Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 21, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Surface
- Surface Pro 2
CPU Performance
While multitasking on Surface 2 can struggle, the same really can’t be said for Surface Pro 2. The tablet is effectively a Haswell Ultrabook, capable of delivering the exact same performance as a 2013 MacBook Air – but in the form factor of a thick tablet. The performance of Intel’s Core i5-4200U is a fairly known quantity at this point, but to put Surface Pro 2’s tablet performance in perspective here are some comparisons to the best of the best in the ARM tablet space.
I ran tests using both Chrome and IE11, the latter is really only optimized for SunSpider and horribly unoptimized for everything else. In general you're multiple times better performance than what you can get from a quad-core Cortex A15 based device. If we look at Kraken, Surface Pro 2 running IE11 completes the test in 1/4 the time as Surface 2 running the same browser.
GPU Performance
Intel’s HD 4400 is good enough for light gaming and is a huge step above what you can find in a traditional ARM based tablet. Microsoft only gave us a few days to review both devices so I didn’t have a ton of time to re-characterize the performance of Intel’s HD 4400, but I’ve done that elsewhere already.
Storage Performance
My review sample appears to have a SK Hynix based SSD. I ran it through the same modified IO tests I did on the ASUS T100:
Our Android IO tests rely on Androbench with a relatively limited LBA span. I increased the difficulty of the test a bit under Windows 8.1 but still kept it reasonable since we are dealing with eMMC solutions. I’m testing across a 1GB LBA span and testing for a period of 1 minute, which is an ok balance between difficulty of workload and sensitivity to the fact that we’re evaluating low-class SSDs here.
Surface Pro 2 is a completely different league of IO performance. The number to pay attention here is the tremendous increase in random write performance compared to the eMMC solutions we’ve tested. I suspect the gap increases if we were to look at worst case sustained random write performance. Killer sequential performance definitely helps Surface Pro 2 feel quick.
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Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
I know they are, but they are no where near as good as the Windows 8.1 experience in doing the same. Hence my use of the word "well" in this line:
"The screenshot below really helps illustrate what I would love to do on most tablets, but what I can only do (well) on a Surface:"
doobydoo - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
'Samsung galaxy devices have supported spilt-screen multitasking'Yes they also support S-Voice, S-Gimmick and S-Fail. Only problem is that they are all gimmicks rushed to market to be bullet points which only fool unsuspecting idiots.
Wade_Jensen - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
I don't like to see less tech savvy people called idiots, but "S-Gimmick and S-Fail.... Hahahahaha!!rituraj - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
As much as I wanted to call you an idiot, I shouldn't, because you really need to be taught.I agree with you about the SVoice. But the pen, split screen are the features that no one else is providing. Right now I am writing this with a whatsapp window open above my chrome browser in my note2. I forgot to sign a document once so I put my sign on the pdf file with my S *gimmick* pen and mailed it. So that's the *fail* I got out of S-stuff.
Yes you cannot expect windows7-like split window or the stylus quality of a wacom cintiq (if you even have the slightest idea what that is) but these features are in a fuckk8ng phone, let alone the tablets. Should I elaborate with more examples?
backbydemand - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Samsung may support split screen multitasking, but Win 8 will still let you use desktop mode and you can have any number of simultaneous windows open, hell as the desktop is an App you can have desktop using 70% of the screen and run a Metro App in a bar next to it - Android can't do thatHomeles - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Man, this tablet could have been so much better with just a tad more polish. It's still a nice hunk of hardware, but I guess we'll have to wait until next year to get the real deal.Microsoft is quite the OEM dinosaur... I just wished they were a bit more like Apple.
dtolios - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
If this same device was an Apple product, consumers would be raving.sweenish - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
I'm already raving, the Surface Pro line is what I expected to iPad to be from the beginning.doobydoo - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
'If this same device was an Apple product, consumers would be raving.'What a silly comment. If this was an Apple product it would be EVEN MORE slated, because people hold Apple to higher standards.
You can't defend any product with a fake, unproven fanboy comment like 'if Apple made this it would be great'. How about accepting that it's actually not that good?
YuLeven - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
You're commenting all over the article recommending people to use Apple products and yet you call other commenters to be fanboys. Oh, the irony.