The Surface 3 Review

Surface 3 Design

For those familiar with the Surface line, and especially the Surface Pro 3, looking at the new Surface 3 is not going to shock you. It is certainly an evolution of the line and not a revolution. It still features the same magnesium body which really feels great in the hand. It really is unlike aluminium in feel, and I find that the Surface 3 texture gives plenty of grip, unlike some polished devices.

Microsoft paid a lot of attention when building these tablets, and their efforts are clearly seen all over. I have already discussed the kickstand when it is open, but when it is closed, it sits absolutely flush with the body, and the body has an angled edge to it, which the kickstand also must have. The power button and volume button both fit very snug and have a great clicky feel.

The biggest and best change to the design is what carries over from the Surface Pro 3; the 3:2 aspect ratio. 16:9 is really not ideal for a tablet in either orientation. In portrait mode, it is much too tall and skinny, and in landscape mode, the tablet is too long and can feel unbalanced.

Surface 3 over Surface 3 Pro

The move to 3:2 is a revelation for tablet use, and the Surface 3 is a much better tablet than even the Surface Pro 3. It is smaller, thinner, lighter, and just easier to hold. The smaller version is really quite good to use in portrait mode, which is something that could never have been said of Surface RT or Surface 2. I’m not sure if we have found a “perfect” aspect ratio for a tablet, but 3:2 offers a lot of advantages and very few drawbacks. It is better in landscape for actual productivity tasks thanks to the extra vertical space, and better for portrait because of the more balanced width.

One of the other great design features that Microsoft has been able to incorporate into the Surface line is front facing speakers. Sound does not travel well through things, so having the speakers pointed backwards just can’t compete. The best part of the speakers on the Surface line is just how inconspicuous they are. There are two tiny slots on the upper sides of the tablet (when in landscape) and they blend in surprisingly well with the black bezels, to the point where you may not even notice them unless you have the device in the right kind of lighting. We will see later on just how well they sound, but the placement of them is great.

The port selection is good too, and this is what helps Surface to be a laptop. There is a mini-DisplayPort on the upper right side, and just under that is a USB 3.0 port. This full sized port lets you connect almost anything to the tablet. In addition, there is an audio jack at the bottom right side, and in between the USB and audio is the charging port.

Microsoft has always used a proprietary charging connector on all of the Surface devices. The original Surface RT had a magnetic charger which would stick on to the device, and light up. It was reversible too, so you could connect it either way. The original had some issues with connections, and they tweaked the design. However for the Surface 3, they have ditched that connector completely and went with a standard micro-USB connector.

The use of micro-USB has some advantages and drawbacks. The advantage is that you can now charge the Surface 3 with any cord you already have for almost all smartphones (only Apple doesn’t use micro-USB) so that is a win. The drawback though is that micro-USB charging is generally power limited to only a handful of watts. A typical phone charger may only be five watts, and some of the better ones will be ten. The Surface 3 comes with a thirteen watt charger. Later we will see what effect that has on charge times, but it really is not a lot of power.

I think it is a missed opportunity to not be forward leaning on the charging port and use a USB Type-C connector. This would keep the reversible nature which is much better than what they have now, and Type-C can handle much more power (without ever going out of spec) offering them the opportunity to supply a bigger charger. Going to micro-USB now feels like a step backwards to be honest. Because the Surface already has a full sized USB port, you don’t run into the problems like the Macbook where it is only one Type-C. Type-C is the future, and not seeing it on this device makes it take a step back in the past.

The bottom of the Surface 3 keeps the now familiar magnetic connector and pins for the keyboard, and a groove runs along the bottom for the keyboard to fit in to.

On the top of the Surface is a slightly different color strip of plastic which will be the RF transparent window for all of the necessary antennae. I like that they did not try to color match the device because the contrast makes for a much nicer look, and trying to color match metal and plastic can end up looking poorly, especially over time. The plastic strip also features the 8 MP rear camera.

When you look at tablet design in the Windows world, there really is Surface and everything else. The device just feels solid, and the magnesium finish is so great to hold in the hand. The fit and finish of the Surface is as good as any other device on the market.