Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ PC review – power, performance and on-device AI as well

80%

• VERDICT

The Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ PC offers impressive performance and battery life with the bonus of AI functionality on device that will serve users well into the future.

The new Microsoft Surface Pro – one of the first cabs off the rank under the Copilot+ PC banner – is a remarkably powerful and useful tablet that will easily meet your productivity and entertainment needs.

The tablet is running the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip – this is brand-new silicon that brings it into the Copilot+ PC class and enables much of its AI functionality to occur on device.

This new chip has brought to PC users improved speed and battery life for the very first time.

Microsoft was quick to draw comparisons with Apple’s M series chips and while we found they didn’t meet Microsoft’s comparative claims they are not far off in terms of performance.

One of the biggest selling points of the Surface Pro is it’s AI features which will be less attractive to some than the performance and battery life.

Now, the biggest features are Cocreator in Paint which can help turn your doodles into decent images and the Translation functionality which can help break the language barrier.

The other headline feature Recall – which can help you remember what you saw on your PC, was dramatically pulled just days before the official launch and can now be accessed through the Windows Insider program.

The processor running the Surface Pro use mobile ARM technology rather than x86 and x64 chips from traditional PC chip makers Intel and AMD.

It has more in common with your smartphone than a computer, but Microsoft has tinkered with Windows 11 so it can work well with new and older software.

The Surface Pro is a tablet with your choice of 16GB or 32GB RAM and storage options up to 1TB.

Onboard is a 13-inch display with a resolution of 2880 X 1920 add an aspect ratio of 3:2. Our review had the more expensive OLED screen but there is a cheaper LCD version available.

It has a dynamic refresh rate up to 120 Hz.

The screen was remarkably sharp and clear and provided a great canvas for our work and content.

It has a Quad HD front facing Surface Studio camera and comes with Windows Studio Effects which offers automatic framing and other creative filters.

Unfortunately, the keyboard needs to be purchased separately.

But it is high quality and offers an excellent typing experience to turn the tablet into a laptop effortlessly.

What we liked was the ability to use the keyboard wirelessly with the Surface Pro.

This way we were able to keep the keyboard close to us with the display up on the desk.

This offered us some flexibility in how we were able to work.

The keyboard also comes with the Surface Slim Pen so you’re able to write or draw on the screen.

It did come in handy with the Cocreator feature in Paint.

We used the pen to draw a house and Cocreator kicked in and offered us a much better version of the sketch.

The Surface Pro has a kickstand which works well when propped up on a desk but not so stable when you’re trying to type on your lap.

On the connectivity side, there are only two USB C ports on the left edge.

What you don’t get is a physical headphone jack or any memory card slots.

Microsoft is persisting with its blade-like charger which could easily have been a spot for another port or a memory card slot.

You can purchase a Surface Dock to expand your connectivity with prices starting at $419.95. Users may also opt for cheaper third party docks.

On the performance side, the Surface Pro didn’t skip a beat and for our workflow ran admirably.

Naturally, applications like Microsoft Office and the Edge browser worked well with the ARM-based chip under the hood.

But we understand there may be compatibility issues for some professional editing software for video and audio which may not perform at its best.

We also believe some antivirus software will be unable to be installed so you may have to rely solely on the built in Windows Security.

We recommend checking that the software you use the most will work if you are considering this device.

For our workflow we were able to run Microsoft Word, the Edge browser and Adobe Photoshop.

If you’re a keen gamer there are some apps that also won’t work if they use a version of OpenGL greater than 3.3 or have anti-cheat drivers which haven’t been designed for Windows 11 arm based PCs.

But for us none of these limitations were a deal breaker.

We found the Microsoft Surface Pro to be a reliable and sturdy platform.

On the battery side we got just under the 14 hour mark using it as our daily driver, viewing content, connected to Wi-Fi and completing our tasks.

The Surface Pro Copilot+ PC starts at $1899 with the LCD display while the OLED model starts at $2699.

The Surface Pro Flex Keyboard with Slim Pen is $769.95.

VERDICT

The Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ PC offers impressive performance and battery life with the bonus of AI functionality on device that will serve users well into the future.