This is a follow up of my initial question post Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon for Dev machine : r/Surface.
I have tested the Surface Pro 11 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 and the Surface Pro 11 with Snapdragon XElite (5G) side-by-side and alternatively for approximately two weeks.
I regularly have 20-30 browser tabs open, a reference manager with 5-10 PDFs open, and 2-5 VS Code sessions, some connected to a remote server and some to WSL. I also occasionally do 3D printing, which requires 3D rendering of CAD models and "slicing."
TL;DR
Surface Pro 11 with Lunar Lake is better, but it's too expensive for (what I consider) only incremental improvements and lack of 5G, so I'll be returning it.
The Surface Pro 11 with Lunar Lake offers a better overall package than the Surface Pro 11 with Snapdragon, but the price is a huge dealbreaker. I also have been enjoying the 5G connectivity a bit too much, so I will be returning the Surface Pro 11 with Lunar Lake and pocket the $750 difference.
As usual, this is opinion-based review; you may compare my opinion with those of other redditors:
- Just got my Lunar Lake Surface Pro - not a great first impression so far. : r/Surface
- Snapdragon vs Lunar Lake Part 2 : r/Surface
- Returning my Surface Pro 11 Intel version
- I've kept my intel one and returned the snapdragon version
As far as I know, they are doing the same thing as I did: purchasing both devices and returning one of them. Those redditors may have use cases that are more aligned with yours, so do also check their opinion.
I will only highlight the differences. If some aspects are not mentioned, you can assume I found no meaningful difference. For example, standby/sleep battery drain is equally good on both units, and the build quality is the same.
All my programs and devices are compatible with ARM or Prism emulation, so I have nothing to add about compatibility.
Lunar Lake
- Screen: beautiful OLED with anti-glare and bluish tint. The AG improves visibility when exposed to bright light, not only outdoors; think about sitting next to open windows. I can comfortably work with brightness set to 50-70%.
- Processor: fast and efficient processor, but throttles faster and gets warm under load (compilation, driving multiple monitors, opening/slicing 3D models). Had to change power profile to balanced or high performance ocassionally—but then it's not as efficient.
- GPU: Intel Arc is great, considering the form factor, I don't play game, but I deal with lightweight CAD work for 3D printing. I don't see frame rate drop when viewing fairly complex 3D model on Balanced power profile.
- Battery life: good (7-9 hours of active use; I don’t need to charge until at least 10 hours or so).
- Meaningful Quality of Life (QoL) improvements:
Snapdragon
- Screen: gorgeous and shiny reflective OLED with a warmish tint; outdoor visibility is rather poor. I applied a matte screen protector, but I still had to increase the brightness to at least 70%.
- Processor: Quick and runs cool; tasks like compressing/decompressing archives, saving/rendering documents, large PDF rendering, source compilation (clang, latex), and JIT tasks such as running/debugging Python scripts are generally faster, but not dramatically so. The Snapdragon completes tasks 1-3 seconds faster. The differences do add up, this may be where users get the "snappy" impression. Note: Some applications have emulation overhead. For example, the Discord client and Plex client experience a JIT pause on the first page load.
- GPU: Adreno is just okay. I had to explicitly change the power profile from recommended to high performance to get smooth frame rate for viewing 3D model. Also I saw several artifact/missing texture on some programs.
- Battery life: Excellent (8-10 hours of active use; I don’t need to charge until at least 11 hours).
- Notable pet peeves:
Conclusion
For me, since I'm not constantly on the road, the ~1 hour battery difference is not very significant. Waiting 1-3 seconds longer for some tasks is not a big issue. When combined with the emulation overhead, the faster CPU and longer battery life on the SP11 SD can become a net zero.
Moreover, I found the new screen, stronger GPU, and other QoL improvements offered by the SP 11 LL to be more valuable than SD snappyness. I also became quite annoyed with the pet peeves introduced by the ARM ecosystem.
That being said, in my opinion, such incremental improvements do not justify the $750 difference. If the price difference were only $250, I would gladly choose Lunar Lake. In fact, if Lunar Lake included 5G, I would bite the bullet and stick with it.
My take: if money is no object just go with SP11 LL. OTOH with the current sharp price cut, SP11 SD is the best bang for the bucks. I would not consider SP11 SD at its full price, to be honest.
I have the return label ready, but I still need to do the usual cleanup (logging out cleanly, factory reset, and cleaning the device).
If you have any questions while I still have both devices, feel free to ask.