HWM Singapore – June 2019

TEST

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 6

The Surface Pro is arguably the

most important device in Microsoft’s

Surface line-up. After all, it was

the Surface Pro that catapulted

Microsoft’s hardware division to

pro tability all those years ago. The

Surface Pro 6 was announced last

October, and unfortunately, it is

showing signs of age.

Its design is largely

unchanged and the

tablet itself measures

8.5mm thick making

it very portable. The

display is still a handy

12.3-inches and is

one of the best things

about the device. It

has a high resolution

(2,736 x 1,824 pixels)

with vibrant and accurate colors.

What’s not so great about the

Surface Pro 6 is that it has the same

ports as its predecessors. This

means a single USB-A USB 3.0 port

and a Mini-DisplayPort. While the

USB 3.0 port is undeniably useful,

Mini-DisplayPort has seen limited

use lately. But more crucially, the

lack of USB-C is striking and can

be a deal breaker for some. Also,

essential accessories like the Type

Cover keyboard and Surface Pen

are all sold separately and add a

substantial amount to the total

cost of the device.

Inside, the Surface Pro 6 is

powered by Intel’s 8th generation

Core processors. Take note,

however, that it isn’t the newer

Whiskey Lake variant, but rather

based on Kaby Lake R. Whiskey Lake

would have off ered slightly more

performance and battery life, but

in the real world, most users will

probably not be able to notice the

diff erence in performance. That said,

if you insist on having the latest and

greatest, this is something to keep

in mind.

The Surface Pro 6 comes in

 ve con gurations, with a choice

between Core i5 and Core i7

processors; 8GB and 16GB of

memory; and 128GB

all the way up to 1TB

of storage. The unit

we tested came with

a Core i5 processor,

8GB of memory, and

256GB of storage.

While we would have

loved to compare the

Surface Pro 6 with a

Core i7 like the HP

and Lenovo, we were

unable to obtain one at the time.

However, con guring the Surface

Pro 6 with similar specs as the HP

and Lenovo would actually make

it more expensive than both its

competitors. You can get a cheaper

version with 128GB of storage, but

our tested con guration should

really be the minimum to consider.

General computing performance

was decent for a Core i5 machine,

but graphics was disappointing. We

also discovered that the Surface Pro

6 was prone to throttling, where

performance would dwindle when

running intensive apps for extended

periods of time.

On the  ip side, battery life was

quite good. Despite our intensive

battery of tests, the Surface Pro

6 lasted over three and a half

hours. Coupled with its compact

footprint and lightweight design, this

makes the Surface Pro 6 an ideal

productivity device for those who are

frequently on the move.

Compact. Brilliant display.

Performance throttling.

Accessories sold separately.

Accessories like this Signature

Type Cover keyboard and the

Surface Pen are pricey and are

sold separately.

The Surface Pro 6 only has

a single USB 3.0 port and a

Mini-DisplayPort.

ATA GLANCE

CAPACITY

12.3-inch

MEMORY TYPE

IntelCorei5-8250U

INTERFACE

8GB

STORAGE

256GB

PRICE

$1,788

58 HWM | JUNE 2019