Microsoft Surface Book 3
Microsoft’s flagship is lost in time.
The model we reviewed features an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Now, this is definitely a gaming-capable GPU, but not really something we’d recommend for gaming at the native resolution.
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the Surface Book 3 is a beautiful device. Everything about it screams quality, from the rigid feel of the keyboard half of the laptop, along with the chrome Microsoft logo on the back of the device.
This is the flagship product in Microsoft’s Surface lineup after all, so a certain level of quality is to be expected. The best part of the Surface Book 3 design however, stemming from the fact that it hasn’t changed much from last time, is the availability of ports on offer.
The keyboard deck of the
Surface Book 3 has two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2
USB-C port, a Surface Connect port, which is used for charging and connecting an expensive dock, and if you disconnect the Surface Book 3 from the keyboard dock, you’ll find another Surface Connect port on the side of the device, along with a 3.5mm jack on another side of the Surface Book 3. What’s really nice to see, however, is the full-sized SDXC card reader – something you can never take for granted in 2020.
On the top of the screen, or the side of the device when in tablet mode, you’ll see two buttons.
The smaller of which is a power/ lock button and the long button is simply a volume rocker.
If you want to remove the screen from the keyboard, there’s a dedicated button for doing so right next to the delete key. Thankfully, a quick accidental press of the button won’t disengage the tablet, but instead you’ll have to hold it down for a couple of seconds until you get the message telling you the device is ready to be removed.
In fact, it’s actually very impressive how solid the Surface Book 3 feels when in laptop mode. There is some screen wobbling, like in any 2-in-1 laptop, but unlike say, the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex, the screen won’t move too drastically if you move the device. The fact that it’s able to do this at all with a removable display just speaks to the quality of Microsoft’s engineering.
The keyboard is without a doubt one of the highlights of the Surface Book 3, and is far and away one of the most comfortable keyboards we’ve used on a laptop. The spacing is on point, and the actuation and travel make for an extremely comfortable typing experience. However, we would have liked to see a numpad.
There is so much empty space, that we feel like a numpad would be a no-brainer. Especially because Microsoft didn’t capitalise on this empty space with better speakers.
Performance
The Surface Book 3 is held back, unfortunately, by the lack of H-series processors. Instead, it’s equipped with an Intel Core i7-1065G7 that you’d typically find in something like the Dell XPS 13.
And, for the most part, in CPU-heavy workloads, that’s exactly how it performs. For instance, in Cinebench R20, the Surface Book 3 got 1,697 points, which is within margin of error of the Dell XPS 13’s 1,700 points. Keep in mind, that the Surface Book 3 is a much more expensive device.
A large part of that increase in pricing, however, comes from the discrete GPU. The model we reviewed features an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Now, this is definitely a gaming-capable GPU, but not really something we’d recommend for gaming at the native resolution. The GTX 1660 Ti, paired with the low-power U-series processor, only manages 36 fps in Metro Exodus at 1080p, let alone what gaming at the 4K native resolution would require.
Microsoft does claim that this is a gaming-ready device, and for the most part it’s not wrong. There’s a caveat though – you’re going to have to lower resolution to 1080p to get a good experience, unless the games you’re playing were all released a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Surface Book 3 is strapped with 32GB of RAM, which is absolutely overkill for most everyday users. However, photo and video editors will absolutely eat that memory up – something that the included GTX 1660 Ti will also undoubtedly help with.
It’s just unfortunate that the Surface Book 3 is stuck with a U-series processor. It’s likely that including a more beefy chunk of silicon would call for a more robust (and heavy) cooling solution, but this is ultimately a device aimed at creative professionals, so more power would definitely be worth the extra heft.
Battery life
The Surface Book 3 has one battery in the tablet itself, and another battery in the keyboard base. Microsoft claims that when the tablet is connected to the keyboard it will get 17.5 hours of continual use, but the laptop doesn’t quite make it that far.
In the PCMark 10 battery test, which measures battery life in a series of different workloads like word processing and video calling, the Surface Book 3 lasted about 7 hours and 9 minutes – just shy of a full work day.
Software and features
One of the biggest benefits of buying a Surface device like the Surface Book 3 is that you get a completely pure version of Windows 10. No bloatware, no weird update tools, nothing. You get Windows 10 as it is when you install it on a computer you build yourself.
Beyond that, the Surface Book 3 also has a Windows Hello-ready webcam. And, while having this form of biometric login is definitely nice, Microsoft’s facial login doesn’t work well enough, especially for anyone with glasses or even people who wear makeup. With a flagship device like the Surface Book 3, and again, one with a ton of empty space around the keyboard, it would have been nice to see a fingerprint scanner.
The Surface Book 3 is an extremely premium piece of kit, with one of the best displays and keyboards we’ve used in a laptop to date. However, the high price tag and weak processor hold it back from true greatness.
Bill Thomas