22 MAY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE387
AN INSTANTCONCERNabout the
Surface ProX,Microsoft’s
new premiertablet, is that it
recalls 2012’s Surface RT.This
was afabulous piece of hardwarrre
butcouldn’trunalotofregular
Windowsappsandthis,
ultimately,proveditsundoing.
Microsoftquicklychangeditsmmmindand
reinstatedfullWindowsonitsfuuuturehybrids
withtheSurfacePro.
Morerecently,however,Microsofthas
changeditsmindonceagainanddddecidedit’s
time foranother try. Thus,wehaaave the
MicrosoftSurface Pro X, whichruns full
Windows10but, once again, cannn’trunall
Windows10apps. Is history abooouttorepeat
itself all over again?
CLEANUP
Outwardly, the SurfacePro Xlooks much
like any other Surface hybrid,albeit with a
slightly refined design.Ithas a13in4:3 IPS
displayinaslim chassis that houses all of
the machine’s corehardware, and there’san
integrated kickstand at the reartoprop up
the screen at any angle of yourchoosing.
As with anyotherSurface Pro,the
detachable keyboard acts as aprotective
coverwhenstowed.Unfortunatttellly,iiittt’’’sstttiiillllll
anoptionalextra.Thatmeansyyyoushould
budget at leastanextra £130 fooorit,because
it’soptionalinname(andprice)))only.
Thereare anumber of smallcosmetic
differences between the Surface Pro Xand
the most recent Surface Pro7(((Shopper 38 5).
The Surface ProXisslimmer annndhasmore
gentlyroundedcorners,andinttthe space
above thekeyboardthere’s asmmmallslotin
which youcan stow the SurfaceeeSlim Pen,
wherethe stylus chargesquietlyyyas it
sleeps. This is amuch better solution
than the stick-it-on-the-side apppproachof
the Surface Pro 7.
The bigchanges, however,reeesidewithin.
Insteadofbeing equipped with an IntelCore
CPU andintegratedGPU,the Suuurface Pro X
featuresMicrosoft’s SQ1 chip,wwwhich is based
on Qualcomm’s Windows-on-Snnnapdragon
chip,the Snapdragon 8CX.
In asense, the Surface ProXXXis essentially a
giant smartphone and,inkeepinnngwiththat
heritage,ithas integrated 4G cooonnectivity,
allowing youtostayconnected without
having to faffaroundwith Wi-FFFipasswords.
You’ll have to payextra foradaaata planifyou
want to makethe most of this,however.
MICROSOFTSurfacePro X
★★★★★
£1,269•From http://www.microsoft.com
WINDOWS10 2-IN- 1
Viewedinthecontextofthepriceofthe
12.9in iPad Pro,the price of theMicrosoft
SurfacePro Xlooks almost reasonable and,
when it comestothe design, it’s definitelyup
there withApple’s flagship tablet.
It feels beautifully made, it’ssuper slim and
the screen takes up most of the front of the
chassis, with barely any bezels. And, despite
measuring 1.2mm thinner, 5mm narrower and
6mm taller than theSurface Pro7,the Surface
Pro Xhas alarger13in display. Not bad,
consideringthe chassisstill has roomfor the
Surface Pro’s trademark kickstand.
CONNECTION POINTS
As forconnectivity,the Surface Pro Xhas
two USB Type-C ports (onemorethan the
Surface Pro 7),both of which can be used for
charging. However,there’snoUSB Type-A
port–the chassis is just toothin –and no
3.5mm headset jack either, which is
somewhhhatttbbbafflfflffliiing.
VERDICT
Anupgradeddesignandlovelydisplayareovershadowedby
Windowscompatibilityissueswwwiththemobile-styleprocessor
TheMicrosoftSQ1SoChasintegrated4G
connectivitycourtesy ofQualcomm’s X 24
modem,and this isprettysimple toset up.
Either insert yourown SIM in the slot under
the kickstandoruse the tablet’se-SIM
capability to getitupand running.
In ahighly unusual (butnot unwelcome)
move,the system’sSSD is fully user
replaceable.Justpop out the smallaccess
hatch that sits under thekickstand(((aSIM
ejectortool works forthis), unscrew the Torx
screw holding theSSD in place andyou can
swap it outwithadrive of your choosing.
Be warned,however:you’ll need a22x30mm
M.2drive to replace it with, andthese aren’t
particularlyeasy to findcomparedtotheir
full-size equivalents.
PENPAL
As with all otherSurface Pro devices, the
keyboardattaches to the tablet body witha
stttrongmagnetttandacoupleoflugstohold
itinplace.
It’scoatedwwwithsoft,hydrophobic
Alcantara fabric on both sides,which feels
lovely under yooour palms, and the keys
themselvescombinegoodtravelwitha
sensible amount of feedback andplenty of
space aroundeeeachone.Typosonthis
keyboardare,mmmercifully, minimal.
The touchpppad is just as good. At
100x56mm insssize, it’s ever so slightly taller
and narrowerttthan theone on the Surface
Pro 7’s keyboaaard cover,but notsomuch as
would make atangible difference.
It works jussstfine with Windows 10’s
multitouch gessstures, and the clickisperfectly
weighted. Beinnngadiving-board-type touchpad,
you can’tclickitright at thetop edge,but
move your finggger acentimetre or so down
towards theceeentreand it works just fine.
The styluswwworks well, too. It has amore
flattened shape than the standardSurface
Pen, to helpitfitinthe keyboard charging
slot, butotherwwwiseits featuresare similar:a
button on the barrel and abutton/eraser
function on the topofthe stylus. It’s
pressure-sensitive,detects the angle of
the pen, enabliiing intuitiveshading, and it
