Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

A slick, flexible and cleverly engineered device – the main negatives are the price and lack of repairability

- TIM DANTON

PRICE From £1,208 (£1,449 inc VAT) from microsoft.com

While the accompanying photos to this review show the three main modes of operation for the Surface Laptop Studio, you must watch a video or see it in the flesh to truly appreciate the marvel of the hinge mechanism.

At first, the Studio looks like a normal laptop. The only clue is a horizontal line across the middle of the lid. Exert enough pressure to overcome the force of the magnets that keep it locked in place and the screen is suddenly released from its bonds. You can then pull it fully forward (as shown opposite) or rest it halfway along the base (as shown below). It won’t stay in any other position, though, only those two.

Then the bundled Surface Slim Pen 2 comes into play. Look carefully at the photo above and you can see it tucked into its resting place, where it also charges, below a metal lip that extends around a centimeter from the main chassis. This brilliantly solves the problem of where to store the stylus, as it locks so solidly into place that I didn’t worry about chucking the whole caboodle into a bag.

Drawing on experience

Despite its self-professed slimness, the Slim Pen 2 doesn’t feel much different in the hand to a Biro. And Microsoft still squeezes in two buttons: one at the end and one where your thumb naturally rests. In Microsoft’s Whiteboard app, for instance, you press your thumb on the button when you want to lasso an area rather than draw. Another nice touch is being able to flip the Pen round to erase your workings, just as you would with a rubber-tipped pencil.