- Microsoft Surface 7 has been labeled “Often Returned” on Amazon
- No reason was officially given but user reviews cite arm -based incompatibility
- It is assumed that this could happen due to the fact that there is more competition that is available
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-driven Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 has been considered “often returned” on Amazon.
Specifically, it is an Amazon listing for Microsoft Surface Laptop (2024) with a 15-inch touch screen, Snapdragon X Elite SOC, 32 GB RAM and 1 TB storage space.
Despite having nearly 400 user reviews, with a total rating of 4.2 / 5 stars, the laptop appears to be returned often according to the retailer, where the disclaimer tells potential buyers to “check the product dais and customer reviews to learn more about this item”.
Detailed top reviews on the laptop from verified buyers have assessed Microsoft Surface 7 with five stars with special praise for the life of the battery. A common complaint, however, is that “many programs did not work with arm”, which is something we have said in our own coverage.
In our five-star review, we praised the incredible performance, excellent battery life, good viewing and solid pricing, where the only smaller negatives were a lack of port selection, lack of an OLED variant and small problems with Touchpad’s sensitivity. With that said, why do users return it so often? Amazon has not issued any reason for that.
Another reason why Microsoft Surface 7 could see so many returns is that people could trade the device into a computer with a competitor’s chip. That’s because AMD has made waves with its Ryzen AI processors, such as the coveted Ryzen AI Max+ 395, which has just arrived in some of the best laptops and best Ultrabooks on the market. Those who want superior benefit to general computing, AI workload and greater compatibility can return to the X86 architecture.
We can also look at the pricing of the laptop compared to its competition. This listing is available on Amazon with an MSRP of $ 2,099.99. However, the machine has been reduced by 26% to $ 1,544.83 for some time. It is possible that those who bought it at the sticker price could have the buyer’s remorse, especially when weighing up at similar prices such as the arm-based MacBook Pro M4 (starting at $ 1,599 for the 14-inch model) that came out after the surface.
Consumers still don’t know what they get themselves into
If you have kept a sharp eye on the laptops over the past 12 months, you have undoubtedly heard Buzzword “AI PCS” when it comes to Snapdragon X Elite, Ryzen AI and Lunar Lake Laptops in 2024 and 2025. Qualcamp and the competition competition in Lantent.
For the average everyday computing consumer, however, there has been no solid throughline in what this technique is doing and what it can offer you, especially in the jump from traditional x86 architecture and over to arm-based silicon. Yes, the latter can Has superior battery life and snapping performance isolated, but it comes at the price of compatibility.
Windows on arm has come a long way in the last year as several devices (like Microsoft Surface 7) adopt it over the X86-based alternatives, but you still won’t get everything you could on that architecture. A lot of popular software does not yet offer an arm version and it has not been communicated to hardware manufacturers, what is available and what is not.
As such, users could buy Microsoft Surface 7, where they had to do everything their old laptop could, and then be disappointed when they encounter problems. If you ask people to spend $ 2,000, they want everything to be perfect out of the box, and a common understanding of different architectures (and overall compatibility) just won’t happen overnight.
