Computer Shopper – September 2019

ISSUE 379|COMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER (^2019103)
ASMALLER,CHEAPERversionof the
MicrosoftSurface Pro has always sounded
like agood idea, but don’t expect hardware
and performanceanywherenear that of the
Surface Pro 6. This is the topspec we’re
testing, and it only has adual-coreIntel
Pentium 4415Y processor,along with 8GB
of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage.
In typical Surface fashion, you also
need to buy the Type Cover keyboard
separately,at£99 forthe basic versionor
£125 forthe hydrophobicAlcantaramodel.
Still, aminimumtotal of £608 makes this a
cheaperalternativeto comparable2-in-1s
such as the SamsungGalaxy TabS4(Shopper
370) and 10.5in iPad Pro (Shopper 356).
LEISURELYPACE
The main drawbackis speed. The Surface Go
scored 2,050 in the single-coreGeekbench 4
test, rising to 4,026 in the multicoreportion.
That’s slow comparedto Apple’s iPad and
iPad Pro devices, and is demolishedby every
comparableAndroiddevice,too.Nor did it
shine in our own Windows-based
benchmarks,with an overall score of 20 being
one of the slowestwe’ve seen this year.
Then again, benchmarksdon’t always tell
the whole story,asthe Surface Go proved
perfectly serviceablein normal,everydayuse.
We wouldn’t want to edit video on it, but for
browsing,writing Word documentsand
renderingPDFs, it’s just fine.
Windowscan still be abit claustrophobic
on the 10in touchscreen–agood reason to
invest in the Type Cover and it’s generously
sized trackpad–but technically,it’s aterrific
display. Aresolutionof 1,800x1,200translates
intoasharp 217ppi, and with amaximum
brightnessof 426cd/m^2 it’s readableoutside
in all but the brightest outdoor conditions.
We were pleasantlysurprisedby its colour
accuracy,too: arespectable90% sRGB
gamut coverage is backedup by asuperb
average delta-Eof 1.44.
One inconvenienceis that, by default,
the Surface Pro runs Windows10 in S
mode,which means you can only install
apps from the MicrosoftStore,thus
adding alayer of securitybut limitingwhat
you can run. Luckily,it’s easy enough
(and free) to switch to Windows 10
Home instead, althoughWindows 10
Pro will cost an extra £120.
We were suppliedwith the basic
black keyboardrather than the
MICROSOFT
SurfaceGo
★★★★★
£509•From http://www.microsoft.com
VERDICT
It’snotthemostpowerfulorlongest-lasting
2-in-1,buttheSurfaceGoisstillacharming
mobilecompanion
premiumversionpictured,but unless you
desperately want water resistanceit’s no
second-rateperipheral.It looks nice,matching
the black bezels of the tablet, and the backlit
keys are extremelyenjoyable to type upon.
The main keys are large enoughthat you
shouldn’t hit their neighboursby mistakeand,
while it is small comparedto most 2-in-1
keyboards,we had no difficultieshitting the
same level of touch-typing speeds as normal.
There’s also areasonableamountof travel on
the keys, and theydon’t make much noise
when you bash down; always apositive fora
machinedesignedforuse on your travels.
SOFT POWER
Microsoftagain goes its own routewith its
choice of connections.Along with the
proprietarymagneticconnector that holds
the keyboardin place,there’s amicroSD slot,
aSurface Connectport and aUSB Type-C
port, which can be used forperipherals,
chargingor as adisplayoutput.
You’ll be refuellingquiteoften: Windows
10 is inherentlyamore power-intensive
operatingsystem to run than iOS or Android,
and becauseyou have afull x86 processor
inside,itconsumesmore electricitythan the
ARM chips inside its rivals.
Sure enough,the Surface Go only lasted
foramodest 6h 44m in our video rundown
test, well short of the nine hours Microsoft
says you can get out of it. It’s still not terrible,
but the 10.5in iPad Pro and SamsungGalaxy
TabS4both did farbetter in the same test,
scoring12h 59m and 17h 10m respectively.
This all leaves the Surface Go in atricky
position.On the one hand, you will never get
the same range of keenly priced tablet-
focused apps as on iOS; the apps you can
buy from MicrosoftStore are mostly
repackagedpieces of software designedfor
Windowswith amouse and keyboard,not to
be used with touch.
We must also reiteratethat we reviewed
the high-endmodel with 8GB of RAM and a
128GB SSD.We’dsteer clear of the 4GB/64GB
Surface Go fornumerousreasons:forone,
our 128GB unit had around110GB of usable
storage,soyou’d only get 46GB of space with
the lesser spec. More annoyingly,itwill feel
much more sluggishin use: 4GB of RAM is
right at the limit of Windows10’s usability,
while an eMMC drive is also apoor choice.
LITTLE FRIEND
With those caveats in place,there are
numerouspositivesthat earn the Surface Go
aRecommendedaward: the keyboard
is truly excellentand turns this
machineintoafully fledgedlaptop
when you need it; the screen is
superb,making this agreat tablet for
watching videos; and it’s more versatile
than any of its rivals –even the iPad Pro
–with its ability to run any Windows
software,old or new,atleast once you
upgradeto Windows10 Home.It’s especially
pleasantto be able to use aproper file
system, which lets you move files without
having to perform mental gymnastics.
If you’re the sort of person who’s
been frustrated by tablets before
becausetheycan’t do all the things
you want, then we urge you to take
alook at the Surface Go.
VALUE