Microsoft Surface Go 3 review: Compact tablet with laptop

The Surface Go 3 is Microsoft’s newest and most affordable tablet, and it’s designed to tackle basic computing tasks. While there’s no shortage of convertible Windows laptops, detachable 2-in-1s are still rare and often cost more. This makes the Surface Go 3 quite interesting since it costs less than the Surface Pro line. It is also more portable, hence the name.

The Microsoft Surface Go 3 is primarily a Windows tablet that can be turned into a laptop with an optional keyboard attachment. Think of it as Microsoft’s version of the iPad, but run the full desktop Windows experience you’re probably used to. It could be an attractive solution for anyone looking for a hybrid computer that can satisfy both work and play needs, such as content consumption. Even so, is the Surface Go worth it? Let’s find out together.

Design Microsoft Surface Go 3

Thanks to the hybrid nature of the detachable 2-in-1, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 works infinitely better as a tablet than most convertible Windows laptops with 360-degree hinges. . It is about 8.3mm thick and weighs 544g, making it quite thin and light. It can easily be carried with one hand. The matte gray finish doesn’t attract fingerprints and the metal body feels solid and well-matched. When used in portrait orientation, you’ll find the power and volume buttons on the right, a headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, and the proprietary Surface Connect port on the bottom. The latter is used to quickly charge the tablet and connect to accessories, but the Surface Go 3 can also be charged via the Type-C port.

Built-in kickstand on Microsoft Surface Go 3 provides multiple angles of use

The left side of the Microsoft Surface Go 3 has contacts for powering the optional keyboard. Unlike most tablets, the Surface Go 3 has a built-in kickstand that gives you plenty of usage possibilities. Hidden behind the kickstand is a microSD card slot, which is easy to miss as there’s no inscription or markings to indicate its presence.

Microsoft Surface Go 3 has a 10.5-inch full-HD (1920×1280) touchscreen display with 3:2 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Brightness levels are good and colors are vivid and clear. The bezel around the screen is thick enough to leave enough room for you to place your thumbs when you hold the tablet. There’s a 5-megapixel webcam, along with an infrared camera for Windows Hello facial recognition. The Surface Go 3 also has an 8-megapixel rear camera. You also get cutouts on the sides of the screen for the stereo speakers on the front.

Microsoft Surface Go 3 software and specifications

The Microsoft Surface Go 3 has been launched in multiple variants, but only one is available online, at least at the time of this review. It’s the same one Microsoft sent me and it has a 10th Gen Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y CPU, 8GB LPDDR3 RAM, and a 128GB SSD. This variant is officially priced at Rs. 57,999, although you should be able to find it for less online.

Other variations can be found in a section on Microsoft’s site, called Surface for Business. These include a base variant with 64GB of eMMC memory and 4GB of RAM and a top-end variant with an Intel Core i3-10100Y CPU. There’s optional LTE connectivity with the Surface for Business variants, and they come with Windows 11 Pro. These variants can be purchased from listed resellers, but not easily found on conventional e-commerce platforms.

There’s only a single USB Type-C port, which means you’ll need a dongle to connect multiple peripherals at once.

For what it’s worth, I think Microsoft has chosen the right configuration for consumer use, as the lower variants have eMMC memory and only 4GB of RAM, which isn’t ideal for Windows. The Core i3 CPU in the top-end variant doesn’t offer much compared to the Pentium Gold, only a slightly higher clock speed for the CPU cores and a slightly better integrated GPU. All variants of Surface Go 3 have Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.

In terms of software, Microsoft Surface Go 3 comes with Windows 11 in S mode, which only allows you to download apps from the Microsoft Store and use the Microsoft Edge browser for security and management. You can go crazy switch to standard mode, which allows you to install quite a few Windows applications, but there’s no going back. There aren’t many pre-installed third-party apps, which is a new change. You get a trial version of Microsoft 365 Family. A full version of at least Office Home and Student would be nice, and many of Microsoft’s OEM partners offer this feature with their laptops.

The Type Cover keyboard completes the Surface Go 3’s transformation into a laptop

Before we move on, we should talk about some of the accessories that you might want to buy with the Surface Go 3. Microsoft offers the standard Type Cover keyboard (Rs 10,950 Rs. 10,950) or the Signature Type Cover ($15,699. ), made of Alcantara fabric. Microsoft also sent me a Surface Pen, which costs an extra Rs. 9,099 in India. The pen runs on a single AAAA battery and can be magnetically attached to the top of the tablet. This pushes the total price up significantly.

Microsoft Surface Go 3 . Performance and Battery Life

I’ve been using the Microsoft Surface Go 3 for a few weeks for both work and play, and I can say with confidence that it easily accomplishes its intended purpose. I can’t talk about the base variant, but the one with 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM is good enough for basic computing tasks like writing, participating in video calls, answering emails, and even a bit of Photoshop work. . Windows 11 runs fine, although you’ll have to get used to the slight lag. In my experience, this used to exist. It’s worth noting when I wake the Surface Go 3 from sleep and any time I have to navigate around the Windows UI. Heavy applications like Photoshop take longer than usual to load, although this worked fine for me once it was up and running.

Without a keyboard, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 is a good tablet. Windows is a bit awkward to use without a stylus, and the lack of good tablet-friendly apps in the Windows Store doesn’t help its case either. However, for viewing content, the built-in kickstand is a lifesaver. You can put down your tablet at any angle, anywhere and start watching. The Surface Pen is useful for taking notes or drawing, although I’m not much of a stylus user so I ended up not using it too much. One unique feature of the tablet that I miss on Windows is the ability to just turn off the screen without putting the whole device to sleep, which would allow for use cases like listening to music.

Content consumption is a good experience on Surface Go 3

Surface Go 3 easily functions as a productivity machine once you attach the keyboard. The whole setup wasn’t as easy or comfortable to use on my lap as a regular laptop, as the Type Cover keyboard has some flex and the sharp edge of the kickstand tends to dig into my lap. after long use. However, it works well when placed on a stable surface. The keys of the keyboard are comfortable to type on, even backlit. The glass touchpad is also quite good.

Casual games run fine, but anything with heavy 3D graphics struggles. For example, Fortnite is barely playable despite lowering the graphics quality and resolution. Asphalt 9: Legends also stutters a bit in some places. The sound from the stereo speakers is loud and clear. The 1080p webcam is also very good, and video is clear even in dimly-lit rooms. The rear camera has autofocus and is suitable for occasional photography or for document scanning.

Microsoft Surface Go 3 is almost the same size as the 11-inch iPad Pro in 2021

Microsoft claims that the Surface Go 3 can offer up to 11 hours of runtime on a single charge, which turned out to be a bit too optimistic in my experience. With continuous use, I can get around four and a half to five hours, but if I take a break midway, I can stretch it to about seven hours. For a 10.5-inch Windows tablet, it’s not terrible, but it’s far from ideal. I used this tablet with the keyboard connected most of the time, so without it you might get a little more battery life. With light workloads, frugal usage, and a more frugal battery configuration, you should be able to get through a full workday on a single charge, but it’s going to be tough.

In our Battery Eater Pro test, the tablet (without the keyboard) ran for a reasonable 2 hours and 40 minutes. The included adapter lets you quickly charge the Surface Go 3 to about 80 percent in an hour, which isn’t bad. The charger also has a USB Type-A port that can be used to charge any device.

Microsoft Surface Go 3 is compact and portable but quite expensive in India

Identify

The Microsoft Surface Go 3 may be the company’s most affordable Windows 2-in-1 tablet, but Rs. 57,999 is a lot of money. An argument that often comes up is that you can get better specs in a standard laptop for the same price, which is true, but you can’t use them as comfortably as a tablet. The variants I tested are consistent in terms of performance. It also has a bright screen, good speakers, a high-quality webcam, and solid build quality. Battery life is a bit weak and the accessories most people will want are relatively expensive.

If you add the stylus and keyboard, the Surface Go 3 will cost close to Rs. 80,000, at that time Lenovo Yoga Duet 7i looks like it could be a much more attractive deal. It has better specs, making it a competitor to the Surface Pro, and what’s more, a keyboard and stylus are also included.

The Microsoft Surface Go 3 is a very good little tablet with the potential to be a 2-in-1, but the average battery life and total cost of the entire package will deter a lot of people from getting into it. family.