Still the best tablet-laptop: Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9 review - Ars Technica

Enlarge / Microsoft's Surface Pro 9.

Andrew Cunningham

Let's speech astir the Surface Pro 9.

Which Surface Pro 9? Not the mentation with 5G, which comes with a Qualcomm-made Microsoft SQ3 Arm processor and the emblematic shortcomings of an Arm Windows instrumentality (relatively debased performance, continued app compatibility issues)—but the vanilla, plain-old Surface Pro 9, the Intel-based 1 that follows-up a decade's worthy of numbered Surface Pro models.

Aside from that sanction confusion, the regular Surface Pro 9 isn't designed to surprise. It (mostly) improves show portion (mostly) keeping everything that worked astir anterior models intact. It won't triumph implicit anyone who didn't already similar the Surface, but for anyone who loves their 3- to 5-year-old Surface tablet, it ought to beryllium a beauteous harmless upgrade.

Look and feel

Enlarge / The keyboard cover. It folds down to uncover a compartment for the Slim Pen 2.

Andrew Cunningham

The basal plan of the caller Surface Pro is recognizably the aforesaid as it was 8 years ago, erstwhile Microsoft figured retired the afloat adjustable kickstand and the keyboard that folded up against the surface to summation stableness and forestall the full apparatus from feeling floppy connected a array oregon thigh (a acquisition immoderate tablet manufacturers have decided not to learn).

The plan has evolved steadily since then, picking up USB-C ports (and shedding USB-A), shrinking the show bezels, enlarging the show itself, and becoming gradually faster and larger. The biggest alteration came past year, erstwhile Microsoft redesigned the beforehand of the tablet capable to interruption compatibility with older Surface Type covers, but moving up successful surface size from 12.3 to 13 inches. The Surface Pro 8 mirrored plan changes Microsoft had made for the Arm-based Surface Pro X a mates of years before, and the 2 are compatible with the aforesaid keyboard covers and different accessories.

Compared to those changes, the Surface Pro 9's updates are mostly tiny capable that astir radical wouldn't announcement them. Buttons and ports person moved around, but the Microsoft Signature keyboard covers are the same, the surface is the same, and the beforehand and rear cameras are the same. Pen enactment is the aforesaid (we person immoderate notes astir the Surface Slim Pen 2 successful our Surface Pro 8 review). It's lighter, but not by truthful overmuch that you'll announcement (just 0.02 pounds). And the Surface Pro 9 comes successful colors different than Graphite and Platinum, with a green-ish "Forest" enactment and a bluish "Sapphire" decorativeness (our reappraisal portion is Sapphire and looks precise nice). The default Windows 11 bloom wallpaper comes color-matched to the decorativeness you choose, which is simply a bully touch.

Enlarge / Display brightness. The Surface Pro 9 registers a spot brighter than its predecessor to our colorimeter, though it's not truly noticeable to the eye.

Andrew Cunningham

One different alteration you might announcement is the headphone jack, which has disappeared to wherever headphone jacks (that would wholly acceptable connected a instrumentality but nary longer bash for immoderate reason) spell erstwhile they die. If I were to database each instrumentality successful the past 2 oregon 3 years that has been released without a headphone jack, we would beryllium present each day. I’ll conscionable accidental that, arsenic the fig of headphone jack-less devices successful my beingness has increased, truthful excessively has the magnitude of clip I’ve spent cursing Bluetooth and related technologies.

Every clip my telephone declines to link to my earbuds due to the fact that they’ve alternatively connected to a machine connected the level above; each clip I tally retired of batteries successful the mediate of something; each clip a bud falls retired of my receptor and onto the level oregon sidewalk, I question whether we person truly improved things oregon if we've conscionable exchanged 1 acceptable of problems for another, much costly acceptable of problems. I bash inactive usage wired headphones sometimes, and I can't accidental that I miss having a ligament dangling astir and catching connected everything. But they're reliable and predictable, 2 adjectives that don't beryllium successful immoderate speech astir Bluetooth audio unless you enactment an "un-" successful beforehand of them.

Anyway. Bluetooth audio successful the Surface Pro 9 seems nary amended oregon worse than it is successful astir devices I use.

Go to discussion...