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Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Laptop SE and Surface 3 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface 3

The 2021 Surface Laptop SE features the 6W Intel Gemini Lake Refresh dual-core Intel Celeron N4020 up to quad-core Intel Celeron N4120 with the boost speed up to 2.60 GHz. While the 2015 Surface 3 features the 2W Intel Cherry Trail quad-core Intel Atom x7-Z8700 with the boost speed up to 2.40 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 11.6″ Surface Laptop SE (2021) and the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop SE See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	The most affordable Surface Laptop - Starting at $249, the Surface Laptop SE helps students achieve the skills they need for their future with a laptop designed for Windows 11 SE and Microsoft 365 for Education. Easy to Repair - Surface Laptop SE has replaceable components including the keyboard, display, battery, and mainboard without special tools required. 11.6-inch HD Liquid Crystal Display Module. Up to Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 (4C/4T, Up to 2.60 GHz, 4MB Cache) Up to 8GB DDR4 Memory. Available only in Glacier More Up to 16-hours of battery life Microsoft Precision touchpad Full-size keyboard	New design It’s now thinner (8.7mm), new tablet-friendly 3:2 aspect-ratio form factor, and new Microsoft Logo on the kickstand. Full Windows 8.1 You can run all your desktop apps and upgradable to Windows 10. Better display New bigger and better 10.8” Full HD Plus display with 10 points multitouch. Inking supports It now supports a new Surface Pen with 256 pressure sensitivity, tail eraser, and remote Bluetooth activation. New CPU Architecture It’s now using the new quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7 processor for outstanding performance and long battery life. New kickstand Now in three angles. New Micro-USB port It can be charged with any mobile phone charger. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and optional 4G LTE.
What's missing	No backlit key. No touch screen. No Inking support. No IR camera for Windows Hello Facial Recognition. No Fingerprint reader. All plastic bodies instead of Aluminum. Using Intel UHD Graphics instead of Intel Iris Plus Graphics. Lowest Surface screen resolution (135 PPI).	No magnet charging port replaced with the new Micro-USB port. Slower Charging The new Micro-USB has a limited power delivery (13W) compared to its older propriety 24W charger.

Availability	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Released	2021	2015
Release Info	Introduced on November 9, 2021	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing	Starting at $249.99	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB
Amazon Deals	$199.99 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier $132.89 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Monza Gray $184.99 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier	$389.00 Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) $699.99 Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) $174.44 Microsoft Surface Go 3-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium Gold-4GB Memory - 64GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum Windows 11 PRO (Renewed)

Microsoft Surface Laptop SE Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier By Microsoft $199.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Monza Gray By Microsoft $132.89	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier By Microsoft $184.99	See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface 3 10.8-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) By Microsoft $389.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $699.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium Gold-4GB Memory - 64GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum Windows 11 PRO (Renewed) By Microsoft $174.44	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Size	11.6 Inches	10.8 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1366 x 768 (135 PPI) Liquid Crystal Display Module Aspect ratio: 16:9	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Exterior	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	11.17” x 7.6” x 0.70” (283.70 x 193.05 x 17.85 mm)	10.52” x 7.36” x 0.34” (267 mm x 187 mm x 8.7 mm) Width: 10.52” (267 mm) Height: 7.36” (187 mm) Thickness: 0.34” (8.7 mm)
Weight	2.45 lbs. (1,112.4 g)	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)
Colors	Glacier	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Keyboard: Full-size keyboard with a soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel. Trackpad: Microsoft Precision Touchpad. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gestures.	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	Left Kensington lock slot Right 1 x USB-A 1 x USB-C 1 x DC-in Barrel type power connector. 1 x Headset jack Standard 3.5mm jack.	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Micro USB charging port 1 x Headset jack 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Cover port 1 x Nano SIM card slot (Surface 3 with LTE only)

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Processor	Intel® Celeron® Processor N4020 2 cores, 2 threads, 1.10 → 2.80 GHz, 4MB Cache, 6W Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 2.60 GHz, 4MB Cache, 6W	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Celeron® Processor N4020 Intel® UHD Graphics 600 12 Execution Units, 200 → 650 MHz Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 Intel® UHD Graphics 600 12 Execution Units, 200 → 700 MHz	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	64GB 128GB eMMC

Connectivity	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5 (2x2): IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 LE technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
		Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Size	35Wh	27.5 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 16 hours of typical device usage	Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	45W Barrel type power adapter [email protected].	13W Micro USB power supply

Software	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
OS	Windows 11 SE	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Microsoft 365 for Education	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Camera	1MP Front facing camera With up to 720p 30fps video	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	2W Stereo Speakers Single digital microphone	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc	Surface Laptop SE	Surface 3
Inking	Not Support	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology
Sensors	1 x Hall-effect Sensor	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass
Security	TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
In the box	Surface Laptop SE Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Exterior Casing: All plastic bodies unpainted Physical buttons: Power button and Volume buttons on Keyboard Hinge: 135 degrees open angle	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power