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
Battery Life
Surface Pro 2 retains the same 42Wh battery and 48W charger as the original Surface Pro. I wasn’t pleased at all with the battery life of the original design, and I had hoped for a significant increase in battery life with Surface Pro 2. Microsoft claims up to a 75% increase in battery life compared to the original. In our 2013 tablet battery life test that turned out to be a 40% advantage – not shabby, but not where it needs to be. Update: Microsoft issued a firmware update that brings Surface Pro 2 up to 8.33 hours of battery life in our web browsing battery life test, or 76% better than the original Surface Pro.
I’m also beginning to think that Haswell’s video decode engine may not be all that power efficient. We did see better results out of OS X, but it’s still nowhere near what’s possible on the best ARM platforms.
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Mondozai - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Reading this it seems like Microsoft played it safe, or maybe it's just the lack of execution we've become used to seeing with the WP8 platform(although the updates on that area is picking up). Hopefully the much-lauded "re-org" can change things to become much better for the third generation.The Surface Pro is still too expensive considering that the batterylife isn't up to par.
Reading the review, it still feels more like a jumbled 2-in-1 laptop rather than a tablet with a keyboard cover.
The whole point of the Google Nexus series is to show the other OEMs what is possible to do. It's priced quite cheap - in relative terms - and you get good hardware for the money. If we compare the Surface series, can anyone say it is driving the ecosystem to the right place?
inighthawki - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Is that a joke? The surface pro is widely regarded as very good for it's price compared to other ultrabooks in the same tier, as well as versus the MBA. Good perf, good display, and while the battery isn't great, it's not horrible either for the form factor and the power it pumps out.augustofretes - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
The Air has longer battery life, a proper (better) keyboard, Intel HD5000, a much better trackpad and is cheaper. The Surface Pro has a stylus support, a touchscreen a better screen.The thing is that as a laptop replacement it's not good at all, simply the experience of typing is too inferior and so is only having to angles for that hinge.
To be honest with you, with regular ultrabook hitting 8-10 hours battery life in very small 11.6" sizes, the Surface Pro and tablets in general (unless you don't want to spend as much money as you need to to get an Ultrabook) are pretty much useless, especially if you own a smartphone.
augustofretes - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
So many typos.FredyHandanovic - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online(Click on menu Home)http://goo.gl/iwURWg
pppdns - Thursday, December 12, 2013 - link
↑ spam ad, please delete!doobydoo - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Excellent post.santiagoanders - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Now list the Surface pro 2 advantages.And please explain how the MBA is cheaper when it starts at $1000.
Scannall - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
MBA starts at $999Surface 2 starts at $899 + 129 for the keyboard. = $1028.
santiagoanders - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
So I guess we should add in the cost of a Wacom pad to the MBA, huh?