Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 review: slick operation but dated design

Other than a new sage colour option (as pictured), little has changed physically from the Laptop 4 or its predecessors. The smooth aluminium body, excellent keyboard and trackpad are just as good as they ever were.

But while the wedge shape and flat lid still look classy, the large bezels waste space around the screen, keyboard and trackpad, looking decidedly dated compared with more modern competitors.

The laptop is generally repairable with a service guide to be made available by the end of the year. The SSD is removable and upgradable while several replacement parts will be available. The out-of-warranty service fee for repairs by Microsoft is £523.26, while a battery replacement costs £366.30.

Windows 11 is slowly maturing into a modern, user-friendly system. There are still some rough bits, particularly in more advanced menus, but on the whole it runs very well and bug-free on the Laptop 5.

The 13.5in Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 starts at £999 ($999/A$1,699) with an Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 15in version starts at £1,299 ($1,299/A$2,149) with a Core i7 chip.

For comparison, the Surface Laptop Go 2 starts at £529, the Surface Pro 9 starts at £1,099, the Dell XPS 13 starts at £949 and the Apple MacBook Air M2 starts at £1,249.

The Surface Laptop 5 continues to offer a slicker Windows 11 experience than most rivals wrapped in an extremely well-made package.

Still, it offers one of the most trouble-free Windows 11 experiences you can get. It is reasonable value for a premium laptop at its starting price, although it is rapidly beaten by rivals when you start picking models with greater storage or faster chips.