Microsoft has introduced the third generation of its ostensibly budget laptop. Starting at $800, the smaller Surface Laptop Go 3 is actually priced more as a midrange laptop, which is even more true at the $1,000 upgrade price. For that much money, there is very stiff competition.
One of the most attractive competitors is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED. This is a very well-built and well-designed laptop that starts at $700 and includes a large 14-inch OLED display. Not only does it come with a great screen, Asus laptops are fast and affordable.
Specifications and configuration
| Asus ZenBook 14 OLED | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 | |
| DIMENSIONS | 12.34 inches x 8.68 inches x 0.67 inches | 10.95 inches x 8.12 inches x 0.0.62 inches |
| weight | 3.06 pounds | 2.49 pounds |
| processor | AMD Ryzen 5 7530U amd ryzen 7 7730u | Intel Core i5-1235U |
| GRAPHICS | AMD Radeon Graphics | Intel Iris Xe |
| to hit | 8 GB 16 GB | 8 GB 16 GB |
| Display | 14.0-inch 16:10 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED, 90Hz | 12.4-inch 3:2 PixelSense 1,536 x 1,024 IPS display |
| storage | 256gb ssd 512gb ssd | 256gb ssd |
| touch | Yes | Yes |
| ports | 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x 3.5mm audio jack 1 x microSD card reader | 1 x USB-C 3.2 1 x USB-A 3.1 1 x 3.5mm audio jack 1 x Surface Connect Port |
| wireless | Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 |
| webcam | 1080p | 720p |
| Operating System | windows 11 | windows 11 |
| Battery | 75 watt-hours | 41 watt-hours |
| price | $700+ | $800+ |
| rating | 4.5 out of 5 stars | 2 out of 5 stars |
The ZenBook 14 OLED has two configurations, starting at $700 for an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED display. Depending on where you buy it, the high-end model costs around $1,000 for an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $800 for an Intel Core i5-1235U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and a 12.4-inch IPS display running at 1,536 x 1,024. For $1,000 the laptop is upgraded to 16GB of RAM, but everything else remains the same.
As we’ll see, the ZenBook 14 OLED represents significantly better value at any price.
design
The Surface Laptop Go 3 is an attractive device that follows the typical Surface aesthetic with minimal lines and angles, still evoking an image of quality and elegance. It is available in four attractive colours: Platinum, Ice Blue, Sage and Sandstone. The ZenBook 14 OLED is also minimalist and comes across as a little more pedestrian in Ponder Blue, but it’s also attractive.
The surface is constructed from a mix of aluminum on the lid and keyboard deck and plastic on the lower chassis. The latter contributes to its low weight of 2.49 pounds, but the lid is quite flexible, with light pressure causing LCD distortion. The ZenBook 14 OLED is made entirely of aluminum and is a bit more rigid. It’s also 3.06 pounds heavier, with a larger 14-inch display compared to the Surface’s 12.4-inch panel.
The Surface Laptop Go 3’s keyboard feels a bit cramped, with small keycaps and limited key space. The switches are also a bit stiff with an uncomfortable bottoming action. It’s not the best Surface keyboard by a wide margin. The ZenBook 14 OLED’s keyboard is wider, with larger keycaps and more key spacing, and its switches are light and snappy. The Surface’s touchpad is small, but works well, while the ZenBook’s touchpad is larger, but similar in performance. Both laptops offer touch displays.
Connectivity favors the ZenBook 14 OLED, which is no surprise given the extra chassis space. It has a greater number and variety of ports, although none of the devices have Thunderbolt 4 support. With the ZenBook, this is due to the AMD chipset, while Microsoft has simply decided not to include support. The ZenBook also has the benefit of a microSD card reader. The Surface Laptop Go 3 is limited to last-generation wireless connectivity, while the ZenBook is up to date.
The ZenBook 14 OLED has a higher-quality 1080p webcam, compared to the 720p version of the Surface Laptop Go 3, and it’s much better for videoconferencing. Both laptops lack an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition, but the fingerprint reader built into the power button worked well in our testing.
Display
The Surface Laptop Go 3 uses an Intel Core i5-1235U processor, which runs at 15 watts and has 10 cores (two performance and eight efficient) and 20 threads. This is a last-generation CPU that makes sense in a budget laptop, but not in a contemporary midrange machine. The ZenBook 14 OLED offers either an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U or Ryzen 7 7730U. The first is a 6-core/12-thread CPU and the second is an 8-core/16-thread chip. We reviewed the ZenBook with Ryzen 5.
Simply put, the ZenBook was significantly faster than the Surface Laptop Go 3. Typical productivity users with light workloads like web browsing, email, Outlook applications, and the like probably won’t notice a difference. But anyone who runs more demanding applications that use multiple cores will definitely find the Surface slower than they expected.
| Asus ZenBook 14 OLED (Ryzen 5 7530U) | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (Core i5-1235U) | |
| geekbench 5 (single/multi) | Hair: 1,457 / 7,527 Complete: 1,458/8,207 | Hair: 1,179/5,652 Complete: 1,524 / 6,226 |
| handbrake (seconds) | hair: 123 Complete: 121 | Child: 194 Complete: 214 |
| Cinebench R23 (single/multi) | Hair: 1,457 / 7,527 Complete: 1,458/8,207 | Hair: 1,118 / 5,170 Complete: 1,534/4894 |
| pcmark 10 full | 5,817 | 4,227 |
Display and Audio
The Surface Laptop Go 3’s 12.4-inch 3:2 display has a very low resolution of just 1,536 x 1,024, resulting in pixelated text and video playing at less than 1080p. The ZenBook 14 OLED’s 14-inch 16:10 display has a very high resolution at 2,880 x 1,800.
According to our colorimeter, the ZenBook 14 OLED display is far more colorful and has much higher contrast, producing deep blacks. The Surface Laptop Go 3’s IPS display isn’t quite in the same league.
Productivity workers, creators, and media consumers alike will love the ZenBook’s display and will be much less happy with the Surface.
| Asus ZenBook 14 OLED (OLED) | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (IPS) | |
| Glow (nits) | 369 | 354 |
| AdobeRGB gamut | 100% | 96% |
| srgb gamut | 96% | 71% |
| accuracy (Delta, lower is better) | 1.44 | 3.41 |
| Contrast Ratio | 25,660:1 | 1,060:1 |
The Surface Laptop Go uses 3 omnisonic speakers that project through the keyboard, and they deliver surprisingly good audio. It has plenty of volume, clear mids and highs, and an unmistakable touch of bass. This is much better than the dual speakers on the ZenBook 14 OLED, which were quieter and much less expensive.
Portability and battery
The Surface Laptop Go 3 is a very small laptop due to its small display and it is also lightweight. Interestingly, it is slightly thicker than the ZenBook 14 OLED. It will be easy to carry around, although the ZenBook is not very big or heavy.
However, when it comes to battery life, the larger battery capacity and AMD efficiency have resulted in the ZenBook 14 OLED having a significantly longer battery life. This was especially true in our web-browsing test, where the ZenBook enjoyed nearly twice the longevity. It can last a whole day with light work, which definitely won’t happen on the Surface.
| Asus ZenBook 14 OLED (Ryzen 5 7530U) | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (Core i5-1235U) | |
| Web browsing | 12 hours, 13 minutes | 6 hours 29 minutes |
| Video | 17 hours, 19 minutes | 13 hours, 35 minutes |
The ZenBook 14 OLED is a much better value
The Surface Laptop Go 3 would be a great laptop at its original price of $550. However, at $800, it’s $100 more than the better ZenBook 14 OLED. The ZenBook is fast, has a long battery life, and has an OLED panel that’s in a whole other class.
This is about as one-sided a comparison as we’ve had in quite some time. The ZenBook 14 OLED is a much better value and better laptop than the Surface Laptop Go 3.