Microsoft’s (MSFT) Surface line of products has been a continuous bright spot for the company ever since it transitioned from Windows 8 to Windows 10. The Surface 3 and Surface Pro
were fantastic tablet-laptop hybrids, and the Surface Laptop is a sleek
notebook. Meanwhile, the Surface Book is an impressive powerhouse of a
PC.
But
Microsoft’s offerings weren’t inexpensive. Until now, that is. Meet the
Surface Go, a $399, 10-inch version of the Surface tablet that’s meant
to be your, well, on-the-go machine. Commuting to work? Taking a flight?
Heading to class? This is the hybrid Microsoft believes can take on
Apple’s (AAPL) iPad Pro and Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) various Chromebooks.
And it does so admirably. The Surface Go
can run a full desktop version of Windows 10 and offers the kind of fit
and finish you’d expect from a Surface device. But the Surface Go isn’t
perfect. Its keyboard is a bit too cramped for my liking, and if you
want to do anything that requires serious performance, you’re out of
luck.
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Microsoft’s Surface Go is a pint-sized computer for working on the, well, go. But don’t expect it to replace your full-size PC.
The mini Surface
Microsoft’s
Surface division makes some of the best products ever to sport the
company’s logo. The brand’s trademark austere design, Alcantara
soft-touch keyboards and, of course, the built-in kickstand for its
2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrids, make for some attractive and useful
devices. And all of that is present in the Surface Go.
It’s
as if Microsoft’s head of hardware Panos Panay somehow got a hold of
the shrink ray from “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and decided to skip the
kids part and just shrink the 12.3-inch Surface Pro.
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The Surface Go is a a much smaller version of the standard Surface Pro.
There
are a handful of notable differences. The edges of the Go are just a
touch more rounded than those found on the Surface Pro. There’s also,
mercifully, a USB C port. The Surface Pro still comes with a full-size
USB port, which, at this point, is blasphemous. Especially, when you’re
buying a device that starts at $799.
Outside
of that, the Surface Go sports the same vibrant PixelSense display
found on the Surface Pro, meaning you’ll get brilliant colors and sharp
features out off the 10-inch panel. In other words, downsizing the
Surface doesn’t mean you’re getting a subpar visual experience.
Smaller isn’t always better
But
using Windows in desktop mode on a 10-inch tablet can also be a pain.
For example, my father, who doesn’t have the best vision, would have
trouble viewing text on the slate. It’s not something most people will
run into, but it’s definitely worth taking into account.
In
fact, I found the slate to be the perfect size for watching movies on
the bus and in the car. It’s also just about the right size to prop up
on my belly while catching up on “The Bachelorette” in bed.
My
one complaint with the Surface Go’s size is its keyboard. Like the
Surface Pro, the Go doesn’t come with a keyboard. Instead, you have to
shell out an extra $99 on a basic Surface Type Cover or $129 for a Surface Go Signature Type Cover complete with soft-touch Alcantara. And you’re going to need that keyboard to use many of the Microsoft Store apps on the Surface Go.
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The Alcantra-covered Surface Type Cover will cost you an extra $129.
As
far as usability, though, the Surface Go’s keyboard is on a par with
most Surface keyboards. There’s a good amount of key travel and the
angle at which it sits when magnetically connected to the Surface is
pleasant. But there’s a learning curve when it comes to typing on this
pint-size puppy.
When
I first began using the Surface Go’s keyboard, I regularly found myself
mistyping words or pressing the caps lock button when I wanted to press
the “A” key. Over time, though, I became more comfortable with the
keyboard and fell right back into my normal touch-typing habit. My
advice is if you have larger hands, or sausage-like fingers like me,
you’ll want to try the Surface Go Type Cover before making your
purchase.
Portable, not powerful
With
only so much room inside to pack a processor, storage and RAM,
Microsoft couldn’t pack the latest and greatest processor into the
Surface Go. Instead, the tech giant equipped the small slate with an
Intel Pentium Gold processor. That’s not going to give you the kind of
performance you’d expect out of a Core i5, or even Core i3 processor.
That’s
not to say that the Go crawls. On the contrary, I was able to have
multiple tabs open in Microsoft’s Edge browser, while running Spotify,
streaming Netflix and chatting on Slack without running into a problem.
That said, don’t expect to play any games on this thing outside of basic
tablet games.
But
the Surface Go comes loaded with Microsoft’s Windows 10 in S mode,
which limits you to only downloading apps from the company’s own
Microsoft app store. That means you’ll end up using the tech giant’s
Edge web browser rather than Google’s Chrome. You’ll get the best
performance out of the Go when it’s in S mode, since the hybrid was
specifically designed to work with it. But if you want to branch out to
different programs, you can always switch to full Windows mode.
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The Surface Go is a solid machine that’s great for productivity while you travel.
The
process takes less than five minutes and doesn’t even require a system
restart. I didn’t even notice the change over, and I was staring at the
Go the whole time.
But
Google’s Chrome is a resource hog. When I went back to browsing with
several tabs open, while streaming Spotify and Netflix and chatting on
Slack, I began to notice performance issues with the Go. Specifically,
websites, especially image-heavy sites like Polygon.com and our own
Yahoofinance.com began to load more slowly.
It’s
important to note that my test machine came with 8GB of RAM, which is
an upgrade from the base model of the Go which starts at $399. That
upgrade will cost you, though, as the 8GB model starts at $549, plus
thee extra $99 for the base keyboard.
Still,
the fact that the Go gives you the ability to use full desktop apps
makes it more useful than any Chromebook or Apple’s iPad Pro.
Should you get it?
I
rank the Surface Go above the iPad Pro and any of Google’s Chromebooks
when it comes to overall productivity. The iPad Pro’s keyboard isn’t
nearly as good as the Surface Go’s, despite its size, and Chromebooks
can’t run full desktop apps. As a straight-up tablet, the Pro wins, but
that’s not why you buy a Pro to begin with.
I
wouldn’t recommend that you purchase the Surface Go as your primary
device, though. This is a machine meant for use as a secondary PC you
can quickly get work done on and then go back to watching Hulu — which
is exactly what I’m going to do now.
Disclosure: The writer’s spouse works for a public-relations agency that contracts with Microsoft’s Xbox division.
