Not so with Microsoft's new Surface Book 2. Packing hardware on par with high-end graphics-editing and gaming laptops, the Surface Book 2 promises to deliver uncompromising performance whether you're sketching designs in tablet mode, watching 4K videos while lounging on the couch or playing the latest games on its sleek 13.5-inch screen.
The Surface Book 2 base model starts at just $1,499, and comes with a 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7300U processor, Intel HD Graphics 620 integrated GPU, a 13.5-inch PixelSense display and an average 17-hour battery life. Not a bit of it. The £2,000 price for the Nvidia-equipped base model is still an awful lot of cash to pay for any laptop and if you don't want to game, there are better options than the £1,499 Core i5 Surface Book, notably the HP Spectre X360 or the aforementioned MacBook Pro 13.
For all-out power and sheer do-it-all might, however, there isn't anything to touch the Core i7 Microsoft Surface Book 2. The display can be detached from the base keyboard with a click of a button, which makes the Surface Book 2, a fully-fledged 13.5-inch tablet running on Windows 10 Pro OS. The device has a spectacular display with tempered glass protection with high-precision touch input.
Left open this turns the Surface Book 2 into a touchscreen media player where the keyboard and trackpad are hidden behind the display while you watch Netflix Close the lid and you have a powerful graphics tablet for writing and sketching with the Microsoft Pen ($99, not included) and Surface Dial ($99, not included). It's worth noting that although the Surface Book 2 continues to use Microsoft's own ‘blade' connector both on the screen/tablet and the base unit, the metal lugs used to hold the tablet to the keyboard have been reshaped compared to the original Surface Book, so there's no sneaky picking up an older Surface Book and using the base as a second battery - the majority of battery capacity is in the base (along with the increased graphical power) while the screen holds the main CPU and the storage. I know that 12 -and 13.5-inch Microsoft's Surface Pro and Apple's MacBook , respectively, have their limits, but I love them for their combination of portability, power and battery life.
There's no laptop quite like the Surface Book Though it was far from the first laptop that could turn into a tablet and had its fair share of flaws, its combination of light weight, detachable screen, dedicated graphics, and good battery life was pretty much unheard of. It was a strong showing for Microsoft's first-ever laptop. There's also the Surface Book 2 which has succeeded for some, but the detachable tablet part of that device does make it expensive, while its spec list is designed to smash up the MacBook Pro rather than being designed for out-and-out portability like the Laptop. The new Surface Books, which come in 13.5 and 15-inch flavours now, are very powerful laptops with top-end guts and premium price tags befitting other high-design, high-spec machines like the MacBook Pro or Razer Blade Pro.
It was big, it was powerful, and with Microsoft's new Dynamic Fulcrum hinge, the Surface Book was able to offer a full tablet experience without the compromises of most removable display designs. In Microsoft's eyes, the OS has always been both, and there's no machine that displays that perspective better than the Surface Book 2. The new, 13-inch model ($1,499 to start, $1,999 as reviewed) continues that tradition, showing off your work above all else, with a screen that pops off of the keyboard to become a tablet. For comparison's sake, Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar starts at $2,399 (£2,349, AU$3,499) for a 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, an AMD Radeon Pro 555 graphics chip with 2GB of VRAM, 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD - all powering a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel 15.4-inch display at 220 pixels per inch as well as an OLED Touch Bar.
Unlike the confusingly name Surface Laptop, the Surface Book 2's touchscreen display completely detaches from the keyboard so it can operate as a stand-alone, tablet-style device. And that doesn't sit well with Microsoft (MSFT) So to change that narrative, the company is rolling out its new 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 The follow-up to 2015's Surface Book, the Surface Book 2 is a laptop-tablet hybrid designed not only to take on the MacBook Pro 13-inch , but also crush to it entirely. The Book 2 is a hybrid of sorts, built like a solid laptop with a detachable screen that can function as a tablet, or provide the full power of a discrete video card when attached to the keyboard base and used like a laptop.
Microsoft's Surface portfolio also consists of the Surface Pro, a powerful Intel-powered portable running Windows that gets a kickstand and a keyboard accessory, and the Surface laptop, an uber-sleek little thing that is essentially a conventional ultrabook. Sitting above the company's Surface Pro tablet lineup, the Surface Book 2 is a laptop with a detachable touchscreen display and which can be bought with a stylus called the Surface Pen and a rotating knob called the Surface Dial. The Surface Book's low-power CPU means it can't match the raw speed of the Asus with its Core i7-7700HQ, returning a score of 75 to that laptop's 130 in our in-house application benchmarks, but where the Surface Book 2 wins is battery life.
In terms of sheer performance and long battery life the obvious rival is Apple's MacBook Pro and my choice of powerful laptop. It's a powerful laptop that can turn its hand to pretty much anything you care to think of. Most of the time you'll be using it as a regular notebook, but you can also detach the screen and use it as a large tablet, you can reverse-dock the screen into the keyboard so you can use it like a clipboard and it's compatible with the (optional) Surface Pen so you can jot down notes and sketch out ideas, too. Out of the box, it's a Windows 10 laptop with full-size keyboard and touchpad, but with the press of one button on the keyboard, the Surface Book 2's screen detaches to give you a beautiful 13.5-inch touchscreen Windows 10 tablet.
The 15-inch version isn't available in Australia yet, but there's no argument that even the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 is a powerful and slick premium 2-in-1 laptop aimed squarely at professionals (especially the high-end models). Starting at $2,499 ($1,499 for the 13.5-inch model), the 15-inch Surface Book 2 is $100 more than a comparable MacBook Pro and is at the very high end of the laptop market. The best match for Microsoft's new Surface Book 2 is Apple's MacBook Pro Providing an answer to Apple's option, but with Windows-specific strengths like a touchscreen and detachable display, is really why the Surface Book 2 exists.
After using the original Surface Book for so long, I was surprised by how little the 15-inch model's larger size bothered me. But I suppose that makes some sense; despite being fairly light weight, the original Surface Book's open hinge design meant it was never a particularly compact laptop anyway. If you are in the market for a laptop with a budget of Rs. 1,50,000 or more, then you can consider getting yourself a Surface Book 2. This device is for students, creators, and designers, who are looking for a MacBook Pro like laptop with Windows operating system. Typing at work on Microsoft's new 15-inch Surface Book 2 , I can't shake the feeling that this thing's not for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a powerful laptop, it's beautiful, and the workspace its giant screen affords made me completely forget I wasn't seated at my desk with my usual 32-inch extra-wide display.
For them, the 15-inch tablet represents a member of a continuum; it's one of a family of tablets: 12.3 inches in the Surface Pro, 13.5 and 15 inches in the Surface Book 2, and 28 inches for the Surface Studio Those all support the same pens, and they all support Microsoft's Surface Dial accessory. Kaby Lake offered some nice improvements in clock speeds and power efficiency, but rather than bump the Surface Book line with the new chips, Microsoft instead introduced the Performance Base ; the tablet portion was unchanged, but the Performance Base had a faster discrete GPU and an enormous battery. For power users, keep in mind the Surface Book 2 also comes in a 15-inch model (starting at $2,499), with an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8650U processor, quad-core power NVIDIA graphics and GeForce GTX 1060 discrete GPU with 6GB GDDR5 graphics memory.
It's probably one of the most powerful Windows devices on the market right now, too, thanks to its dedicated Nvidia graphics, Intel Core i7 processor and its full-sized keyboard, trackpad and stylus, making it possibly the first laptop that could act as a true desktop replacement, despite the claims of many manufacturers that promise this and never deliver. It offers more versatility and features, faster performance, and longer battery life than its main competitor, the 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro , and is a more fully realized professional's PC than the Surface Pro. And don't forget, the 13-inch version is now joined by a second model, with a bigger, higher-resolution 15-inch display, clearly designed to go head-to-head with Apple's category-defining 15-inch MacBook Pro.
You can detach the screen and cart it around as a standalone tablet, or connect it to the keyboard base for extra battery life and graphics power. But between the multi-day battery life and the fact that you can lift the screen off the keyboard and use it as a tablet that airline staff will (in our admittedly limited experiments) let you keep using during takeoff and landing, the 15-inch Surface Book 2 is one of our favourite travel notebooks of all time. That's all the more impressive when you consider that the 15-inch Surface Book 2 isn't a low-powered ultra-portable PC but rather it's a high-end machine, with a Core i7 processor, loads of RAM and a very decent graphics processing unit designed for serious workloads.
At 1.9 kg for this 13-inch model (816 g for the tablet portion), it's heavier than the more powerful 15-inch MacBook Pro. The unique "dynamic fulcrum" hinge design, true detachable discrete graphics on a 2-in-1 device, and almost 10-hour battery life made the Surface Book stand out in the PC market. The Performance Base revision a year ago added some-much needed graphical grunt, and now the Surface Book 2 offers yet another under-the-hood upgrade, making the best laptop on the market even better and providing more power than most users will know what to do with, even if its core concept hasn't changed much.
I typically use an iPad Pro to show clients and editors my work, but that tablet seems relatively puny next to the massive 15-inch, 3240 x 2160 pixel screen of the Surface Book 2. That also means it has about the same pixel density as the iPad Pro, and more pixels per inch than the MacBook Pro. Besides, I'm more than willing to carry around a laptop on the heavier side if it gives me enough battery life to make it through almost an entire working day, and is powerful enough to handle whatever game or processing intensive application I throw at it. And the Surface Book 2 can do just that. Pros: Excellent performance in a slim design, innovative hinge design, incredible battery life, responsive backlit keyboard, has full-size USB 3.1 ports, charges via proprietary port or USB-C.
In tablet mode, the device relies on its on-board Intel graphics chip, but the Surface base has a dedicated Nvidia video card within (except on the base variant), to boost performance while in laptop mode. To turn on the Microsoft Surface Book 2 we press the power button on the tablet for a few seconds, as indicated by the specifications we have Windows 10 Pro 64bit, check the list of devices and note that all have their drivers installed correctly. As before, there are two batteries - one in the tablet and one in the keyboard base - and the Core i7 models also house an extra discrete Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics chip in the base, which the laptop defaults to whenever the tablet is docked.
If you discount the base model, and you should because there are much better options at £1,500, there's no other 2-in-1 convertible detachable laptop as powerful or as expensive as the Surface Book 2. So if you need all the things it can do you'll just have to swallow those prices. Here's what Microsoft said on the matter speaking to The Verge: "In some intense, prolonged gaming scenarios with Power Mode Slider set to ‘best performance' the battery may discharge while connected to the power supply provided in-box with Surface Book 2. However, through power management design, the battery will never drain entirely, ensuring that users are able to keep working, creating or gaming." The Book's rigid keyboard base gives you a far more solid platform to work on your lap and Microsoft has also squeezed in a second battery to complement the one in the tablet, a move that - as long as you stick to the integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 and resist the urge to game with the Nvidia GTX 1050 chip enabled - delivers all-day battery life.
A quick inspection of the 13.5in Surface Book 2's external surfaces reveals a USB Type-C port has replaced the Book's mini-DisplayPort socket on the right edge of the keyboard base but that in every other respect it's the same old laptop. While the old foibles still persist - the hinge doesn't open far enough, the stylus should really be standard, and it's as exactly as heavy as you'd expect something this expensive to weigh - the Surface Book 2 is an absolute powerhouse laptop, and the best Windows 10 2-in-1 you can buy. The Surface Book 2 is Microsoft's most powerful 2-in-1 PC, going shoulder to shoulder with Apple's Macbook Pro in terms of performance and pricing.
For someone looking for first rate Windows experience the Surface Book 2 is the laptop to beat, and certainly now on a par with models from Apple's MacBook Pro range. Pitched as a MacBook Pro competitor, with the added benefits of a detachable display and a touchscreen, the premium Surface Book was Microsoft's attempt to lure techies out of a love affair with Apple. Our review model Surface Book 2 is blisteringly fast, as you'd expect in a top-line model with 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, a powerful graphics card, plenty of RAM and an SSD (though we found the Wi-Fi speed only OK).
One thing you will need to do is make sure Windows 10's power settings are set to maximum performance, as for some reason Microsoft has set them to best battery life even when the Surface Book 2 is plugged in. If you don't adjust this slider then throttling will occur and frame rates will dip massively in games. In the past, their Surface range of (mostly) hybrid laptops/tablets have hardly been gaming machines, but that's now changed with current range-topper, the shockingly expensive Surface Book 2. Its industrial edges and muted silver tones mean it announces itself as all business in the streets, but the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 tucked inside its detachable keyboard base makes a case for more than casual gaming in the sheets. The biggest difference between Apple's MacBook line and Microsoft's Surface Books (aside from the operating system) is that the Surface Book display is a touch screen and a standalone tablet computer.
The new Surface Book 2 15-inch (left) next to the 13.5-inch Performance Base model. However, with stiffer competition than ever - there's the Dell XPS 13 and Huawei MateBook X Pro providing the most formidable competition, while the new MacBook Air is hoping to keep users tempted by OS X - is the sequel Surface Laptop still the hottest Windows laptop around? When the Surface Book first launched, Microsoft's debut notebook thoroughly impressed us with a combination of powerful performance, a killer screen and a unique, eye-catching hybrid design.
While the Surface Pro and other products have similar functionality, the discreet graphics processor in the keyboard base is the standout in the Surface Book line up. The ability to work on a tablet form factor may interest some creatives who are looking to work on the go with just a stylus. But Microsoft's big October surprise was the debut of not one, but two Surface Book 2 devices: a 13.5-inch and a new 15-inch model (we reviewed the latter). Surface Book 2 comes in a variety of configurations ranging from 13.5 or 15' displays, 8GB or 16GB RAM, Intel Core i5 or i7 processing power and storage starting from 128GB to 1TB.
Introduced a little over two years ago, Microsoft's Surface Book was the hybrid laptop that I had long hoped the company would build Like the Surface Pro, it worked as a true standalone tablet, but it had the all-important stiff hinge, making it suitable for use on your lap in a way that the Surface Pro's kickstand and Type Covers never really supported. As a tablet the Surface Book 2 is big, but it's one of the most powerful Windows tablets you'll find (remember, there was an Intel Core i7 CPU in mine), it has extremely high resolution and will go up to five hours on its own battery. In terms of software, Windows 10 Pro, the upgraded business-friendly version of Windows 10 Home, is Microsoft's OS of choice for the Surface Book 2. It's a fine choice - bonus BitLocker encryption makes Windows 10 Pro more secure than the basic edition, and if the screen is removed to be used as a tablet, then the Continuum interface can automatically adapt the UI into a more touch-optimised layout.
Sure, the Surface Book 2 is expensive, particularly when compared to other high-end ultraportables, but there's no other device on the market that gives you this much performance and battery life in a detachable form factor. The Surface Book 2 is quite similar to the 15-inch MacBook Pro at 0.61 by 13.75 by 9.48 inches and 4.02 pounds—luxurious and light enough to be portable, but with emphasis on high performance. Also worth noting: The original Surface Book was followed up last year by a Core i7 model that includes a "performance base" with more powerful components, and this loaded version of the Surface Book 2 more closely aligns with that vision.
The Surface Laptop is the thin and light machine for the travelers, the Surface Pro devices are the hybrid options that let you enjoy the tablet experience and now the Surface Book 2, which is your powerful laptop that ticks off the style box too. While on most convertible design, the hinge does the primary function of turning the laptop into tablet mode and vice versa, the dynamic fulcrum hinge has to do things like holding the display in place and supporting internals of the Surface Book. Conclusion: If you're a developer, a digital artist, a designer, an accountant or a serious gamer, Surface Book 2 gives the power of a desktop, the versatility of a tablet, and the freedom of a light and thin laptop in one device.
With the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 discrete graphics options, Surface Book 2 claims to be up to five times more powerful than the original, and as twice as powerful as the latest Apple MacBook Pro. In some intense, prolonged gaming scenarios with Power Mode Slider set to 'best performance' the battery may discharge while connected to the power supply provided in-box with Surface Book 2. However, through power management design, the battery will never drain entirely, ensuring that users are able to keep working, creating or gaming." - Microsoft. The Surface Book 2 Power Mode Slider is provided as a means to give the user control over the range of performance and battery life.
Comparing 2016's Gears of War 4 , which has multiple graphics configurations and a built-in benchmark, we can compare the Surface Book 2 15 to the newer 13-inch model with a GTX 1050 and the older Surface Book with Performance Base and its GTX 965M: It hasn't happened to me and it's probably a low risk, but I have heard of it happening to previous Surface Book models and with the bigger screen on this new 15-inch model it looks a little riskier still. And every day last week I thanked my lucky stars I had at least dragged with me Microsoft's latest notebook PC, the 15-inch Surface Book 2, a Windows PC with so much battery life it easily absorbed every Fuzzled Factor I threw at it.
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 now has a 15-inch model with a battery life to die for. It has the same matte silver finish with a metallic build, same book-spine like curved hinge design and so on. The overall thickness of the Surface Book 2, when it is in a closed position, is almost twice that of the Apple MacBook Pro 13. Now in the ideal sense, that is not desirable, but in the case of the Surface Book 2, there is at least an excuse for that. If you are into battery life though, the additional weight is worth it. At a total of 75 Wh (18Wh in the tablet itself, and 51Wh in the base), the Surface Book 2 has a significant advantage over machines like the aforementioned XPS 13 with its 52Wh battery.
The Microsoft Surface Book is ideal for those who are creative, want power in the laptop to do whatever they want to do and loves portability to take their work where they want to go. At Rs 1,85,999 the 13.5-inch Surface Book is pitted against the new MacBook Pro. Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch specs: 13.5-inch PixelSense (3240x2160p, ~267 PPI) display 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor 8GB RAM 256GB ROM Windows 10 Pro USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A x 2, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C x 1, SD card reader, SurfaceConnect x 2, 3.5mm Headset jack 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1. Just like before, the Book is actually two separate parts: a 13.5in tablet and accompanying keyboard base, which holds the more power-hungry bits like the Nvidia graphics card.
Still, the Book 2 compares well to the MacBook in terms of raw power, it features a more comfortable design and its touch screen, detachable display and optional extra input devices offer much more functionality than the Touch Bar. Like its predecessor this is an expensive and arguably over-engineered device compared to more down-to-Earth Microsoft machines like the Surface Laptop, and it's clearly meant to ply the creative professional crowd from Apple's comparatively staid MacBook Pro. You lose some longevity and graphics power in tablet mode — since the Nvidia chip and one of the batteries live in the keyboard — but the screen on its own is perfect for comics and ebooks, video games that work with touch control (or mouse control, as Windows does a good job of translating touch inputs here) or simply continuing to work as you move around the house or office.
Windows 10 is still, well, Windows 10. And while it's a powerful, beautiful piece of design, it has a price to match; the entry level is about the expense of a MacBook Pro. It's a relatively heavy base with a powerful processor and graphics card and a big battery — and it has a surprisingly light removable screen that turns it into a tablet and that features a less powerful processor and graphics chip. Microsoft adds to its "ultimate laptop," the Surface Book 2, by increasing the performance, battery life, and display size.
But if you're a professional and want to invest in a portable Windows machine specifically and don't do a lot of processor/graphics-intensive work like video-editing or heavy gaming, and want a premium laptop with a battery that lasts you all day even while traveling, the Surface Book 2 can be a solid option. The Surface Book 2 in India starts at a price of Rs. 1,37,999 and for that price, you're getting a powerful laptop in a portable size along with a detachable screen and great battery life, but is the form factor and build worth paying that extra money for, as a generic laptop with specs as the Surface Book 2 can be found for under half the price? For a student like me who goes to college during the day and also works part-time, the Surface Book 2 was an excellent departure from my underpowered and hefty 15.6-inch laptop as this 13.5-inch machine would slide into my backpack without adding too much bulk and carried serious power to get probably any task done without hiccups (unless I had to edit a video of course) and the fact that battery lasts long meant I wouldn't have to carry the charger along with me.
With the new Surface Book 2, the Surface Pro tablet, Surface Laptop and the Surface Studio all-in-one PC, Microsoft has assembled a decent-sized portfolio of premium Windows hardware devices to rival Apple in the high-end segment. When running workloads with high CPU and GPU usage on a 15-inch Surface Book 2 with the power mode set to "best performance", the notebook consumes more power than its 95-watt power supply can provide, and its battery discharges. This is Microsoft's shot across the bow of the MacBook Pro, which is having a moment of weakness after its most recent update skimped on the overall power level and put a lot of emphasis on a touch-sensitive control bar that seems woefully outmatched when compared to a fully touch-sensitive screen.
A large chunk of the Surface Book's hefty price tag depends upon the value of its detachable touchscreen display, and its utility as a practical tool for creative professionals. In addition to raw power, Microsoft is promising that both versions of the Surface Book 2 will get a ridiculous 17 hours of battery life. The Surface Book 2's biggest selling point, outside of its power, is that you can detach its display and use it as an independent tablet.
Its industrial design features a sleek, silver magnesium chassis and the line's unique fulcrum-style hinge that allows you to use the book like a laptop, but completely detach the display via a dedicated keyboard button. The only real performance issue I had was related to connectivity — like the 2016 Surface Book before it, I found the 2-in-1 has a tendency to fall off Wi-Fi easily in comparison to my closest co-workers' 2016 MacBook Pro, though it didn't happen frequently enough to become problematic. No matter the model, just one look at the spec sheet makes it pretty obvious that Microsoft stuffed some serious hardware into the Surface Book 2, and it offers a number of advantages that make it a superior option to the Macbook Pro, especially if you prefer Windows over macOS.
Microsoft Surface Book 2 Laptop Performance - Processing Power. Microsoft Surface Book 2 review: Excellent performance in a slim design with incredible battery life. If you can afford a Surface Book 2, we'd recommend it. So many of its attributes are simply fantastic, including its graphics performance and stellar battery life.
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 includes two different batteries: a 23.2 Watt-hour battery in the tablet, and a separate 62.2 Wh battery in the base. In general, how the Surface Book 2 compares against the Surface Book most likely ties into the base processor clocks of both chips: 2.6GHz for the original Book, 1.9GHz for the Surface Book 2. When needed, the Book 2 can boost up to 4.2GHz—but in these tests, it doesn't need to. As with the Work Conventional test, it scores below similar laptops with discrete GPU. In our performance charts below, you'll see us compare the Surface Book 2 to its predecessor, as well as some recent laptops we've reviewed that have discrete graphics: Dell's XPS 15 , Lenovo's Yoga 720 , and Samsung's Notebook 9 Pro.
But Microsoft's implementation also lacks the Thunderbolt I/ implementation, part and parcel of Apple's MacBook Pro and an easy way to connect multiple displays to a device that supports it. As you can see, Microsoft's versatile laptop is every bit as expensive as a MacBook Pro. The laptop/tablet hybrid starts at $1,499 for the entry-level 13.5 inch model, which has 256GB of solid state storage, 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor.
While Apple remains resolute that touchscreens and detachable keyboards should stay well clear of its laptop lineup, Microsoft embraces the 4-in-1 design with its Surface Book 2. The 2 in 1 Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a device that can be assembled in several ways, we can disassemble the tablet by pressing the magnetic release button, place it flat with the keyboard or in base mode by turning the tablet upside down. Within this model we have an Intel Core i7 8th generation processor and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, all with a spectacular quality screen that is rounded off with a truly original hinge design.
It's essentially all the power of a desktop PC squeezed into a package you can comfortably carry around with you and even the £1,999 model gives you more for your money than the equivalent MacBook Pro 13. The Surface Book 2's 3,000 x 2,000 resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio screen is (as has been the case for some time now on Microsoft's devices) beyond reproach.
The Surface Book 2 base model starts at just $1,499, and comes with a 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7300U processor, Intel HD Graphics 620 integrated GPU, a 13.5-inch PixelSense display and an average 17-hour battery life. Not a bit of it. The £2,000 price for the Nvidia-equipped base model is still an awful lot of cash to pay for any laptop and if you don't want to game, there are better options than the £1,499 Core i5 Surface Book, notably the HP Spectre X360 or the aforementioned MacBook Pro 13.
Surface Book 2 review
For all-out power and sheer do-it-all might, however, there isn't anything to touch the Core i7 Microsoft Surface Book 2. The display can be detached from the base keyboard with a click of a button, which makes the Surface Book 2, a fully-fledged 13.5-inch tablet running on Windows 10 Pro OS. The device has a spectacular display with tempered glass protection with high-precision touch input.
Left open this turns the Surface Book 2 into a touchscreen media player where the keyboard and trackpad are hidden behind the display while you watch Netflix Close the lid and you have a powerful graphics tablet for writing and sketching with the Microsoft Pen ($99, not included) and Surface Dial ($99, not included). It's worth noting that although the Surface Book 2 continues to use Microsoft's own ‘blade' connector both on the screen/tablet and the base unit, the metal lugs used to hold the tablet to the keyboard have been reshaped compared to the original Surface Book, so there's no sneaky picking up an older Surface Book and using the base as a second battery - the majority of battery capacity is in the base (along with the increased graphical power) while the screen holds the main CPU and the storage. I know that 12 -and 13.5-inch Microsoft's Surface Pro and Apple's MacBook , respectively, have their limits, but I love them for their combination of portability, power and battery life.
There's no laptop quite like the Surface Book Though it was far from the first laptop that could turn into a tablet and had its fair share of flaws, its combination of light weight, detachable screen, dedicated graphics, and good battery life was pretty much unheard of. It was a strong showing for Microsoft's first-ever laptop. There's also the Surface Book 2 which has succeeded for some, but the detachable tablet part of that device does make it expensive, while its spec list is designed to smash up the MacBook Pro rather than being designed for out-and-out portability like the Laptop. The new Surface Books, which come in 13.5 and 15-inch flavours now, are very powerful laptops with top-end guts and premium price tags befitting other high-design, high-spec machines like the MacBook Pro or Razer Blade Pro.
It was big, it was powerful, and with Microsoft's new Dynamic Fulcrum hinge, the Surface Book was able to offer a full tablet experience without the compromises of most removable display designs. In Microsoft's eyes, the OS has always been both, and there's no machine that displays that perspective better than the Surface Book 2. The new, 13-inch model ($1,499 to start, $1,999 as reviewed) continues that tradition, showing off your work above all else, with a screen that pops off of the keyboard to become a tablet. For comparison's sake, Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar starts at $2,399 (£2,349, AU$3,499) for a 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, an AMD Radeon Pro 555 graphics chip with 2GB of VRAM, 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD - all powering a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel 15.4-inch display at 220 pixels per inch as well as an OLED Touch Bar.
Unlike the confusingly name Surface Laptop, the Surface Book 2's touchscreen display completely detaches from the keyboard so it can operate as a stand-alone, tablet-style device. And that doesn't sit well with Microsoft (MSFT) So to change that narrative, the company is rolling out its new 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 The follow-up to 2015's Surface Book, the Surface Book 2 is a laptop-tablet hybrid designed not only to take on the MacBook Pro 13-inch , but also crush to it entirely. The Book 2 is a hybrid of sorts, built like a solid laptop with a detachable screen that can function as a tablet, or provide the full power of a discrete video card when attached to the keyboard base and used like a laptop.
Microsoft's Surface portfolio also consists of the Surface Pro, a powerful Intel-powered portable running Windows that gets a kickstand and a keyboard accessory, and the Surface laptop, an uber-sleek little thing that is essentially a conventional ultrabook. Sitting above the company's Surface Pro tablet lineup, the Surface Book 2 is a laptop with a detachable touchscreen display and which can be bought with a stylus called the Surface Pen and a rotating knob called the Surface Dial. The Surface Book's low-power CPU means it can't match the raw speed of the Asus with its Core i7-7700HQ, returning a score of 75 to that laptop's 130 in our in-house application benchmarks, but where the Surface Book 2 wins is battery life.
In terms of sheer performance and long battery life the obvious rival is Apple's MacBook Pro and my choice of powerful laptop. It's a powerful laptop that can turn its hand to pretty much anything you care to think of. Most of the time you'll be using it as a regular notebook, but you can also detach the screen and use it as a large tablet, you can reverse-dock the screen into the keyboard so you can use it like a clipboard and it's compatible with the (optional) Surface Pen so you can jot down notes and sketch out ideas, too. Out of the box, it's a Windows 10 laptop with full-size keyboard and touchpad, but with the press of one button on the keyboard, the Surface Book 2's screen detaches to give you a beautiful 13.5-inch touchscreen Windows 10 tablet.
The 15-inch version isn't available in Australia yet, but there's no argument that even the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 is a powerful and slick premium 2-in-1 laptop aimed squarely at professionals (especially the high-end models). Starting at $2,499 ($1,499 for the 13.5-inch model), the 15-inch Surface Book 2 is $100 more than a comparable MacBook Pro and is at the very high end of the laptop market. The best match for Microsoft's new Surface Book 2 is Apple's MacBook Pro Providing an answer to Apple's option, but with Windows-specific strengths like a touchscreen and detachable display, is really why the Surface Book 2 exists.
After using the original Surface Book for so long, I was surprised by how little the 15-inch model's larger size bothered me. But I suppose that makes some sense; despite being fairly light weight, the original Surface Book's open hinge design meant it was never a particularly compact laptop anyway. If you are in the market for a laptop with a budget of Rs. 1,50,000 or more, then you can consider getting yourself a Surface Book 2. This device is for students, creators, and designers, who are looking for a MacBook Pro like laptop with Windows operating system. Typing at work on Microsoft's new 15-inch Surface Book 2 , I can't shake the feeling that this thing's not for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a powerful laptop, it's beautiful, and the workspace its giant screen affords made me completely forget I wasn't seated at my desk with my usual 32-inch extra-wide display.
For them, the 15-inch tablet represents a member of a continuum; it's one of a family of tablets: 12.3 inches in the Surface Pro, 13.5 and 15 inches in the Surface Book 2, and 28 inches for the Surface Studio Those all support the same pens, and they all support Microsoft's Surface Dial accessory. Kaby Lake offered some nice improvements in clock speeds and power efficiency, but rather than bump the Surface Book line with the new chips, Microsoft instead introduced the Performance Base ; the tablet portion was unchanged, but the Performance Base had a faster discrete GPU and an enormous battery. For power users, keep in mind the Surface Book 2 also comes in a 15-inch model (starting at $2,499), with an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8650U processor, quad-core power NVIDIA graphics and GeForce GTX 1060 discrete GPU with 6GB GDDR5 graphics memory.
It's probably one of the most powerful Windows devices on the market right now, too, thanks to its dedicated Nvidia graphics, Intel Core i7 processor and its full-sized keyboard, trackpad and stylus, making it possibly the first laptop that could act as a true desktop replacement, despite the claims of many manufacturers that promise this and never deliver. It offers more versatility and features, faster performance, and longer battery life than its main competitor, the 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro , and is a more fully realized professional's PC than the Surface Pro. And don't forget, the 13-inch version is now joined by a second model, with a bigger, higher-resolution 15-inch display, clearly designed to go head-to-head with Apple's category-defining 15-inch MacBook Pro.
You can detach the screen and cart it around as a standalone tablet, or connect it to the keyboard base for extra battery life and graphics power. But between the multi-day battery life and the fact that you can lift the screen off the keyboard and use it as a tablet that airline staff will (in our admittedly limited experiments) let you keep using during takeoff and landing, the 15-inch Surface Book 2 is one of our favourite travel notebooks of all time. That's all the more impressive when you consider that the 15-inch Surface Book 2 isn't a low-powered ultra-portable PC but rather it's a high-end machine, with a Core i7 processor, loads of RAM and a very decent graphics processing unit designed for serious workloads.
At 1.9 kg for this 13-inch model (816 g for the tablet portion), it's heavier than the more powerful 15-inch MacBook Pro. The unique "dynamic fulcrum" hinge design, true detachable discrete graphics on a 2-in-1 device, and almost 10-hour battery life made the Surface Book stand out in the PC market. The Performance Base revision a year ago added some-much needed graphical grunt, and now the Surface Book 2 offers yet another under-the-hood upgrade, making the best laptop on the market even better and providing more power than most users will know what to do with, even if its core concept hasn't changed much.
I typically use an iPad Pro to show clients and editors my work, but that tablet seems relatively puny next to the massive 15-inch, 3240 x 2160 pixel screen of the Surface Book 2. That also means it has about the same pixel density as the iPad Pro, and more pixels per inch than the MacBook Pro. Besides, I'm more than willing to carry around a laptop on the heavier side if it gives me enough battery life to make it through almost an entire working day, and is powerful enough to handle whatever game or processing intensive application I throw at it. And the Surface Book 2 can do just that. Pros: Excellent performance in a slim design, innovative hinge design, incredible battery life, responsive backlit keyboard, has full-size USB 3.1 ports, charges via proprietary port or USB-C.
In tablet mode, the device relies on its on-board Intel graphics chip, but the Surface base has a dedicated Nvidia video card within (except on the base variant), to boost performance while in laptop mode. To turn on the Microsoft Surface Book 2 we press the power button on the tablet for a few seconds, as indicated by the specifications we have Windows 10 Pro 64bit, check the list of devices and note that all have their drivers installed correctly. As before, there are two batteries - one in the tablet and one in the keyboard base - and the Core i7 models also house an extra discrete Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics chip in the base, which the laptop defaults to whenever the tablet is docked.
If you discount the base model, and you should because there are much better options at £1,500, there's no other 2-in-1 convertible detachable laptop as powerful or as expensive as the Surface Book 2. So if you need all the things it can do you'll just have to swallow those prices. Here's what Microsoft said on the matter speaking to The Verge: "In some intense, prolonged gaming scenarios with Power Mode Slider set to ‘best performance' the battery may discharge while connected to the power supply provided in-box with Surface Book 2. However, through power management design, the battery will never drain entirely, ensuring that users are able to keep working, creating or gaming." The Book's rigid keyboard base gives you a far more solid platform to work on your lap and Microsoft has also squeezed in a second battery to complement the one in the tablet, a move that - as long as you stick to the integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 and resist the urge to game with the Nvidia GTX 1050 chip enabled - delivers all-day battery life.
A quick inspection of the 13.5in Surface Book 2's external surfaces reveals a USB Type-C port has replaced the Book's mini-DisplayPort socket on the right edge of the keyboard base but that in every other respect it's the same old laptop. While the old foibles still persist - the hinge doesn't open far enough, the stylus should really be standard, and it's as exactly as heavy as you'd expect something this expensive to weigh - the Surface Book 2 is an absolute powerhouse laptop, and the best Windows 10 2-in-1 you can buy. The Surface Book 2 is Microsoft's most powerful 2-in-1 PC, going shoulder to shoulder with Apple's Macbook Pro in terms of performance and pricing.
For someone looking for first rate Windows experience the Surface Book 2 is the laptop to beat, and certainly now on a par with models from Apple's MacBook Pro range. Pitched as a MacBook Pro competitor, with the added benefits of a detachable display and a touchscreen, the premium Surface Book was Microsoft's attempt to lure techies out of a love affair with Apple. Our review model Surface Book 2 is blisteringly fast, as you'd expect in a top-line model with 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, a powerful graphics card, plenty of RAM and an SSD (though we found the Wi-Fi speed only OK).
One thing you will need to do is make sure Windows 10's power settings are set to maximum performance, as for some reason Microsoft has set them to best battery life even when the Surface Book 2 is plugged in. If you don't adjust this slider then throttling will occur and frame rates will dip massively in games. In the past, their Surface range of (mostly) hybrid laptops/tablets have hardly been gaming machines, but that's now changed with current range-topper, the shockingly expensive Surface Book 2. Its industrial edges and muted silver tones mean it announces itself as all business in the streets, but the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 tucked inside its detachable keyboard base makes a case for more than casual gaming in the sheets. The biggest difference between Apple's MacBook line and Microsoft's Surface Books (aside from the operating system) is that the Surface Book display is a touch screen and a standalone tablet computer.
The new Surface Book 2 15-inch (left) next to the 13.5-inch Performance Base model. However, with stiffer competition than ever - there's the Dell XPS 13 and Huawei MateBook X Pro providing the most formidable competition, while the new MacBook Air is hoping to keep users tempted by OS X - is the sequel Surface Laptop still the hottest Windows laptop around? When the Surface Book first launched, Microsoft's debut notebook thoroughly impressed us with a combination of powerful performance, a killer screen and a unique, eye-catching hybrid design.
While the Surface Pro and other products have similar functionality, the discreet graphics processor in the keyboard base is the standout in the Surface Book line up. The ability to work on a tablet form factor may interest some creatives who are looking to work on the go with just a stylus. But Microsoft's big October surprise was the debut of not one, but two Surface Book 2 devices: a 13.5-inch and a new 15-inch model (we reviewed the latter). Surface Book 2 comes in a variety of configurations ranging from 13.5 or 15' displays, 8GB or 16GB RAM, Intel Core i5 or i7 processing power and storage starting from 128GB to 1TB.
Introduced a little over two years ago, Microsoft's Surface Book was the hybrid laptop that I had long hoped the company would build Like the Surface Pro, it worked as a true standalone tablet, but it had the all-important stiff hinge, making it suitable for use on your lap in a way that the Surface Pro's kickstand and Type Covers never really supported. As a tablet the Surface Book 2 is big, but it's one of the most powerful Windows tablets you'll find (remember, there was an Intel Core i7 CPU in mine), it has extremely high resolution and will go up to five hours on its own battery. In terms of software, Windows 10 Pro, the upgraded business-friendly version of Windows 10 Home, is Microsoft's OS of choice for the Surface Book 2. It's a fine choice - bonus BitLocker encryption makes Windows 10 Pro more secure than the basic edition, and if the screen is removed to be used as a tablet, then the Continuum interface can automatically adapt the UI into a more touch-optimised layout.
Sure, the Surface Book 2 is expensive, particularly when compared to other high-end ultraportables, but there's no other device on the market that gives you this much performance and battery life in a detachable form factor. The Surface Book 2 is quite similar to the 15-inch MacBook Pro at 0.61 by 13.75 by 9.48 inches and 4.02 pounds—luxurious and light enough to be portable, but with emphasis on high performance. Also worth noting: The original Surface Book was followed up last year by a Core i7 model that includes a "performance base" with more powerful components, and this loaded version of the Surface Book 2 more closely aligns with that vision.
The Surface Laptop is the thin and light machine for the travelers, the Surface Pro devices are the hybrid options that let you enjoy the tablet experience and now the Surface Book 2, which is your powerful laptop that ticks off the style box too. While on most convertible design, the hinge does the primary function of turning the laptop into tablet mode and vice versa, the dynamic fulcrum hinge has to do things like holding the display in place and supporting internals of the Surface Book. Conclusion: If you're a developer, a digital artist, a designer, an accountant or a serious gamer, Surface Book 2 gives the power of a desktop, the versatility of a tablet, and the freedom of a light and thin laptop in one device.
With the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 discrete graphics options, Surface Book 2 claims to be up to five times more powerful than the original, and as twice as powerful as the latest Apple MacBook Pro. In some intense, prolonged gaming scenarios with Power Mode Slider set to 'best performance' the battery may discharge while connected to the power supply provided in-box with Surface Book 2. However, through power management design, the battery will never drain entirely, ensuring that users are able to keep working, creating or gaming." - Microsoft. The Surface Book 2 Power Mode Slider is provided as a means to give the user control over the range of performance and battery life.
Comparing 2016's Gears of War 4 , which has multiple graphics configurations and a built-in benchmark, we can compare the Surface Book 2 15 to the newer 13-inch model with a GTX 1050 and the older Surface Book with Performance Base and its GTX 965M: It hasn't happened to me and it's probably a low risk, but I have heard of it happening to previous Surface Book models and with the bigger screen on this new 15-inch model it looks a little riskier still. And every day last week I thanked my lucky stars I had at least dragged with me Microsoft's latest notebook PC, the 15-inch Surface Book 2, a Windows PC with so much battery life it easily absorbed every Fuzzled Factor I threw at it.
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 now has a 15-inch model with a battery life to die for. It has the same matte silver finish with a metallic build, same book-spine like curved hinge design and so on. The overall thickness of the Surface Book 2, when it is in a closed position, is almost twice that of the Apple MacBook Pro 13. Now in the ideal sense, that is not desirable, but in the case of the Surface Book 2, there is at least an excuse for that. If you are into battery life though, the additional weight is worth it. At a total of 75 Wh (18Wh in the tablet itself, and 51Wh in the base), the Surface Book 2 has a significant advantage over machines like the aforementioned XPS 13 with its 52Wh battery.
The Microsoft Surface Book is ideal for those who are creative, want power in the laptop to do whatever they want to do and loves portability to take their work where they want to go. At Rs 1,85,999 the 13.5-inch Surface Book is pitted against the new MacBook Pro. Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch specs: 13.5-inch PixelSense (3240x2160p, ~267 PPI) display 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor 8GB RAM 256GB ROM Windows 10 Pro USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A x 2, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C x 1, SD card reader, SurfaceConnect x 2, 3.5mm Headset jack 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1. Just like before, the Book is actually two separate parts: a 13.5in tablet and accompanying keyboard base, which holds the more power-hungry bits like the Nvidia graphics card.
Still, the Book 2 compares well to the MacBook in terms of raw power, it features a more comfortable design and its touch screen, detachable display and optional extra input devices offer much more functionality than the Touch Bar. Like its predecessor this is an expensive and arguably over-engineered device compared to more down-to-Earth Microsoft machines like the Surface Laptop, and it's clearly meant to ply the creative professional crowd from Apple's comparatively staid MacBook Pro. You lose some longevity and graphics power in tablet mode — since the Nvidia chip and one of the batteries live in the keyboard — but the screen on its own is perfect for comics and ebooks, video games that work with touch control (or mouse control, as Windows does a good job of translating touch inputs here) or simply continuing to work as you move around the house or office.
Windows 10 is still, well, Windows 10. And while it's a powerful, beautiful piece of design, it has a price to match; the entry level is about the expense of a MacBook Pro. It's a relatively heavy base with a powerful processor and graphics card and a big battery — and it has a surprisingly light removable screen that turns it into a tablet and that features a less powerful processor and graphics chip. Microsoft adds to its "ultimate laptop," the Surface Book 2, by increasing the performance, battery life, and display size.
But if you're a professional and want to invest in a portable Windows machine specifically and don't do a lot of processor/graphics-intensive work like video-editing or heavy gaming, and want a premium laptop with a battery that lasts you all day even while traveling, the Surface Book 2 can be a solid option. The Surface Book 2 in India starts at a price of Rs. 1,37,999 and for that price, you're getting a powerful laptop in a portable size along with a detachable screen and great battery life, but is the form factor and build worth paying that extra money for, as a generic laptop with specs as the Surface Book 2 can be found for under half the price? For a student like me who goes to college during the day and also works part-time, the Surface Book 2 was an excellent departure from my underpowered and hefty 15.6-inch laptop as this 13.5-inch machine would slide into my backpack without adding too much bulk and carried serious power to get probably any task done without hiccups (unless I had to edit a video of course) and the fact that battery lasts long meant I wouldn't have to carry the charger along with me.
With the new Surface Book 2, the Surface Pro tablet, Surface Laptop and the Surface Studio all-in-one PC, Microsoft has assembled a decent-sized portfolio of premium Windows hardware devices to rival Apple in the high-end segment. When running workloads with high CPU and GPU usage on a 15-inch Surface Book 2 with the power mode set to "best performance", the notebook consumes more power than its 95-watt power supply can provide, and its battery discharges. This is Microsoft's shot across the bow of the MacBook Pro, which is having a moment of weakness after its most recent update skimped on the overall power level and put a lot of emphasis on a touch-sensitive control bar that seems woefully outmatched when compared to a fully touch-sensitive screen.
A large chunk of the Surface Book's hefty price tag depends upon the value of its detachable touchscreen display, and its utility as a practical tool for creative professionals. In addition to raw power, Microsoft is promising that both versions of the Surface Book 2 will get a ridiculous 17 hours of battery life. The Surface Book 2's biggest selling point, outside of its power, is that you can detach its display and use it as an independent tablet.
Its industrial design features a sleek, silver magnesium chassis and the line's unique fulcrum-style hinge that allows you to use the book like a laptop, but completely detach the display via a dedicated keyboard button. The only real performance issue I had was related to connectivity — like the 2016 Surface Book before it, I found the 2-in-1 has a tendency to fall off Wi-Fi easily in comparison to my closest co-workers' 2016 MacBook Pro, though it didn't happen frequently enough to become problematic. No matter the model, just one look at the spec sheet makes it pretty obvious that Microsoft stuffed some serious hardware into the Surface Book 2, and it offers a number of advantages that make it a superior option to the Macbook Pro, especially if you prefer Windows over macOS.
Microsoft Surface Book 2 Laptop Performance - Processing Power. Microsoft Surface Book 2 review: Excellent performance in a slim design with incredible battery life. If you can afford a Surface Book 2, we'd recommend it. So many of its attributes are simply fantastic, including its graphics performance and stellar battery life.
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 includes two different batteries: a 23.2 Watt-hour battery in the tablet, and a separate 62.2 Wh battery in the base. In general, how the Surface Book 2 compares against the Surface Book most likely ties into the base processor clocks of both chips: 2.6GHz for the original Book, 1.9GHz for the Surface Book 2. When needed, the Book 2 can boost up to 4.2GHz—but in these tests, it doesn't need to. As with the Work Conventional test, it scores below similar laptops with discrete GPU. In our performance charts below, you'll see us compare the Surface Book 2 to its predecessor, as well as some recent laptops we've reviewed that have discrete graphics: Dell's XPS 15 , Lenovo's Yoga 720 , and Samsung's Notebook 9 Pro.
But Microsoft's implementation also lacks the Thunderbolt I/ implementation, part and parcel of Apple's MacBook Pro and an easy way to connect multiple displays to a device that supports it. As you can see, Microsoft's versatile laptop is every bit as expensive as a MacBook Pro. The laptop/tablet hybrid starts at $1,499 for the entry-level 13.5 inch model, which has 256GB of solid state storage, 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor.
While Apple remains resolute that touchscreens and detachable keyboards should stay well clear of its laptop lineup, Microsoft embraces the 4-in-1 design with its Surface Book 2. The 2 in 1 Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a device that can be assembled in several ways, we can disassemble the tablet by pressing the magnetic release button, place it flat with the keyboard or in base mode by turning the tablet upside down. Within this model we have an Intel Core i7 8th generation processor and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, all with a spectacular quality screen that is rounded off with a truly original hinge design.
It's essentially all the power of a desktop PC squeezed into a package you can comfortably carry around with you and even the £1,999 model gives you more for your money than the equivalent MacBook Pro 13. The Surface Book 2's 3,000 x 2,000 resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio screen is (as has been the case for some time now on Microsoft's devices) beyond reproach.
Microsoft refreshes the Surface Book 2 with 8th-gen Intel chips
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