Review
Roderick Scott 0

If you told me 5 years ago that Microsoft could create a compelling tablet or laptop running Windows that could impress me, I would have told you to get the f*** outta here.  In complete and utter disbelief I would've been.  Fast forward to the present, Microsoft has been hard at work on all levels of engineering + design to bring us their 3rd-generation Surface Pro.  

Microsoft is aiming to make their most recent Surface, a replacement for your laptop.  They made sure to listen to their customers and offer vast overall improvements to the device.   But are the new changes + additions enough to make this a worthwhile productivity machine?  Who exactly is the Surface Pro 3 made for?  Is this hybrid machine the future of mobile computing?

We'll answer these questions and more in our in-depth assessment below.  

Surface Pro 3 TGSB

Surface Pro 3 TGSB

Design

Microsoft definitely had their best + brightest involved in crafting the 3rd-gen Pro.  Its metal (magnesium to be exact), lightweight, super-thin and bigger than previous models.  The even managed to utilize the innards of an Ultrabook without sacrifice.  As part of the many refinements & engineering ingenuity, there's a new fan technology involved to help with the cooling process.  To achieve this, the Surface team used thin fans around the processor instead of positioning them elsewhere in push the heat out.  All this while maintaining its super slim profile of 0.36inches thin and weighing in at 1.76lbs.  Job well done, Surface team!

Surface Pro 3 TGSB

Display

The Pro 3 sports a beautiful 12inch 2K (2160 x 1440 resolution) IPS display all while being relatively lightweight.  Very crisp images/text, accurate colors, and superb + versatile viewing angles.  That's not just drooling over this, the screen resolution is on par w/ Apple's Retina MacBooks and iPads as well.  Watching YouTube + Netflix content in HD as well as browsing Retina-ready sites look just as gorgeous.  The screen is 2inches bigger than last year's model as well as being thinner as well.  A truly beautifully display.

Surface Pro 3 TGSB

Performance/Battery Life

Arriving in a variety of configurations, our review model is packed w/ more of mid-to-higher end specs.  Our Pro 3 offers a 1.9GHz Intel Haswell Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD from Samsung, & utilizing Intel's HD 4000 GPU.   All of these pieces fit nicely inside and performs just as well. For the time being, it holds it own in regards to being able to live up to the name of being an actual productivity machine.  There are a few occasions were some programs will act up like Chrome and such but this happens on other computers as well.  

With these internals, what's not to love.  The battery life warrants no complaints as well. 

On the battery side of things, Microsoft is quoting this to give you up to 9 hours of juice.  Based on our testing, I got just below that in a single setting.  For our true battery testing, I've used it as true productivity machine while on-the-go.  Typed up half of this review on it, edited some photos, watched hours of YouTube content, and even video-chatted on Google hangouts w/ it.   The insane part about my usage is that out of all of things I used it for, Hangouts video was the one thing that murdered my battery.  Like it lasted for days w/ moderate use until that then straight to the charger afterwards.  So it won't last half a day like the Air but it still offers solid battery consumption.

Surface pro 3 TGSB

Using The Keyboard + Pen 

Sadly the Type Cover keyboard does not ship w/ the Pro 3,  But it is quite the necessity.  It can be used without it as the Pro 3 has an onscreen keyboard w/ a bigger display.  Typing on it feeling as natural as can be.  I mean its no Lenovo or MacBook Air but it good enough to get the job on-the-go.  Depending on how hard you type, the keyboard will either be perfect or not stable enough for different surfaces or your lap.  

The Surface Pen works as well as advertised.  The pen has 2 buttons on it where you can erase + You can write and draw using it damn-near zero lag when highlighting text + photos w/ it in browsers or writing/doodling in OneNote.  Thanks to the display's Palm Block technology, you can easily rest your hand on the display when writing or drawing as well.  Very nice, Microsoft.  

Screenshot (8)

Software

Handling the software side of things on the new Surface is Windows 8.1 Pro.  This is Microsoft's latest and greatest of their main bread-and-butter, the Windows OS.  Version 8.1 offers a more touchscreen + trackpad-friendly interface for ease of use for the most part.  And for those of you out there coming from Windows 7 or an older version of the OS minus the Metro UI, now has a great Help section to get started too.  

Windows 8.1 Pro TGSB

Whether you are snapping on multiple tabs for some dual-screen multitasking,  or just hanging around in the classic desktop mode.  The Windows Store is present on the OS.  It has a lot of the basic apps but no where near the numbers of the Google Play Store or the App Store.   It's not as bad the Windows Phone app situation but its not as vast as we'd like it to be.  Other than that, its Windows as usual.  

Surface Pro 3 TGSB

 

Sound

For your viewing on HD video content you gotta have great sound to go w/ it, right?  Microsoft agreed to this point as well.  They made sure to put in the one of the best when it comes to audio.  Armed w/ a array of stereo microphones + stereo speakers courtesy of Dolby.  Though small-looking, they're quite capable of pumping big sound through the front-facing dual speakers a la HTC's BoomSound.  Easily making the entertainment side of the Surface w/ the 2K display beautiful.

Kickstand

Microsoft 1st introduced the kickstand back on the original Surface.  While it was a different approach form a design aspect, it wasn't as practical as we would have liked it to be.  The 2nd one got a little bit better by adding an additional stop to it but now I think they nailed.  Now armed w/ a friction-based hinge that can get you anywhere from 22-degree to 150-degree angles.  Making it a true chameleon as you can use it on your desk, watch movies, or use better on your lap. 

Heat

With the Pro 3 tablet side being made completely of metal it handles the heat very well for many day-to-day processes.  On the gaming side of things is where it turns up - literally.  It starts to heat up for situations like this.  Although it is powerful,it can be expected to a computer of these specs to get a little hot in situations like this.  Other than extensive uses that will put the CPU and internals to the test, it does just fine. 

Surface Pro 3 Review TGSB

Think of the Surface Pro 3 as a Retina MacBook Air running Windows 8.1 Pro.

TG 2 Cents

This is the Surface that took 3 years to make and it was well worth the wait.  Impeccable hardware + software on a 12inch computer that's posing as a tablet hybrid device.  This is for anyone looking to have portability, productivity, & power on the Windows device.   Anyone looking to pick one up have to compare the good + bad that comes w/ buying a Pro 3.  The good news is that out of the box, you get a solid performing computer w/ pen.  The bad news is that the Type Cover keyboard doesn't come w/ it.  That's an additional $130 for you to pick up.  In my humble opinion, I would have either included the keyboard w/ the pen being a Pro device or at least make it $100 cheaper.  The Core i5 retails for around $1,300 then add the Type Cover, you're getting to Apple pricing.  Just something to consider.  

To Buy Or Not To Buy

As great as the Surface Pro 3 is, there are other compelling devices out in the market like the Lenovo Yoga Pro 2,or the MacBook Air to name a few.  The pricing is also something to consider as well.  Depending on your needs (more programs, less apps) this is the right tablet umm laptop for you - or not.  All of the cards are set.  All of the pieces are perfectly aligned.  If the Pro 3 fails it will either be the cause of bad marketing or the price point.  

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Categories: Must Reads Review

Author: Roderick Scott

Father. Husband. Creative. Mild foodie. Batman in my dreams.