Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15" Black 2020

The Surface Laptop 4's CPU sits in the 31st percentile and its integrated graphics scrape the 18th percentile, so don't expect snappy performance beyond basic tasks. Where it shines is reliability (78th percentile) and real-world battery life, making it a trustworthy daily driver. At $429 it's a tempting big-screen laptop, as long as you can accept the French keyboard and laughable port selection.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15-inch scores well where it counts for daily reliability—our data puts it in the 78th percentile, and real owners back that up with a 4.3-star average. The 15-inch touchscreen and premium aluminum chassis feel more expensive than the $429 entry price suggests, and battery life is a genuine high point, easily lasting a full workday. But pop the hood and you'll find last-gen AMD Ryzen 7 silicon that lands in the 31st percentile for CPU performance, and an integrated GPU that scrapes the bottom 18th percentile.

This specific SKU comes with a French AZERTY keyboard, which will be a love-it-or-hate-it detail depending on where you live. If you're after a dependable big-screen laptop for writing, streaming, and browser-based work, the Surface Laptop 4 still has a lot to offer. If you need speed, modern connectivity, or any kind of graphics muscle, keep scrolling.

The AMD Ryzen 7 4980U is a Zen 2 chip that was competitive a few years ago, but our database shows it's now firmly below average, landing in the 31st percentile for CPU power. That means it's slower than roughly two-thirds of the laptops we've tested recently. For email, Office, and a handful of browser tabs you'll be fine, but heavy multitasking or photo editing will make the age of this processor very obvious.

Graphics are an even bigger bottleneck. The integrated Radeon graphics sit in the 18th percentile, barely enough for smooth 4K video playback and a complete non-starter for gaming or GPU-accelerated creative work. The 16GB of soldered RAM (37th percentile) and 512GB SSD (39th percentile) aren't going to win any speed records either—both are stuck in the lower middle of the pack. You won't feel the SSD lag in everyday use, but it's noticeably slower than the PCIe 4.0 drives found in many competitors at similar prices.

Pricing on this Surface Laptop 4 is all over the place, ranging from $429 to $805 depending on the retailer—a $376 spread that makes it worth shopping around. At the lower end, you're getting a premium-feeling 15-inch laptop with a great keyboard for less than many Chromebooks. The best prices we're seeing are on Newegg, where fast shipping and solid customer service sweeten the deal. If you land one near the $800 mark, however, the value proposition crumbles against newer hardware.

The obvious rival is the Apple MacBook Air M5, which absolutely demolishes the Surface in CPU and GPU performance while offering a sharper screen and better port selection—but it lacks a touchscreen and a 15-inch panel at this price. The ASUS ProArt PX13 brings a high-res OLED display and a discrete GPU that makes the Surface's integrated graphics look prehistoric, though it's heavier and pricier. The MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro both ship with newer processors that leave the Ryzen 7 4980U in the dust, and the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition offers similar 15-inch size with far superior internals. None of them match the Surface's typing experience or its rock-solid reliability rating, but they all walk all over it on raw benchmarks.

Anyone who needs even a hint of GPU muscle should look elsewhere—the 18th percentile graphics performance rules out gaming, 3D modeling, and serious video editing entirely. If you rely on multiple external monitors or a bunch of USB peripherals, the single USB-C port (no Thunderbolt) and lone USB-A will drive you crazy. And if you're not comfortable with a French AZERTY keyboard layout, this specific variant from Newegg is just asking for frustration; hunt down a QWERTY model or consider one of the many newer competitors that don't require remapping your muscle memory.

If you value build quality and a comfortable keyboard over bleeding-edge performance, the Surface Laptop 4 15-inch is still a valid choice—especially if you can grab it around that $429 low. It's a reliable, all-day workhorse for students, writers, and anyone whose laptop life revolves around Office, web apps, and video calls. Just be ready to accept an older processor, a nearly port-free existence, and a GPU that's strictly for desktop rendering. The French keyboard layout on this unit is an extra variable: if you're not used to AZERTY, either budget for a learning curve or hold out for a QWERTY model.