Microsoft Surface Laptop SE: This is a $250 Surface laptop, aimed at the K-8 education market, as it is a laptop that comes with a modified version of Windows 11 dubbed Windows 11 SE. This laptop is not sold directly to consumers due to its operating system as it relies on remote provisioning, deploying, and administration for installing apps and maintaining them.
Surface Laptop SE Price
The Microsoft Surface Laptop SE is available on the Microsoft website for $250 for the 4GB RAM/64GB model with a dual-core Intel Celeron N4020 processor. There is another model which costs $330 and has 8GB of RAM/128GB storage and a quad-core Intel Celeron N4120 CPU.
Microsoft does not directly sell the Surface Laptop SE to consumers due to the unique Windows 11 SE operating system, which requires remote IT administration. Only schools and IT departments can buy the devices, presumably in bulk orders.
Surface Laptop SE Performance
Microsoft has optimized Windows 11 SE to take better advantage of the Celeron N4120, including streamlining the OS with lower overhead. It runs Minecraft Education Edition, full screen, without a hitch, even with an Xbox controller (Bluetooth) connected. Likewise for Microsoft Teams experiences.
It has a top burst speed of 2.6GHz, and everything from the laptop resuming to launching certain apps has disadvantageous loading times. This CPU is not Microsoft’s fault as the company must use what Intel offers at this price range, but it would be nice if Intel could step up its game.
Surface Laptop SE speakers are excellent but still has some minor issue, especially at this price range, but their placement on the bottom front is awkward. The speakers get muffled if you use Surface Laptop SE on your lap. Indeed, the sound radically changes if it’s on your lap, on a desk, or you are holding it in the air more than any other laptop I have used.
The keyboard is not backlit or there is no Windows Hello for effortless logging in to Windows 11 SE, but these are clearly due to budget reasons and not a design oversight.
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Surface Laptop SE Features
The Surface Laptop SE resembles the Surface Laptop Go in design, except it comes in metal for more kid-friendly plastic for the chassis. It looks classy and feels more premium than the price and its chassis is smooth and minimal. It’s a very new design augmented by that glacier-white colorway.
- Operating system: Windows 11 SE
- Display: 11.6 inches, 16:9 aspect ratio 1366×768 (135 PPI) resolution TFT
- Processor: Intel Celeron N4020 or Intel Celeron N4120
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 600
- Memory: 4GB DDR4 or 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 64GB eMMC or 128GB eMMC
- Expandable storage: None
- Front camera: 1MP
- Bio authentication: None
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2×2), Bluetooth 5.0 LE
- Ports: 1x USB-A, 1x USB-C, and 3.5mm headphone jack
- Barrel-type: DC port
- Audio: 2W stereo speakers
- Dimensions: 11.17 x 7.6 x 0.70 inches
There is a USB Type-A, headphone jack, and a USB Type-C used for data, power, and even display out. There is also a separate AC barrel charger for powering the device, and that design is more resilient than a Type-C, which can snap.
It comes with a keyboard and trackpad that are similar to Surface Laptop Go. Microsoft even reinforced the keyboard deck, providing a sturdier typing experience. Microsoft claims that flimsy keyboard decks are one factor that leads people to think a laptop feels cheap.
Surface Laptop SE is an 11.6-inch non-touch display that is only a 16:9 aspect with a low 135 pixels per inch (1366×768), very good for being just TFT. Viewing angles, which typically are not great with TFT, are better than expected with no usability problems even if not looking at the Surface Laptop SE head-on.
It should be noted that due to the locked-down nature of the Windows 11 SE operating system, no benchmarking or display calibration software could be installed for this review. If you want to know more about Windows 11 SE, you can read here for more detail.
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Surface Laptop SE Camera
Microsoft uses a 1MP 720p (30 FPS) front-facing camera for video calls, good for Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Hangouts for remote learning.
Battery Life
Battery life is very good, it comes with a quad-core Celeron N4120 which consumes 6 watts TDP but the company says it lasts for 16 hours. Surface Laptop SE doesn’t get hot, nor does it have a fan, so it produces no ambient noise compared to Surface Laptop GO
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