The Surface 3 Review
by Brett Howse on May 4, 2015 9:00 AM ESTSurface 3 Design
For those familiar with the Surface line, and especially the Surface Pro 3, looking at the new Surface 3 is not going to shock you. It is certainly an evolution of the line and not a revolution. It still features the same magnesium body which really feels great in the hand. It really is unlike aluminium in feel, and I find that the Surface 3 texture gives plenty of grip, unlike some polished devices.
Microsoft paid a lot of attention when building these tablets, and their efforts are clearly seen all over. I have already discussed the kickstand when it is open, but when it is closed, it sits absolutely flush with the body, and the body has an angled edge to it, which the kickstand also must have. The power button and volume button both fit very snug and have a great clicky feel.
The biggest and best change to the design is what carries over from the Surface Pro 3; the 3:2 aspect ratio. 16:9 is really not ideal for a tablet in either orientation. In portrait mode, it is much too tall and skinny, and in landscape mode, the tablet is too long and can feel unbalanced.
The move to 3:2 is a revelation for tablet use, and the Surface 3 is a much better tablet than even the Surface Pro 3. It is smaller, thinner, lighter, and just easier to hold. The smaller version is really quite good to use in portrait mode, which is something that could never have been said of Surface RT or Surface 2. I’m not sure if we have found a “perfect” aspect ratio for a tablet, but 3:2 offers a lot of advantages and very few drawbacks. It is better in landscape for actual productivity tasks thanks to the extra vertical space, and better for portrait because of the more balanced width.
One of the other great design features that Microsoft has been able to incorporate into the Surface line is front facing speakers. Sound does not travel well through things, so having the speakers pointed backwards just can’t compete. The best part of the speakers on the Surface line is just how inconspicuous they are. There are two tiny slots on the upper sides of the tablet (when in landscape) and they blend in surprisingly well with the black bezels, to the point where you may not even notice them unless you have the device in the right kind of lighting. We will see later on just how well they sound, but the placement of them is great.
The port selection is good too, and this is what helps Surface to be a laptop. There is a mini-DisplayPort on the upper right side, and just under that is a USB 3.0 port. This full sized port lets you connect almost anything to the tablet. In addition, there is an audio jack at the bottom right side, and in between the USB and audio is the charging port.
Microsoft has always used a proprietary charging connector on all of the Surface devices. The original Surface RT had a magnetic charger which would stick on to the device, and light up. It was reversible too, so you could connect it either way. The original had some issues with connections, and they tweaked the design. However for the Surface 3, they have ditched that connector completely and went with a standard micro-USB connector.
The use of micro-USB has some advantages and drawbacks. The advantage is that you can now charge the Surface 3 with any cord you already have for almost all smartphones (only Apple doesn’t use micro-USB) so that is a win. The drawback though is that micro-USB charging is generally power limited to only a handful of watts. A typical phone charger may only be five watts, and some of the better ones will be ten. The Surface 3 comes with a thirteen watt charger. Later we will see what effect that has on charge times, but it really is not a lot of power.
I think it is a missed opportunity to not be forward leaning on the charging port and use a USB Type-C connector. This would keep the reversible nature which is much better than what they have now, and Type-C can handle much more power (without ever going out of spec) offering them the opportunity to supply a bigger charger. Going to micro-USB now feels like a step backwards to be honest. Because the Surface already has a full sized USB port, you don’t run into the problems like the Macbook where it is only one Type-C. Type-C is the future, and not seeing it on this device makes it take a step back in the past.
The bottom of the Surface 3 keeps the now familiar magnetic connector and pins for the keyboard, and a groove runs along the bottom for the keyboard to fit in to.
On the top of the Surface is a slightly different color strip of plastic which will be the RF transparent window for all of the necessary antennae. I like that they did not try to color match the device because the contrast makes for a much nicer look, and trying to color match metal and plastic can end up looking poorly, especially over time. The plastic strip also features the 8 MP rear camera.
When you look at tablet design in the Windows world, there really is Surface and everything else. The device just feels solid, and the magnesium finish is so great to hold in the hand. The fit and finish of the Surface is as good as any other device on the market.
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khanikun - Friday, May 8, 2015 - link
I have an SP3 and it's big selling point over essentially everything you mentioned, the ability to actually make it a tablet. I don't need a keyboard strapped on the thing 24/7, nor do I want to put the keys in harms way when converted into tablet form.I use it like a laptop when I hit my destination and I rip the keyboard off it, when walking around or having it put into my tablet mount in the car. If it were a convertible laptop, I probably would have lost a few keys by now.
Rebelismo - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Yeah. Lack of apps... That's a good one.There is a clear chasm nowadays between content consumers, and professional users. It seems that MOST people would be fine with a social media content device. The way I see it, the Surface line was made for engineers, designers, scientists, artists etc. If you're worried that the windows store might not have Snapchat, then please get yourself a nice android or ios phablet.
eagle63 - Sunday, May 17, 2015 - link
"...the Surface line was made for engineers, designers, scientists, artists etc...." Those people primarily use Macs, not Windows. Windows is for corporate-types who push spreadsheets around all day. :) Obviously I'm generalizing but I'm not that far off the mark.If you're looking at a Windows tablet and honestly intend to use it as a tablet, then yes there is a remarkable lack of apps - I actually can't believe you would think otherwise. (have you used iOS or Android before??) If your primary goal is a professional/business device, then you're probably set - but you're also probably looking at the Pro model, not this one. So I think the app argument (for this device at least) is absolutely valid and relevant.
JRX16 - Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - link
"Those people primarily use Macs, not Windows. Windows is for corporate-types who push spreadsheets around all day. :) Obviously I'm generalizing but I'm not that far off the mark."This... And while some will point out that engineering and scientific organizations will be filled with Windows machines on desks and cubicles, that's a business decision to cut initial costs. The engineers and scientists' personal machines are more often then not Macs.
JoeOliano - Wednesday, June 17, 2015 - link
I'd say it's 50/50Depends on the scientist and the area of research. I never understood the desire for macs and I'm a scientist. They are just sleek and fancy. Only (bio)informatics would benefit from the mac productivity wise. The rest, not so much. And they could do just as well with linux, just no linux tablets on the market ;). That said, the surface line runs ubuntu flawlessly as dual boot!
illegaloperation - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
Why do you factor in the price of the dock? Does the HP Spectre x360 comes with a dock?illegaloperation - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
1. The dock is more of an optional accessory than anything. I don't know why you factor in the price of the Dock.2. The HP Spectre x360 weigh 3.26 lbs. That's the weight of the Surface 3. If weigh and portability isn't a concern for you, why even get a laptop? Just get a desktop and you'll get even more for your money.
illegaloperation - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
I intended to say "over twice the weight of the Surface 3"NeatOman - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
$599 model + keyboard and pen puts it at $780, i don't think anyone cares to much about the dock for the surface or any other laptop unless they use it for work and it is also powerful. But for $780 i think its a bit slow (despite the NAND being about twice as fast as the 64GB model) at about half the speed if not less at times, it is not worth it.I would just pick up a UX305 with the Core M-5Y10 8GB/256GB for $699 like they said in the article. But if it was $499 for the 4GB/128GB model then i would have no problem recommending it as an option with caution. The surface pro 3 on the other hand i think is still a great PC.
romprak - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link
I am a big fan of the UX305! But it really isn't comparable, for one the S3 is a tablet - and there are some good applications for having that pen. If you are going to compare it to the UX305, at least remove the pen from your comparison price to knock the price of the S3 down to $730.I have a S3 Pro, and the reason I cannot go to something like the UX305 is that after using the 3:2 aspect ratio screen, I have a hard time coding on a 16:9 display with the lack of vertical space for code. I wish PC manufacturers didn't start using a video oriented aspect ratio for productivity machines :(