Home » Devices » Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 2 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 2 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Laptop SE and Surface Laptop 2 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 19, 2023

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 2

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 2018 Surface Laptop 2 features the 15W 8th Generation Intel Kaby Lake R quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U up to quad-core Intel Core i7-8650U with the boost speed up to 4.20 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 13.5″ Surface Laptop 2 (2018), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 2: 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 Laptop 2 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	Better performance It’s now 85 percent faster than the original Surface Laptop. New color Now available in Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, and the new Matte Black. Better price $999 for quad-core Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD, and Windows 10 Home.
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).	Graphite Gold is no longer available Windows 10 Pro isn't available for consumers

Availability	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Released	2021	2018
Release Info	Introduced on November 9, 2021	Introduced: October 2, 2018 Pre-ordered: October 2, 2018 Released: October 16 2018
Pricing	Starting at $249.99	Starting at 999$

Surface Laptop SE Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier By Microsoft $258.74 $272.72 5% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier (Renewed) By Microsoft $209.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5in Touchscreen Intel i7 16GB RAM 256GB Windows 10 (Renewed) By Microsoft $399.90	See at Amazon
Surface Laptop 2 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 Touchscreen Intel i5-8250U 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Win 10 (Renewed) By Microsoft $241.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2, 13.5" (2256 x 1504) Touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U Up to 4.2GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home (Renewed) By Microsoft $329.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - Cobalt (Renewed) By Microsoft $449.00	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Size	11.6 Inches	13.5 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1366 x 768 (135 PPI) Liquid Crystal Display Module Aspect ratio: 16:9	Display Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (3.4M Pixels) Display Density: 201 PPI PixelSense™ Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 10nm Oleophobic Coating 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated

Exterior	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Size Comparison
Dimensions	11.17” x 7.6” x 0.70” (283.70 x 193.05 x 17.85 mm)	12.13” x 8.79” x 0.39-0.57” (308.02 mm x 223.2 mm x 9.93 mm-14.47 mm) Width: 12.13” (308.02 mm) Depth: 8.79” (223.2 mm) Height: 0.39 - 0.57” (9.93 - 14.47 mm)
Weight	2.45 lbs. (1,112.4 g)	Intel Core i5 › 2.76 lbs (1.26 kg) Intel Core i7 › 2.83 lbs (1.28 kg)
Colors	Glacier	Black Platinum Burgundy Cobalt Blue
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.	Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.5mm travel. Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort. Trackpad: Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-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 Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
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	8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8250U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.60 → 3.40 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
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	8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Soldered BGA PCIe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
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 4.1 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Size	35Wh	45.2 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 16 hours of typical device usage	Up to 14.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	45W Barrel type power adapter [email protected].	44W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect output: 39W

Software	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
OS	Windows 11 SE	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft 365 for Education	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Camera	1MP Front facing camera With up to 720p 30fps video	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio	2W Stereo Speakers Single digital microphone	Dual microphones OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 2
Inking	Not Support	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency
Sensors	1 x Hall-effect Sensor	Ambient light sensor
Security	TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Laptop SE Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Laptop 2 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement
More	Exterior Casing: All plastic bodies unpainted Physical buttons: Power button and Volume buttons on Keyboard Hinge: 135 degrees open angle	Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only