Finding a good 12-inch laptop these days isn't as easy as you might think. Slightly larger 13-inch laptops are much more common in 2024, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a market for something like the Surface Laptop Go 3.
It's a laptop built from the start for students, travelers, and more casual users who want something that looks and feels premium without costing a premium price. The usual attention to detail you expect from Surface is on full display, it's easy to carry, and it has respectable battery life (more on that below).
Although the Laptop Go 3 launched at a higher price than its predecessors — due to Microsoft doubling RAM to 8GB and storage to 256GB in the baseline models — you can now find models at a steep enough discount to be close to the old starting price.
A model with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U processor (CPU), 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), and 12.4-inch touch display with 1536x1024 resolution normally costs about $800, but right now at Best Buy you can pick it up for $600. That's $200 off, and the discount applies to any of the four colors including Ice Blue, Sage, Platinum, and Sandstone.
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Surface Laptop Go 3 review highlights; why it's a great deal
This laptop "is an odd beast" according to Windows Central Senior Editor Zac Bowden in his Surface Laptop Go 3 review. Despite its shortcomings, which I'm about to delve into, it received a Windows Central Recommended Award. I also spent a lot of time with this Windows laptop, and I tend to agree with Bowden's observations.
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On one hand, it's a device that looks and feels premium. It's compact, it's straightforward, and it's lightweight, weighing in at just 2.49 pounds (1.13kg). I can slip it into a backpack or messenger and not really feel it there, and when I pull it out to use I'm always impressed with the quality of the aluminum finish, the comfort of the keyboard with 1.2mm key travel, and the responsive Precision touchpad.
On the other hand, the keyboard lacks a backlight, the camera still has just a 720p resolution, and the display hasn't been upgraded compared to the previous generation. You can always add some great laptop accessories to fix the first two problems, but the display isn't going to change.
That's not to say the touch display is bad; it's actually quite good for a 12-inch device. It's just that it has a relatively low pixel density (148 PPI) compared to other Surface devices. Brightness and contrast are respectable, and I love the 3:2 aspect ratio for the extra vertical real estate it provides. Bowden tested for 96% sRGB color, as well as 347 nits brightness at peak in his review. Both are solid results for a laptop at this price.
The Laptop Go 3 is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U CPU, but don't be scared away by the older hardware. As long as you aren't expecting the laptop to be a powerhouse for multitasking, specialized work, or gaming, it will keep up. I'm able to browse the web, listen to music, answer emails, and even partake in some basic photo editing without issue. It's much better at multitasking now that it has 8GB of RAM by default. The 256GB is upgradeable after purchase, so don't worry too much about not having enough storage.
Strong battery life is also a selling point. Bowden saw more than 12 hours of life in PCMark 10's Modern Office rundown, and I can regularly get about six hours of life in real-world scenarios when I have everything set to best performance. If you're traveling or attending classes, tuning performance can no doubt extend the runtime by an hour or two.
In terms of the best Surface PCs on the market, the Laptop Go 3 is our top recommendation for students. That's true even when we consider the full price, which usually starts at $800. Shopping this deal at Best Buy, however, knocks that price down to $600, freeing up a couple hundred for accessories or for other back-to-school and travel necessities.
