laptop) with no 3.5mm
audio support.
We know that the iPad Pro has
also dropped the headphone jack,
and folks didn’t break a sweat over
that. However, no one in their
right mind seriously expects a
laptop experience from an iPad,
while that’s exactly what we’ve
been trained to expect from a
Surface Pro. This is a major
detraction in our book, and
should be rectified in any
follow-up device.
As for typing on the new Type
Cover, it’s plenty comfortable and
impressively accurate for a
keyboard cover, though it does
bounce under key presses more
noticeably than before. We also
appreciate the ergonomic angle
staying with the new stowaway
barrel for the Surface Pen Slim.
While we’re at it, let’s discuss
the Surface Pen Slim. The stylus is
now flatter than before in order to
accommodate the new storing and
charging functions. However, it
feels just as pleasing and accurate
to doodle and draw with. All of the
standard pressure sensitivity is
present, and the display’s palm
rejection is still spot-on.
As for that display, it is a 13-inch
PixelSense touchscreen with a
2,880 x 1,920 resolution (267
pixels per inch) and a 3:2 aspect
ratio. This is a simply gorgeous
screen with excellent color, and
it’s also impressively bright at 450
nits. Honestly, we’re left a little
puzzled by the Surface Pro X
design. It certainly looks and feels
thinner, lighter and better than
previous Surface Pro models.
However, it drops the headphone
jack to achieve that thinness,
and that’s a really tough pill
to swallow.
Performance
Unfortunately, because of the
ARM-based processor, we were
only able to run Geekbench and
our video-based battery rundown
test on the Surface Pro X. That’s at
least enough for us to compare it
to its number one rival, the
iPad Pro.
So, how does Qualcomm’s
7-nanometer SoC compare against
the Apple A12X Bionic? Well, it gets
trounced, to be frank. We’ve seen
the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro
achieve numbers 40% to 50%
higher than the Surface Pro X in
the Geekbench 4 single- and-
multi-core tests. Granted, these
are two different operating
systems, but both processors were
designed specifically to perform
within their respective OSes, so
that explanation doesn’t fly
these days.
While day-to-day tasks, like
checking your emails, browsing the
web and creating documents in
Microsoft Office, ran pretty well on
the Surface Pro X, trying to do
anything more strenuous than that
could cause problems. You might
get away with editing photos and
other images on this tablet, but
that’s about the extent of it.Batterylife
Microsoft promises up to 13 hours
of mixed usage time for the
Surface Pro X, touted as one of the
tablet’s most appealing featuresdue to its new ARM-based silicon.
Well, we’re sad to say that this
hasn’t panned out in our testing.
The Surface Pro X did last longer
than the Surface Pro 7 (6 hours and
2 minutes) in our video rundown
battery test, but the older Surface
Pro 6 (8 hours and 45 minutes)
lasted nearly an hour longer than
this model from the Surface family.
This is more than likely due to
the even sharper display within the
Surface Pro X than its two
predecessors, not to mention brand
new silicon compared to the
umpteenth iteration of the 14nm
Intel processor in the Surface Pro 6.
In the end, while the Surface Pro
X battery life is undoubtedly long,
it’s just not as long as Microsoft’s
Pro 6, which holds the crown for
longest lasting Surface Pro tablet
to date.
If portability is your chief
concern in buying a new laptop,
then consider the Pro X for sure.
This is the thinnest, lightest
Surface to date, but it’s difficult to
recommend for most people.A fine looking
device, but only
for a very limited
group of users.We applaud the Surface Pro X for
its refined design, but it’s an ideal
device for a very small group.
TechLife