With the arrival of windows 11 system, Microsoft launched a new Surface hardware product, including Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Pro 8, etc., of which the compact and portable Surface Go 3 two-in-one tablet is favored by traveling office people. As the successor of Microsoft's Surface Go series products, with the blessing of the new Windows 11 system, what kind of experience can Surface Go 3 bring?
Product parameters
Operating system: Windows 11 Home Normal
Display: 10.5-inch PixelSense display (1920×1280, 3:2, touch)
Processor: Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y (2 cores, 4 threads, 1.1GHz~3.4GHz)
Graphics: Intel UHD 615
Memory: 8GB LPDDR3 1866 Dual Channel
Hard Drive: Kaixia 128GB NVMe SSD
Wireless Network Connection: Intel AX 200 (Wi-Fi 6 support)
Battery: 28Wh
Size: 245mm×175mm×8.3mm
Weight: 544g (without power supply)
Reference price: 4588 yuan (including special version of the keyboard cover)
Small and portable design
The main feature of Microsoft's Surface Go series products has always been small and portable. As a new upgrade, Microsoft Surface Go 3 continues the design style of the previous generation of products in the body design. The overall use of magnesium alloy body, there are bright platinum and Athens black two colors, the screen also uses the same size as the previous generation of products - 10.5-inch PixelSense display, screen resolution of 1920×1280, display ratio of 3:2, and support 10-point touch.
▲ Microsoft Surface Go 3 continues the design style of the previous generation of products, the overall use of magnesium alloy body, the back is the iconic contrast design.
The color expression ability of this screen is also good, and we measured that its sRGB color gamut coverage area is 98%, and the DCI-P3 color gamut coverage area is 77%, which means that whether you browse the web or watch videos, you have a very good visual experience. It's just that the mirror screen of this machine will reflect light, which is not very convenient to use in outdoor strong light.
▲The sRGB color gamut coverage area of the measured screen is 98%.
In addition, the microsoft Surface Go 3 has the same form factor as its predecessor. The length and width of the fuselage are 245mm×175mm, the thickness of the fuselage is the same 8.3mm, and even the bare metal weight is 544g. The design is completely consistent, which means that the new generation of Surface Go series products perfectly inherit the family characteristics of the previous generation of small and portable products, whether it is the weight of 544g or the 10.5-inch screen, which makes this machine have the advantage of being quite portable, whether it is held in the hand or placed in the bag, there is no burden on daily carrying, very convenient.
▲ The compact body has good portability, and it is very convenient to carry daily.
As a two-in-one tablet, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 is more like a large phone overall. For example, its boot button and volume key are designed at the top of the fuselage, and a few interfaces are designed on the right side of the fuselage, which is more in line with the use habits of most people. It is worth mentioning that this machine is also equipped with front and rear cameras, including a front 5mp 1080p camera (supporting Windows Hello facial recognition) and a rear 8MP autofocus 1080p camera, which can meet scenarios such as video calls/conferences and daily temporary shooting.
▲ The boot key and volume key are designed at the top of the screen.
▲ Front 5mp 1080p camera, support Windows Hello facial recognition.
Looking at the back of the fuselage, you can see that the Microsoft Surface Go 3 adopts the same hinged integrated bracket design as the previous generation, with a maximum opening and closing angle of 165°, and supports stepless adjustment, which means that it can hover at any angle within 165°. The benefit of this design is that it allows Microsoft's Surface Go 3 to adapt to almost all usage environments, which is the essence of the 2-in-1 tablet product. For example, when the creative design crowd cooperates with the touch pen drawing, the opening and closing angle of the bracket can be adjusted arbitrarily to do whatever you want. Of course, when working in a team or sharing at home, such a stepless adjustment bracket is more convenient to use.
▲The bracket adopts hinged integrated design, the maximum opening and closing angle reaches 165°, and it supports stepless adjustment.
Accessories and interfaces
Tablets + rich accessories are the soul of a two-in-one device. What Microsoft's Surface Go 3 does is that it's fully compatible with the keyboards of its predecessors, meaning that older users don't have to buy keyboards separately. Of course, new users still need to buy keyboards and stylus separately. The test prototype we got is equipped with ice crystal blue Alcantara special edition type cover, this keyboard is very thin, but the key range rebound force is obvious, it is clean and neat to use, the feel is very good, and this keyboard is also equipped with a glass trackpad, which feels smooth to use. However, there are also shortcomings, that is, the shell of the ice crystal blue Alcantara special edition of the professional type cover is not easy to clean, and it is usually more troublesome to take care of.
▲ When paired with the Type Cover, the bottom of the keyboard will be slightly raised upwards to make typing more comfortable.
▲The keyboard of the ice crystal blue Alcantara special edition of the Typo Cover feels comfortable in the hand, and the glass trackpad is also smooth to use.
As a small and portable two-in-one tablet, Microsoft Surface Go 3 has made some trade-offs in the interface. It only comes with a USB-C interface (supports PD charging), a 3.5mm audio interface, and a Surface Connect magnetic interface and Surface Cover magnetic interface. Although daily charging is done through the Surface Connect magnetic interface and does not occupy the USB-C interface, if the user needs an external mouse or other USB device, it is necessary to use a docking station or adapter, which requires the user to purchase separately. It is worth mentioning that there is also a TF card reader slot under the back bracket of this machine, which can be used to expand the storage space.
▲USB-C interface (support PD charging), 3.5mm audio interface and Surface Connect magnetic interface are designed on the right side of the fuselage.
▲Daily charging is done through the Surface Connect magnetic interface, which does not occupy the USB-C interface.
Performance to meet everyday office needs
If the upgrade in appearance is not large, then the upgrade of Microsoft Surface Go 3 in configuration and performance can be said to be more obvious. This machine's processor has two specifications, namely the Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor and the Core i3-10100Y processor, although it looks a lot behind most thin and light books, but if you compare with the Microsoft Surface Go 2, you will find that this is already a cross-generation upgrade - Microsoft Surface Go 2 was equipped with intel Pentium Gold 4425Y processor and 8th generation Core m3-8100Y processor. The new Surface Go 3 rises two levels in a row on the processor.
▲Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor CPU-Z screenshot
The test prototype we got is equipped with the Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor, this processor codenamed Amber Lake-Y, using the Intel 14nm production process, equipped with dual core 4 threads, the base frequency is 1.1GHz, the maximum turbo frequency is 3.4GHz, the TDP is 5W, and the built-in Intel UHD615 core display. In the CINEBENCH R20 processor rendering performance test, the machine achieved a single-threaded score of 281pts and a multi-threaded score of 556pts, both surpassing the Core m3-8100Y processor (single-threaded 243pts, multi-threaded 413pts).
▲This machine adopts the UHD615 core display built into the processor.
In addition, the machine uses 8GB of LPDDR3 1866 dual-channel memory and 128GB of NVMe SSD, coupled with a Pentium Gold 6500Y processor, the performance can meet most of the daily office needs. For example, he got a total score of 5208 in the PCMark 10 Application Test (Microsoft 365) and a total score of 2390 in the UL Procyon Office Application Test (Microsoft 365).
The machine scored 2390 points in the UL Procyon office application test.
It is worth mentioning that the SSD of this machine performed well, achieving a continuous read speed of 1425.42MB/s and a continuous write speed of 606.44MB/s in the AS SSD Benchmark 1GB test data.
▲AS SSD Benchmark test results at a glance.
With the keyboard cover in the form of a traditional laptop, the machine in the daily use of chat software, Microsoft 365 writing, browsing the web and other processes of the experience is still very smooth, but with PS retouching, open the picture, save the picture and the operation process has a slight stutter. In general, if you are only working lightly, such as processing documents, browsing the web, sending and receiving emails, video conferencing, etc., Microsoft Surface Go 3 is fully capable.
New changes from Windows 11
It should be noted that the Microsoft Surface Go 3 comes with a Windows 11 home version in S mode, and users can switch it to the full Windows 11 home version system. The new Windows 11 system not only brings changes in the interface, but also makes a lot of optimizations for tablet mode, so that it is more compatible with Microsoft's Surface Go 3.
After removing the keyboard, Microsoft Surface Go 3 transformed into tablet mode, because its screen support touch, coupled with Windows 11 optimization of touch and gesture operation, so that we can completely get rid of the trackpad and mouse to operate the Surface Go 3. For example, under the Windows 11 system, we can quickly switch windows through three-finger gestures, and we can also quickly switch desktops through four-finger gestures, which is very smooth and convenient to operate, which cannot be done in the previous Windows 10 era, and the touch keyboard input experience of Windows 11 has also been improved, and users can easily complete copy, paste, cursor selection and other operations. In addition, through Windows 11 with the machine's built-in matrix microphone, it can also directly drop the voice to text, greatly reducing the trouble of text input.
Finally, let's take a look at the battery life. Microsoft Surface Go 3 has a built-in 28Wh battery, so how long does it last in office scenarios? We explored the PCMark 10's "Modern Office" endurance test scenario in airplane mode, 50% screen brightness (with automatic screen brightness off), and the machine achieved a score of 8 hours and 12 minutes. Such a performance is not bad, after all, the battery capacity of this machine is only 28Wh, if you are worried about the battery is not enough, don't forget that its USB-C interface also supports PD charging, daily charging is more convenient.
summary
Microsoft Surface Go 3 is exquisitely crafted, beautifully designed, small and portable, and the two-in-one design adapts to more scenes... It has a lot of advantages, but to be honest it's not as good for everyone as most thin and light books. It is really suitable for specific groups of people, such as people who pursue portability and often work outside the home, such as some business people or text workers who work in self-media. Of course, Microsoft Surface Go 3 also has some shortcomings, such as weaker performance and slightly higher accessory prices, but if you have a good budget and often work, study or play anytime, anywhere, then Microsoft Surface Go 3 is also a good choice.