Microsoft Surface 3 review: a tablet to replace your laptop?
Laptop-tablet hybrid does a passable impression of both devices, but is still no match for the purebreds, reviewers say
Microsoft's early attempt to win customers from both the laptop and the tablet markets with its crossover device, the Surface, was regarded by many within the industry as a valiant failure. But with each new iteration, the company has refined and improved on the original, getting closer to a device that can genuinely compete in both categories.
So can the Surface 3 finally succeed where its predecessors have fallen short?
Microsoft Surface 3 design
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Surface 3 looks very much like its immediate forebears, the Surface RT and Surface 2, The Guardian says. The device manages to shave some size and weight off the previous models. At 8.7mm thick and weighing 622g it is 2mm thinner and 54g lighter than the Surface 2. But compared with most tablets, it is still on the heavy side. The iPad Air 2, for example, is 6.1mm thick and weighs 437g.
Curiously, the Surface 3 does not come with one of the key components that marks it as a crossover device: a keyboard. The Type Cover keyboard is sold separately and costs a hefty £109.
Microsoft Surface 3 display
The Surface 3's 10.8in full HD screen delivers "excellent image quality", PC Pro says: "Colours are vivid and richly saturated", and while the brightness and contrast are not as good as the Surface Pro models "colour accuracy is competitive."
Microsoft Surface 3 pen
The pen for the Surface 3 does everything its predecessors could do, and introduces a few "new tricks", Engadget says. It now supports hovering and the top button can be used as a rubber with some apps.
The button on the pen can also wake the device up. But there is still no place to stow the pen within the device, Engadget notes, meaning that it you are "on your own when it comes to making sure you don't lose your writing implement".
Microsoft Surface 3 Type Cover
Because the Surface 3 is a different size to its predecessors, owners of previous generations of Surface won't be able to use their old Type Covers. Fortunately the latest covers are a "big improvement" on previous editions, with keys that light up and a magnetic hinge that easily connects the cover to the tablet. In fact, the Type Cover is "the cleverest bit of engineering about the Surface line," says CNet.
Microsoft Surface battery
The Surface 3's battery is better than any other model, including the Surface Pro 3, but not by a great deal. The Surface 3 will run for seven hours and 41 minutes, a 13-minute improvement on the Surface Pro 3, which runs for 7 hours 28. However, this still doesn't come close to a PC laptop, CNet notes.
Microsoft Surface 3 software and apps
The Surface 3 comes with a year's free subscription to Office 365 Personal, which would normally set you back £60. However, the device still runs on Windows 8, which is "the least good mobile Operating System", PC Advisor says. The interface is neither "slick nor intuitive", but the greatest problem is the apps. "Even when you can get the one you want, it's usually inferior in quality or features (or both) to the iOS or Android version," the site says.
Conclusions
At the £419 starting price, "this all sounds like rather good value," Pocket Lint says, "but add the £109 keyboard and the £528 total is pushing towards more powerful mid-level laptop territory".
The Surface 3 works well and does a "passable impression of a laptop", PC Pro says, and it will be perfect for anyone who already knows that they want a Windows tablet. But for anyone else, it "doesn’t really compete well with non-Windows tablets like the iPad Air or larger Samsung Galaxy Tabs", the site concludes.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week Junior
Spark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
By The Week Published
-
Why is Microsoft breaking up Teams and Office?
Today's Big Question The company had previously divided the software in Europe, but will now make this change globally
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suit
Speed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Apple kills its secret electric car project
Speed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The pros and cons of virtual reality
Pros and cons The digital world is expanding, for better and for worse
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The Apple Vision Pro's dystopian debut
Why everyone's talking about Is "spatial computing" the next big thing?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
2023: the year of the AI boom
the explainer This year, generative artificial intelligence bypassed the metaverse and became the next big thing in tech
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Inside Sam Altman's 'extraordinary firing' from OpenAI
The Explainer AI superstar joins Microsoft after 'philosophical disagreement' with his old board that stunned tech world
By The Week UK Published
-
Why Apple's carbon-neutral claims may be misleading
Speed Read The company isn't disclosing all the information, a new report alleges
By Devika Rao Published