When a major product launches it’s bound to be hit by negative reviews, but when you draw the line things are generally mixed, with some good reviews and bad reviews. Well, in the case of the Microsoft Surface Pro, the verdict is out: it’s a bad product, criticized by all major tech sites and blogs, as we’ll show in the following lines. The product goes for $899.99 at Best Buy, in case you’re wondering.
1) Engadget: Can’t Get Physically Comfortable With Tablet
Engadget’s Tim Stevens took the Surface Pro for a spin and found it to be lacking in some areas. The concept is good, but when trying to be productive, the Engadget editor feels the need for a laptop and when relaxing he wishes for a more finger-friendly UI. There are some advantages, like the massive back catalog of Windows apps or the pleasing design. The overall performance of the CPU inside, an Intel Core i5 unit surpassed the reviewer’s expectations. A cold boot is done in 8 seconds or less, quite impressive and apps are very snappy and responsive.
The conclusion? Almost there but not quite…
2) The Verge: fast, great performance, battery sucks
David Pierce from The Verge addresses the serious problem of the battery, that’s been very discussed on the web for the past hours. Turns out that the tablet gets a little hot as you use it, especially on the upper left side. Every 4 hours the battery of the device died and the Pro lasted 3 hours and 59 minutes on the official Verge battery test, that cycles through some sites and high res images. The specs of this newcomer are praised, like the 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5 with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and 4 GB of RAM. The speakers are also said to be decent, as are the 720p cameras, but nothing more than that.
Conclusion: stick with the ultrabook!
3) ZDNet: New Category of Device, or Device Searching for Category?
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley also reviewed the Surface Pro tablet and had a few interesting things to say about it. She says that she didn’t notice the higher resolution of the Surface Pro compared to the Surface RT’s 1366 x 768. The device is described as “denser” than expected and being a half pound heavier than the RT, but it feels much heavier than that for some reason. The charging cord is also heavier and it’s an accessory you will carry all over the place, because of the 4-5 hour battery life of the tablet. The device is also snappier when it comes to performance, apps open up faster and the lag from the Windows RT Surface has disappeared.
Conclusion: not able to process what kind of product category this is, a strange hybrid that is OK at best…
4) All Things D: Serviceable laptop replacement, compromised still
Walt Mossberg from All Things D also tested the latest Microsoft Surface tablet and offers us some interesting conclusions. For of all, the Pro is seen as a compromised tablet and also a compromised laptop. You get fewer ports than a laptop and less storage, plus a keyboard that’s not as comfy as the one of an ultrabook. The bulk and price of the device are also not appealing and as far as battery testing goes, Walt Mossberg set the screen to 75% brightness, turned off power saving features, left WiFi on and played locally stored videos. The result? He calls it pathetic and that pretty much defines the experience, with under four hours of usage, so half the stamina of the iPad on the same test and 3 hours less than the Surface RT.
Conclusion: neither a laptop, nor a tablet, big bummer…
5) CNET: Like an ultrabook, with too little storage and battery
CNET appreciates the design lines of the product, but calls the battery life disappointing and also the storage space that’s left out of 64 GB is barely 20 GB or so. The overall design is very appreciated, being defined as elegant, almost beautiful and the industrial magnesium chassis is praised yet again. At 2 pounds, this device weighs less than a regular ultrabook and it’s also more compact. However, for a tablet it’s certainly heavier and bulkier. The display is very small for something comparing itself to a full Windows laptop, but at least it’s crisp and bright, apparently and has Full HD resolution.
Conclusion: the best accessories are not even included and the battery and storage are bad.
So, everyone is complaining about battery and storage, something we expected and even Microsoft addressed recently. Also, everyone seems to claim that this is more of an ultrabook disguised as a tablet and if you look at it like that you may end up spending $900 on it in the end…
