LOOK, WE WERE REALLY excited about
this one. The Surface Pro series has
long offered some of the best tablets
in the biz, their detachable keyboards
providing a sleeker experience than most
two-in-one convertible laptops. While
the Surface Pro 7 delivered high-quality
performance across all areas, thanks to
its 10th-gen Intel Core CPU, its chassis
was familiar, all hard silver edges and
chunky bezels. The Pro X looked like
the breath of fresh air that the Surface
really needed: a total redesign of the
exterior and peripherals, coupled with a
custom-built processor using a hybrid of
Microsoft and Qualcomm’s technology.
It should have been awesome. Yes, we
knew the ultrathin new design was going
to cause a hit to computing performance,
and the lack of Intel’s Iris Plus integrated
graphics was a shame, but the Pro 7 and
Pro X appeal to somewhat different target
audiences anyway. The Pro 7 is a bulkier,
more powerful machine, while the Pro X
was clearly designed for the consumer
who absolutely must have the best-
looking tablet on the morning commute.
But there’s a glaring problem with
the Pro X, an elephant in the room that
Microsoft seems uncomfortable to
address. The Microsoft SQ1 processor
that powers this hybrid tablet is the first
of its kind, a 3GHz ARM-based chip with
integrated graphics. Unfortunately, that
means we’re looking at an ARM-based OS
running adapted versions of Windows 10
and Microsoft Office.
If you’re not familiar with ARM-based
systems, allow us to give you a quick
breakdown of the benefits; in otherX is not gonna give it to ya
Microsoft Surface Pro X
5
VERDICT Microsoft Surface Pro XPROFESSOR X Excellent
exterior design; great
peripherals; LTE is good.
X RATED Significant compatibility issues;
no headphone jack; unimpressive battery.
$1,499, http://www.microsoft.comSPECIFICATIONSProcessor Microsoft SQ1
Graphics SQ1 Adreno 685 GPU
RAM 16GB LPDDR4x
Screen 13-inch PixelSense
(2880x1920)
Storage 256GB NVMe SSD
Keyboard Detachable island-style
backlit with Slim Pen
Ports
2x USB-C, 1x Surface
Connect port, Surface
Keyboard connector port,
1x nano SIM
Connectivity Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac, Bluetooth
5.0, Qualcomm X24 LTE
Weight 1.7lb
OS Windows 10 Homewords, why Microsoft chose to utilize one
for the Pro X. In theory, ARM processors
are cheaper, more power efficient, and
faster, although that last one comes with
a caveat: ARM chips perform one task at a
time to speed things up, which can cause
issues if you want to multitask. These
chips are most commonly found in mobile
devices such as smartphones, Android
tablets, and handheld games consoles.
So, here’s the problem: The SQ1 can’t
run 64-bit software. That means no
Photoshop (or any of Adobe’s Creative
Cloud suite), no AutoCAD, and very few
benchmarks for us. We weren’t able to
get any games running on it at all—a
stark contrast to the surprisingly good
casual gaming performance that the
Pro 7 offers. While you’ll note that we did
manage to get a figure out of 3DMark’s
Fire Strike benchmark, be aware that the
tablet crashed twice before successfully
completing the test.
A small handful of ARM-enabled
software is good to use, and the Pro X can
run older 32-bit programs via a hidden
emulator, but even that turns out to be a
bit wonky. The 32-bit version of Chrome
was noticeably slower than Edge, despite
the Pro X model we reviewed having
plenty of memory.
If you think you can get along fine with
32-bit software, that should be fine. In
theory. The benefits of the ARM platform
could outweigh the compatibility issues,
but unfortunately they just don’t. The
Pro X doesn’t feel remotely faster than
the Pro 7, and the supposedly “all-day”
battery life is weak, failing to cap 10 hours
even with reduced brightness. The onlynotable benefit is the SQ1 chip’s built-in
LTE connectivity, which allows you to plug
in a SIM for some 4G wireless. The lack
of a headphone jack truly sucks, though.
The external hardware is undeniably
impressive. The Pro X sports a sleeker
new chassis, only available in black, with
a much smaller bezel than the previous
Surface models. The screen within that
bezel is bright, colorful, and responsive to
touch control. The detachable keyboard
cover and Surface Pen have also had a
facelift, with the new Slim Pen snapping
magnetically into a wireless charging
dock on the keyboard. As such, they now
come as a unit, although the pair will set
you back $270.
Pricing on the Surface Pro X is similarly
harsh, with the cheapest model costing
$999. Our review model uses 16GB of
RAM alongside a 256GB SSD—not much
storage for the high price of $1,499. When
the performance struggles to match
that of laptops worth less than $500,
the rest of the price is feasibly supposed
to make up the ultralight design, but
ultimately? It’s not worth it, and frankly,
we’re disappointed. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONOur notebook zero-point is the HP Spectre X360, with an Intel Core i7-8565U, integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, and
8GB of DDR4-2400. Rise of the Tomb Raider is tested at 1080p at the highest graphical profile.BENCHMARKS
ZERO-
POINT
Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 561 DNF
CrystalDisk QD32
Sequential Read (MB/s) 3,100^938 (-70%)
CrystalDisk QD32
Sequential Write (MB/s)^557 723 (30%)
3DMark: Fire Strike (Index) 1,062 773 (-27%)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps)^5 DNF
PCMark 8 (Index ) 2,543 DNF
Battery Life:
Movie Playback (Mins)^840 547 (-35%)
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