MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO
Price from £799 / stuff.tv/surfacepro
Microsoft’s Surface range has a past that’s more chequered than your browser history. From some ever so humble beginnings, this new model is a giant leap forwards – and, in some ways, it’s a stronger machine than the new ipad. It does come with a price hike, though.
1 Display for today
With that 13.5-hour battery life you’ll have plenty of time to ogle the Pro’s absolute treat of a screen. A refined version of the Pro 4’s 12.3in display, it’s beautifully calibrated, incredibly responsive and generally a joy to work with. Suffering from none of the Pro 4’s light bleed, it’ll go bright enough for outdoor use and dim enough for sneaky bedtime browsing.
2 Love to love you, Kaby
The Surface Pro 4 packed all the punch of a full desktop machine, but the Pro’s new upgrade to Intel’s latest Kaby Lake chips lets you flick between programs at the speed of thought without bringing the same drain on battery life. And since this thing runs on Windows 10 you’re able to use the full versions of Chrome, Photoshop and Steam. Can’t do that, can you ipad?
3 Just our type
When it comes to party tricks, the detachable Type Cover keyboard remains the Pro’s speciality. It’s a delight to use, although your love for it may depend on your typing style. Those of a heavy, two-fingered persuasion may be irritated by the resonance of the backing board. You could use the excellent Surface Pen instead, but you’ll have to buy it separately.
4 All roads lead to roam
One entirely new Pro feature that’s coming later this year will elicit a million mini fist pumps from the world’s besuited road warriors. You’ll be able to buy your Surface Pro with a built-in 4G SIM slot – and that means collaborative spreadsheet editing from any of the world’s four corners. Of course, ipad Pros have been able to do this for ages, but it’s still a great addition.