Microsoft introduced a round of updates to its widely sold Surface line Wednesday, including two new laptops, two new headphones, and two new docking tools.
The laptops—the Surface Go 2 and Surface Book 3—will arrive later this month, featuring faster Intel processors that may greatly improve performance. (Both models are available for preorder now.)
While the Surface Book 2 was no slouch when released in late 2017, the original Surface Go—introduced in mid-2018 as a compact, portable device for web browsing and office productivity tasks—was a little on the slow side, our testers found.
"The new Intel Core m3 processor on the Surface Go 2 should go a long way toward adding faster speeds in its performance tests," says Antonette Asedillo, who oversees laptop testing at Consumer Reports. "And right now, the Surface Laptop 3 is the best Surface model in our ratings performancewise, so it will be interesting to see if the Surface Book 3 can outdo it with its new 10th-generation Intel Core processor."
Surface Go 2 and Surface Book 3
Microsoft claims that the Surface Go 2 is about 64 percent more powerful than its predecessor and that the Surface Book 3 is about 50 percent more powerful than its predecessor. Those numbers are not easy to decipher, but they generally mean less time waiting for apps to open, faster filter effects in photo-editing apps, and less sluggish performance in loading complex, banner ad-laden websites.
We'll know for sure how much difference the extra muscle adds once we test the models, but given what we know about multicore processors, Microsoft's claims sound plausible.
And while the laptops' performance is likely to increase, their prices are stable.
The Surface Go 2 starts at the same $400 as the original and the Surface Book 3 starts at $1,600—$100 more than the Surface Book 2 at launch.
Of course, consumers expect more from a laptop than sheer power. Microsoft says the new models will offer improved battery life as well. And the display on the Surface Go 2 has been expanded from 10 to 10.5 inches. This should help further cement the device as the best sub-12-inch laptop in our ratings.
The Surface Book 3, aimed more at professional users, will be available in two sizes: 13 inches and 15 inches. Unlike the Surface Go, which just about stands alone among tiny laptops, this model faces no shortage of very powerful and highly portable rivals, including the LG Gram, Apple MacBook Pro, and Dell XPS. And if you're willing to tolerate a slightly "gamer" aesthetic, the Acer Nitro 5 gets you pretty close in terms of performance but at a lower price.
Unlike the 2-in-1 Surface Book, though, those models are traditional notebooks, which means you can't detach the display from the keyboard for use like a tablet.
If you're interested in connecting your Surface laptop to an external display and keyboard, too, Microsoft's Surface Dock 2, $260, and multiport Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub, $100, are designed to make the process easier.
Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds
The Surface Earbuds—true wireless headphones similar to Apple's AirPods—were announced last October, but they're just now going on sale for $200.
The $250 Surface Headphones 2 are a noise-canceling model in the same category as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and Sony WH1000MX3. Microsoft claims they have up to 20 hours of battery life, roughly 5 hours longer than the claim for the original Surface Headphones.
The manufacturer says the new model also will have improved sound quality, thanks in part to the use of a new audio codec, which is something we'll evaluate.
