November 21, 2025
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Why Surface is the best laptop for video editing
Are you a student editing a class project? A creator cutting content for social media? Or, just experimenting with storytelling through video? Surface Copilot+ PCs provide the power and tools to bring your video ideas to life. With lightning-fast performance, long battery life1, and AI-enhanced features2 like Recall and Cocreator, Surface Pro 2-in-1 and Surface Laptop are among the best devices for video editing—no matter your level of experience.
These ultra-portable devices combine high-performance hardware with creative software and smart AI to help you edit, polish, and publish—wherever and whenever inspiration hits.
Essential features of a laptop for effective video editing
Unlocking your creative potential starts with choosing the right laptop features. Let’s explore the critical features of a laptop that help ensure a smooth video editing experience.
SSD storage: Speed up your workflow
Rendering, exporting, and working with high-resolution footage can slow you down—unless you have fast, reliable storage. Laptops with fast SSD storage (512GB minimum, 1TB recommended) make editing smoother and drastically reduce lag when importing, previewing, or exporting large files.
High refresh rate displays: Edit with precision
If you’re cutting footage for TikTok, YouTube, or class projects, visual accuracy matters. A 120Hz refresh rate gives you fluid playback, while OLED screens with high contrast ratios help you nail every color, shadow, and transition. These displays are also easier on your eyes during long editing sessions.
RAM & CPU: Power through every cut
Video editing involves multitasking—like switching between footage, music, and timelines—which demands strong processing power. Aim for at least 16GB RAM and a modern multi-core processor. For AI-enhanced tools like auto-captioning or noise removal, Surface Copilot+ PCs with neural processing units (NPU) can make a big difference in speed and quality.
Battery life and portability: Edit anywhere
Video editing isn’t always done at a desk. Whether you’re filming on campus or cutting clips on the subway, look for laptops with all-day battery life1(15–22 hours) and a lightweight design. Anything under 3.5 lbs keeps your gear bag light and your creativity mobile.
AI art created via Copilot
A woman in a studio using a Surface Pro and Surface Slim Pen for video editing
From idea to upload, Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are designed to keep pace with the way today’s video creators work. Surface gives you the power, portability, and precision to bring your school projects, content for social platforms, and experimentation with new formats to life. Surface Pro’s optional OLED touchscreen adds stunning depth and contrast, so you can confidently review and fine-tune footage, frame by frame. Surface Laptop delivers a brilliant HDR touchscreen display, engineered for creators who care about color accuracy, detail, and clarity in every cut.
Portable by design
Ultra-thin, ultra-light, you can toss Surface into your gear bag and take it with you on-location. Surface Pro weighs in beginning at 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg). Surface Laptop starts at just 2.7 pounds (1.22 kg).
Battery life that moves with you
On the road or in the studio, Surface Pro gives you up to 16 hours of local video playback1. Surface Laptop provides up to 23 hours of local video playback1.
Built to handle the demands of editing
At the core of Surface Copilot+ PCs is a Snapdragon® X Elite or Plus processor, built to handle real demands of video editing like smooth playback, fast exports, and responsive timelines. Paired with a dedicated NPU capable of 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) and up to 64GB of RAM, Surface delivers the performance you need for high-resolution editing, detailed color work, and advanced AI-powered features. And with fast internal SSD storage, Surface keeps your project files accessible and ready for quick editing and exporting.
Optimized for professional video production
Surface Laptop and Surface Pro integrate seamlessly with professional video production software, like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
More features of Surface for video editing
Editing is rarely linear, and with Surface devices, everything is designed to work together—hardware, software, and cloud tools—to give you a smooth and flexible editing experience. For example:
- Microsoft 365 integration: Use OneDrive for cloud storage, Word for script collaboration, and Excel to manage timelines and budgets.
- Surface Slim Pen: With 4,096+ pressure levels, it’s great for frame-by-frame timeline scrubbing or making notes on footage.
- Surface Pro keyboards: In addition to a Copilot key3, Surface Pro keyboards include a microphone mute button, a snipping key, a Windows button to swiftly open your shortcuts, a media controls key, and a button that allows you to adjust your touchscreen’s brightness.
- Studio-quality sound: Snapdragon Sound™ enables high-fidelity wireless audio—ideal for checking audio levels or recording quick voiceovers.
- Flexible I/O: Easily connect external drives, cameras, and monitors with USB-C and USB-A ports.
Who should consider Surface laptops for video editing?
Surface is designed for video creators at every level:
- Students editing class projects or building a portfolio
- Content creators crafting shorts, vlogs, or how-to videos
- Aspiring video editors learning the ropes with professional-grade tools
- Mobile creatives who need lightweight, high-performance devices
Ready to edit, anywhere
Surface helps you stay in your creative zone—whether you're cutting a 10-second clip or crafting a five-minute music video. With AI-enhanced power, stunning visuals, and all-day battery life, Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are some of the best laptops for video editing available today.
- DISCLAIMER: Features and functionality subject to change. Articles are written specifically for the United States market; features, functionality, and availability may vary by region. 
- [1] Battery life varies significantly based on usage, network and feature configuration, signal strength, settings, and other factors. See aka.ms/SurfaceBatteryPerformance for details.
- [2] On some devices, some Copilot+ PC experiences require free updates continuing to roll out through early 2025. Timing varies by device and region. See aka.ms/copilotpluspcs.
- [3] Use Copilot key with supported Windows 11 devices; feature availability varies by device and market, see aka.ms/KeySupport.
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