Confirmation of registration will be sent by e-mail.Switch to loginPlease fill in the username or e-mail you provided during registration.Instructions for resetting your password will be sent to this email.Switch to loginAt the beginning of last month, Microsoft introduced the compact Surface Laptop Go 2. The novelty comes about a year and a half after the first generation, but if you were looking forward to some big news, we have to disappoint youWhy disappoint?The changes can be counted on the fingers of one hand.And literally, after all, count on us:The last two innovations are not very relevant for us, as you can only get the machine in the platinum color on the Czech market, and you can install Windows 11 on the original Laptop Go as well.The remaining improvements are worthy of praise, although I must add in one breath that there are definitely items that deserved to be upgraded more preferentially.The design hasn't changed between generations, so please forgive me for taking it easy and recycling photos from the first generation review.For the same reason, I will not describe in detail all the identical features and focus more on the mentioned intergenerational differences.So if you want to get a comprehensive picture, I recommend first diving into a year and a half old text.The Surface Laptop Go 2 is the cheapest computer in the manufacturer's portfolio (excluding the Surface Go 3 tablet), so it is necessary to make several compromises - some hurt more, some less.The biggest one is probably the absence of keyboard backlighting, which is standard today even in the cheapest laptops.Here we were hoping that Microsoft would heed the community's call and add backlighting to the second generation, but unfortunately it didn't happen.Only the lock button with an integrated fingerprint reader is backlit.In this case, it is a full-fledged and perfectly functional face unlock replacement.Despite the small dimensions of the chassis, the keyboard itself has a standard size - compared to the 15″ Surface Laptop, the width of the non-letter keys, such as Enter, Delete, etc., is only slightly "cut". Typing on the Laptop Go 2 is extremely comfortable, the only drawback is the absence of Czech key prints.Beneath the keyboard lies a reasonably large touchpad that is a joy to use.It's not as haptic as the Surface Laptop Studio, but it still pays off with precision and a satisfying (and relatively quiet) click.The upper part of the base with the keyboard and touchpad is aluminum (as is the lid), but the lower part is plastic.This is another concession due to the price, but it is not a hindrance - perhaps the shades of different materials could have been better coordinated in Redmond.Structurally, the laptop is very well made, you don't have to worry about its durability.Plus, at 1,127g, it's pleasantly compact and light, making it great as a secondary machine on the go.And if you don't need a lot of power, it can even replace a desktop with the help of a docking station and a monitor.You have the following set of ports available for connecting peripherals (each in one instance):This is a fairly universal assembly that will not hinder you in connecting any accessories.You'll most likely use the included magnetic charger with the elongated Surface Connect terminal (which is extremely addictive) to charge, but there's nothing stopping you from trusting yourself to the more versatile USB-C.Unfortunately, the memory card reader is missing.As for wireless networks, the Surface Laptop Go 2 offers Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.In the first case, I have to highlight the sensitivity of the antennas - I have one place where some devices can disconnect twenty times a day, but the new product from Microsoft stuck to the signal and did not let go.If you don't connect an external display to the laptop, you will watch all the action on the 12.45″ screen with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and a relatively low resolution of 1,536 × 1,024 pixels, which means a fineness of 148 ppi.So this is another of the controversial features that can bother some more, some less.I am rather in the second group - from a closer distance it is noticeable that the letters are more jagged than on finer displays, on the other hand, the other display properties of the used panel (color coverage, contrast, viewing angles, brightness) are at a decent level and definitely belong to better average.The display is touch-sensitive, but it only applies to fingers - the Surface Pen does not support it.With this we have briefly discussed the items that are the same as the first generation, now let's take a look at the intergenerational improvements.The main one is the replacement of the Intel Core i5-1035G1 with the newer Core i5-1135G7, which is a fairly noticeable leap forward.Both processors are made with a 10nm process, but the newer one has higher clocks of the processor unit, and mainly Intel Xe Graphics with 80 computing units instead of the earlier Intel UHD with 32 computing units.In this case, the graphics chip would deserve the "jumper of the year" award, because according to some benchmarks it provides up to three times the performance.Thanks to it, you can connect up to 4 external displays (or one with a maximum resolution of 7680 × 4320 pixels).No, the Surface Laptop Go 2 still isn't a gaming machine, but if you use graphics-intensive applications, the performance boost will come in handy on the go.And if you give up on the ambition to steam AAA titles on this small laptop, you may find that your favorite and less demanding game does not run so badly here - Fortnite in Full HD resolution stably keeps the frame rate above 30 fps, as well as Apex Legends or Battlefield V. More than the performance of the graphics, you may be limited by the available memory - the graphics chip does not have any of its own and takes it from the RAM.And it only has 8 GB even in the highest configuration.As far as processor performance is concerned, the intergenerational increase is between 13-16 percent, so you won't improve that much with programs that exploit processor cores.But that doesn't have to be a problem, in this area the first Surface Laptop Go already did a very good job and managed to quickly launch all kinds of programs without difficulty and switch between them without hesitation.You can also rely on the "two" for this, in fact, you may be surprised by how much power this little thing has - I almost hesitate to call it an office machine, because I know from my own experience that it is capable of more.Microsoft also deserves praise for its powerful storage.The variant with 256GB SSD we tested showed up to twice the reading speed and three times the writing speed compared to the previous generation.In addition, you will no longer find any model with slow eMMC internal memory in the configurator, the basis is a new 128GB PCIe SSD type storage, although unfortunately still with 4 GB RAM.Additionally, this version lacks a fingerprint reader.The Surface Laptop Go 2 has active cooling, but even wild gaming benchmarks could not spin it to uncomfortable speeds.Sometimes I was surprised by the whirring of the fan even in situations without much load (perhaps the Windows Update service was running in the background, who knows?), but unless you are writing a thesis in the quiet environment of a university library, you probably won't even notice the fan spinning.On the contrary, thanks to it, you will appreciate that the computer starts throttling the performance later than if it had no fan at all, and in addition, you can count on acceptable chassis temperatures that do not exceed the unbearable limit.Endurance is also related to the new processor, as its consumption in idle mode has decreased slightly.According to Microsoft, on paper it increased from 13 to 13.5 hours, which are numbers you can only achieve by passively watching video with reduced brightness and muffled speakers.Even outside of this mode, however, you will be satisfied with the endurance - if you want to do some more complex work in Pendolin between Bohumín and Františkovy Lázně and beat the sun through the windows with maximum brightness, the Surface will withstand the entire 6.5-hour drive, and you will still have some 20 percent left for your next meeting .The left back should be able to handle eight honest working hours.Charging with the included 39W adapter takes approximately an hour and a quarter.However, if you have a faster USB-C charger, you can squeeze the whole process under an hour.But I preferred to use the services of original accessories - if only because I succumbed to its magnetic charm, which can prevent the computer from accidentally falling off the table when tripping over the cable.I'm just sorry that the adapter brick lacks a USB-A port for charging other devices, because other machines from the Surface family have it.A big change also took place in the position of the operating system.Not only did Microsoft install the latest Windows 11 (in the Home edition), but it basically turned off the restrictive S mode.With it, the Redmonds promised more security, more stability, more battery life and whatnot, but probably the telemetry showed them that the vast majority of users turn it off in order to install applications from any sources.As far as Windows 11 is concerned, the system on the Laptop Go 2 runs without the slightest hitch – animations are smooth, applications launch lightning fast and the system is not significantly flooded with unnecessary ballast.I still kind of blame Microsoft for just reskinning dozens, pointlessly increasing the hardware requirements and passing Windows 11 off as a new system.Fortunately, the developers are listening to the community and are gradually fixing and adding to the system, with the main batch of news arriving in a few weeks in the upcoming big summer update.So how is the Surface Laptop Go 2 overall?Actually, this is a very nice travel computer that quite skillfully fills a neglected category of notebooks with 12″ displays.Thanks to its small dimensions, it resembles the once popular netbooks, which suffered from uncomfortably low performance due to Intel Atom processors.However, this is not the case with the tested product - it has powers to give away;you could almost say that performance was at the top of the list of priorities.In order to keep the price as low as possible, Microsoft had to make several compromises.In my eyes, the most punishing shortcoming is the absence of keyboard backlighting, which should already be a matter of course for every laptop today.In second place is the coarser display, although I must add that during normal work I did not notice this ailment at all.I didn't have a problem with the partly plastic body, nor did I have a problem logging in with a fingerprint instead of a face scan (that is, unless you buy the basic 4/128 GB variant, which doesn't even have that reader).Those who cannot write blind will struggle with the absence of Czech characters on the keyboard.However, even with this complaint, I rank the Surface Laptop Go 2 keyboard among the best in my personal ranking, as does the well-functioning touchpad.I was also pleasantly pleased with the Wi-Fi sensitivity and the well-chosen number of physical ports present.Perhaps only USB-C could operate in the Thunderbolt 4 standard.And how does the Surface Laptop Go 2 stack up against the competition?Computers with a 12″ display practically do not exist today, the tested novelty has no competition in this category.However, if you're looking for a compact notebook with high performance, you can find better-equipped machines for the money, which can ultimately be thinner and lighter.For around 22,000 crowns, which is the price of the tested model with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD, you can get, for example, the Asus ZenBook 13 with a 13.3″ OLED display, AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and a larger number of ports, including full HDMI.At HP, you can choose the Pavilion Aero 13 model with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600U processor, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and a weight of less than 1 kg.If you like the Surface brand, you can pay extra for the lighter Surface Pro with a similarly large display but a more versatile hybrid design.In short, the Surface Laptop Go 2 will not have an easy time with its price on the market, even though it has become significantly cheaper between generations.However, if you're a Microsoft fan and don't mind any of the equipment concessions, you'll be happy with it.You may just miss some items that other models from the Surface family do not compromise on - they do not lack a backlit keyboard, a fine display with stylus support, an infrared camera with Windows Hello function or an additional USB port in the charging brick.