The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 has been one of the best laptops you can buy, along with the best example yet of the new wave of Windows on ARM laptops. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X lineup has been the driver of this movement, and the Surface Laptop 7 makes great use of the platform.

But it’s not alone. The Asus Zenbook A14 combines the Snapdragon X with a lightweight chassis and a reasonably efficient OLED display for a great build and battery life. Can it compete with Microsoft’s best laptop?

Specs and configurations

The Zenbook A14 only has two available configurations. There’s the $1,000 base model with a Snapdragon X Plus chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14.0-inch FHD+ OLED display. For an extra $200, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

For the same $1,000, you can get the Surface Laptop 7 base model wit ha Snapdragon X Plust, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 13.8-inch 2304 x 1536 IPS display. You can upgrade to a 512GB SSD for an additional $200 and to 1TB for $400 more. The Snapdragon X Elite ups the base price to $1,400 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and then you can choose 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for a grand total of $2,400.

That makes the Surface Laptop 7 the more expensive laptop by a fair margin, at the highest configuration.

Design

The Surface Laptop 7 is the culmination of several generations of refinement, resulting in a laptop that’s incredibly well-built — as are all Surface devices — and enjoys a rather iconic aesthetic. It’s all-aluminum and comes in several attractive colors, with just the right blend of tones to give the laptop a modern, elegant look. The small display bezels framing a taller 3:2 aspect ratio stands out, and handling the Surface Laptop 7 attests to Microsoft’s attention to detail in its premier hardware lineup. Everything just feels great, including the hinge that allows opening the lid with one hand and keeps it firmly in place.

But, Microsoft isn’t the only company that makes quality Windows machines. Asus Zenbooks have long rivaled Surface in terms of build quality, with all-metal designs that feel as robust. The Zenbook A14 uses a new material that Asus developed, called Ceraluminum, which puts aluminum through a process that creates a unique, ceramic-like feel that’s also incredibly strong. That makes it incredibly light at 2.4 pounds versus the Surface Laptop 7’s 2.96 pounds. And, it does so without sacrificing a solid feel, with a warm touch that feels weird at first glance but grows on you the more you use it. My one complaint is with the Zenbook A14’s hinge, which is too loose and allows the lid to flop around a bit. Aesthetically, the Zenbook A14 is more minimalist and doesn’t feature the wide range of color ways.

The Surface Laptop 7 is just a little better in terms of its build and aesthetics. But you can’t go wrong with the Zenbook A14, either.

In terms of their keyboards, it’s another close battle. The Zenbook A14 has a spacious layout with large keycaps, and its switches are light and snappy. The Surface Laptop 7 has an equally comfortable layout, and its switches are firmer and deeper. I’d give Microsoft’s keyboard the nod here, given the Asus switches’ bottoming action that I didn’t quite find as precise. Both are very good, but again, the Surface Laptop 7 comes out on top.

The Zenbook A14 has a slightly larger touchpad than the Surface Laptop 7, but it’s a mechanical version. I tend to prefer haptic touchpads, and the Surface Laptop 7 has a very good example with all of the customization options that the technology affords. This is a bigger advantage for the Surface Laptop 7 than we’ve seen so far.

I’d give the Zenbook A14 the nod in terms of connectivity, primarily given its inclusion of an HDMI 2.1 port. But, the Surface Laptop 7 has a Surface Connect power connection that keeps both fast USB4 ports available for use. That’s a plus. The Surface Laptop 7 also has the latest wireless connectivity, while the Zenbook A14 is one generation behind.

Finally, both laptops have 1080p webcams that offer up excellent video quality. And, both have the same 45 tera operations per second (TOPS) Neural Processing Unit that powers Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI features. You’ll get full support for everything Microsoft has to offer in terms of efficient on-device AI processing, although Asus does add in some additional AI-enabled features.

Performance

Both laptops are built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chipset, but the Surface Laptop 7 offers the Snapdragon X Elite with 12 cores and the fastest available speeds. The Zenbook A14 uses the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus with just eight cores and running at a slower speed. The Adreno integrated graphics on the Snapdragon X Elite is also faster than the Plus model.

Overall, that makes the Surface Laptop 7 a faster laptop overall. I’m providing results from the larger 15-inch model, but performance will be similar on the smaller Surface Laptop 7. It will be faster for the most demanding productivity users, although gamers won’t find a huge difference in performance and neither will creators.

Display and audio

The Zenbook A14 has 14.0-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) OLED display that has the technology’s usual bright, dynamic colors and inky blacks. Asus compromised with a lower resolution to save on battery life, so if you want a really sharp display, it won’t stand up to the Surface Laptop 7. That laptop has a 13.8-inch 3:2 IPS display running at 2304 x 1536. So, it’s sharper, and it’s also a very good IPS panel with its own very good colors. Both laptops look great for most uses, and the Surface Laptop 7’s display benefits from a faster 120Hz refresh rate that makes the Windows user interface run more smoothly.

According to our colorimeter, the Zenbook A14 has wider and more accurate colors that will be better for creative work, and it has near-perfect blacks and very high contrast. The Surface Laptop 7 has a brighter display with slightly narrower and less accurate colors. Its contrast is very good for an IPS display, but can’t match the Zenbook A14.

If you prefer OLED and don’t mind seeing more pixels, then you’ll love the Zenbook A14’s display. The Surface Laptop 7’s display is also very good, and it’s sharper and faster. Some might consider this to be a draw.

The Zenbook A14 has dual downward-firing speaker that are just okay, compared to the Surface Laptop 7’s audio system that projects sound up from speaker behind the keyboard. It has louder and clearer audio and more bass, and so you’ll be less likely to reach for a pair of headphones.

Portability

Both laptops are very portable, with the Surface Laptop 7 being slightly narrower and shallower but the Zenbook A14 being thinner and lighter. You’ll likely appreciate the Zenbook A14’s lighter weight more than anything.

Even though it’s lighter, the Asus packs in a larger 70 watt-hour battery that helps offset the more power-hungry OLED display. The Surface Laptop 7’s smaller 54 watt-hour battery benefits from the more power-efficient IPS panel.

I list the battery test results for the larger 15-inch Surface Laptop 7, which might be an hour or so less with the smaller machine. So, it’s likely that it’s going to last around the same time as the Zenbook A14, making them both some of the longest-lasting Windows laptops ever. We’re talking multi-day battery life when doing lighter productivity tasks.

It’s very close, but the Surface Laptop 7 comes out ahead

These are two very good laptops. They’re well-built, have great performance and even greater battery life, and they’re attractive enough. In many ways, they’re very closely matched.

But, the Surface Laptop 7 just has some finer points, like a better haptic touchpad, an overall more comfortable design, and faster performance that gives it the edge. Note, though, that you’ll pay a price. If you want the least expensive laptop, then the Zenbook A14 is well worth your consideration.