New Surface Pro - Does anyone own?

[max2]

I was told by a Microsoft worker at the store that the there Surface Pro gets 11 to 13 hours of battery life with auto brightness. Mainly watching YouTube and Netflix they said.

Does this sound about right?

I thought the Surface Pro had pretty bad battery life do the new ones improve that much ?

 

[AustinIllini]

It's a really nice device, but the major manufacturers have competitive alternatives. Try everything and keep the price in mind.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

I was told by a Microsoft worker at the store that the there Surface Pro gets 11 to 13 hours of battery life with auto brightness. Mainly watching YouTube and Netflix they said.

Does this sound about right?

I thought the Surface Pro had pretty bad battery life do the new ones improve that much ?

I had the SP4, and they said almost the same for battery life and it never got even close to that. There are articles out there that mention Microsoft over estimates their battery life.

 

[convergent]

I was told by a Microsoft worker at the store that the there Surface Pro gets 11 to 13 hours of battery life with auto brightness. Mainly watching YouTube and Netflix they said.

Does this sound about right?

I thought the Surface Pro had pretty bad battery life do the new ones improve that much ?

I haven't done that use case, but I doubt that is accurate. I do believe that is their published spec. That said, I get about 9 hours using it for normal work... some as tablet taking notes, then popping keyboard on and using as laptop. I usually keep the battery saving mode to max, which dims the display a little, but it doesn't seem that dim to me. I am very happy with the battery live on it. I also have the fanless i5 so its totally silent. And the display is drop dead gorgeous. I love the thing.

 

[spinedoc77]

I was told by a Microsoft worker at the store that the there Surface Pro gets 11 to 13 hours of battery life with auto brightness. Mainly watching YouTube and Netflix they said.

Does this sound about right?

I thought the Surface Pro had pretty bad battery life do the new ones improve that much ?

I have the 2017 surface pro, absolutely love it. But 11 to 13 hours of battery life is not accurate IMO based on my own use, and reading a ton of reviews. I have mine at about 70-80% brightness and mainly browse the web with it and get about 6+ hours out of it. Lowering the brightness helps a lot, I'll bet I can get closer to 8 hours with low or auto brightness. But I'm a brightness glutton. The battery life, IMO, is the only Achilles heel on the surface pro lineup. The 2017 model increased battery life by 1-2 hours over the surface pro 4, which is significant but not as much as I was hoping it would have.

 

[thunng8]

I was told by a Microsoft worker at the store that the there Surface Pro gets 11 to 13 hours of battery life with auto brightness. Mainly watching YouTube and Netflix they said.

Does this sound about right?

I thought the Surface Pro had pretty bad battery life do the new ones improve that much ?

Don’t trust Microsoft’s estimates.

I had the surface pro 4 and just doing editing in Lightroom tanked the battery. It was about 4-5hours max. Which is less than half of their estimates.

While my iPad Pro easily get 10 hours or more doing the same workload (and faster as well) which is exactly the same as what Apple advertises.

 

[Michael Goff]

Don’t trust Microsoft’s estimates.

I had the surface pro 4 and just doing editing in Lightroom tanked the battery. It was about 4-5hours max. Which is less than half of their estimates.

While my iPad Pro easily get 10 hours or more doing the same workload (and faster as well) which is exactly the same as what Apple advertises.

I wouldn't say you can't trust the estimates so much as they're pointless. If you just watch streaming video using Edge and UWP apps, you'll get what they say you will.

 

[mi7chy]

Depends on the workload and if it uses hardware acceleration but even then 11 to 13 hours seem far-fetched. 7 to 8 was more typical and maybe pushing 9 if only watching video with hardware acceleration on Surface Pro 3 (i5) and 4 (fanless Core M3).

 

[mtenuta]

Just got my pro today so far u love it . It’s gonna take a little time to adjust in having it as my main laptop. But the pros definitely out weight the cons

 

[hemon]

What do you think about the screen size compared to a macbook pro (13.3 inch)? Is it big enough? Do you notice such a difference…?

 

[mtenuta]

Honestly it’s not bad at all. I was pleasantly surprised. I put it next to an Asus Zenbook which I’m bringing back today there isn’t huge difference plus the screen on the surface is gorgeous

 

[mi7chy]

What do you think about the screen size compared to a macbook pro (13.3 inch)? Is it big enough? Do you notice such a difference…?

If you're used to 13.3" I'd suggest looking at the 13.5" Surface Book 2 instead.

 

[convergent]

If you're used to 13.3" I'd suggest looking at the 13.5" Surface Book 2 instead.

I disagree. In tablet mode the thing is unwieldy. I use my Surface Pro as a tablet a lot and anything bigger would be quite challenging to hold. On the plus side though, the Surface Book is no heavier even though its bigger. But you get way less battery life in tablet mode. I guess it comes down to what your use cases are. For me the Surface Pro is the perfect balance if you travel.

FYI, you also won't be able to use the Surface Book on a plane during takeoff and landing (with the keyboard), where you can with the Surface Pro. I always feel like I'm "cheating" or something when they are announcing to put your laptops away, and all the Macbook owners around me are being told to wrap it up, while I just keep working away and no problems.

 

[spinedoc77]

I disagree. In tablet mode the thing is unwieldy. I use my Surface Pro as a tablet a lot and anything bigger would be quite challenging to hold. On the plus side though, the Surface Book is no heavier even though its bigger. But you get way less battery life in tablet mode. I guess it comes down to what your use cases are. For me the Surface Pro is the perfect balance if you travel.

FYI, you also won't be able to use the Surface Book on a plane during takeoff and landing (with the keyboard), where you can with the Surface Pro. I always feel like I'm "cheating" or something when they are announcing to put your laptops away, and all the Macbook owners around me are being told to wrap it up, while I just keep working away and no problems.

I've always found the opposite, in tablet mode it's extremely easy to use, much easier than an ipad. Much of that ease is because of the kickstand which allows me to use the tablet without having to hold it, or use it on my lap. I never found the weight much of an issue as I don't use my tablets with my arms up in the air, but I can see that being an issue if you, for example, use your tablet while standing up on a subway or something. Battery life does "suck", and I mean that in comparison to an ipad, BUT.... if you think about having a FULL computer in the palm of your hands then you realize that the battery life is actually pretty darn good, but of course could always be better.

Edit: On re reading your comment I see you meant the surface book and not the pro tablet, if so then I fully agree. I still left my comments up as pros to the surface pro. The only nice thing about the surface book is the larger tablet, but with less battery life and no kickstand. I'd kill to have a larger surface pro screen.

 

[convergent]

I've always found the opposite, in tablet mode it's extremely easy to use, much easier than an ipad. Much of that ease is because of the kickstand which allows me to use the tablet without having to hold it, or use it on my lap. I never found the weight much of an issue as I don't use my tablets with my arms up in the air, but I can see that being an issue if you, for example, use your tablet while standing up on a subway or something. Battery life does "suck", and I mean that in comparison to an ipad, BUT.... if you think about having a FULL computer in the palm of your hands then you realize that the battery life is actually pretty darn good, but of course could always be better.

Edit: On re reading your comment I see you meant the surface book and not the pro tablet, if so then I fully agree. I still left my comments up as pros to the surface pro. The only nice thing about the surface book is the larger tablet, but with less battery life and no kickstand. I'd kill to have a larger surface pro screen.

I meant that the Surface Book (in tablet mode) was unwieldy (for me). It is just too big, and you get a small amount of battery life.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

I disagree. In tablet mode the thing is unwieldy. I use my Surface Pro as a tablet a lot and anything bigger would be quite challenging to hold. On the plus side though, the Surface Book is no heavier even though its bigger. But you get way less battery life in tablet mode. I guess it comes down to what your use cases are. For me the Surface Pro is the perfect balance if you travel.

FYI, you also won't be able to use the Surface Book on a plane during takeoff and landing (with the keyboard), where you can with the Surface Pro. I always feel like I'm "cheating" or something when they are announcing to put your laptops away, and all the Macbook owners around me are being told to wrap it up, while I just keep working away and no problems.

Once I sell my iPad Pro 10.5 and Thinkpad T460s, I am going to pick up a Surface Pro 2017 or similar most likely! You convinced me to make the switch by your posts. That will make me leave the Apple Camp 100% at least for myself. I got tired of carrying my work XPS 13, personal iPad Pro and Thinkpad T460s when I traveled. Now I just carry two devices.

 

[convergent]

Once I sell my iPad Pro 10.5 and Thinkpad T460s, I am going to pick up a Surface Pro 2017 or similar most likely! You convinced me to make the switch by your posts. That will make me leave the Apple Camp 100% at least for myself. I got tired of carrying my work XPS 13, personal iPad Pro and Thinkpad T460s when I traveled. Now I just carry two devices.

I'd suggest going into a Microsoft Store or some other place like Best Buy where you can play with them hands on. For example the Surface Pro vs. Book is a big difference. Also, check out the TabletPCReview forum as there are active discussions on all the major Surface Pro alternatives from HP, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, etc.. so you can get a handle on pros/cons.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

I'd suggest going into a Microsoft Store or some other place like Best Buy where you can play with them hands on. For example the Surface Pro vs. Book is a big difference. Also, check out the TabletPCReview forum as there are active discussions on all the major Surface Pro alternatives from HP, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, etc.. so you can get a handle on pros/cons.

Thanks! When I was at Microsoft last year in Seattle, I got to check out all their devices then, and was really impressed with both, especially the BOOK. But the book is out of my budget honestly and more than I need.

I'll check out the site.

 

[Dr McKay]

The only time I get close to the battery estimates my laptop maker claims is if I'm doing light web browsing at around 50% brightness. If I load something like YouTube it drops by 30-40%.