The starting model has an RRP of £1,599 with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. The 13.5in Microsoft Surface Book comes in four configurations. The speakers are loud, projecting forward from the screen and very good for a laptop. The screen wobbles a bit if poked when in laptop mode.īoth the mics and camera are really good for video conferencing. The screen can be removed, rotated 180-degrees, reattached and then folded down into a drafting board-like orientation. Having only one USB-C port is disappointing for a powerful machine, as is the lack of Thunderbolt 3 support, which is now standard across most Windows laptops. The port selection includes the Surface Connect port, that is used for power but also connectivity via the Surface Dock or adapters two USB-A ports, which are a rarity in 2020 a full-size SD card reader headphones socket in the tablet part and a single USB-C port. Only developers or those that need a lot of computing power over an extended period of time will really max out the machine.

Still, the quad-core power in the Surface Book 3 is more than enough for most users, particularly those who rely more on the graphics card, such as creatives or gamers. The reason quad-core chips are used in the Surface Book 3 is that they have to fit in the thin, compact tablet section, which limits the amount of power and heat you can have. The tablet section has vents for fans all the way round the sides. Graphics: Intel Iris Plus + Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4GB)Ĭonnectivity: Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5, 2x USB 3.1, 1x USB-C, SD, Surface Connector, headphones Processor: Quad-core Intel Core i5 or i7 (10th generation) Neither of those machines have a discrete graphics card that sort of horsepower is mainly reserved for gaming laptops or larger 15in plus machines, such as Apple’s 16in MacBook Pro, which weighs in at 2Kg.

The 13in MacBook Pro weighs 1.4Kg, while Dell’s XPS 13 weighs just 1.27Kg. As is the ability to dock it in reverse to the laptop deck and fold it down like a drafting board.Īt 1.5kg to 1.6Kg in weight, Surface Book 3 is heavier than most of its 13in competition. Taking it off to go show someone something, or to annotate a document, watch a movie or just browse the web is still a great experience. The screen is still crisp, bright and beautiful – and now detaches significantly faster.

You can hand-hold the tablet portion, but at 719g it is heavy and really for occasional browsing, watching video or annotating documents.

Surface book 3 video editing