Forget the iPad Pro, the Surface Go 2 Is a Perfect Secondary PC

Microsoft does not do tablets . The company might have largely create the 2 - in-1 trend and made some interesting try at a pill , but Microsoft does n’t actually do tablets — it does Windows machines that fold up really pretty but function best with a trackpad and keyboard rather than your finger . TheSurface Go 2is a refinement of Microsoft ’s inexpensive 2 - in-1 , and while it ’s a wondrous motorcar that ’s well-nigh perfect in so many ways , it also suffers , savagely , from Apple Syndrome .

You get it on what I ’m talking about . With Apple hardware , we all say ourselves it ’s OK to pass a lot more money because we ’re getting a gadget that “ just works ” and plan far easily than anything with superior speed but a similar cost point . The same applies to the Surface Go 2 : You ’ll find yourself paying more for aesthetics and build quality than performance . But in an changeable humankind where fiscal hardship too often feel just around the corner , justifying the terms of luxury is a challenge . When that sumptuosity is positioned at as low a cost peak as the Surface Go 2 , it becomes most inconceivable to brush aside the price versus power .

This might sound rich coming from me . Last year I reviewed the Surface Go and simply loved it . For $ 500 ( a $ 400 Go plus a $ 100 keyboard case ) I fuck off a cutaneous senses of premium opulence completely absent from any other laptop computer sell at the price point . It ’s a gorgeous product , and the Surface Go 2 is likewise beautiful . The bezels are smaller and the microphone is a little nicer , but for the most part the only real dispute between the Go and Go 2 is what ’s on the inside . The Go 2 , also starting at $ 400 , has impress up to an Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y processor , but maintain the same offensively small amount of RAM and warehousing — just 4 GB of RAM , and a 64 GB eMMC driving force . When you’re able to get a traditional laptop computer , like theDell Inspiron 14 5000with a faster processor , bigger presentation , and more entrepot for just slightly more , the Go 2 ’s luxurious build does n’t feel quite as worth it .

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Microsoft Surface Go 2

What is it ?

The second version of the excellent Surface Go .

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Price

Starts at $ 400 ; review at $ 630 . Keyboard starts at $ 100 .

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

unbelievable build quality ; a utterly put webcam compare to an iPad . It ’s just fun .

No Like

It ’s way too expensive for the sand inside . A better junior-grade luxuriousness equipment than a elemental budget one .

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Photo: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

And here ’s where I have a hypothesis . While I know Microsoft lauds the Surface Go 2 as an affordable twist for students , I do n’t think that ’s actually the audience , not really ( and that Dell will last them longer ) . I call back the Surface Go 2 is meant to be a lowly gimmick for people who require a fun , smaller computer to use when they ’re not at work . Or maybe it ’s for people who do n’t need a estimator most of the time because all their work can be done on a telephone .

That sounds sort of like a lozenge , right ? But it ’s not really , because Windows 10 is n’t actually a very good tablet OS . Because the Surface Go 2 is clearly not meant to compete with budget laptops like that Dell Inspiron 14 5000 , it does n’t feel mediocre to pit them against one another . aside from build quality and show caliber , the Surface Go 2 is going to lose that battle on every front — sort of like an iPad .

Which is , I call up , the best product to compare it to . At $ 400 , the base Surface Go 2 is a fine competitor to the $ 330 iPad . WithLogitech ’s new keyboard , the iPad will cost you $ 480 for a laptop - like experience , while you ’ll need to drop $ 500 to get the same experience on the Surface Go 2 . alas , I have the much more powerful and expensive variant of the Surface Go 2 , which gives you an 8th - gen Intel Core m3 processor , 8 GB of RAM , and a 128 GB SSD for $ 630 .

I love that it feels fast enough for the thing I want to do on a machine like the Surface Go 2 . I can work in Slack and the web web browser ( the primary peter of us diary keeper ) , and also do plentifulness of cloud gambling . After a long day of staring at my data processor , it ’s nice to desegregate it up and pass long nights finally play Red Dead Redemption 2 via Stadia .

The specced - out Surface Go 2 is fast than a Chromebook , too . I have a big , nearly 200 - page document , complete with hundreds of editor notes , that Google Docs is unequal to of treatment . It consistently crashes my web internet browser when I test to afford it in Chrome or Chrome OS . Yet Microsoft Word , which has been optimized to work with wimpier C.P.U. like the Pentium and Core M3 ones found in the Go 2 , handles it just hunky-dory . There ’s no lag or hiccups , just the power to get my work done .

But the Surface ’s versatility does n’t stretch out to electric battery animation , which is on the low-pitched end compared to most stuff in the price range . The Surface Go 2 lasted 7 hours and 19 minutes in our battery test . Our best-loved sub-$1,000 Chromebook , the$570 Asus Chromebook Flip C434 , survive 8 hour and 24 minutes . The$800 iPad Prolasted over 12 hour . The Go 2 feels pretty wimpish by comparison .

But , again , the Surface Go 2 is a full , if soggy , Windows 10 laptop computer . It ’s handling a wad more appendage and can theoretically do a quite a little more than an iPad or a Chromebook . But I keep all three in my apartment and use them all for the same form of thing — break wind around on the internet , reading comics ( I have a dedicated atomic number 99 - reader for Christian Bible ) , do television calls , using Slack , and doing some light word processing . When I ’m in work musical mode , I detect myself drifting to the Go 2 . Its front camera is n’t awkwardly placed like those on the iPad and iPad Pro , and it gives a skillful absolved moving-picture show with raft of light even when I have the shades drawn . It also lets me use multiple browser app ( unlike the Chromebook ) and does n’t rely on entanglement and mobile apps for stuff like Slack and Airtable . It ’s not my day-by-day driver , but I do n’t feel frustrated when I use it for work like I do when I ’m on my iPad or Chromebook .

And here ’s where we have to start talking about price again . Because the Go 2 , Chromebooks , and all but the most expensive iPads are make for doing the same thing . They ’re supposed to be equipment that let you get most of your work done .

This whole set - up is meant to undercut the big , bulky , and often ugly budget laptops you may ascertain with Windows 10 that ordinarily have similarly ignominious specs . The Surface Go 2 is supposed to stack up to fancy Chromebooks like the $ 650 Pixelbook Go ( which ca n’t even be used in tablet mode ) , and I suppose it ’s intend to compete with the iPad , which starts at $ 330 with 32 GB of storage or $ 430 for 128 GB of storage , and still ask another $ 160 for a Smart Keyboard suit / keyboard . But you ’re pay a lot more for the lineament of craftsmanship when you peck up a Go 2 .

If you ’re looking for just one silky budget machine to handle your work - from - home needs , I ’d be untrusting of the Surface Go 2 . It ’s a safe gadget , but you ’ll get more use out of that Dell . But if you ’re look for a foxy budget twist to handle your secondary computer needs — a machine to support your work computer rather than replace it — then the Surface Go 2 is an fantabulous option . It may be a little pricey , but if you ’ve got the cash to fling , go for it .