Surface Pro 4 Review - The tablet that should replace your laptop?

[AlTech]

The surface pro 4 is a sexy beast of a machine.

 

It's high quality finish is undeniably one of the best feeling for any laptop or tablet.

 

First off, let's get the review unit specs out of the way.

 

The review unit has the following:

Intel core i7-6650U @ 2.2GHz with Iris 540 Graphics

16GB RAM

256GB PCI-E NVMe SSD

802.11ac Marvell Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 + LE

2736x1824 3:2 Aspect Ratio IPS display with a N Trig pen controller built in.

Surface Pen which has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and a dedicated eraser nub (which funnily enough Apple's "Pencil" does not have )

 

The unboxing experience is unlike any I have ever seen. It is meticulous, highly detailed and is well thought out.

 

 

 

 

To open the packaging simply undo some small plastic tabs and you'll be able to immediately get to open your surface. It was an amazing experience and actually really pleased me.  And honestly, no amount of marketing material or quality of marketing material gives the Surface Pro 4   or any Surface the justice it deserves.

 

As you can see, I have the Bright Blue Surface Pro 4 Type cover.

 

 

First thing after unboxing the Surface, I realized 2 things. Number 1, the power brick is really small and compact. Number 2, the Surface didn't have any charge. Bummer. It would have been nice to have a tiny bit of charge In the device but I understand that it was a compromise that had to be made in order to keep the packaging in the great state that it was in.

 

As soon as I booted up the device for the first time, I was greeted with an interesting custom Surface setup guide. The facial recognition is easy to setup and logging in afterwards is very reliable. The pen is also great, easy to setup and reliable. I love how it can detect when I'm hovering over something without touching the screen. The touch input is great but I don't use it much since the pen is just excellent.

 

The device booted up to Windows 10.0.10586.71 with over 20 drivers needing to be downloaded. I would have liked for it to be updated before reaching retail stores or shipping. Thankfully after around 10-20 minutes I was able to update it to the latest version of Window 10 Pro.

 

And speaking of downloading things, while syncing my OneDrive library (around 6GB) I noticed that the fan came on and made it's presence known. It wasn't vacuum cleaner loud or anything like that but it certainly wasn't 100% silent.

 

At idle, the Surface Pro 4 is extremely quite and under many use cases. The fan spins up only during Windows Updates and software installation and anything graphically intensive.

 

So what's it like to use it?

The display is perfect! The 3:2 aspect ratio makes reading anything easy to do in portrait or landscape. it is, without a doubt, one of the  best displays on a laptop, if not the best.

 

Initially I thought it would be nice if the screen was a little bit bigger but I take it back. 12.3" is perfect! Following on from that, most apps and programs I used are Hi DPI aware but some older ones (like Minecraft) were not. Apart from older programs, most apps should work just fine. The power button was a bit weird to get used to but now I'm used to it. Volume keys are on the Surface and on the type cover.

 

Facial Recognition

The facial recognition at first was a bit inaccurate but the more you use it the better it gets. It is super convenient and in the unlikely event where it doesn't work, I can just put in my pin and unlock it.

 

The Type Cover

The type cover for the Pro 4 is awesome. It has a great key travel and is remarkably thin and light. It feels very well made and is very nice to use. My only complaint with regard to the type cover is that there is a tiny bit of flex in the keyboard. Other than that, it's damn good.

 

Form Factor and Size

As Panos Panay, the head of Surface, said at the Surface Keynote, the Surface Pro 4 could have been thinner but they wanted to keep the USB port. Which is a smart move considering that all laptops have a USB port of some sort. The Surface Pro 4 has the ergonomics of a tablet even though with the type cover it becomes a laptop of sorts. This means it is super light at just over 2 pounds. The tablet itself weighs 786g and boy you can tell it Is super light. Funnily enough, it makes it no easier to hold the device with your hands. Despite this being primarily a tablet which can also be a laptop, it's actually mostly better at being a laptop than a tablet. This is because there aren't many apps or programs which utilize the tablet portion well. There aren't as many UWP apps as iPad apps for iPads. But let's be honest, the Surface Pro 4 was only ever competing against the iPad Pro and the MacBook Air. Both of the competing products are not in high demand these days since the latter is old with it's awful display and old design while the former is too expensive, too limited and is still a mobile os tablet.

 

Super ridiculously thin and sexy .  Living life on the edge . Holding the Surface with one hand and the phone with the other.

 

 

Little bit of glare but the photo shows more than actually visible on screen.

 

And I've already managed to put fingerprints over the Windows Logo .

 

Who is this product for?

The Surface Pro 4 Is for anybody wanting a thin and light device which can be a tablet if needed or just a very portable and sexy Windows Machine. it is very sexy. It is very expensive. As configured, this cost around $1500. Fortunately, Microsoft offered to give the type cover for 80-90% off the sticker price. 

 

What kind of programs can this handle?

Any lightweight programs like Spotify, iTunes, Office, etc but also some high performance apps like Adobe Photoshop CC, Visual Studio and some Minecraft. Yes you can also run some CAD on here. I tried out AutoDesk Fusion 360 and it runs nicely but the fan does kick in. And that's pretty much the story for anything demanding. On the i7 model, you can run most software but be aware that the fan will kick in if it gets too hot.

 

Battery Life

I don't have much data for Battery Life yet but from what I've seen, the i7 model will probably get worse battery life than the i5 model. The i7 has a tendency to turbo boost quite a bit but turbo boost can be disabled. I will update this when I have more solid battery life numbers. It seems like the average battery life for the i7 model should be between 6-7/8 hours.

 

The Kickstand

The kickstand is awesome! It's genuinely great and covers almost every angle I could possibly want. It's just wonderful. If you want more photos you can check out my Surface Album.

 

Speakers

The speakers are loud! At 50% they are super loud for a laptop. They really blow me away.

 

The trackpad

Pretty good. Tracking is pretty nice and it's just the right size. I wish it had better multi touch finger support but it's still fine.

 

The price

So this is an amazing device, but it costs a lot of money. Whether you buy the Core M model for $899 with 128GB SSD or the top of the line $2699 i7 with 1TB SSD, it is definitely expensive. This review unit as said before, cost just over $1400-1500 USD. And I'm sure other people who bought cheaper versions like @atrash will tell you a similar experience (except no fan noise and thermal throttling and better battery life) but nothing justifies the price delta between the cheapest and most expensive models. Which model you should get depends on your needs.

 

For web browsing and office: Core M model ($899 USD)

For Office and some light programming: i5 models ($999-$1299 USD)

For programming, audio production, photo editing, CAD or light gaming: i7 models ($1499-2699 USD)

 

So is it the tablet that can replace your laptop?

Yes, and it has been since the Surface Pro 3.

 

But is it the tablet that should replace your laptop?

For most people, the answer would be yes. It is an amazing feat of engineering. It is incredibly compact and yet incredibly powerful. it can probably handle anything you throw at it short of video editing and gaming. Now I finally understand Panos' excitement and his happiness when this product launched. It is amazing. But at the price I expected it to be great. If you can afford it and you do anything from web browsing and office to programming, CAD or audio production then this device might be for you .

 

I'm AluminiumTech. Thanks so much for reading this. What are your thoughts on Surface? Do you not like tablets which can be laptops? And please check out the Surface Album. There are so many photos on there which I couldn't put on here due to upload size limit on posts.

 

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

You can but the Surface Pro 4 here -> https://www.microsoftstore.com/product/surfacepro4

[themctipers]

My tablet is my phone. 

 

[AlTech]

4 minutes ago, themctipers said:

My tablet is my phone. 

 

But does it replace your laptop?

[themctipers]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

But does it replace your laptop?

Yes. 

 

Also I don't have $2000 to spend on a fucking i7 6xxxUltra-Shit cpu 

[BingoFishy]

Don't use facial recognition. Someone can unlock it with a photo of you, and I have a friend who has an identical twin, both can unlock it with their face.

[atrash]

Well you summed it up nicely.. I'm on my third SP4 btw. The last one had faulty board or something it wasn't charging the battery. And there goes my Dbrand skin too but I ordered a new one.

 

If there's one thing I have to complaint about the type cover is that the trackpad click is a bit too hard to press. Not as effortless as the non force touch RMBP trackpad

 

And 8GB ram should be base standard across all model imo. Even the Core M3 can easily handle software like Adobe Photoshop CC well. Just lacks the ram.

 

I don't think I'll ever get a tablet with a fan anymore. Mine is so dead silent and barely kicks out any heat, it now has a permanent spot on my bed.

[AlTech]

41 minutes ago, themctipers said:

Yes. 

 

Also I don't have $2000 to spend on a fucking i7 6xxxUltra-Shit cpu 

Well mine cost $1500 not $2000

 

1 minute ago, atrash said:

Well you summed it up nicely.. I'm on my third SP4 btw. The last one had faulty board or something it wasn't charging the battery. And there goes my Dbrand skin too but I ordered a new one.

 

If there's one thing I have to complaint about the type cover is that the trackpad click is a bit too hard to press. Not as effortless as the non force touch RMBP trackpad

 

And 8GB ram should be base standard across all model imo. Even the Core M3 can easily handle software like Adobe Photoshop CC well. Just lacks the ram.

 

I don't think I'll ever get a tablet with a fan anymore. Mine is so dead silent and barely kicks out any heat, it now has a permanent spot on my bed.

Yeah 8GB should be standard. The i7 model with the fan is quite silent except when your pushing it a lot.

 

27 minutes ago, BingoFishy said:

Don't use facial recognition. Someone can unlock it with a photo of you, and I have a friend who has an identical twin, both can unlock it with their face.

I also have a pin code and password as a backup if I choose to use that instead of facial recognition.

[themctipers]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Well mine cost $1500 not $2000

 

Yeah 8GB should be standard. The i7 model with the fan is quite silent except when your pushing it a lot.

 

I also have a pin code and password as a backup if I choose to use that instead of facial recognition.

how about $1500 x 1.32 x 1.13 + shipping (19.99)

welcome to canada, eh.

thats the minimum price

manufacturers like to bump up the price a bit more.

[ShadowCaptain]

The Surface pro is certainly a nice and well engineered device, with a unique form

but I am still not convinced by its usability outside of casual use, or for very niche applications

For its price you could get a much more capable, and equally light weight ultrabook with better performance battery, display, keyboard

But obviously for somebody who only uses certain applications, and needs the smallest lightest and needs touch its a good option

[BingoFishy]

8 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Well mine cost $1500 not $2000

 

Yeah 8GB should be standard. The i7 model with the fan is quite silent except when your pushing it a lot.

 

I also have a pin code and password as a backup if I choose to use that instead of facial recognition.

Yes, but facial recognition is still an option. You should just not use it altogether.