Tech Desk 
Jun 25, 2024
Microsoft, the American tech giant, recently unveiled its flagship laptop, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11. This model boasts numerous compelling features such as powerful performance, enhanced battery life, and captivating design.
While it shares similarities with its predecessors, the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Pro 8, the Surface Pro 11 stands out with two significant new features: an OLED display option and a Snapdragon X chip.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Pros and cons
Pros
Excellent design
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is a thin and light laptop with an aluminium alloy chassis, available in multiple colours including Black, Dune, Platinum, and Sapphire. It features two USB-C inputs and a sturdy kickstand. Although it's quite comfortable to hold as a tablet due to its responsive touch, users find it less ideal as a laptop.
Superior Snapdragon X performance
Equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite X 1E80100 chip, the Surface Pro 11 excels in performance. According to Qualcomm, this model features the best silicon compared to Apple and Intel, with 12 cores clocked at 3.4GHz and 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS), ensuring enhanced multi-core performance.
Read more: Microsoft Surface Pro 11 revealed at Microsoft live event — Check specs, release and more
Long battery life
The Surface Pro 11 offers impressive battery life, enduring approximately 12 hours in tests. While it may not match the battery longevity of MacBooks, which can last 15-17 hours, the Surface Pro 11 still provides respectable battery performance for most users.
Vibrant OLED display
The OLED panel offers excellent contrast between dark and light elements and maintains an equilibrium between colours with HDR brightness. However, the colour accuracy is somewhat disappointing, with the display’s sRGB and DCI-P3 values not meeting user expectations despite being over 100%.
Cons
Compatibility issues
Compatibility issues are prevalent with Snapdragon X-powered laptops, including the Surface Pro 11. Some Adobe software and certain games, such as League of Legends and Microsoft’s Halo Infinite, do not run on this device.
Microsoft has stated that Adobe Illustrator and InDesign will be compatible with Arm PCs by July 2024. Additionally, the Surface Pro 11 supports cloud services such as Xbox Game Pass and GeForce NOW, which may mitigate some of these issues.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is one of the best laptops available, featuring a stellar design and a powerful Snapdragon X chip. It’s an excellent choice for users looking for a versatile 2-in-1 device that functions both as a laptop and a tablet. Despite some compatibility issues, the overall performance and features make it a strong contender in the hybrid device market.
