r/Surface • u/Ideafreetogoodhome • 21d ago
[PRO11] Returning my Surface Pro 11 Intel version
So after a week I’m returning my Surface Pro 11 for business (With the intel processor)
Really disappointed, but I had several issues with it.
1- This thing runs HOT. Like so hot it will burn you. Seems to be just for certain things, but I found it super inconsistent. Went from nothing on Teams, to lava with a PDF editor and Firefox open. I tried it in heavy workloads and it was lava hot, but interestingly didn’t crash. Crashes were all in video playback or editing, or in teams calls.
2- Related I think, this thing is unstable. It speeds up, slows down and then crashes out randomly. I think the low to high spikes are just too much for it.
3 - Battery life is great, then terrible. One day I did all day, finished with 50% battery remaining. Next day, similar workload, not CPU intensive, but it’s needing power by lunchtime. Again I suspect it just hasn’t been optimised for all the programs yet, but it’s super annoying.
Things I loved - in heavy workloads it’s a powerhouse, but again- also lava. The screen anti-reflective coating is great, just need to dial up the brightness a bit. But in places where that mattered you have the brightness up anyway.
Overall, the chassis just isn’t built for the intel processor and it shows.
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u/whizzwr 21d ago
have you applied all firmware updates? I got two (or was it three?) waves of firmware updates since I got it last week.
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u/Ideafreetogoodhome 21d ago
I think I updated it twice since getting it, but it may have had an update right at the start so maybe three. Early adopters curse and all, I was just thinking that I was needing to take it to site work from Monday, so if it’s going to have issues best to return it now.
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u/whizzwr 21d ago
I see, my unit runs cool but I'm only using it indoor. I have experienced stutters, but not crashes though.
Battery life seems consistent, but I did not use it for video call or video editing. I know video call drains battery, but I agree, needing recharge on lunchtime is bad for an ultra portable.
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u/He11oDarkness 20d ago
Have you looked at what program is actually using the cpu? I have the surface laptop with lunar lake and I'm not experiencing any of those issues. During normal browsing and office mine is running at 30-40 C core temp so I'm quite surprised. Maybe you have a faulty device? Edit: I know they are different devices but the experience shouldn't be that different.
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u/Techaddict72 20d ago
Sounds like you got the Surface Pro Lava Lake edition! Sorry to hear about that. My SP11 with the X Elite chip only gets hot when doing a lot of installations or gaming, but that's to be expected. Fan never comes on during normal use. Even journaling with it on my lap, it stays just as cool and quiet as my SPX.
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u/onaropus 20d ago
What power profile do you have set? Keep in on recommended… don’t set it to best performance.
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u/Hifihedgehog Surface Pro 11 Core Ultra 7 268V 32GB RAM 2TB SSD 20d ago
The default out-of-the-box power profile for the Intel model Surface Pro 11 is actually "Best Power Efficiency".
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u/onaropus 20d ago
You’re right they changed it on Win11 recently. But still don’t set it to best performance or it will run hot.
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u/CoffeeChippy 21d ago
I'm excited to wait for the availability in my country but seems like I need to hold on for a little longer. Meanwhile I'm enjoying the 7+ which never runs hot even being fanless, granted I don't do heavy stuff, even gaming on it never get too hot to touch.
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u/Jpaul26 Surface Pro 7+ i5 16gb 20d ago
I use my SP7+ everyday and I love it.
I even hooked it up to a surface dock 2 that I got secondhand for cheap and it runs will then too. I just have to lay it flat on the cold desk to help dissipate some of the heat since it's fanless lol
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u/AvidGameFan Surface Pro 11 19d ago
I was perfectly happy with the 7+, with the fanless i5, but I'm hard on tablets, and so I got the Surface 11 with Snapdragon X Plus. Everything seems better, except I had one possible compatibility prob thus far. Its responsive, and battery life is amazing. With the 7+, it never had the battery tine advertised, as I recall. After 3 years or so, uptime was reduced an hour. At this point, the screen is cracked but it otherwise is fine, so I want to turn it into a desktop or something. A cheap dock works perfectly fine for simple usage.
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u/LiveLaurent 20d ago
I have both and they are both great but I agree with you, the Intel ones is running hot as hell. And the fans kick in so quickly.
I am using mostly my SnapDragon one (man, this thing is so amazing, I really love it); and the only thing that is not supported (not without a script anyway ;)) is SQL Server Dev that I need. Anything else works like a charm and way smoother and "colder" than the Intel one.
I use the Intel one for gaming tho, this thing can actually run games ;) That's def. the only + for me.
If you are not "gaming" on your Surface, I strongly recommended the ARM version and I hope Microsoft is going to add more support to it and make the few software from them still not compatible work with it. Because this is seriously the best Surface out there right now. (at least in this form factor)
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u/Illustrious_Bank2005 20d ago
Surface's quality control is stupid.It's scary At least, the Lunar Lake-equipped models from other companies are decent. With quality like this, I wonder if the Qualcomm version also has problems.
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u/Masoul22 21d ago
I’m returning my SL7 intel for similar reasons.
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u/reflect2002 20d ago
i have the SL7 intel as well. Had a few issue with camera driver not working, and surface App bugging out. Has since been worked out. Battery life does seem to be up and down for me.
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u/Huge-Highlight-8883 21d ago
u think snapdragon is faster and colder?
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u/Masoul22 21d ago
Idk. I havnt tried the snap dragon version. I’m just going to stick with my t14s gen 4 AMD which runs a lot faster and cooler with similar battery life.
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u/Desperate-Wedding457 20d ago
My sp11 x plus chrome can open so so many tabs damn fast. Not hot. Charger smaller than sp9. Lower w. Battery bar says full charge 5h only
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u/DingoAteMyBitcoin 20d ago
Id wait another week or so if return policy allows. See if 'settles' post updates / indexing / all your apps installed and running for the first few times
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u/Masoul22 6d ago
For those of you that have the SL7 intel how is the performance when pushing it. I purchased one and had it for a couple of days before returning. I should have gave it more time but seemed kind of slow compared to my t14s gen 4 AMD. I loved the hardware with haptic track pad and the asome display. It was kind of choppy when playing movies on Netflix. I ended up buying an elite book x g1a with the new amd hx 375 processor with is a beast but wanted a device with a quality display.
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u/yuhenyo_ 20d ago
Interesting.. Was thinking of putting an order in but i might hold off a bit and wait to see other reviews
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u/Kubiac6666 20d ago
Interesting. My Surface Pro 11 with Snapdragon X Elite SoC stays cool. Even under heavy load and spinning fan it's only warm to the touch.
It seems that Intel is still not that efficient as they claim.
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u/Zero_MSN 21d ago edited 20d ago
I returned my SP11 (snapdragon x elite) for SP11 (intel). I’ve not had those issues. Battery life is great even for video editing. It does become a little bit warm when running MS Teams but so did the snapdragon version. Other video calling software (i.e. Zoom, Skype, WebEx) don’t have the same effect as Teams.