But more than anything, the polish of the laptop’s design and the quality of its components are what make it feel on par with Apple. You can get it with either a 13.8- or 15-inch screen size. The smaller model has a slightly larger display than its predecessor (up from 13.5 inches) with thinner bezels and rounder corners. It’s brighter, too, and features a 120-Hz screen refresh rate, giving it an edge over the MacBook Air. Content looks vivid and sharp, even outdoors in broad daylight (but you’ll have to crank it up to about full brightness under direct sunlight).

My favorite thing about the screen is the aspect ratio. Because it’s 3:2 rather than 16:10, the laptop has a taller screen that’s closer to square. This provides more vertical space for webpages, spreadsheets, and apps. When choosing between the two, I’ll always gravitate toward the 3:2 screen of the Surface Laptop, which is one of the few laptops that use this aspect ratio. The 1080p webcam, customizable haptic feedback trackpad, and snappy keyboard all feel every bit as strong as the MacBook Air, too.

None of that would matter if the performance and battery weren’t competitive though. Fortunately, the Surface Laptop 13.8 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors, with options for the X Elite or X Plus. It was one of the first laptops to embrace these chips and has benefited from their exceptional battery life and efficient performance. We tested the Elite, and performance has been perfectly smooth, no matter how many windows, tabs, and apps are open. This is not a machine for graphics-intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming, but it’s perfectly capable of powering all the usual tasks most people do on a laptop.

The Surface Laptop 13.8-inch used to start with an option with only 256 GB of storage, which is how Microsoft was able to sell it at such a low starting price. But now that starts at 512 GB, regardless of if you choose the 13.8-inch model or the larger 15-inch. The 13.8-inch model now starts at $1,099, though you can often find it for less at Best Buy or Amazon. In addition, Microsoft has a newer (and more budget-oriented) option in the lineup called the Surface Laptop 13, which launched in 2025 and starts with 256 GB of storage. Although we haven’t tested this machine yet, it comes with several downgrades, including a lower-resolution screen (that isn’t 3:2 aspect ratio), no Surface Connect magnetic charging port, and no Windows Hello IR camera. With all the discounts available on the larger models, I don’t find the price difference with the Surface Laptop 13 worth all the compromises.

Best 2-in-1 Laptop

The Surface Pro 13 is the best Surface tablet Microsoft has ever made. It uses the original Surface design, pairing a 13-inch tablet with a built-in kickstand to a detachable keyboard. You get the same two USB-C connectors as before, along with Microsoft’s Surface Connect port. It’s still awkward to use on a lap, but on a desk, the new Flex Keyboard is an excellent (and pricey) upgrade—you can use the keyboard and Surface separately, so you can space your setup out a little.

Compare Our Top Shower Filter Systems

Honorable Mention Shower Filters

HigherDose Red Light Shower Filter for $599: This shower filter is in some ways the most intriguing shower filter idea I’ve encountered in the past year—a shower filter that also incorporates a ring of lights delivering dual red and near-infrared wavelengths (650 nm and 850nm) at purported therapeutic intensity. Aside from turning your shower into a discotheque, this amounts to a time-saving measure for those who would otherwise avail themselves of red light therapy on mats or with scary-looking masks. In this case, the red light therapy happens while you shower. The 10-stage filter, in my at-home testing, was able to remove 90 percent of the total chlorine from my chloramine-treated water. We’re still testing and looking into both the filter and the red light therapy over longer-term testing, but the device is already well worth mention.

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Afina A-01 Filtered Showerhead for $129: Afina’s two-stage chlorine filter is as effective as any of the filtered showerheads we tested out of the box, reducing total chlorine levels to undetectable amounts when it’s new. The broad, spa-like spray was also among the most pleasant of any showerhead we tested. But no independent lab testing was offered, and filter replacement is a bit more expensive than some, at $29 every two months with a subscription (or $40 every two months without).

Filterbaby Diamond Series Shower Filter for $113: This inline filter was able to reduce total chlorine levels to undetectable amounts, one of few filters on the market able to do so—and the fact that it’s an inline filter means you’ll be able to keep your existing showerhead and just slot this filter in between the pipe and your showerhead. That said, it’s a bulky filter, which means your showerhead will be about 4 inches lower than it used to be, and the screw-in system is a little awkward: It’s one of the only showerheads I actually needed a wrench to install properly. The replacement filters are designed to use minimal plastic, but they are also more expensive than most, at $42 every three months.

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Sproos! Filtered Hand Shower for $148 ($120 with subscription): Sproos is a quirky, kicky, kooky shower brand aimed squarely at young “renters and DIYers”—offering a rainbow of bold colors for handheld filtered showerheads. Sproos has made some improvements to its design since WIRED first tested in 2024. Its shower filters are also recyclable, a rare distinction. The filters removed most, but still not all total chlorine out of the box upon our testing in early 2026, in a chloramine-treated water system. And like a lot of shower filters, no independent lab testing has been released publicly.

Hydroviv Filtered Shower Head for $160: Hydroviv is a water filter company of long standing, and its KDF-55, calcium sulfite, and catalyzed carbon showerhead ranks among the few shower filters I’ve tested that was able to filter total chlorine levels down to undetectable levels in a chloramine-treated water system. Hydroviv suggests filter replacements once every six months, a longer span than comparable shower filters such as Canopy or Afina; that said, its $75 filters cost double or more what other filters do, and I noted significant loss of efficacy after four months. As with most makers of shower filters, requests to see independent lab testing results were unsuccessful. Hydroviv claims its filter media help reduce bacterial growth, though the materials cited are the same listed in other shower filters.

ShowerClear Filtered Shower Head, pictured as installed at a WIRED reviewer’s home.Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

ShowerClear Showerhead for $139: OK, you got me. This isn’t a filter. The ShowerClear is instead designed to solve a problem you probably hadn’t thought about but now may keep you up at night: Potentially infectious bacteria called mycobacteria, prone to causing lung infections, enjoy growing inside showerheads and are resistant to chlorine-treated water. They grow in colonies, a bit like fungus. Hence, the name. What’s worse, if you can’t open up your showerhead, you can’t see them and you don’t know they’re there. Gives you the willies. Anyway, this ShowerClear has a hinge and a latch. This means you can open it up, look inside, and clean its interior completely, with soap or vinegar or disinfectants. This is a very rare quality even among filtered showerheads. I’d be happier if the ShowerClear’s water flow fanned out a little better, or if the latch were less of a defining design feature. But what’s all that for a little peace of mind? (That said, if you want a filter to remove chlorine, you’ll also need an inline filter like the Weddell Duo.)

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Croix Filtered Showerhead for $129 and Croix Handheld Showerhead for $129: Shower filter company Croix was founded by chemical engineer Spencer Robertson, an old hand at water filtration. The fixed showerhead is handsome, and the handheld shower has a much broader array of spray settings than most—including a fun, ultra-broad spray setting that’s like a savagely powerful misting device. This said, the KDF-55 and calcium sulfite filter didn’t filter even close to the majority of total chlorine levels from my chloramine-treated water system. Based on results I’ve reviewed from Croix’s internal testing, I’d more likely recommend this device for chlorine-treated systems like the one in New York City. WIRED was able to review internal testing showing that Croix’s filters were successful at filtering most free chlorine from water, in accordance with NSF standards. Replacement cartridges and filters are reasonably priced and recommended once every four months, a longer interval than most brands on the market.

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Aquasana Inline Filter for $150: Aquasana’s funnily bulbous two-layer filter removed the majority of total chlorine in my chloramine-treated system, and it was also one of the only shower filter companies to offer independent testing data backing up its claims for chlorine-based systems. So far, so good. So why’s it not up near the top of our list? A flimsy shower wand with poor spray force and radius, a slight but unfortunate tendency toward leakiness at the shower connection, and unforgiving geometry that means it doesn’t link up well with all showerheads as an inline filter. Still, it works and it’s lab-attested for free chlorine removal, and I happily recommend it.

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Jolie Filtered Showerhead for $169: The Jolie showerhead pioneered the influencer-centric, testimonial-driven marketing model that has made shower filters so dominant in the public conversation. Its design, which looks a bit like a giant Monopoly playing piece and comes in chrome, gold, black, or red, is eminently likable. The device offers even water spray and a soft, stippled faceplate that feels luxuriant in the strangest of ways. But Jolie didn’t respond to requests for independent testing when we asked in 2024, and our own testing put it somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of removing total chlorine from a chloramine-treated system.

Also Tested

Kohler Cinq for $150: Kohler is a venerable Wisconsin brand with a number of water treatment options for showers and faucets. The Cinq filtered showerhead is admirably classic in form, and its five-layer filter looked equally promising, advertising in particular KDF-55 and activated carbon. Home testing didn’t show great results with my chloramine-treated water, however, and for the price I felt entitled to high expectations. Requests for independent lab testing data in 2024 didn’t get results.

Act + Acre Showerhead Filter for $120: Beauty company Act + Acre’s filtered showerhead didn’t perform as well as others in my home testing of total chlorine. We also didn’t fall in love with the showerhead itself, which looks a bit like a gooseneck desk lamp and droops awkwardly from the shower pipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

How We Tested and What We Tested

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Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

The market for filtered showerheads remains young and largely unregulated, and performance claims are only rarely backed up publicly by independent data. We made lots of requests, but few shower filter companies hand over their lab results. (Thank you Rorra, Aquasana, Weddell, Croix, and Curo for being exceptions.)

Some makers told us that independent labs and certifying bodies have been backed up, and that data is forthcoming. Many offered customer satisfaction surveys or anecdotal studies instead. This all means that some skepticism is warranted.

And so I also got out test kits at home. First I test the total chlorine levels in the water without any filtering, a measure that includes either chloramine or free chlorine that’s interacted with whatever’s in your pipes. Then I test the water filtered by the showerhead. I perform each test multiple times to account for imprecision or fluctuations in testing and in municipal chlorine levels. In most cases, I do this over multiple days upon initial testing to account for any inconsistencies in my own water supply.

For testing, I avoided painfully unreliable home test strips, and instead got out somewhat nasty chemical indicators and used digital and chemical tests designed for pools and aquariums.

We also tested total dissolved solids using a TDS meter, and separately tested filters’ effects on pH in order to gauge effects but also to verify the reliability of chemical test results.

The effectiveness of filters goes down over time, of course, depending on how much contamination is filtered out of the water—which is why filters always need to be changed. As we update this guide, we continue to test the most effective showerhead filters to see how their efficacy changes over time—and add any new shower filters we’re able to recommend.

What Does a Shower Filter Do?

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The biggest thing that most shower water filters tackle, in a measurable way, is filter chlorine and chlorine compounds, mostly through chemical reactions. Pretty much every American city adds low concentrations of chlorine or chlorine compounds to drinking water to kill potentially harmful bacteria. This is all well and good when the water’s still in the pipes. But chlorine’s not exactly great for your hair or your skin, and few people like to drink it. Some are also especially sensitive to the taste or smell, or prone to skin reactions.

The most prominent home shower filters rely in part on a zinc-copper mixture called KDF-55, known to be quite effective at neutralizing “free” chlorine in chlorine-treated systems. Other common substances used to treat chlorine and chlorine compounds include calcium sulfite and activated or catalytic carbon. The most effective filters use these in some combination. The main thing I was able to test and verify was the best shower water filters’ ability to remove the total chlorine content of water coming out of your shower.

We’ve seen little evidence that the most common types of showerhead filters have much effect on the softness or hardness of water, or on calcium buildup. In fact, some early academic studies present evidence that they don’t. The shower filters we tested also had very little effect on the sum total of dissolved solids in our water, according to measurements with a TDS meter—i.e., the filters aren’t removing a large amount of materials or minerals from the water.

I wasn’t able to test claims by some companies that these filters remove heavy metals like lead and arsenic, which thankfully aren’t in my pipes. We only found one company, Weddell, whose filter was certified to remove leadr. So far, so good! Nonetheless, if you believe you have dangerous lead or arsenic in your water, you probably shouldn’t try to fix the problem with a mail-order showerhead. Talk to a water treatment professional or your public health authority.

Does My City Use Chlorine or Chloramine?

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If you live in a major US city, chlorine is likely not what your city uses to treat the water in its pipes. New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Phoenix use chlorine, sure. But Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, and most big cities in Texas don’t.

More than half of American big cities use a substance called chloramine, a more stable and enduring chemical that’s harder to filter and test. That’s also what was in my water supply. To test, I got out my handy digital water colorimeter and a somewhat nasty chemical indicator, and then tested the ability of each shower filter to treat any of a number of chlorine compounds in the water.

Curious whether your city uses chlorine or chloramine as a disinfectant in your pipes? Check here for an accounting of the 50 biggest municipal water systems in the United States.

Are Shower Filters Effective for Hard Water?

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No, probably not.

The best shower filters I tested will improve your water quality, largely by removing chlorine and chloramine compounds—and other contaminants that may include heavy metals.

But shower filters can only do so much. You probably shouldn’t expect these shower filters to soften the mineral hardness of your water or remove most substances, which derives mostly from dissolved calsium and magnesium salts in your water.

After all, a filter must be relatively small to fit into a showerhead. And yet it’s being asked to filter gallons of water each minute, pushed out at both high temperature and high pressure. A showerhead filter poses a daunting engineering challenge, as compared to countertop water filters that treat only a small amount of water at a time—or a bulky reverse-osmosis device that can plug into your under-sink plumbing

Hard water is more often solved by specific water softeners, reverse osmosis filters, and whole-house water filtration systems. Some early studies show that a number of shower filters may even add a small amount of hardness to your water, via calcium sulfite filters,

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