Lenovo's Pro 9n looks like a better buy than the Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra and Lenovo’s Pro 9n are among the first NVIDIA RTX Spark laptops that the Windows Central team has tested and reviewed. The Surface Laptop Ultra received 4 stars, while the Pro 9n bumped the score up to 4.5 stars.

Although we reviewed both laptops favorably, there are some major differences beyond the new NVIDIA chip that you’ll certainly want to know about before buying.

Surface Laptop Ultra vs. Lenovo Pro 9n: Specifications and price

There are plenty of similar specs across these laptops, and I know it’s handy to have a quick reference table to compare.

The Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599.99 for a model with the 18-core CPU, 5120-core GPU, 24GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD.

Lenovo’s Pro 9n with the 18-core CPU, 5120-core GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD starts at 2,999.99. I imagine a lot of that price difference comes from the extra RAM, but as you’ll see below, Lenovo’s laptop also has some concrete benefits over the Surface.

Surface Laptop Ultra models with upgraded 20-core CPU, 6144-core GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD start at $3,699.99.

Lenovo’s Pro 9n jumps to a 20-core CPU, 6144-core GPU, 64GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD for the higher-end config, starting at $4,249.99. If I compare a similar Surface Laptop Ultra config with these specs, it comes out to 4,299.99.

Basically, the Surface Laptop Ultra starts at a more affordable price thanks to more config options, but once you make the performance hardware comparable, Lenovo’s PC actually becomes more affordable.

Lenovo’s laptop is thinner and lighter than the Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Ultra has a slightly smaller footprint than the Lenovo Pro 9n, but I don’t think it’s enough to make a difference in your bag. The real story is the Pro 9n’s 0.66-inch chassis that’s noticeably thinner than the Laptop Ultra’s 0.71-0.75-inch measurement.

Lenovo’s laptop is also lighter, starting at 3.64 pounds compared to the Surface Ultra’s 4.41 pounds. That’s a considerable difference that you’ll notice each time you use the PC, and if you’re always on the move, this should be a win for Lenovo.

Both laptops are built into a sleek aluminum chassis that doesn’t get much more premium. Windows Central Senior Editor Zac Bowden commented in his Surface Laptop Ultra review:

Lenovo’s Pro 9n takes a slightly different approach, often seen in its Yoga series, with rounded edges, top-firing speakers flanking the keyboard, and a raised comms bar above the display to fit a superior webcam.

On that note, anyone who’s often taking video calls, Teams meetings, etc. should consider Lenovo’s 9.2MP webcam over the Surface Laptop Ultra’s rather standard 1080p camera.

Both will get the job done, sure, but Lenovo’s camera offers more clarity. I also found it quite good at dealing with low light. At least both laptops come with an IR sensor for facial recognition through Windows Hello.

Which laptop has better ports?

Ports across both laptops are the same except for one major standout. I’m talking about the Surface Laptop Ultra’s additional magnetic USB-C connector that’s designed to pull away from the PC when it gets snagged or tripped over.

It’s a lot like Apple’s MagSafe tech, and I’m all about it; I hope it comes to more Windows PCs soon.

Other than the extra USB-C port, the Surface Laptop Ultra and Lenovo Pro 9n have the same selection of ports, including dual USB4, dual USB-A at 10Gbps each, HDMI 2.1, UHS-II SD card reader, and 3.5mm audio jack.

Is there a superior keyboard or touchpad?

Windows Central Senior Editor Zac Bowden said, “This is probably the best keyboard and trackpad experience I’ve ever had on a Windows laptop to date” in his review. I’d wager that the Yoga Pro 9n takes things one step further.

Whereas the Surface Laptop Ultra has 1.4mm key travel, Lenovo pushes it to 1.5mm. Lenovo’s touchpad is also slightly larger than the one on the Surface, giving you more space to point.

Both use haptic touchpads, meaning there aren’t any moving parts. Clicks and feedback are simulated with small haptic motors below the surface. There are fewer mechanical parts to break down, and generally, you get a smoother experience.

But Lenovo goes one step further with inking compatibility on its touchpad. Each Pro 9n comes with a Yoga Pen 2, and I found it to be quite handy when jotting down notes or sketching ideas.

Does one laptop have better speakers?

Having checked out both laptops, I’d say that audio quality is a wash unless you care about placement.

Both laptops have four speakers, and both produce some of the best audio we’ve ever heard in a Windows laptop. No matter what, you get deep bass, clear highs, and loud volume.

The big difference is that the Pro 9n has two of its speakers flanking the keyboard for unmuffled audio. The Surface Laptop Ultra keeps all four of its speakers on the underside of the chassis.

Microphones are also excellent across both laptops. You won’t need to worry at all about adding a microphone for calls and video chats.

Do you value brightness or color in your display?

Display preferences could make or break your decision here. The Surface Laptop Ultra has a 15-inch mini-LED screen with a 3270×2180 resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio, 120Hz variable refresh rate, and Dolby Vision IQ support.

Its mini-LED panel has 1,344 dimming zones, and it manages to climb to about 2,000 nits brightness with HDR enabled. Otherwise, it tops out at about 1,000 nits.

This is great if you’re often working in brightly lit areas, as you’ll have much less trouble there than with the Pro 9n’s maximum of 1,100 nits. However, as Zac Bowden notes, the mini-LED panel can show “a bit of blooming around bright elements on a dark background.“

That’s not the case with the OLED panel in the Lenovo Pro 9n. It offers perfect contrast and deep color, so there’s no blooming or backlighting issues whatsoever.

Lenovo’s laptop also offers a higher 165Hz variable refresh rate, and it’s able to cover all color gamuts for specialized work. That higher refresh rate can help with gaming, as can the display’s NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility.

The big downside is that it doesn’t have as many pixels with a 2560×1600 resolution.

Is there a difference in RTX Spark performance?

What’s probably not a surprise for many is that NVIDIA’s RTX Spark system-on-chip (SoC) performs similarly across laptop brands.

In this case, Zac Bowden tested the Surface Laptop Ultra with the 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU, while I tested the 18-core CPU and 5120-core GPU in the Lenovo Pro 9n.

Unsurprisingly, the more expensive chip in the Surface Laptop Ultra comes out ahead in all relevant tests we performed. The gap isn’t huge, and, of course, you can always add the 20-core chip to the Pro 9n to make up the difference.

The Pro 9n model I tested arrived with an M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, which is a generation behind the M.2 PCIe 5.0 NVME SSD in the Surface Laptop Ultra model we tested.

It’s no surprise that the newer SSD is faster, and keep in mind that both laptops have the option for the upgraded PCIe 5.0 drive.

Which laptop has better battery life?

Battery capacity across laptops only differs by 0.5Wh, and in our experience, both laptops were able to hit around 10 hours of real-world usage before needing a charge.

I’m talking about lighter fare for that 10-hour runtime, like web browsing, Excel, Word, email, streaming, etc.

Once you start adding demanding tasks that press the GPU — especially AI-related work — you’ll see battery life falling quite a bit faster.

For reference, when I gamed on the Lenovo Pro 9n, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered with settings cranked up and ray tracing enabled was only seeing about 10 minutes of playtime for each 10% of battery life.

Surface Laptop Ultra vs. Lenovo Pro 9n

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra starts at a more affordable price, and that will resonate with a lot of people despite it coming with less powerful hardware. If you’re just looking for a more affordable RTX Spark system, Surface is the way to go.

However, once you start adding similar hardware tiers, Lenovo’s PC becomes more affordable. With the price in mind alongside the host of benefits from the Pro 9n that I’ve laid out above, I’m leaning towards Lenovo.

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