Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Comparison

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

12.4 inches | October 2020

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12

12.3 inches | January 2021

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Comparison Overview

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12

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In this review, we will be comparing Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12, two laptops from Microsoft and Lenovo. Microsoft Surface Laptop Go was introduced to market in October 2020 and Lenovo ThinkPad X12 was launched in January 2021. There is only 3 months difference between Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12 so we are expecting this to be a fair comparison regarding age and technology level.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Lenovo ThinkPad X12 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Key Specs

Launched in October 2020
12.4" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 1035G1
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics G1
4GB Ram
278.18 x 205.67 x 15.69 mm (10.95 x 8.1 x 0.62 inches)
Weight: 1.11 kg (2.45 lbs)

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Key Specs

Launched in January 2021
12.3" Touchscreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i3 1110G4
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4
8GB Ram
283.3 x 203.5 x 14.5 mm (11.15 x 8.01 x 0.57 inches)
Weight: 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs)

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go was replaced by Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 vs Microsoft Surface Laptop Go
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Microsoft Surface Laptop Go over Lenovo ThinkPad X12

Screen-to-Body Ratio	~80% vs ~78.1%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	8 mm vs 11.7 mm	3.7 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	12.4 inches vs 12.3 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Response Time	35 ms vs 50 ms	Faster Response screen
Speaker Loudness	81.5 dB vs 75.1 dB	Generates higher sound levels
Touchpad Size	10.0 x 6.6 cm vs 10.0 x 5.5 cm	Larger Touchpad Area

Reasons to choose Lenovo ThinkPad X12 over Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Weight	1.10 kg vs 1.11 kg	0.01 kg lighter
Noise Level	37 dB vs 44.2 dB	Less fan noise
Contrast Rate	1822:1 vs 1222:1	more pleasing colors
Screen PPI	188 ppi vs 149 ppi	More pixels per inch
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1280 pixels vs 1536 x 1024 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
sRGB Color Space	99.2% vs 94.4%	Wider sRGB Color Space Coverage
DCI-P3 Color Gamut	67% vs 64.4%	Wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut
Adobe RGB Profile	68.8% vs 65.7%	Wider Adobe RGB Coverage
Max Brightness	400 nits vs 300 nits	Brighter Screen
GPU FLOPS	0.84 TFLOPS vs 0.46 TFLOPS	Charges via USB-C type cable
USB Power Delivery	Yes vs No	More advanced Bluetooth connectivity
Bluetooth	v5.1 vs v5	Connect more device at the same time
Number of USB-C Ports	2x USB 4.0 vs 1x USB 3.2	Faster USB-C connection
USB-C Port Type	v4.0 vs v3.2	Support audio, data, power and video all through one single port
Thunderbolt	v4 vs No	Easily see the keys under low light
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs No

Common Strengths of Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Screen Type	Touch Screen vs Touch Screen	Interact with your fingers
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
RAM Type	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)	Fast RAM type
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs Yes	Option to increase the Storage size
SSD Type	NVMe vs NVMe	Faster Data Transfers
Dolby Atmos Support	Yes vs Yes	3D Surround Sound Support
Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs Yes	Easy Login with Fingerprint Sensor
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable

Common Weaknesses of Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

HDR Support	No vs No	No HDR Support
Upgradable RAM	No vs No	No Option to increase the RAM size
HDMI Output	No vs No	Need an adapter to connect to HDMI displays

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and the Lenovo ThinkPad X12.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.11 kg (2.45 lbs)	1.1 kg (2.43 lbs)
Surface Area	572 cm2 (88.7 inches2)	577 cm2 (89.3 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~80%	~78.1%
Side Bezel Thickness	~8 mm	~11.7 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.09 kg/inch	0.09 kg/inch
	0.198 lbs/inch	0.198 lbs/inch
Colors	Silver, Gold, Blue	Black

Comparison of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 External Dimensions

Weight

Surface Laptop Go weighs 1.11 kg (2.45 lbs), whereas the ThinkPad X12 weighs 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 1.11 kg

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 1.10 kg

Min 0.77 kg

Average 1.11 kg

Max 1.30 kg

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 15.70 mm

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 14.50 mm

Min 8.50 mm

Average 14.24 mm

Max 21.10 mm

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go is 0.09 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 is 0.09 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core i5 1035G1	Intel Core i3 1110G4 Intel Core i5 1130G7 Intel Core i5 1140G7 Intel Core i7 1160G7 Intel Core i7 1180G7
Base Frequency	1.0 GHz	1.5-2.5 GHz
Turbo Frequency	3.6 GHz	3.9 GHz
Number of Cores	4	2
Number of Threads	8	4
L3 Cache	6 MB	6 MB
Integrated GPU	Intel UHD Graphics G1	Intel UHD Graphics Xe Graphics G4
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm	10 nm

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Lenovo ThinkPad X12.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPU ( Intel Core i5 1035G1 ) and compare them:

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel UHD Graphics G1	Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4
Base Clock Frequency	300 MHz	300 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	900 MHz	1100 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	15 W	15 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	460.8 GFLOPS	844.8 GFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Bus	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Speed	System Shared	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	256	384
TMUs	16	24
ROPs	8	12

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Microsoft Surface Laptop Go has a FLOPS value of 0.46 TFLOPS whereas the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 ' has a FLOPS value of 0.84 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	4GB 8GB 16GB	8GB 16GB
Memory Bus	2x2 GB	2x4 GB
RAM Clock	1866 MHz	4267 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR4X	LPDDR4X
Upgradable	No	No
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)

The ThinkPad X12 provides a larger RAM capacity of 8 GB, which allows for smoother multitasking and improved performance in memory-demanding tasks compared to the Surface Laptop Go's RAM capacity of 4 GB.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go	Lenovo ThinkPad X12
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✖ Not supported.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	39 Wh	42 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Po
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	No	Yes
Charging Port Position	Right	Left
Charge Power	39 W	65 W
Full Charging Time	1:10 hr	2:20 hr
AC Adapter Weight	218 gramm	322 gramm

On the other hand, the ThinkPad X12 features a higher battery capacity of 42 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the Surface Laptop Go's 39 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 39 Wh

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 42 Wh

Min 39.00 Wh

Average 43.28 Wh

Max 49.00 Wh

STORAGE
The ThinkPad X12 offers a larger max storage capacity of 1 TB, providing more room for storing files and data compared to the Surface Laptop Go's storage capacity of 256 GB.

Storage Options	64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Storage type	eMMC	SSD (M2)
NVMe	Yes	Yes

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go and Lenovo ThinkPad X12 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. Surface Laptop Go has a display size of 12.4".On the other hand, ThinkPad X12 has a smaller 12.3" display.The total usable screen area of the Surface Laptop Go is 458cm² / 71inch² whereas the ThinkPad X12's total usable screen area is 451cm² / 70inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the ThinkPad X12 features a higher pixel density with 188 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 149 ppi

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 188 ppi

Min 137 PPI

Average 199 PPI

Max 267.00 PPI

Refresh Rate
Both Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12 offer the same refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Furthermore, the Surface Laptop Go boasts a faster response time of 35.0 ms, reducing motion blur for fast-paced content.

Brightness
The ThinkPad X12 offers a higher maximum brightness of 400 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 12.0-12.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 300 nits

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 400 nits

Min 235 nits

Average 370 nits

Max 400.00 nits

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go vs Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Surface Laptop Go is equipped with 1x USB 3.2 USB-A ports. ThinkPad X12 does not have USB-A ports.
Both Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12 have USB Type-C ports. Surface Laptop Go has 1x USB 3.2 USB Type-C ports, while ThinkPad X12 has 2x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
ThinkPad X12 is equipped with Thunderbolt 4 port. Surface Laptop Go does not have Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Neither Surface Laptop Go nor ThinkPad X12 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither Surface Laptop Go nor ThinkPad X12 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Neither Surface Laptop Go nor ThinkPad X12 has an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Both Surface Laptop Go and ThinkPad X12 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5	v5.1
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	1x USB 3.2	No
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	1x USB 3.2	2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	No	Thunderbolt 4
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	Yes
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	No
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	No