Microsoft Surface Pro X review: Great design but lacking in power

That changes with the Microsoft Surface Pro X, which (alongside the upcoming Microsoft Surface Neo) give the clearest indication that Microsoft's not resting on that well-aged Surface Pro design any longer. There's a lot to be said for innovation, and the design of the Microsoft Surface Pro X is extremely enticing after so many years of the same old Surface Pro look and feel.

Sadly, that's where the good news stops, because in terms of app performance and battery life, the Surface Pro X is seriously compromised.

Design

Design

• Thin and light
• You can have it in black or... black
• Keyboard and Touch Pen are great additions, but they cost extra

• Read more about the Surface Pro X's design

  The Microsoft Surface Pro X is best described as a hybrid mix of the best parts of the classic Surface design, including the iconic and very useful kickstand, and the current state of the art in productivity tablets by way of Apple's iPad Pro.

  At 287x208x7.3mm and 774g standalone, it's smaller and lighter than the 292x201x8.5mm/775–790g Surface Pro 7. As a standalone device it really doesn't "feel" much like a Surface at all. Powered down, you might just assume it's another tablet rather than a functional Windows 10 PC.

  It's smaller than the Surface Pro 7, but you get more display space thanks to smaller bezels than on the classic Surface Pro displays, with a 13-inch 2,880x1,920 pixel LCD display topped with a 5MP front-facing camera that is, no surprise, compatible with Windows Hello for login purposes.

  

  At the back, the standard, nicely stiff kickstand pops out in the way it has done since the first generation of Surface devices. It's still slightly better on a desk than it is on a lap, but either way it's a feature that seemingly nobody in tablet land has been keen to build into their own devices, which is puzzling.

  Microsoft produces the Microsoft Surface Pro X in a Black finish and… that's it. Given how closely it resembles a tablet, it's rather surprising to see no options around silver, gold or something even more eye-catching, although it does fit in with Microsoft's position that its Surface devices are largely professional-grade equipment.

  The new slim style of the Microsoft Surface Pro X does limit what Microsoft can offer in terms of expansion ports. There are two USB-C ports, and that's your lot. Those who want or need a headphone jack are out of luck, and anyone wanting to add peripherals will need to invest in a USB-C dock to attach them. There is a USB-A type socket on the Surface Pro X's power brick, but that's purely for charging devices, not passing data to or from the Surface Pro X itself.

  

  The model provided for review came with Microsoft's new, Surface Pro X-specific version of the Surface Keyboard – strictly speaking it's the Surface Pro X keyboard and the new Surface Slim Pen. The keyboard has the same alcantara finish as we've seen on prior versions of the keyboard, with exceptionally good key response and spacing. It's easily my favourite portable keyboard and has been for a long time. The Surface Pro X keyboard has one additional tweak in its design, thanks to a fold-down section at the top of the keyboard that houses the new Surface Slim Pen.

  Microsoft isn't kidding when it calls the Surface Slim Pen "Slim". It's like the classic Surface Pen got into an argument with a rollercoaster, but this is actually a massive improvement. Being able to store it easily within the body of the keyboard is a masterstroke of design, and because it's thinner it's also lighter and a lot easier to use for regular on-screen mark-up. However, that may well be a muscle memory matter. If you're an artist used to the round feel of an actual pencil, the older Surface Pens may have been a better fit for your uses.

  Sadly, like every Surface generation before it, there's a big problem with the Surface Pro X keyboard and Slim Pen. They're not included in the regular Surface Pro X price, but instead sold as additional extras. The Surface Pro X keyboard costs a chunky $219.95, while the Surface Slim Pen will hit your wallet for a further $234.95. You can buy a combo pack – and you arguably should – for $429.95.

  Still, what that means for most productivity workers is that the actual cost of getting a fully useable Surface Pro X is going to be at least $219.95 more than the listed price and maybe $429.95 if you also want and need the Surface Pen.

Performance

Performance

• Microsoft SQ1 is OK for basic tasks
• ARM basis seriously limits its overall Windows 10 compatibility
• Inbuilt 4G via Nano SIM or eSIM

• Read more about the Surface Pro X's performance

  The other big change in the Surface Pro X apart from the design is the return for Microsoft to the world of ARM-based processors. Microsoft had a tilt at more battery-efficient Windows ARM devices all the way back in the first Windows Surface generation with the awful Surface RT, but in the intervening years, processing power has come forward a huge amount. Microsoft says that the Microsoft SQ1 processor (co-developed with Qualcomm) is a high-performance chip, but how true is that?

  It's a very difficult matter to quantify, because, like the recently reviewed Samsung Galaxy Book S, the Microsoft Surface Pro X uses Windows 10 ARM as its base. It has to, naturally, because it's using an ARM processor. Windows 10 ARM looks like Windows 10, and reacts and responds like Windows 10, but when it comes time to add apps to it, you can rather too quickly hit roadblocks.

  At the time of writing, any ARM-complied apps will run natively, but they're not common. 32-bit Windows apps using the x86 architecture you'd find in Intel or AMD-based processors may run, but this isn't guaranteed. 64-bit x86 apps won't run at all.

  

  That's a big problem in an era where a lot of Windows 10 apps have shifted to 64-bit development. None of the standard benchmarks we use would run on the Surface Pro X at all; even the Samsung Galaxy Book S could run PCMark, but it would not run in its current updated form on the Surface Pro X at all. 3DMark would install and the visual components of the benchmark appeared to run, but it then would hang every single time before spitting out any kind of result.

  That leaves performance observations to the purely anecdotal arena, and even here the Surface Pro X doesn't feel particularly quick. The model Microsoft supplied for review was the 256GB storage/16GB ROM variant, but there's also a model with 512GB storage, or cheaper options with either 128GB or 256GB storage and just 8GB of RAM.

  Even with 16GB of RAM, the Surface Pro X never felt particularly nippy, especially coming off the Samsung Galaxy Book S. It wasn't massively slow when apps would run, but there was noticeable lag in drawing some screen windows, or if I had multiple browser windows churning at the same time, which I honestly didn't expect from a laptop in the premium price range.

  

  That's also skipping past the no-64-bit-x86-apps problem, and that I shouldn't do. It's possible Microsoft may enable 64-bit x86 emulation on Windows 10 ARM at some future date, but I can only go off what it can do at launch. It would be a risky proposition to buy a Surface Pro X on the idea that it might work with apps in the future.

  As with the Galaxy Book S, Microsoft at first pointed me to a 64-bit installer for Office 365, although at least 32-bit versions of that suite are available. You can install Photoshop onto the Surface Pro X, but it's not quick, and it'll never be joined by Premiere Pro, Audition or a number of other Creative Cloud applications. If you're interested in the Surface Pro X, it would be extremely wise to do your app research beforehand, because if any of your favourite apps are 64-bit only, they won't install at all.

  There are definitely spaces in which the Surface Pro X can be a good quality productivity machine. That exceptional keyboard and Microsoft Word have enabled me to power through a lot of work during my review period even while on the go, and if your workload is entirely browser-based – Google Docs and the like – then you wouldn't even notice the 64-bit app issue at all.

  However, this is a laptop that Microsoft prices and sells against the very best ultralights running the latest AMD and Intel processors with full app support on board, and it can't help but feel second-best as a result.

  

  The Microsoft Surface Pro X is natively 4G LTE compatible, via either Nano SIM or eSIM. The Nano SIM sits interestingly under a full pop-up door that also houses the internal SSD drive, raising the potential possibility of increasing its storage down the line.

  Integrated 4G LTE is a fine feature if you need it and something of an afterthought if you don't. I tested it at a functional level with a Telstra Nano SIM popped in and had few issues connecting. Any speed issues you're likely to hit in this configuration are more likely to be a function of the network at the time rather than the Surface Pro X.

  Still, the trade-off for using ARM on Windows has historically been one of trading power in processing for power in for expanded battery life.

  Ah… well… about that…

Battery life

Performance

• Battery life is astonishingly low for an ARM-based laptop

• Read more about the Surface Pro X's battery life

  I was keen to see how well Microsoft's own take on what is, to an extent, a Snapdragon processor would perform in battery life terms, because it was the one real saving grace for the Snapdragon 8cx-based Galaxy Book S. Microsoft's own claims around the Surface Pro X are that it should be good for up to 13 hours of regular usage.

  I ran the Surface Pro X over our standard battery test, with a full HD video running at maximum brightness and moderate brightness; this is a test that the Surface Pro X can manage and I was interested to see how it would stack up against not only the Galaxy Book S but also Microsoft's own Surface range of devices.

  The answer was, to my surprise, quite badly.

  More anecdotally it is feasible to get through a workday with the Surface Pro X – that video figure does represent more than seven hours of continual usage – but it's a far cry from the performance of ARM-based devices like the Galaxy Book S. It's also below the battery performance I saw from the Surface Pro 7 or Surface Laptop 3 running the exact same test.

  If you are already in a work environment with plenty of Surface devices, you'll at least be able to top up the Galaxy Book S with ease, because it uses Microsoft's standard magnetic connection charger, which has its own USB-A type socket for charging an additional device such as a smartphone.

Verdict

Verdict

How we score our reviews

• A glimpse into the design future of Surface, but not a laptop worth buying

Should you buy it?

The Surface Pro X has a refined design, inbuilt and easy-to-use 4G LTE and the best display I've seen on a Surface to date. It's not too hard to see that this is where Microsoft sees the future of its Surface brand, and that's great news for you in the future.

But should you buy one right now?

Probably not. You're going to have to cough up more again for the keyboard and pen and put up with sketchy app compatibility along the way that you simply wouldn't hit with any regular Windows 10 laptop. That should be mitigated by superior battery life, but instead the Surface Pro X underperforms relative to a Surface Pro 7.

Considering that for the $1,699 asking price of the cheapest Surface Pro X, you could score a Surface Pro 7 with a Core i5 processor, full application support and have enough change left over for the keyboard cover that Microsoft really ought to be including as standard, it's genuinely hard to see why even the most hardcore dedicated Surface fan should opt for the Surface Pro X.

Pricing and availability

Price

8GB RAM/128GB SSD: $1,699 RRP,,8GB RAM/256GB SSD: $2,149 RRP,,16GB RAM/256GB SSD: $2,499 RRP,,16GB RAM/512GB SSD: $2,899 RRP

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Specifications

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