Surface Laptop Studio vs. 2021 ROG Flow X13

Microsoft has released the Surface Laptop Studio, a 14.4-inch machine, in late-2021. It is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-11370H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti  with 4GB GDDR6.

On the other hand, we have the 13.4-inch ROG Flow X13 was introduced by ASUS around the same year in early-2021. It comes with up to a octa-core AMD Ryzen 9-5980HS with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4GB GDDR6.

The Surface Laptop Studio has a 14.4-inch display which is slightly larger than the 13.4-inch 2021 ROG Flow X13. In addition, the Surface Laptop Studio weighs 3.83 lbs. about 33% heavier than the 2.87 lbs. 2021 ROG Flow X13. Moreover, measured at 12.72” x 8.98” x 0.746”, the Surface Laptop Studio is much bulkier than the 2021 ROG Flow X13 at 11.77” x 8.74” x 0.62”.

Moving over to upgradability, Microsoft claims that the Surface Laptop Studio supports up to 32GB 4267 MHz LPDDR4X memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Fortunately, it comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future.

For 2021 ROG Flow X13, it supports up to 32GB 4267 MHz LPDDR4X memory. Like Surface Laptop Studio, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users.

Here are some notable new features we found on the Surface Laptop Studio.

• New Surface Design - Another versatile design that allows switching between laptop mode, stage mode, and studio mode. The new design also packs all of its processing components in the base for a better cooling solution.
• 14.4” 120Hz PixelSense™ Flow Display - It offers a much smoother drawing and browsing experience, Dolby Vision® support, and adjustable brightness from 2 nits up to 500 nits.
• 11th Gen Intel® Tiger Lake H35 Processors - First for Surface uses a powerful 35W TDP processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe G7 graphics and up to 32GB of 4267 MHz LPDDR4x memory.
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti or A2000 Graphics - Experience the latest feature set from NVIDIA's 2nd gen RTX architecture for the best gaming experience, and to accelerate your design, animate, and render tasks.
• 2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 - Supports USB 4.0, 40Gbps transfer speed, DisplayPort, Power Delivery, Docking, and external GPU.
• Fully Supports Surface Slim Pen 2 - Surface Laptop Studio supports new tactile signals for natural inking feels and included slim pen storage with built-in wireless charging.
• Quad Omnisonic™ Speakers - First for Surface to include 4 speakers in a laptop that supports Dolby Atmos and Adaptive Equalization to deliver a rich spatial sound and best sound experience for different modes.
• Precision Haptic Touchpad - It's the largest touchpad for Surface that is super responsive and lets you click anywhere with customizable haptic feedback.
• More
  Up to 2TB SDD Supports DirectX 12 Ultimate Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 Fast Charging Preloaded with Windows 11

• No SDXC card slot
• No Full-size USB-A port

For 2021 ROG Flow X13, there are also some outstanding new features that we want to point out as well including:

• 13.4” WUXGA 120Hz with touch and digital inking support.
• Up to AMD Ryzen™ 9 5980HS
  8 cores, 16 threads, 3.00 → 4.80 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 16MB L3 Cache, 35W TDP.
• Up to Integrated AMD Radeon™ Graphics
  8 Graphics Cores, 2100 MHz.
• Up to Discrete NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 with 4GB GDDR6 VRAM.
• Up to 32GB of 4266 MHz LPDDR4x memory.
• Up to 1TB of PCIe 3.0 SSD.
• Key Features
  • 360° hinge to switch between laptop, tablet, stand, and tent mode.
  • Last up to 10 hours of video playback.
  • Full-size backlit chicklet 1.7mm key travel keyboard.
  • Supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
  • Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support.