Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 23, 2014 3:55 AM ESTDisplay Analysis
I published an analysis of Surface Pro 3's display shortly after receiving my review unit. For those of who you haven't seen it already, the results and analysis are reprinted below.
With Surface Pro 3, Microsoft finally accepts that while 16:9 may be a great aspect ratio for watching movies but it's not optimal for a multi-purpose tablet. The tablet features a 12" 2160 x 1440 display (RGB stripe, not RGBW/PenTile), which ends up being a 3:2 aspect ratio. The difference is immediately noticeable in notebook-style use. While the Surface Pro 2 was never quite all that comfortable to use as a laptop, Surface Pro 3's display makes it substantially more laptop-like. There doesn't appear to be a big impact to tablet use either with the larger display. Particularly with Windows 8.1's split screen mode, the larger display ends up working extremely well. The LCD continues to be laminated to the cover glass just like with previous Surfaces.
Default 150% Scaling on Surface Pro 3, the 2160 x 1440 display behaves like a HiDPI 1440 x 900 display
Color accuracy is improved out of the box as well. The original Surface Pro had a display capable of being quite accurate, if calibrated, but out of the box it was a bit of a mess. Microsoft slowly improved out of box calibration over the years, eventually culminating in what we have today with Surface Pro 3.
Max brightness drops a bit compared to Surface Pro 2, likely due to the Pro 3 having 50% more pixels to light. Black levels at max brightness are pretty good, thanks in part to Microsoft's optically bonded LCD/cover glass stack. Contrast ratio remains competitive with previous designs.
Grayscale accuracy is the biggest issue with the new display, green levels are just way too high:
Our basic sRGB gamut test paints a great picture for Surface Pro 3. Full saturation color reproduction is excellent:
The saturation sweep also looks solid:
Unfortunately Surface Pro 3 doesn't do so well on our GMB color checker test. Part of the problem is its performance in the grayscale swatches included in this test:
Overall the Surface Pro 3 display is a huge improvement over the previous two generations, but it doesn't quite meet the high standards set by some of the other competitors on the market today from both notebook and tablet spaces.
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darwinosx - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
True since in a month or two it will be in the bargain bin because nobody buys it.at80eighty - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
that was hilarious usernameOSXbasroil - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
SP2 never changed in price since it's release, despite idiots claiming it would. The only time the device will drop in price is when the SP4 comes out.MarcSP - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Severely compromised, depending on your needs. I mean, for average office work, email, non-heavy programs it is more than adecuate. Surface 2 has half the RAM and a much inferior SoC, and I can work quite well with it.Sure, if you want to load 500MB raw images or things like that, it's not enough.
My main laptop has GB RAM and a 2 generations old Corei, and I never feel underpowered (of course, I don't play new games on it). I use Audacity, Gimp, Office and dozens of programs totally fine. Never had a "low memory warning" or anything similar.
The storage, somehow agree, but you can just get later a 128GB microSD. Not the same, but better than nothing and quite inexpensive. And the USB3 can help when at home with an external HDD/SSD.
MarcSP - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
"My laptop has 4GB of RAM""I never feel it underpowered"
Damn no "edit" :-/
mkozakewich - Monday, June 30, 2014 - link
I don't agree with the bundling. Everyone says it requires the keyboard cover, and I agree, but the packaging is far simpler if buyers have the option of choosing their cover separately, and in whichever colour they want. Or they could save $130 if they really don't care and already have a bluetooth keyboard.The proper way to handle this is to include the keyboard price in any discussion of the Surface family's pricing. For one, the chart of prices in this very article should have started at $928 for the base model, and continued from there.
Microsoft should really be talking about the price differently than it has, too. Like, show it for $928, then put some subtext about it being separate $799 and $129 purchases.
For $928, the base model is still a fairly good value.
euskalzabe - Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - link
No, what people are saying is that the type cover should be included in those $799, not bundled for more money.cryptech - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
^This. Any way I try to grock the Surface Pro it’s not appealing. Why would I wan’t an awkward ultraportable with terrible battery life or a heavy, hot and overpriced tablet with a fan?kyuu - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
What ultraportables have better battery life asides from the MacBook Air?Since when is something that weighs the same as an iPad 2 "heavy"? Why is something that has less heat issues than the iPad Air "hot"?
What other tablets with equivalent internals are so much cheaper that the Surface is "overpriced"?
You are right that it has a fan, though. Oh noes.
kyuu - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
My bad, I was confusing the iPad 2's thickness and weight. So the SP3 does weight about a quarter pound more than the iPad 2. Whoop de doo. Considering that drastic difference in what it can do, it seems a small price to pay. Same goes for fan noise (which is only an issue during intensive workloads, you're not going to hear it while web browsing).If you must have a super-light and passively cooled tablet, that's cool. There are plenty of those around. Even ones that run full Windows. The Surface Pro line isn't about competing with oversized smartphones like the iPad.