Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 21, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Surface Pro 2
Final Words
Surface Pro 2 is a good improvement over its predecessor. The platform is quicker, quieter and boasts longer battery life as well. The new kickstand is awesome, as are the new touch/type covers, and the new display is a big step in the right direction. If you were tempted by the original Surface Pro, its successor is a solid evolution and that much more tempting.
I really like using Surface Pro 2 and Windows 8.1 in general as a productivity focused tablet OS. The screenshot below really helps illustrate what I would love to do on most tablets, but what I can only do (well) on a Surface:
Writing an article on the left, touch enabled web browsing on the right. Switching between both applications is seamless, and I’m just as fast (if not faster) from a productivity standpoint on Surface Pro 2 than on a traditional notebook/desktop – at least for this usage model. There’s really something very compelling about having the best of both worlds in one system. I literally can’t do this well on any other tablet, and ultimately that’s what Microsoft was trying to achieve with Surface. You can do it with Surface 2, you can just do it a lot better with Surface Pro 2.
When Surface Pro first launched, it wasn’t just a good device, it was arguably the best Ultrabook on the market. Surface Pro 2 launches into a much more competitive marketplace. I don’t know if I can make the same statement about it vs. Ultrabooks today. That’s not a bad thing as it is still a very different type of device, but it does make for a more difficult buying decision.
Surface Pro 2 isn’t the perfect notebook and it isn’t the perfect tablet. It’s a compromise in between. Each generation, that compromise becomes smaller.
What I was hoping for this round was an even thinner/lighter chassis, but it looks like we’ll have to wait another year for that. Battery life is still not up to snuff with traditional ARM based tablets, and Surface Pro 2 seems to pay more of a penalty there than other Haswell ULT based designs – I’m not entirely sure why. Parts of the rest of the world have moved on to things like 802.11ac and PCIe based SSDs. Microsoft appears to be on a slightly strange update cadence with its Surface lineup, and for the brand’s sake I hope we see that rectified next round. It’s not enough to just put out a good product, you have to take advantage of all technologies available, when they are available. Just like last year, my recommendation comes with a caution – Surface Pro 2 is good, I’m happier using it than I was with last year’s model, but the Broadwell version will be even better. What’s likely coming down the pipe are improvements in the chassis and in battery life. You’ll have to wait around a year for those things, if you can’t, then this year’s model is still pretty good.
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Freakie - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
I don't think they're playing it safe, or trying to get larger profit margins for that matter, I think that if they added all the features and specs that most of us would agree should have been in the Pro 2 (better cameras for example) then it would detract from the Surface 2 and Microsoft refuses to give up Windows RT. It's just them try to save an obviously sinking ship. I wish they just let it sink and put the Surface Pro 2 where it should be.But then again, that would probably upset many OEM's who don't make devices as good as the Pro 2 and so they have another incentive there to not do it.
melgross - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
It would also have raised the price, and it's already pretty expensive as it is.I remember that just before the iPad first came out, there were surveys that showed
that only a small percentage of people would buy a tablet if it cost more than $800. That was for any tablet, running any OS. This is well over that, particularly once you add the required keyboard/cover.
And now that the trend is to think that $499 for a full size tablet is on the high side, the price for those is way too high already. I doubt that most people would ever think that a tablet, any tablet, is worth more than a notebook, touchscreen or not.
Nuno Simões - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
This the review for the Surface Pro, wich is an ultrabook, not a tablet.Rezurecta - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Yes, you can say its driving the ecosystem in the right place. The productive tablet is where we need to be. Too much consumption with traditional tablets.Babar Javied - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Why use a "productive tablet" when you can get an ultra-book for the same price yet with better specs and more battery life?What is the difference between a productive tablet and an ultra-book anyway??
rituraj - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
The difference is the digitizer. I think if someone is not interested in the pen input, this device is not for them AT ALL. It's too heavy to be used as a consumption device where you can hold it above your head on the bed, at the same time it is uncomfortable for productivity purposes if that means a lot of typing. But, if productivity means using the pen input, then this is a killer device. Just read the review by Gabe as suggested by Anand in the intro page and it is clear that it is almost a blessing for people who ink for a living.here is a thought. Although this device has been presented as a general consumer device, I seriously doubt it. People wanting this much power in a tablet are not a lot in number. They are professional artists & designers like Gabe from Penny Arcade. Engineers, Teachers, Engineering and designing students may also crave for such a device although the price is quite high for students. So if the pen means very little for someone this is just not the thing to get.
backbydemand - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
"What is the difference between a productive tablet and an ultra-book anyway??"Are you brain dead? When was the last time you could take a keyboard off your ultrabook and use it as a tablet?
cknobman - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
If your comparing a Nexus to the Surface Pro you have no clue what your talking about.As an owner of a Surface Pro, Surface RT, and a Google Transformer tablet I can tell you in no way does an Android tablet come close to a Surface Pro much less a Surface RT.
The Surface family are brilliant products that actually do what I want out of a tablet. They offer a great platform for consuming AND creating content.
Only knock I can give either Surface is Microsoft is pricing them a little to high. Android is garbage when it comes to something productive and the marketplace is such a huge sh!tpile that I gave up wasting my time sifting through the apps because every single app (even if it starts out great) turns into a resource hog always running in the background transmitting data even if you tell it not to.
Frenetic Pony - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
The Surface Pro (1) was perfect for me, last year. Had I waited 4 months and known about it I would have gotten one instead of the current ultrabook I'm typing this on. It was priced perfectly competitively, and the only real product in it's category (very high performance tablet thing) that even existed.The 2 is still the only product in it's category, but with a drop in TDP I'm disappointed it's not thinner and lighter. Since I'm planning on replacing my ultrabook in the next two years I do agree that another update such as this one would be a disappointment. Here's to a thinner and lighter Surface Pro next year, preferably with a large improvement in GPU performance considering that's the big Broadwell performance upgrade.
CecileWamsley - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
My Uncle Riley recently got a great Cadillac CTS-V Wagon just by working online with a macbook... check out the post right here... http://smal.ly/8wUo2