These are the best Microsoft Surface PCs: Tablets, laptops, and more

Ever since the inception of Microsoft’s Surface line of products, they were meant to be showcase devices. Like Google’s Nexus (and now Pixel) family, Surface devices are supposed to show other companies what can and should be done with a Windows PC. The original Surface Pro arguably kicked the convertible market into gear. In the years since, the line has expanded to all kinds of devices, but in many ways, that idea is still true. Microsoft makes Surface devices in different kinds of form factors and price points, and they’re all great PCs. If you’re looking to buy a new PC, we’ve rounded up the best Surface devices you can get for different use cases.

Rather than picking a best overall device, we’ll be focusing on a few different categories, so you can easily choose what’s best for you. Everyone has different use cases, and no device can be ideal for everyone, so hopefully you’ll find the right one for you on this list.

Best laptop: Surface Laptop 4

Whether it’s school or office work, the Surface Laptop 4 is a fantastic device for all kinds of work settings. It comes in both Intel and AMD flavors, but we’d recommend going with Intel. Microsoft chose to use last-generation AMD processors versus the latest ones from Intel, which leaves the former at a disadvantage in terms of performance. However, the AMD variant promises better battery life, and it should be fast enough for most people anyway. You can get it with up to 32GB of RAM (16GB for AMD) and a 1TB removable SSD.

It uses an all-metal build, but the 13.5-inch model can also be had with an Alcantara-covered base. This gives your palms a warm and soft place to rest on compared to metal. The display has a 201PPI in both sizes, and it’s a touchscreen with pen support, though it’s probably not the most convenient device to use it on since it’s a clamshell. It has Windows Hello facial recognition, too.

As for what size you should get, it’s a matter of preference. The smaller models come with an Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen 5, which aren’t as fast but offer more battery life. Plus, they’re lighter and easier to carry. The larger models have more powerful processors, but battery life is slightly shorter.

Surface Laptop 4

With a high-resolution PixelSense touch display, high-end processors, and a premium build, the Surface Laptop 4 is great for all kinds of work. There are two screen sizes and four colors to choose from depending on your taste, and you can even get it with an Alcantara cover for added comfort.

Buy at Amazon

Best tablet: Surface Pro X

Microsoft has two premium Surface tablets that are actually very different — the Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X. There’s also the Surface Pro 7+, but that’s only available for businesses. While they have pros and cons to each, the Surface Pro X has some advantages courtesy of the ARM-based Microsoft SQ2 chipset inside. For one thing, it supports LTE, which makes it far more useful if you work on the go. It also includes other advantages that come with having an ARM processor, like better power efficiency and instant wake.

Another advantage of the Surface Pro X is its design. The Surface Pro 7 is still virtually similar to the Surface Pro 4 from 2015. The Surface Pro X has thinner bezels, a larger screen, and a slimmer chassis, making it a more portable machine. It’ll probably perform below the Intel Core i7 on the Surface Pro 7, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re just using it for work. If you do prefer the Pro 7, though, you can find it here.

Surface Pro X

The Surface Pro X has a light and modern design, a 13-inch high-resolution display, and it's powered by a Microsoft SQ2 chipset. It supports LTE for on-the-go connectivity and it offers 15 hours of battery life thanks to its ARM-based chipset.

Buy at Amazon

Best for business: Surface Pro 7+

if you’re looking for a new tablet or convertible to use for work, the Surface Pro 7+ is a great choice. Microsoft didn’t call it the Surface Pro 8, but there are still some notable upgrades packed into this refresh. First and foremost, it has Intel 11th-generation Tiger Lake processors, which are much better than the 10th-generation equivalents. That’s also thanks to the new Iris Xe Graphics, a new GPU that’s significantly more powerful than the Iris Plus Graphics in previous generations. It’s actually close to some entry-level dedicated GPUs, like the Nvidia GeForce MX350.

On top of that, the Surface Pro 7+ now has a removable SSD, similar to the Pro X, a larger battery, and you can get it with LTE. That makes it a great machine for businesses. LTE connectivity means you can work anywhere, and the removable SSD makes it easy to destroy potentially sensitive information before getting rid of the device.

Because it’s meant for business users, you won’t find the Surface Pro 7+ at every retailer, but you can get it at B&H using the link below.

Surface Pro 7+

The Surface Pro 7+ is a big upgrade over the Pro 7, featuring Intel Tiger Lake processors with Iris Xe Graphics. It also has a removable SSD, LTE connectivity, and a larger battery, making it great for business users.

Buy at B&H

Best for gaming and creators: Surface Book 3

The Surface lineup doesn’t include a typical gaming PC, but the Book 3 is close enough. It features 10th-generation Intel Core processors up to a Core i7-1165G7, and either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 for the 13.5-inch variant or a GTX 1660 Ti for the 15-inch. Both of those are the less power-hungry Max-Q designs, but they’re still good enough to play a lot of modern games at decent settings and frame rates. You can also get it with up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage (2TB for the 15-inch). That power also makes it great for creative work, like working in Adobe Photoshop or Premiere.

What’s really cool about the Surface Book 3 is you can still detach the keyboard from the screen and use it as a tablet (though the NVIDIA GPU is inside the keyboard deck). You can use just the screen as a tablet, or you can turn it around and insert it back into the keyboard so you can use it as a stand for the screen. It’s still a versatile machine, but it has the power to play modern games or handle more intense creative workflows. Plus it still has a very premium and sleek design like other Surface devices.

Surface Book 3

Packing high-end Intel processors and dedicated NVIDIA graphics, the Surface Book 3 can handle most modern games at playable frame rates as well as creative workloads. You can still remove the screen from the keyboard and use it as a tablet, and it has the same premium design the family is known for.

Buy at Amazon

Best budget tablet: Surface Go 2

Microsoft’s Surface lineup is known for premium and expensive devices, but the Surface Go does a good job of bringing the same premium feeling to a more affordable price point. It has the same magnesium casing Surface is known for, and the 10.5 inch display comes in the 3:2 aspect ratio at a decently sharp 1920 x 1280 resolution. Like the Surface Pro, you can get it with a Type Cover to make it more like a laptop. It supports the Surface Pen, too.

The biggest sacrifices here are on the inside. You can get the Surface Go 2 with an Intel Pentium Gold processor or spring for the Intel Core m3, which we’d recommend if you have the budget. An even more essential upgrade is the 8 GB of RAM, which you’ll need if you want to do any significant multi-tasking on it. If you want a premium-feeling tablet that can handle most day-to-day tasks, the Surface Go 2 is a good place to start.

Surface Go 2

The Surface Go 2 is an affordable tablet that retains the premium feel of its more expensive siblings, thanks to the magnesium casing. It has a tall screen for improved web browsing and you can get a Type Cover to get a laptop-feeling experience.

Buy at Amazon

Best budget laptop: Surface Laptop Go

If you’re hung up on the performance hurdles we mentioned above and you just want a laptop, the Surface Laptop Go is for you. It actually has a fairly fast Intel Core i5-1035G1, though you don’t get Iris Xe or Iris Plus Graphics this way. Still, you can pair that Core i5 with either 4GB or 8GB of RAM to have a solid machine for work or school. It does have a middling resolution of 1536 x 1024, but other laptops in this price range also have lower resolution displays. And unlike the Go 2 tablet, it’s a laptop so the keyboard and trackpad come standard.

The Surface Laptop Go starts at $549, but we strongly recommend going for the $699 tier if you can. That extra $150 gets you 8GB of RAM (instead of 4GB), but also 128GB of SSD storage (instead of the slower 64GB eMMC). Plus, this tier also adds a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello, which is important because the Laptop Go is the only Surface PC without Windows Hello facial recognition.

Surface Laptop Go

The Surface Laptop Go offers solid performance and a premium design at an affordable price. The screen is less impressive than its siblings, but it still has a 3:2 aspect ratio and it supports touch. It's a great starting point for school work.

Buy at Amazon

These are the best Surface devices you can get right now. The Microsoft Surface family does a great job of covering a variety of use cases without being too confusing. If you just want a premium tablet, the Surface Pro X is for you, and if you’re a digital artist, you can get the Surface Studio 2. Personally, my favorite is the Surface Book 3. I love you can get that extra gaming power from the keyboard base, but use the screen by itself as a tablet. Plus, I just love the overall design of it.

But if you don’t agree, there are quite a few other options to choose from. In fact, we have running lists of the best laptops from HP and Dell, if you’d like to check those out instead.

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Sharp Aquos R6 Hands-On: This huge 1-inch camera sensor can’t compensate for lackluster software processing

Japanese smartphones haven’t been relevant on a global stage in many years — partly because most non-Sony devices are not sold in chunks of the world, but also because the phones just didn’t offer competitive hardware compared to Apple, Samsung, or Chinese brands like Huawei and Xiaomi.

This year seems to be the year Japanese smartphone brands attempt to mount a comeback, with Sony releasing the impressively specced Xperia 1 III, and now Sharp is here with the Aquos R6, which offers two hardware breakthroughs that are industry firsts: a whopping 1-inch camera sensor and an IGZO OLED panel that can ramp up its refresh rate up to 240Hz.

The phone is only sold in Japan right now, but we managed to get our hands on one thanks to importer Trinity Electronics in Hong Kong.

Sharp Aquos R6: Specifications. Tap/click to show.

Sharp Aquos R6: Specifications

Specification	Sharp Aquos R6
Build	IPX8 certification
Dimensions & Weight	162 x 74 x 9.5mm 207g
Display	6.67-inch Pro IGZO OLED 2730 x 1260 pixels 2,000nits peak brightness 240Hz peak refresh rate Variable refresh rate support (1-240Hz) 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio HDR
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
RAM & Storage	12GB LPDDR5 128GB UFS 3.1 microSD card slot (up to 1TB)
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh Intelligent Charge 2.0 support
Security	Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max under-display fingerprint sensor
Rear Camera(s)	20MP 1-inch CMOS sensor 7-element f/1.9 Leica Summicron lens 19mm equivalent focal length ToF sensor LED flash
Front Camera(s)	12.6MP
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	N/A
Connectivity	5G Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2
Software	Android 11

Sharp Aquos R6: Hardware and Design

At a glance, the Sharp Aquos R6 is a typical Android flagship slab, with curved glass on the front and back sandwiching an aluminum chassis, and a near bezel-less face with just a small hole-punch housing a 12MP selfie camera and a sizable camera module on the back.

Inside the phone is the usual Snapdragon 888, with 12GB of RAM and a 5,000 mAh battery. There’s a headphone jack at the bottom and on the right side of the chassis is an extra hardware button to launch Google Assistant (or other apps, if you so choose) along with the volume rocker and power button.

It’s a very well-built, premium handset that looks and feels similar in the hand as the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra in my opinion.

The similar vibes between the two phones is apt, because the Aquos R6’s 1-inch sensor is the largest camera sensor in the mobile industry, knocking off the previous champ Mi 11 Ultra, whose ISOCELL GN2 sensor measures 1/1.12-inch. But we’ll get to this in the camera section. Let’s talk about that 240Hz screen first.

The 6.67-inch, 2,730 x 1,260 OLED panel is, according to Sharp, the world’s first OLED panel to use IGZO (Indium, gallium, zinc, oxide) technology, which means the screen is layered with ultra thin-film transistors that offer remarkably low power leakage.

I’m no display expert, but the screen looks great to my eyes, with excellent viewing angles and rich details. Animations look buttery smooth as expected, although I can’t say I see superior fluidity over a 120Hz panel from Samsung or Xiaomi.

Sharp’s software calls the high refresh rate “high-speed display,” and there is no way to control it on a device-wide level. Instead, Sharp offers an app-by-app solution, meaning you can toggle high refresh rate on or off for each specific app. Also, note the toggle is either on (variable up to 240Hz) or off (60Hz). You can’t set it to any other specific value, like 90Hz or 120Hz for instance.

Sharp Aquos R6: Camera

The Aquos R6’s camera is designed to grab headlines, because not only does it have that 1-inch sensor, it also uses a Leica-branded lens that was co-developed via “close collaboration” by the two brands.

Personally, I find the recent trend of smartphone brands teaming up with legacy camera brands to be mostly marketing gimmicks (in my Huawei Mate 40 Pro review, I didn’t even mention the word “Leica” once) and my opinion doesn’t change much here.

From my testing, the Aquos R6’s camera hardware is indeed impressive because of that huge sensor. Just like the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, whose camera sensor is also very large, photos and videos captured by the Aquos R6 have a natural depth-of-field effect that separates the subject from the background (otherwise known as “bokeh”), giving shots a more professional look that apes the look of photos captured by a “real” camera.

This is particularly noticeable when comparing shots captured by the Aquos R6 against the iPhone 12 Pro, whose image sensor size is significantly smaller (Apple did not reveal its exact size). In the samples below, the Aquos R6 image has more separation between object and background.

Having natural bokeh in a photo is ideal, but smartphone brands, and in particular Google, have become very skilled at producing fake digital bokeh. So where the large 1-inch sensor really benefits is video footage, which also features that same background blur effect. Below are video clips showing footage captured by the Sharp Aquos R6 and the iPhone 12 Pro.

So we can see the Aquos R6’s significantly larger image sensor really adds a level of professional aesthetic that the iPhone’s flatter photos/videos can’t get. But there are other Android phones with large sensors, in particular, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra (1/1.13-inch) and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (1/1.33-inch), and when pitted against these two Android flagship beasts, the Sharp Aquos R6’s advantage mostly disappears.

You’ll notice that Samsung’s and Xiaomi’s images produced are just as pleasing with a natural bokeh and they’re more vibrant with punchier colors too.

This is the case with most of the photos captured by the Sharp Aquos R6, they look a bit on the bland side if the lighting condition isn’t great. If you’re taking a photo on a sunny day, then sure, the Aquos R6 can produce a great shot like below that

But in more challenging shots, the Aquos R6’s images consistently produce duller colors and inferior dynamic range compared to Apple and Xiaomi’s photos.

This is likely due to lackluster image processing from Sharp, and it’s not surprising. We are in the age of computational photography in mobile, where smartphone camera software is as important as camera hardware. It’s why the Google Pixel 5 still ranks as one of the best camera smartphones around despite outdated camera hardware.

And as a much smaller smartphone maker, Sharp likely lacks the R&D budget or expertise compared to Apple or Google (or even Samsung and Xiaomi) when it comes to building computational photography software algorithms. Sharp’s 1-inch camera sensor is impressive and cutting-edge, but the software processing keeps holding it back.

Smartphone camera software is as important as camera hardware

Here are some more night photo samples captured by the Sharp Aquos R6. Notice that Sharp blows out some lights in the shots quite badly, Apple, on the other hand, used HDR processing to produce a more balanced (if superficial) shot.

Sharp also made the curious decision to just equip with Aquos R6 with just one camera (along with a ToF sensor). This means zoom shots are digital (and the phone maxes out at just 6x zoom).

Software and Miscellaneous bits

On the software front, the Aquos R6 runs a version of Android 11. The settings page, notification shade, and app icons all look similar to stock Android, but there are some changes. First, there’s a lot of pre-installed bloatware, including apps from Amazon, Disney, and Docomo, the Japanese carrier through which the phone was sold.

Sharp also reverted back to the old-school method of launching the app tray — you have to tap on an on-screen icon — instead of the swipe up method. Instead, swiping up from the bottom of the screen launches a Japanese news feed.

Dig into settings and the page looks mostly familiar, except for an addition named Sharp Help Center which compiles all the additional software features into a cartoonish menu system. Here you can adjust the aforementioned refresh rate by app, set up a different app to launch when pressing the hardware button, tweak the game menu that pops up during mobile games, and access this feature called “SuguApp” which allows you to launch an app by shaking the phone. This works well, even if it is a bit weird.

The Sharp Aquos R6 is also the first phone to use Qualcomm’s 3D Max ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader solution. In addition to being a bit faster than before, the scanning area is also said to be 1.7x larger. To that end, Sharp added a new feature that allows the phone to scan two fingers at once, with the idea being additional security. It works well, but I personally have no interest in unlocking my phone with two fingers.

Elsewhere, I haven’t used the phone long enough to give a conclusive opinion on battery life, but the 5,000 mAh cell seems to be good enough considering Sharp’s screen has a dynamic refresh rate and resolution isn’t as high as the Galaxy S21 Ultra or Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Early Thoughts

Right now the Sharp Aquos R6 is only sold in Japan via the carrier Docomo, so official pricing is not known. In Hong Kong, the phone’s being sold at around HK$10,000, which converts to $1,228. Whatever the case, it’s safe to say those in the west thinking of importing this phone will surely pay at least four digits in US dollars.

While the Sharp Aquos R6 is generating excitement among the enthusiast community — people willing to pay for cutting-edge tech — the average consumer would be better off spending that same money on a Galaxy S21 Ultra or Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, since both phones offer large image sensors too, with much better camera software.

But Japan is mostly an iPhone country. So for those living in Japan, the Sharp Aquos R6 represents a great alternative, counter-culture option. And its large image sensor makes it different enough from the iPhone to have appeal.

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Work Safer from Home with WOT Browsing Security

If you’ve found yourself working from home or using your personal computer as a work machine, you’re not alone. Many people have changed their work environment since the beginning of the pandemic, which shifts the responsibility of cybersecurity from your company to you. If you’re looking to beef up the internet security on your computer, this simple Chrome extension can help.

 

WOT is designed as an advanced browsing security and privacy shield. It’s a chrome extension that is able to protect users from scams, malware, phishing, and identity theft. When you visit a website, the WOT security will run a safety check based on user ratings, reviews, and ML algorithms. This is especially important for anyone who uses a personal computer for work. Clicking on the wrong website, or downloading the wrong file, could give an intruder access to your work email and documents.

Safer browsing is also applied to search engines. WOT supports all popular search engines including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, and more. Search engine results will display a security rating next to each link. You’ll be able to avoid any risky links, before you even click on them. If WOT detects any security threats, you will receive malware and virus alerts. You’ll be able to act quickly to avoid these security risks and keep your computer safe.

WOT gathers data from its userbase to help determine in websites are harmful or safe. Users are able to leave reviews and mark websites as a security threat. As a user, you will also be able to mark specific websites as unsafe, helping everyone browse with fewer risks.

WOT is a cross-platform solution that will work on any computer that is able to run Google Chrome. Adding the extension to your browser is easy.

1. Go to mywot.com
2. Click Add WOT to chrome to see the chrome web store page
3. Click Add to Chrome
4. A popup will ask you if you’d like to add the extension. Click Add extension

Premium Features

For more advanced security, the premium WOT plan can protect you from online scams, popups, and adult websites. Some scams can be complex, and bypass typical security tools. WOT is able to detect these types of scams which include phishing attacks. The blocking of adults websites not only covers porn, but can protect users from gambling sites as well.

The premium version is available as a service that can be canceled at any time. Users have a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can get started with WOT by adding the Chrome extension here.

We thank WOT for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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