Has Microsoft at last crafted a tablet that can reasonably, without considerable compromise, replace your laptop? Short of going back to the drawing board on the battery, this looks as close as it's going to get.
FOR
- Larger, sharper screen within same dimensions
- Vastly improved Type Cover
- Even better Surface Pen
AGAINST
- Type Cover still sold separately
- Intel Core m3 at entry level
- Battery life hasn't improved much
Recent developments
Although it’s starting to show its age, Microsoft hasn’t quit when it comes to the Surface Pro 4. If you’re in the UK, for example, you can snatch an Intel Core m3-equipped Surface Pro 4, albeit without the stylus for an alluring £635. Meanwhile, the Core i5 model has been discounted to £720.
On the software side of things, Windows 10 is getting a helping of enhancements as well, beginning with a full-fledged universal Skype app that supports SMS messaging and a more comprehensive search function. That goes without mentioning a brand-new rendition of Windows 10 that’s only available in China.
In the meantime, let’s go over the benefits and shortcomings of the current Surface Pro 4, Type Cover and all.
Design and display
Perhaps the most obvious way in which this year's Surface Pro model is iterative is its looks. The same all-magnesium, unibody casing is still here, though the "Surface" logo has been replaced in favor of Microsoft's new logo in chrome.
Microsoft managed to up the device's screen size by a few hairs, from the 2014 model's straight 12 inches to this year's 12.3 inches, without affecting its footprint at all. That is, unless you count the Redmond firm shaving over half a millimeter off of its thickness, from 9.1mm to 8.4mm this year – all while maintaining support for full-fat mobile processors.
How did they do it?
For one, Microsoft's product team decided it was time the capacitive Windows button said goodbye, especially with Windows 10 providing easy access to the Start menu, thus the extra room for that three tenths of an inch.
Secondly, the team managed to bring the display's optical stack – the series of sensors, diodes and pixels beneath the glass – even closer to the glass this time around, a key point of Microsoft's trademarked PixelSense screen technology. This helped the firm bring the slate's thickness down by half a millimeter.
The idea here is to bring the sensor elements of the touchscreen as close to your finger or Surface Pen as possible, and it works awfully well. The display is incredibly responsive to touch, and the further sensitivity it brings to the stylus experience is huge. In tandem with the new Surface Pen, the screen detects 1,024 levels of pressure, even during a single stroke.
Now, let's talk pixels. Even though it really didn't have to, Microsoft went and boosted the Surface Pro's resolution from 2,160 x 1,440 (216 ppi, or pixels per inch) in the old model to 2,736 x 1,824. That makes for a huge 267 ppi put forth by the Surface Pro 4, which blows its main rival, the MacBook Air (128 ppi for the 13-inch), out of the water and narrowly edges out Apple's new, 12.9-inch iPad Pro at 264 ppi.
Surface Pen and Type Cover
To best make use of that extra space, Microsoft has given its Surface Pen and Type Cover accessories some serious upgrades. In addition to the aforementioned 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, the new-and-included Surface Pen is redesigned to feel more like a pencil. The stylus now has one flat side, as if a Number 2 pencil had all but two of its angles rounded off.
The reason for this is two fold. For one, this stylus is even more comfortable to hold than the last as a result – your index finger rests just above the main function button on the flat end. Secondly, this surface (no pun intended) is coated with thin, powerful strip magnets that allow it to cling onto the tablet's left side. The age of stylus loops is over.
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