranking for gaming capability. The gaming score is 7.5 out of 100, which is a polite way of saying don't even try.

The 256GB NVMe SSD is quick enough for boot times and app launches, but it's small. Like, really small. Windows 11 alone eats a chunk of that, and you'll be juggling files before you know it. The 16GB of RAM is the saving grace here. It's more than enough for a dozen browser tabs and a few apps running at once, and it helps mask some of the CPU's limitations in day-to-day use.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M5, this thing gets demolished on performance, screen quality, and battery life, but it's also a fraction of the price and much smaller. The Lenovo Legion 5i and ASUS ROG Flow are gaming machines with dedicated GPUs that make the Iris Xe look like a calculator, but they're also twice the weight and cost. The MSI Creator A13V and Acer Predator Helios Neo are in a completely different league for raw power. What the Surface Laptop Go 2 offers that none of those do is genuine pocketability. At 2.48 pounds, it's the kind of laptop you forget is in your bag. But you're trading away screen quality, storage, and CPU performance to get that.

At $669 USD for a used unit, the value proposition is tricky. You're paying a premium for the Surface brand and that compact form factor, but the internals are aging. A 256GB SSD and an 11th gen i5 at this price feels steep when you look at what else is out there. The 16GB of RAM helps justify it somewhat, and the build quality is genuinely good, but you're really paying for portability here. If you don't need the smallest possible laptop, you can get a lot more performance for the same money elsewhere.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 lands in our database with a weird split personality. On one hand, it's the 96th percentile for compactness and the GPU sits at 97th percentile, which sounds great until you realize that GPU is an integrated Intel Iris Xe and the bar for this category is just that low. On the other hand, the screen ranks in the 9th percentile, which is one of the worst we've seen. A 1536x1024 panel on a 12.4-inch display in 2025 is rough, and that's before we talk about the 256GB SSD that lands at the 25th percentile.

But here's the thing. This is a used unit going for $669 USD, and for that money you get 16GB of RAM, a touchscreen, and that signature Surface build quality. The 4.1 out of 5 rating from only 4 reviews tells us people who buy it generally like it, but the sample size is tiny. This is a laptop for someone who wants small and light above all else, and is willing to forgive a lot of other compromises to get there.

Skip this if you care about screen quality at all. The 9th percentile display is a dealbreaker for anyone who watches videos, edits photos, or just appreciates sharp text. Also skip it if you need storage space, since 256GB fills up fast, or if you plan to do any gaming, because the 7.5 out of 100 gaming score speaks for itself. And if you're buying new, the value gets even worse. This only makes sense as a used purchase for someone who needs the absolute smallest Windows laptop possible.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is a niche product that knows its niche. If you want the smallest, lightest Windows laptop with a touchscreen and you don't care about gaming or media consumption, it's a solid choice, especially with 16GB of RAM. But the 9th percentile screen and 23rd percentile CPU are hard to swallow at $669 USD. This is a laptop for students and travelers who prioritize portability over everything else, and who won't miss the screen real estate or storage space. For everyone else, there are better ways to spend your money.