Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.5" Surface Laptop 4 Platinum 2020

For $229, the refurbished Surface Laptop 4 gives you a beautiful 13.5-inch touchscreen, a world-class keyboard, and that premium aluminum chassis. But the soldered 8GB of RAM and a stingy 128GB SSD mean it's only suitable for light daily use. If that's your vibe, it's a no-brainer at this price; otherwise, spend a bit more on a used MacBook Air or Lenovo Yoga with better specs.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop 4 got a lot right when it launched, and now that refurbished units are hitting shelves for as little as $229, we had to take a closer look. This isn't a device for everyone, but if you've been eyeing that sleek Alcantara keyboard deck and the crisp 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen, this price makes the jump a lot easier. It's a premium-looking Windows machine that costs less than most budget Chromebooks, and that's kind of wild.

The 4th-gen Surface Laptop packs an AMD Ryzen 5 4680U, 8GB of soldered LPDDR4X RAM, and a 128GB SSD. You're getting a machine that's built for portability and everyday tasks, not rendering 4K video or running AAA games. Our scoring reflects that: compactness is well above average, and screen quality is solid, but the lack of storage and RAM really holds it back. Still, for a student, a writer, or someone who lives in a browser and Office, this thing makes a lot of sense.

And don't sleep on that keyboard. It's one of the best you'll find on any laptop, period. The trackpad is spacious and precise, and the 3:2 display gives you extra vertical space that 16:9 panels just can't match. It's one of those devices where you open the lid and instantly feel like you made the right choice, assuming you're okay with the trade-offs we'll dig into next.

Our benchmarks put the Ryzen 5 4680U right in the middle of the pack for raw CPU power, which means it handles everyday multitasking like a champ, but won't win any rendering contests. Paired with a zippy (if tiny) SSD, apps launch fast and Windows 10 feels responsive. The real surprise is the integrated Radeon Graphics. In our database, this iGPU sits in the top 3% of all laptops we've tested, which sounds bonkers until you realize it's just really, really good for integrated silicon. You'll cruise through photo editing, 4K video playback, and even some light older games without a stutter.

Now the aches. 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum in 2025, and since it's soldered, you're stuck with it. Open more than a dozen browser tabs and things get sluggish. And the 128GB SSD? It's just plain cruel. After Windows and a handful of apps, you've got maybe 50GB free. External drives or cloud storage become mandatory, not optional. The screen, though? Gorgeous. The 2256x1504 panel hits above average in our rankings, with accurate colors and enough brightness for a sunny coffee shop. Just don't expect to edit a 4K timeline or play anything beyond indie games without frustration.

At $229, you're basically snagging a designer handbag for the price of a wallet. The Surface Laptop 4's build quality, keyboard, and screen are leagues beyond anything else in this price bracket, and that's the main reason to buy it. Just know that you're sacrificing expandability and a bit of future-proofing to get that premium feel on a budget. If you can live with the storage ceiling and treat this as a secondary or cloud-first machine, it's a phenomenal deal.

Compare it to a new $200 Chromebook, and the Surface demolishes it in build, display, and OS flexibility. You're getting a full Windows 10 experience on a chassis that would cost $700+ if it were new. The catch is that a used MacBook Air M1 with 8GB/256GB often goes for around $400, and that gets you a faster processor, better battery life, and twice the storage. The Surface wins on touchscreen feel and keyboard, but the Air is a more practical daily driver if you can stretch your budget.

The closest rival across the aisle is Apple's MacBook Air M1, which you'll find refurbished for $400-500. It blows the Surface away in battery life and raw CPU performance, and its base 256GB SSD is a lot more forgiving. But there's no touchscreen, Windows compatibility, or that incredible 3:2 display ratio. The Air is a better all-rounder; the Surface is a better writer's laptop.

On the Windows side, Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition often comes with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD for around $450-500 refurbished. You're getting more practical specs and a 2.5K OLED panel, but the plastic build can feel a step down from the Surface's aluminum unibody. The ASUS ZenBook A14 is another 14-inch alternative with a beautiful OLED screen and decent ports, though it runs closer to $600 used. If storage and RAM matter more than the keyboard feel, Lenovo's the smarter buy. But for sheer typing bliss and a device that feels like a premium notebook, the Surface holds its own.

If you play any modern games, need long battery life without hunting for a charger, or want to install more than a handful of apps, this isn't the laptop for you. The integrated graphics score is great for integrated graphics, but our gaming suitability rating (9.3 out of 100) makes it clear this machine was never built for frame rates. Anyone expecting to run applications like Premiere Pro, Visual Studio with heavy emulators, or even large Excel models will hit the RAM and storage ceilings almost immediately.

Instead, spend around $400 on a refurbished MacBook Air M1 with 256GB, which will handle heavier multitasking and last over 10 hours on battery. Or if you must stay in the Windows ecosystem, a used Lenovo Yoga or Dell XPS with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD gives you breathing room without breaking the bank. The Surface Laptop 4 is a fantastic secondary machine, but it's not a primary driver for anyone with demanding day-to-day needs.

If your daily digital life revolves around Word, a few browser tabs, YouTube, and maybe some light photo sorting, this Surface Laptop 4 is a delight. You're getting a luxury typing experience and a beautiful display for the price of a dinner date. Students and writers who mostly work in the cloud will be thrilled, and the touchscreen makes note-taking and casual scrolling a breeze. Just keep your expectations grounded: this is a companion device, not a primary powerhouse.

Anyone who regularly juggles more than a dozen tabs, edits video, or needs a big local game library should walk away. The 8GB RAM ceiling and 128GB storage will frustrate you within a week. Instead, look for a used Dell XPS 13 or Lenovo ThinkPad with 16GB and 512GB, or a MacBook Air M1 if your workflow can handle macOS. But if your use case is light, and you've always wanted to own a Surface, this is the cheapest way to scratch that itch without settling for a plastic budget box.