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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fella1 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I use mine to read comics and graphic novels and the fan does not come on when for this activity. The screen really is the perfect size for it to.Tikcus9666 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
A regression in performance from SP2 to SP3 in intensive workloads, has made me wait on ordering the i7 version until this is reviewedIf the thermal limit is reached more quickly than the SP2, it may be a better buy (SP2) for me than an i7 pro 3 if under intensive workloads the i7 in the Pro 3 performs worse than the previous i5 in the SP2
Hrel - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
"given the substantial reduction in device thickness (and thus improvement in usability)"wat? Thinner doesn't make it easier to use... in any way shape or form. It's purely aesthetic.
ymcpa - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
There is a reduction in thickness and a reduction in weight. Plus the even weight distribution makes the device easier to hold. Go to a store and try it out.drunken - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
agree - it's not perfect as a tablet but the thinness makes it easier to useben.avellone - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
Great review! Glad to see the display size has increased, my SP2 feels a little cramped at times - such as when writing notes. Too bad gaming performance had to take such a hit in this iteration, but such are the realities of engineering design tradeoffs :/MarkieGcolor - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
What a stupid piece of junk this thing isGunbuster - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
How insightful, tell us more.Razzy76 - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I'd rather have this piece of junk than the piece of sh*t iPad and MacBook Air/Pro.OneOfTheseDays - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
I own the SP2 but skimped on this generation. I'm waiting for Broadwell, when they can really make this design sing with great battery life and less heat.Further, Windows9 is going to be a massive improvement in usability for hybrid devices.