Living with the Microsoft Surface 3

Does Microsoft's Intel Atom-based Surface Pro cut-down soar, or struggle to keep up with its big brother?

It's always amusing to bring up Windows RT with Microsoft execs. The cut-down, ARM-based version of the operating system is clearly one of those subjects about which they've been briefed to within an inch of their lives.

Windows RT is real, Windows RT is going places and Windows RT is not, not abandoned. Why won't people be told? That's what Computing's been repeatedly advised.

But, happily, the ongoing menace of Windows RT - with its flat refusal to run any traditional Windows applications, coupled with a dangerous reliance on Microsoft's underpopulated app store - is a distant memory when you boot up the company's new Surface 3 hybrid tablet.

Full of Win

Both previous Surface tablets were classic RT machines - fast, lightweight and pleasant to use, but entirely hobbled by their operating system. So to its immense credit, Microsoft went back to the drawing board and managed to create something of equivalent power, but with a Win32-compatible Intel processor at its heart.

More precisely, the Surface 3 sports Intel's Atom x7-Z8700, which runs at 1.60GHz and turns out to be a more than respectable choice for getting a good day's work done. Add 4GB of RAM (we'd have loved to have tested the 2GB version too, but Microsoft couldn't make one available) and you've got a machine that's competitive with the iPad, but has all the advantages of a "true" laptop simply because it runs Windows 8.1.

Along with that basic convenience, you get most of the high build quality and savvy design choices that still, in Computing's opinion, places the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 at the top of the tree in terms of enterprise-ready hybrid tablets.

There are a few differences, of course: the Surface 3 is a smaller unit, shaving an inch or so off each side of its 4:3 ratio screen. But at 10.5 x 7.4 inches, it's still more than large enough to compete, especially compared to the older 16:9 Surface screens that still feel too letterboxed by comparison.

It's also considerably lighter, and we preferred the smaller profile of the keyboard. It definitely feels more like a machine to throw in your bag and get out on the road, but that's not to undermine the Surface Pro 3 - which definitely shares that advantage next to a laptop, too.

Microsoft has skimped a little on the Surface 3's kickstand, dialling back the Pro 3's wonderful analogue stand and replacing it with one that only sports three set positions - though they're all good angles that avoid most forms of neck strain when balanced on the lap.

The keyboard also features the Pro 3's magnetic strip that attaches it to the bottom of the device's bezel and allows you to type at a prone angle - much easier than earlier Surface models' flat keyboard that was prone to cause serious finger ache after prolonged typing.

There's only a measly 110 gigabytes of usable hard drive space available (64GB in the 2GB model), but you can expand that with the Micro SD card slot located under the kickstand. It's also worth noting that the Surface 3 works with exactly the same stylus that we so enjoyed using with the Surface Pro 3 - though this also costs extra and runs those pesky, hard to find AAAA batteries.

Performance

We used the Surface 3 for several days to carry out the usual office-based duties, and it passed with flying colours. Our dogged insistence on using the performance-leeching Mozilla Firefox as our primary web browser of choice didn't make the machine too happy, and would probably have caused crashes on the 2GB version, but overall it coped very well with general Office, PowerPoint and Excel tasks, as well as a day of reliable VPN work dialled into a Windows Server-based system connected via Wi-Fi.

We threw a few games at it, too - including Flying Wild Hog's 2013 shooter Shadow Warrior, which proved slow to the point of unplayable on low detail settings, as well as 2007's STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, which ran a little more respectably but was still choppy at top resolution and detail settings.

Suffice to say, the Surface 3 is not a gaming machine, and does not come recommended as a device to comfortably balance work and play. We didn't recommend the Surface Pro 3 for heavy design, video editing or Photoshop work, and obviously the Surface 3 won't be great for any of that either.

Battery life we measured at just pipping the Surface Pro 3's nine hours with closer to ten. It's also a remarkably cool and quiet machine - self-cooling, and with none of the noisy fan vents that characterise the Pro series. That's largely because it's nothing like as powerful, however.

The Surface 3 is definitely a vast improvement over its RT-based forebears in terms of its Win32 compatibility and general high-end build quality, but it still takes a massive performance hit over the Pro series, and that leaves a massive question hanging over it.

Reality Check

Let's get down to the financial nitty gritty of a Surface 3 vs. a Surface Pro 3.

The Surface 3 starts at £419 for the 2GB RAM/64GB storage version. The 4GB version (which we tested) with its 128GB of storage weighs in at £499.

A keyboard will set you back £110, and a stylus is £45.

Microsoft offers what it calls "bundles" on its store, but going through this process with the 128GB version just netted us a "free" cover worth £40. This means a 4GB tablet, keyboard and stylus would set you back a gargantuan £653.98.

The Surface Pro 3 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel i3 starts at £639, and is capable of considerably more grunt. On the other hand, an iPad Air 2 achieves comparatively less in terms of productivity, and will still set you back £399.

This leaves the Surface 3 feeling like a supremely capable machine, but very much a ‘secondary' machine next to your main office laptop. We wouldn't completely agree it's a "tablet that could replace your laptop" on this occasion - that's the Pro 3.

We can't help but feel that, had Microsoft priced the Surface 3 only £100-or-so lower, its message may have come across much louder and more clearly as the budget choice for the occasional road warrior.

A decent keyboard and stylus bundle wouldn't have hurt, either.

But it's down to your individual use case, as ever. While we'd argue the Surface 3 is priced a little too highly to be a serious consideration as a second system, if you just want to tap-up notes in a meeting, view PowerPoint presentations and play a bit of Minesweeper - while enjoying all the no-nonsense offerings of a full Windows environment - it could easily be your first system.

Just beware if you're a power user or even an intermediate Windows user - this probably isn't the device for you.

Still, it's hugely encouraging to see Microsoft finally take its first steps away from Windows RT, and we just can't wait to see what an increasingly lightweight Win 32 devices can achieve in the near future.