The video, published November 10, follows a written Notebookcheck review from October 19. That earlier review is where most of the hard numbers come from. The video description repeats and rounds many of them, and I could not access the video itself. Gaming claims drawn only from the description are labeled as such below.
What was tested
Notebookcheck's written review covers the 2026 15-inch Surface Laptop Ultra with the RTX Spark N1X. It is positioned as Microsoft's best laptop. The tested unit's specs, according to that review:
- CPU: 20 cores, 10 Cortex-X925 at up to 4.0 GHz and 10 Cortex-A725 at up to 2.8 GHz, with a 60 W sustained and 80 W burst limit.
- GPU: 6,144-core Blackwell, sharing the N1X chip's 80 W maximum power envelope.
- Memory and storage: 64 GB of soldered LPDDR5X-9400 and a 1 TB SK hynix SSD in a single M.2-2280 slot.
- Screen: 15-inch, 3,270 × 2,180, 3:2, Mini-LED, glossy, touch, 120 Hz.
- Other hardware: a 92 Wh battery, a 140 W adapter, Wi-Fi 7, and a weight of about 2 kg.
Notebookcheck's review unit costs $4,299 direct from Microsoft. That was the price at the time of its review. Check current pricing before you buy.
The display: brilliant, and flawed
Notebookcheck measured a peak SDR brightness of 1,101 nits and an HDR peak of 2,034 nits. It also measured 99.6% Display P3 coverage. Those brightness figures are well ahead of the MacBook Pro 16 and ProArt P16 in its comparison table.
The problems it found:
- Contrast: Notebookcheck says it did not find a way to activate local dimming, so the panel behaves like a regular IPS screen. The measured black level is 0.61 cd/m² and contrast is 1,736:1. The ProArt P16's OLED measured 23,900:1.
- Response time: The panel measured 51 ms for grey-to-grey and 57.2 ms for black-to-white. Notebookcheck says that causes visible ghosting even at 120 Hz.
- Flicker: It detected backlight PWM at 4,650 Hz with 100% amplitude. Notebookcheck says most PWM-sensitive users should not notice it at that frequency.
The video description says local dimming "ships" disabled until a software update. Other reporting complicates that.
Microsoft disputes the "no local dimming" finding
Microsoft told Windows Central the display does have local dimming by default. It said there are 5,400 LEDs across 1,344 dimming zones. Windows Central's reviewer agreed it works but called it "just not very good local dimming." The behavior also depends on settings. Local dimming is controlled in Windows Settings under System > Display > Brightness. One report says turning HDR off makes local dimming most effective.
So there are two readings. Notebookcheck says the screen performs like one without local dimming. Microsoft and Windows Central say the feature exists but is coarse at 1,344 zones. The two views overlap on the practical result: blacks look raised, and ghosting and blooming are visible. TechRadar notes that HDR off makes ghosting and blooming more visible, while HDR on reduces them at the expense of dimming.
Firmware update: fixes some issues, not the display
The first firmware update appears in Windows Update as "System Hardware Update 200.0.7.0." According to Notebookcheck's news coverage, it resolves extended reboot times, screen flickering and unexpected restarts, plus general performance improvements. VideoCardz adds that Microsoft has not announced fixes for local dimming or slow pixel response.
Notebookcheck says the slow response time is a hardware limit that no update can fix. If you own one, install the latest Surface updates and restart.
Performance and power
The review's main benchmark results:
| Test | Surface Laptop Ultra | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Cinebench 2024 multi-core | 1,682 | ProArt P16 (same chip) 1,726; MacBook Pro 16 M5 Max 2,490 |
| Geekbench 6.7 multi-core | 20,031 | M5 Max 30,057; Core Ultra 9 285H 17,903 |
| Geekbench 6.7 single-core | 3,096 | M5 Max 4,336 |
Notebookcheck says the chip beats Intel's Panther Lake and AMD's Zen 5 models in its comparison. It says Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max are significantly faster. So the Apple rivalry framing in the video's teaser is best read as a question, not a win.
The laptop offers only the default Windows power profiles. Notebookcheck tested three:
- Best Efficiency: 1,505 Cinebench points, 43.9 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at QHD Ultra, and 36.7 dB(A) maximum fan noise.
- Balanced: 1,633 points and 50.4 fps.
- Best Performance: 1,682 points, 54.6 fps and 46.2 dB(A).
- Best Performance on battery: 1,679 points, 52.9 fps and 46.2 dB(A).
On battery, the benchmark scores are close to plugged-in results. That is a real strength, since many gaming laptops throttle hard off the wall. The 46.2 dB(A) figure is at the loud end of the range, so "non-distracting" fan noise is a matter of taste. The video description's Gears of War: E-Day result is not confirmed by the written review.
Battery, chassis and ports
The written review reports about 10 hours 21 minutes of Wi-Fi browsing at 150 nits, a little over 7 hours at 500 nits, and about 4 hours 25 minutes at maximum brightness. The 2,000-nit HDR peak is a short-burst figure, so treat the 4.5-hour number as a maximum-brightness SDR result. The brightness that sells the screen is also what shortens runtime.
On the hardware:
- Build: Notebookcheck praises the build and stability. It also calls the chassis thick and heavy next to the larger ProArt P16, and says the hinges are a bit wobbly.
- Input: The keyboard is comfortable but would benefit from slightly longer travel. The haptic trackpad works very well.
- Magnetic charger: Notebookcheck says the magnetic charger only works on the right USB-C port, and its orientation can block the USB-A port.
- Card reader: The SD reader reached 182 MB/s in its copy test but lacks SD Express.
- Limits: Memory is soldered and there is only one SSD slot.
- Compatibility: Notebookcheck lists some app and game compatibility problems as a con, which is typical of Windows on Arm.
Bottom line
The Surface Laptop Ultra is a fast, stable, well-built Arm laptop with strong battery-time performance. It is held back by a screen that is bright but visually compromised, and by a price that leaves no room for compromises. Notebookcheck's own verdict is "a bit disappointing," in a review that otherwise praised performance, build and audio. If you work on color-critical content, compare it with OLED options like the ProArt P16 first. If you need a portable local-AI machine on Windows, it is worth a closer look, but check the display in person if you can.
This analysis draws on Notebookcheck's written review and news coverage, plus reporting from Windows Central, TweakTown, TechRadar, VideoCardz and PCWorld. Notebookcheck's testing remains the source for the lab figures.
Correction (November 10, 2026): The specs list originally described the GPU as "listed at 80 W." The 80 W figure is the maximum power envelope for the whole RTX Spark N1X chip (CPU and GPU together), not a separate GPU rating, per NVIDIA's spec table and Notebookcheck's analysis. The text now says the GPU shares the N1X chip's 80 W maximum power envelope.