Microsoft launched the Surface Laptop Go, its most affordable Surface laptop in India on Thursday, January 21. This one, like most things Surface, comes with the usual asterisk in that its general affordability is completely subjective. On paper, the Surface Laptop Go is a ‘lite’ take on the Surface Laptop 3 with a lighter profile (1.11kg) and obviously, toned down hardware. It still uses the Surface hallmark premium design—which remains its main USP— but it tries to do that at a slightly lower price.
While the Surface Laptop 3 starts at Rs 98,999, the Surface Laptop Go starts at Rs 63,499. Unlike the Surface Go 2—which is Microsoft’s most affordable Surface product in India, period—the Surface Laptop Go packs a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, not the measly Intel Pentium Gold. Though, there is not a diverse choice of chipsets on offer in the case of the Surface Laptop Go as all the models are powered by the same core hardware.
The differences lie in RAM and storage, which is where things start to get a little difficult to digest. The base model of the Surface Laptop Go, which costs Rs 63,499, comes with just 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC storage. For a model with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD storage, you will have to shell out at least Rs 71,999. A maxed-out Surface Laptop Go with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage will set you back by a whopping 1,10,999. Those prices are still premium compared to more conventional laptops.
Those conventional laptops would probably give you a higher resolution screen and a better selection of connectivity ports too.
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The Surface Laptop Go has a 12.4-inch display with a 1536 x 1024 resolution—that is even lower than the Surface Go 2’s (10.5-inch, 1920 x 1280p). The 3:2 aspect ratio is good news for productivity tasks, but that low resolution is surely a bummer. The laptop has only a single USB-C and USB-A port, plus a headphone jack and Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connect charging port. Speaking of which, Microsoft is touting all-day battery life on this one—fast charging is supported.
Rounding off the package is full-size keyboard (plus Windows Precision trackpad) with 1.3mm key travel though this is not backlit. Select models come with a fingerprint reader for biometrics.
Surface Laptop Go will be available in India from January 22 via commercial authorised resellers, authorised retail, and online partners including Reliance Digital and Amazon in commercial and consumer SKUs.
