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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
277 Comments
View All Comments
bored again - Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - link
He meant that Apple products do not support a pressure sensitive stylus. And just because someone prefers this to an ipad and can appreciate the extra computing power does not make them an MS shill.I for one was looking forward to the first ipad, but no stylus meant no buy for me, which is sad as Apple was always perceived as the creative choice, but it took MS to make a tablet for artists.
Imaginer - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
The Surface Pro has an Electromagnetic Resonance panel in addition to a capacitive touch panel. That is what he poster meant.ewpelleg - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Hello Devjones2236, active digitizers can be a bit confusing. Wacom and N-Trig technology do not rely on the touch screen, capacitive or not. Instead, there are sensors under the screen which emit an EM field. This field induces a current in the Wacom Pen which powers it, allowing it to then send information (like pressure) back to the computer. N-Trig is similar, but does not get it's power from the computer but a battery.Capacitive stylus' do exist, but their function is to interact with the screen like your finger (for example the iPad).
b16roy - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
The reason they did not change the design is so that they can use the same accessories namely, the docking station..pmhparis - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
It is being compared to the MBA because Microsoft keeps harping on how "productivity" oriented it's tablets are & then in the next breath crowing on how inexpensive a Surface Pro is compared to the competition.A SP is non-productive without the good keyboard & with a useful sized disk, it is easily more expensive than an equivalently specced MBA.
When Microsoft stop attempting this bait & switch, we will cease to point out the attempted fraud.
Imaginer - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
Both Type Cover and Type Cover 2 are just as suitable and works like any laptop keyboard. I am not sure how the type cover is any less effective at being productive versus a regular laptop keyboard.And, instead of creating a hard bundle, the pricing of the covers as an add-on makes sense. You can go without if you plan or already have other travel cordless or corded keyboards, or want to select your own type or touch covers at your discretion.
Even as of typing this post, I have no problem typing on a type cover on the lap, sans desk, on a couch, with the device on the lap.
nasqb112 - Monday, November 4, 2013 - link
I posted this in the iPad Air review as well:I currently have a MacBook Air (2011) and a Nexus 7 and want to consolidate.
I was thinking Surface Pro 2 or iPad Air with keyboard case (similar to the Surface keyboard blades) as I need to be productive on the device. I'd also watch movies, surf the web, game while traveling, etc.
Can anyone offer their thoughts on using Office (particularly for spreadsheets/data analysis and presentations?) on the Surface? I assume I will be using the Type Cover here.
So what would you choose, Surface Pro 2 or iPad Air with keyboard and why? Thanks all!
Imaginer - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Pro 2 easily. You have greater input and periphery device choices and can leverage heavy hitter demanding computational programs, all previous Windows programs (even previous Office versions to a point would work). You can easily connect an optical drive for DVD or Blu Ray reading and writing.Office works well on the 1080p display. And can connect to a multi monitor station,
Pen for quick notes alongside typing and diagraming is a plus.
Plus, when all work is said and done, this easily is a great web surfing device, communications device, and music and video playback device, leveraging currently installed codecs or ones downloaded and installed online (software can be through the store or loaded and installed the normal usual Windows means of .msi or .exe)
Imaginer - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
Steam runs as it always does on the Pro 2 and Windows. Low and laptop game settings at 720p will have most games (sans intensive FPS ones) will run fine, adding to the 'app' options many so not know about.nasqb112 - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Thanks a lot Imaginer. I forgot to consider the wacom pen as that would be a plus for quick notes. Plus I have a good amount of steam games I bought for light gaming on my HTPC that I could play. I'm starting to lean towards the Surface Pro 2 and am heading to Best Buy to check in out in person. Thanks a lot for the feedback, much appreciated!