Microsoft - Surface Pro - Copilot+ PC - 13” OLED - Snapdragon X Elite - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Device Only (11th Edition) - Platinum

The best surface that I could get, slim and lightweight

The Surface Pro 13 OLED 2-in-1 is a best of both worlds beast. Deftly switching from tablet to laptop with an optional keyboard and powered by a 12-core Snapdragon processor mated with a 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, and a new OLED screen, the tablet feels like a strong laptop in both performance and features. Design/Body: The 13-inch tablet isn’t as large and bulky as it sounds. Much like early smartphones, I’ve come to realize that 13-inch tablets aren’t as huge as I originally thought they were. At first glance the Surface Pro doesn’t look much larger than my 11-inch tablet. It’s only when placed side by side does the slightly larger size of the Surface Pro become evident. The Surface has some weight to it but isn’t uncomfortably heavy. I find it easy to use and handle. The body is crafted from aluminum with a kickstand that allows the Surface Pro to be used upright in landscape mode with a keyboard. The kickstand folds flat against the back of tablet when not in use. I don’t find the aluminum body slippery or fragile feeling. The Surface has two USB-C ports on the left side, two ports on the bottom that integrate with the Surface Pro Keyboard, and three buttons on the top for power and volume controls. All ports and buttons are described with the Surface in the landscape position using the kickstand. Screen: The 13-inch OLED screen looks fantastic. I admittedly wasn’t quite as blown away as I’d hoped but it still looks good. It’s just not the quantum leap I thought it would be over previous Surface tablets. It has the deeper blacks and more richly saturated colors common with OLED. Text and graphics are also clean and razor sharp thanks to the 2880X1920 resolution. The screen has good brightness and fast response. Performance: The 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor does not feel like an ARM processor. It feels more on par with a full-fledged X64 laptop. This is good because the Surface Pro is essentially a Windows 11 laptop in a tablet body. Despite the demands of running Windows 11, there is no noticeable lag. Windows open quickly and fluidly. Apps launch swiftly and run with no latency or hiccups. The NPU works splendidly and provides the processing punch required to make Copilot and other AI features actually useful rather than merely window decorations. The Surface isn’t the best equipped for PC gaming, but can handle most other tasks efficiently. The only downside are compatibility issues with some software due to the ARM processor. For example, I cannot install the exact same antivirus as my Windows laptops. I get booted to the Microsoft store for a less capable app version of the program. But as far as productivity apps, media editors, and content creation, the Surface Pro handles it all with ease. It doesn’t run hot in most instances and I haven’t encountered a freeze or blue screen yet. The two cameras and speakers are both decent quality. The QHD front facing camera has face tracking and is utilized for Windows Hello facial recognition. The camera takes good quality photos and video and works great for video conferencing. The 10mp rear camera performs well also. Neither camera can best high-end smartphone cameras but both are more than sufficient for a tablet or even a laptop. They’re also better than the cameras on my other tablets. Same with the speakers. They sound loud, clear, and better than anticipated for a tablet. Music sounds rich and is actually enjoyable. The speakers easily outperform my other tablets and even the quite capable laptop I’m currently typing on now. Battery life is fantastic. I only have to charge every couple days with moderate usage. Extras: Windows 11 recently introduced several AI powered new features. The most anticipated being Copilot. Co-pilot is an AI chatbot that provides a wealth of useful information at your fingertips. It can be helpful for research or automating certain creative processes. It can also utilize plug-ins for recipes, shopping, travel, home and more. Another interesting Windows AI feature is the DALL-E powered co-designer. Integrated with later versions of Paint, it allows you to create dazzling works of art using descriptive phrases and rough sketches. For example, I described an anime turtle on the beach, used some brush strokes to indicate the sand, water, sun and clouds and co-creator did the rest. I included the before and after photos with this review. The more descriptive the phrase, the more accurate the AI rendering. Features in Copilot also provide AI enabled searches and information requests, real-time translation with live captions, creative studio filters and effects for the camera and more. The camera filters were somewhat disappointing. There are only three filters and they only work in the video mode, not with still photos. There are also two blur modes: background and portrait. The AI camera effects are an okay start but I hope Microsoft plans on expanding the filters to not only include a larger selection but work for still photos as well. Cons: As we all know, few things in life are perfect and I’d be doing a disservice by gushing over what impressed me and omitting what didn’t. In the not-so-great department, I already mentioned the compatibility issues I encountered trying to install X64 apps on an ARM device. The Surface Pro runs so well, it’s easy to forget it’s an ARM device until running into an issue like that. Another not so great is the requirement for a complex PIN. I wanted to use a simple four-digit PIN that was easy for me to remember but Windows wasn’t having it because it didn’t meet complexity requirements. Now I have to look up my PIN if facial recognition fails for whatever reason. Lastly, it’s a Windows device, so that means frequent updates. It updated on first boot right out of the box. Lastly, I also had a bunch of unwanted files from another PC dropped onto the Surface thanks to OneDrive being infuriatingly active by default. Despite the above minor cons, I am still blown away by the power and capability of the Surface Pro OLED. It’s blazing fast, has great battery life, and offers the power of a laptop with the convenience and travel friendly size of a tablet. I do strongly recommend using it with a keyboard for the full experience. Case style is best and the Surface works seamless and marvelously with the Surface Pro Keyboard. However, any keyboard is better than no keyboard for those times you need a laptop, not a tablet. One thing I can say is as far as reliability, the Surface has already proven to be a long-lasting well-built piece of tech. I'm still using a Surface Pro X 1876 that is at least 4-5 years old and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Windows has obviously been around a long time and is the known big name operating system for computers around the world, but its only been the last handful of years that Windows has been making their Surface laptop line. I have used many Windows computers in my day and it’s safe to say that this Surface Pro with Copilot+ is simply the best windows PC experience I have had! PROS: - Unboxing this and setup was a treat. Immediately you notice the top tier build quality that shows how thin it is but premium with how it feels and looks. The kickstand is very sturdy and can be adjusted in different angles, and it’s nice and light in your hand as well. Setup includes a smooth process of a few questions and you are ready to go! - The first thing you will notice when using this is how truly amazing this screen is, I mean wow! The OLED just makes everything pop and ever color feel like it stands out on its own. The whites are crisp and when the screen is black it is a true black. Makes for any work, play, or content you consume to be a real joy. I particularly enjoyed using this for movies and shows or games as the Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos speakers really popped. - The Snapdragon processor brings a new level of speed as well. Often you think that you need a big machine to get you fast and efficient speeds but the Snapdragon processor along with the great ram and SSD specks make for a blazing fast experience when using multiple apps at the same time with either work or play. - Of course the big rollout of these new Windows PC’s are the built in Copilot+ which helps use AI for all your work and creative needs. I found the real world use cases for AI to be so beneficial as it helped my work look better and gave me ideas I had not considered before. I think it’s only going to get better with time as well but so far the AI features are a big perk for me in my use cases. - The surface pro also comes with some nice features like dual front/back cameras and 2 USB C ports. Both of these increase the versatility as the front camera is amazing for conference calls or streaming, the back is useful for taking pictures, and the two USB-C are the way of the future and work with all of my accessories I need. - Along with all this speed, AI, and OLED screen you would think that was too much power for a solid battery but I was very impressed with how long I could use this Surface Pro in between charges! It works wonderfully and only adds to its portability to be able to bring along like its nothing. CONS: - I really did not have too many downsides about this. Sure you could say it needs more ports but I find myself using them less and less, especially with docking stations and Bluetooth. Plus it keeps the profile more sleek and modern. BOTTOM LINE: - This is simply the Microsoft Laptop to buy. It has an incredible form factor that is great on the go, at your deck, or docked into monitors, its blazing fast, has an unreal OLED screen, and the built in AI features give you the real use case for AI that you may not have seen before. Microsoft has really hit a home run with this Surface Pro and it will easily be my daily driver for all my needs and I think it will cover yours as well!