Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 12.4"

The Surface Laptop Go's base model is a masterpiece of design holding back a disaster of specs. With 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage that runs out in a weekend, this thing only makes sense if your entire digital life fits in a thimble.

What surprised us most is how fast this thing falls over. 4GB of RAM might have been okay in 2015, but today Windows 10—even in S mode—sucks that up in a blink. Open a few Edge tabs, fire up Spotify, and you'll be staring at loading spinners. The CPU sits in the bottom 18% of all laptops we've tracked, so don't expect snappy app launches. And the screen? It's a dim, low-res 1536x1024 panel that lands in the 9th percentile—about as sharp as a potato. That 64GB storage is also a real kick in the teeth: it's eMMC, not a true SSD, so it's both small and slow. After Windows takes its bite, you're left with maybe 30GB. Install Office, sync OneDrive, and the "low disk space" warning is your new best friend.

Microsoft wants you to think this competes with MacBook Airs and premium Ultrabooks, but it doesn't. The real rivals are Chromebooks and the base iPad. A Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook gives you a brighter 1080p touchscreen, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD for less. An iPad 9th gen with a Smart Keyboard is faster, has a way better screen, and runs apps that don't feel like they're wading through molasses. The Surface Laptop Go's only trick is running full Windows (after you ditch S mode), but with this hardware, that's like putting racing stripes on a golf cart.

Pricing is a joke—we've seen this model listed anywhere from $451 to an absurd $16,999. Even at the low end, it's a poor move. For $450, grab a used ThinkPad with 16GB RAM and a proper SSD, or a Chromebook with a 1080p screen. As soon as you cross $500, this thing becomes an actual waste of money. You can get an iPad with a keyboard that runs circles around it. There's no price point where this configuration makes sense.

The Surface Laptop Go base model is a beautiful head-scratcher. It's one of the most compact, travel-friendly laptops we've ever tested—top of the pile in portability—but the core experience is borderline unusable for anything more than a single browser tab and a Word doc. Microsoft packed 4GB of RAM and a sluggish 64GB eMMC drive into a chassis that deserves way better hardware. If you just skim the spec sheet, you might think "i5" means it's capable, but trust us, this configuration is a trap.

If you need a real computer for coding, design, spreadsheets, or even heavy multitasking between a dozen browser tabs, look elsewhere immediately. This configuration is a non-starter. Grab a refurbished Dell XPS 13, an M1 MacBook Air, or even a solid Chromebook—all will run laps around this Surface while costing about the same or less.

Don't buy this base model. It's a beautiful paperweight. If you absolutely love the form factor, hunt down a configuration with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD—you'll still be overpaying, but at least it'll be functional. As for this 4GB / 64GB variant, we can't recommend it to anyone, not even your tech-phobic aunt who only checks email. She deserves better.