Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 23, 2014 3:55 AM ESTTablet Performance
The tablet performance comparison is as ridiculous as it's ever been. Surface Pro 3 is substantially faster than any ARM based tablet on the market. Web pages load quicker and you can play a completely different caliber of game on the device.
Tablet GPU Performance
All news isn't good though on the tablet front. Surface Pro 3 still struggles to behave completely like a tablet, despite finally gaining support for Connected Standby. Waking up the device from sleep still requires around 1300ms, a period that sounds small but feels like an eternity compared to an Android or iOS tablet.
WiFi
Marvell remains Microsoft's partner of choice when it comes to the WiFi implementation on Surface Pro 3. The updated design features a Marvell Avastar 88W8897 SoC supporting 2-stream 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. The SoC also features NFC support but it's not leveraged in Surface Pro 3.
WiFi performance is better than on Surface Pro 2. Peak performance improves from around 160Mbps to 260Mbps when connected at an 866Mbps link rate. I didn't notice any weird behavior or poor performance when connecting to WiFi networks, although as 2-stream 802.11ac implementations go this is hardly the fastest.
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mkozakewich - Monday, June 30, 2014 - link
Not as much to do with cost. They were trying for thinness. I doubt they'll thin it more next time, because its current size is actually very nice. They don't need to reach iPad levels, they just needed to get to an acceptable tablet size.For an "ideal tablet PC", you'd probably be doing a lot less, and not spending all your time rendering at 99% CPU usage. I'd set the power configuration to use as little power as possible, and that would probably give good thermal performance. For instance, I'm running my Surface Pro (original) at full brightness and also charging it, but the fan hasn't come on because I'm in power-saving mode.
nos024 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I don't mind not having an SD card slot as long as it has USB ports for a Windows based system. There's tons of USB flash drives that are dirt cheap as well as USB adapters for SD cards. I do mind if my phone or tablet (android-based) device doesn't have it.Also, I'd like to have a replaceable battery or so-called "end-user" replaceable battery. If the battery malfunctions, the system is basically toasted. I hate to have a battery to likes to overheat and not charge up properly just right outside the warranty period - like my tablet.
ymcpa - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
This has both a microsd and a USB port. You just won't get a user replaceable battery in premium products. the products that have one use a flimsy plastic cover. All devices that are thin and light weight and use premium materials also can't be opened easily. Although, the surface is near impossible to open. The ipad can be opened with some skill.mkozakewich - Monday, June 30, 2014 - link
This isn't a budget laptop/tablet, and it uses a premium battery. It should last a few years before you notice any wear, if you treat it right. They do have a battery-replacement program, too.savaytse66 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I'm pretty sure this does have a MicroSD slot that supports up to 128GB...mkozakewich - Monday, June 30, 2014 - link
If it's SDXC, it should support up to 2 TB.cparker09 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
The $200 price increase from 64 to 128 GB SSD is also accompanied by a move from i3 to i5. Seems like a decent price step up, considering they also need to differentiate units.Tigran - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
***In prolonged workloads you'll see a bit of a gap, and even a slight regression vs. Surface Pro 2 due to the thermal design targets for the new chassis***Isn't it due to higher screen resolution (1,440 x 2,160 vs 1,080 x 1,920)? I wonder how two identical GPUs (HD 4400) performed nearly equally while Pro 3 screen resolution is x1.5 higher than Pro 2.
randomhkkid - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
The resolutions are both set to 1080p.Tigran - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Thanks.