Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Boring name, faster processor
The last version of Microsoft’s Windows 10 tablet, following the Surface Pro 4, was called just Surface Pro. We thought subsequent editions might come with alternative tech-style labels: Roman numerals, letters of the alphabet, or names of snacks (like Android). Yet what could have been the Surface Pro Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll has arrived as the Surface Pro 6. Not only is this frankly boring, but it also implies that last year’s model was the Surface Pro 5 all the time.
You might almost think the Surface Pro 6 was the Surface Pro 5, too. The chassis, with its fold-out rear stand, is identical, and although the 12.3in touchscreen scored fractionally lower in our brightness and colour-accuracy tests, it’s essentially similar. The only external change is a new matt-black option, available on the 256GB i5 and 512GB i7 processor models.
On the inside, though, there are faster eighth-gen Intel processors. We tested the i5 option, and it not only beat Microsoft’s previous pricier i7 device but Dell’s current XPS 13 laptop-tablet with an eighth-gen i7. The speed of the 256GB SSD was middling, while 3D games just about coped, with some compromises on resolution and quality. This is as good as you can expect without a dedicated graphics card.
With 8GB of memory, this configuration is priced at £1,149, but at the time of writing was on offer at £949, making it an attractive buy. There’s also an entry-level configuration with the same i5 and 128GB of storage at a regular price of £879, currently £799. This looks great value, although we weren’t able to check that performance matches up in all respects. Keep in mind that the optional Surface Pro Type Cover keyboard adds £125, while a pressure-sensitive Microsoft Surface Pen is £100.
The downside of the move to eighthgeneration is that, in our video-playback test, battery life had plummeted from 11 hours 30 minutes to just over eight, meaning you’ll probably want to take the charger with you. Its magnetic plug is great, but weirdly the Surface Pro 6 still has no USB Type-c ports, for charging or anything else, so you can’t just borrow a generic charger.
With direct rivals disappearing, focusing on the high end or – like Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Book 2 – switching to Snapdragon processors for longer battery life but lower performance, the Surface Pro 6 is the best mid-range Windows tablet – but a laptop or laptoptablet hybrid could be a better buy.
Faster than previous Surface Pros, but battery life suffers