Real machine review of Core i5 model of “Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5 inch”

The latest model “Surface Laptop 5” in Microsoft’s standard laptop series “Surface Laptop” will be on sale in Japan from the end of October 2022. Although it is a new model, there is no big difference in appearance, and the main change is that the CPU updated to the latest Intel 12th generation.

Since I had the opportunity to borrow the actual machine from Microsoft Japan this time, I would like to review the actual machine of the 13.5-inch model of “Microsoft Surface Laptop 5”. By the way, I plan to post a review of the 15 inch model later.

spec

First of all, we will repost the specifications of the 13-inch and 15-inch models of the “Surface Laptop 5” introduced this time.

There is a difference in the CPU that can be chosen between 13.5 inches and 15 inches, but in this review, the “Surface Laptop 5” is a model that has Intel 12th generation Core i5-1235U and 8 GB RAM, which can be said to be a basic model.

The USB-C port has been changed to USB4.0/Thunderbolt 4 from the 13.5-inch model of the previous “Surface Laptop 4” model. With this change, it is now possible to use faster Thunderbolt 4 compatible hubs. After that, there are no models equipped with AMD Ryzen, and only Intel is available.

Geekbench benchmark

Here, I will present the Geekbench benchmark score measured on the actual machine. This is the score measured by this machine “Surface Laptop 5 13.5″” and the “Surface Laptop 4 13.5″” score measured in the actual machine review last year.

“Surface Laptop 4” has Intel 11th generation Core i5-1135G7 and 8GBRAM, and this time “Surface Laptop 5” has been changed to Intel 12th generation Core i5-1235U. There is no major change in the single core score, but you can see that the multi-core score is greatly improved by about 28% when connected to power and about 38% when battery driven.

Of course, benchmarks cannot tell everything, but although the hardware has not changed much, the performance has improved internally, and can be used as a guide for comfortable operation of mind.

Actual machine review

Now let’s move on to the actual Surface Laptop 5 13.5. The exterior of the model reviewed this time is metal type (black), and the touch and texture is the same as the previous model.

The metal body model weighs about 1.3kg, which is not the lightest, but considering the texture and size, I think it is a relatively light model. As a writer, I like the atmosphere, including the texture, but the downside is that fingerprints stand out if you touch it sticky.

The ports on the side of the head unit are unchanged from the previous model, with USB-A, USB-C (TB4), and a headphone jack on the left, and the Surface Connect port on the right.

I’m happy that the USB-C port supports Thunderbolt 4, but this number of ports is a bit inconvenient, and if you want to use multiple peripherals with a receiver or USB, you’ll need a hub or a Surface Dock. I can’t take it as usual. It’s nice to have a Surface Connect port, but I’d like to see at least one more USB-C port. I had hoped that the number would increase with the arrival of the “Laptop 5,” but this is the most disappointing part.

Next, the keyboard and trackpad are basically the same as the previous model, and the keyboard uses a Japanese layout. The trackpad is responsive and slippery, allowing for smooth operation.

The enter key and surrounds are also wide enough, and I think it’s a relatively simple keyboard for a Japanese layout. I usually only use the English setting, but I can use this series of keyboards without any objection. The only thing that bothers me is that the backspace is less than other keys, so I sometimes accidentally enter the “” key. As the author, I would like to see the English layout model available at least for corporations.

By the way, the “Surface Laptop 5” series has a Del key above the backspace key instead of the power button. So, there is almost no worry of pressing the power button by mistake for backspace. By default, when you press the power button, instant sleep is enabled, so if you think it’s annoying set it wrong and the screen turns off every time,[コントロール パネル]oh[電源オプション]From there, you can prevent going to sleep by pressing the power button by changing what happens when you press it.

The display has not changed from the previous model, but it is a 13.5-inch Pixel Sense display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 with an aspect ratio of 3: 2, so the work area is wider than a general full HD display is a feature .

Pens such as touch screens and Surface Pen (Microsoft Pen Protocol / MPP) are also supported. There’s a 720p webcam on top of the display, and the Windows Hello facial recognition camera is also used, so logging in and returning from sleep is smooth. A 1080p webcam, which is often used in recent high-end models, would have been fine, but a 720p webcam would be fine in practice.

For the actual work

For several days, not only for the purposes of writing this article, but also for some blog-related work, creating simple sentences with Word, simple spreadsheet calculations with Excel, and creating about 15 documents with PowerPoint with “Surface Laptop 5 13.5” I did, and it worked fine for most of my work.

I used Lightroom to edit and export about 20 to 30 photos, and I used Photoshop to insert text and blur the images. .

However, compared to top-end models and models with external graphics, it takes some time to load and reflect, so if you have used models with high graphics performance, including Macs, you will feel that the waiting time may be long. That said, Core i5 / 8GBRAM is enough for light work.

Also, even though it’s battery powered, it uses about 17-20% after an hour of blog editing in Chrome, simple photo editing of 10-20 photos in Lightroom, image resizing + text insertion in Photoshop. . It took me about 5-6 hours with this usage, so I feel like I can do a bit more with browser-based work that I usually do. Surprisingly, it comes with a battery, so I think it is at an adequate level as a portable device, performance included.

Overall, it’s not bad, but as I continued to use it, I felt it was a waste until the end, and it was the lack of ports.

When I work at home, I use a display that can output with one USB-C cable, so it doesn’t affect me much, but I still wanted an extra USB-C port. This is because I usually use the Jabra Evolve2 85 for work, and the USB port on the display side is also filled with webcams and mouse receivers, so when I output the display, I using Jabra Link (USB-C type for me). There will be no place to put it. If I was told to add a hub and use Surface Connect, that would be it, but I’d like to use the versatile USB-C, and this was very inconvenient.

Instead, it’s assumed you’ll be using a hub, so it’s fine if the environment is set to some degree, but it’s a bit difficult when you’re out and about. This is a point that has not changed from the previous model, so I strongly hope that it will be improved next time (although the Surface Pro series has become two).

price

Finally, regarding the price, the official store selling price of “Surface Laptop 5 13.5 inch” is as follows (both include tax).

• 13.5 inches
  • Core i5/8GB/256GB: 151,580 yen
  • Core i5/8GB/512GB: 194,480 yen
  • Core i5/16GB/512GB: 223,080 yen
  • Core i7/16GB/512GB: 251,680 yen

This model is a Core i5 / 8GBRAM, 512GB storage model, so it costs about 200,000 yen. Compared to the previous model “Surface Laptop 4”, I think it has been affected by yen depreciation, but the price has actually increased by about 33,000 yen with the same specifications. Also, since the Ryzen model is gone, we have to pay more than 200,000 yen to choose the 16GBRAM model.

It can’t be helped, but the main changes are CPU (and RAM standard) and Thunderbolt 4 support, so the impression is that the price is a bit high. To be honest, at the time of the “Surface Laptop 4” equipped with Intel 11th generation, I felt that even the base model had quite a practical performance, and there was a time when the price was unchanged and the price decreased in big because of sales etc. It’s a troublesome place because there is.

If you feel that the better performance and the support for Thunderbolt 4 is a big advantage, I think you should choose the “Laptop Surface 5” even if it is a little more expensive, but other than that there are no big changes. Therefore, I think it is also an option to aim for the top model of “Surface Laptop 4” aiming for the timing of the sale. It can be said that this depends on the budget and the purpose, but I feel that the previous model is not bad.

summary

So, when I compiled the actual machine review of the “Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5 inch model”, it was sure that the performance was greatly improved, and I believed that the Core i5 / 8GBRAM model was even more practical. After all, it’s a place where I wanted you to leverage the hardware.

However, since it is a new model with better performance, it is worth considering “Surface Laptop 5” if you want to use it for a long time or choose the one with the best possible performance. The base model is adequate for light use such as browser and office use for everyday, business, and school use, but it means you can do it as is, so if your budget allows, it is safer to choose the 16GBRAM or the Core i7 model..

The “Surface Laptop 5” series can be purchased at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, home appliance mass retailers, etc., so check it out.

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¥151,580 (From 2022/11/27 22:10 | Amazon research)

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