It's finally here, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 13-inch.
And although it looks like its predecessor,
today I'll tell you my review, why it's better.
Stay tuned.
(offbeat music)
Alright before we get started, if you're interested
in the 15-inch version of the Surface Book 2,
make sure you hit the link in the description
below for that review.
We did a real deep dive in that showing
all the benchmarks and what makes that one special.
Now let's turn to the 13-inch.
It's very easy to mistake the Surface Book 2
for the original Surface Book.
Microsoft kept the design language exactly
the same, including that that hinge.
Although some people didn't like it, it absolutely worked.
The fulcrum henge is needed for balancing
this device when it's open.
Now I'm actually kind of glad Microsoft kept it.
Going beyond the outside, Microsoft
has redesigned the Surface Book 2
from the inside out.
That includes all-new specifications.
For instance, there's a dual-core Intel Core i5
version, it's 3.2 gigahertz.
That's the same processor though from last generation.
It's an Intel seventh-gen chip.
And it's only dual-core, so that's not too exciting,
but it does start at 1499 and it's completely fan-less.
Where things get really interesting though
is the eighth-generation Intel Core i7 chip
that Turbo Boosts up to 4.2 gigahertz.
While that's still a 15-watt chip,
it is the first quad-core processor
that's available in the Surface.
It's also available in the Surface Book 2 15-inch,
But that one has a higher wattage at 20 watts.
For RAM, you're still getting 8 gigabytes
or a 16 gigabyte options.
For SSD, you get 256, 512, or one-terabyte options,
including a Samsung PCIe NVMe SSD on-board,
which is pretty fast.
Turn to graphics, and you get an Intel HD 620
for the Core i5, or an Intel UHD 620 for the Core i7.
But what we all want to know
about is that discreet GPU.
Microsoft has squeezed in an NVIDIA GTX 1050
with two gigabytes of video RAM.
That's an exciting GPU and it just gets your foot
in the door for gaming.
It's also gonna be significantly faster
than last year's 965M that was found
in the performance base.
Turning to weight, and the Core i5 version
weighs 3.38 pounds, or 1,533 grams.
The i7 version's a bit heavier
at 3.62 pounds, or 1,642 grams.
The tablet section though comes
in at 719 grams, or just over one and a half pounds.
Let's turn to fans here real quickly,
'cause this is an important distinction.
The Core i5 version is completely fan-less.
Now we're talking about two different fans here.
There's usually a fan in the tablet section,
and a fan in the GPU area in the base.
The Core i5 doesn't have anything.
It's passively-cooled, it's completely silent.
The Core i7 model though keeps a fan
in the base for that GTX 1050.
But the Core i7 chip in the actual tablet section
is completely fan-less and is passively cooled as well.
That differs from the 15-inch model,
which has fans in both sections.
Turning to ports on the left-hand side,
you get two USB 3.1 A ports.
You also get a full SD card slot.
Again, glad Microsoft kept that
for photographers and media.
Turn to the right-hand side, you get
a Surface Connect port for power
as well as a display doc, we like to use that.
And new to this year is the USB Type-C 3.1 port.
That's a little bit complicated and let's jump into it.
It does not have Thunderbolt 3.
That just means you cannot use an external GPU with it
or power multiple 4K displays at 60 hertz.
You can power though a single display at 4K 60 hertz,
use multiple USB hubs, and plug in multiple devices to it.
You can charge the Surface Book 2 with it,
if your charger is powerful enough,
you can also, of course, charge other devices from it.
On the top side of the tablet, you have
a three-and-a-half millimeter headset jack.
You could still see the radio vent here for passive cooling.
You can also see where the antenna lines
are for the WiFi and Bluetooth.
Over on the left-hand side, you do have your volume
rocker and power button.
Again, no change from last year.
Turn to the front of the device,
you get a five-megapixel front-facing camera.
You also get Windows Hello, as expected.
The display bezels have not changed at all.
The display itself is still three-by-two,
3,000-by-2,000 resolution, but
the contrast ratio has improved.
And overall, it's a very nice display.
It has excellent viewing angles.
We did get 99% sRGB rating for it,
as well as 80% Adobe RGB.
While that's not perfect,
that's pretty darn close to it.
Now for those concerned with light bleed,
I can say I still see a little bit
of edge bleed here and there,
but it's only when a device is booting.
I don't notice it while I'm using the device at all.
I know people are very sensitive to that.
I think it's an overreaction, but
if you're going to be concerned
about light bleed, there is still a little bit.
I don't think they can do much to solve that.
Turning to the fulcrum hinge, not much
has changed from the original Surface Book.
The design still looks the same,
but the internals have been updated.
The muscle wire mechanism is now much more quiet,
so when you release the display
from the main base, you won't hear it as much.
Looking at the keyboard, it still has
the same design and layout.
They do have dedicated buttons though
for display brightness, which is a welcome change.
The travel is 1.5 millimeters,
that's a slight decrease from the original 1.6 millimeters,
but I would not call it a degradation in experience.
In fact, this keyboard is excellent.
It is based off of the Surface Laptop
as far as response.
It is definitely one of my favorite keyboards.
Speaking of, the trackpad, you're still going
to get a glass-covered trackpad.
It's exceptionally smooth.
It too has been updated, along with the Surface Laptop.
It is easily the best trackpad I've used
on any Windows PC to date.
Turning to battery performance and thermals,
Microsoft did an excellent job here
with the Surface Book 2.
Looking at our Geekbench scores, you can see
that single core is very good for the Core i7 model,
but it's the multi-core one that's super-impressive.
That nearly doubles over the original Surface Book.
Not too surprising being a quad-core machine versus
the original dual-core, but those numbers are real.
This is a very powerful chip.
The same can be said for the GPU,
where we see the new Surface Book 2 with a 1050,
significantly outperforming the Surface
Book with performance base.
Turning to heat and thermals, this
is a very cool device.
Now as I mentioned earlier, there's only
a fan in the base that's for the GPU,
so you will only hear that section
if you're going to be pushing that GPU,
and that's where you may get some warmth
on the bottom, but we never saw
it peak over 106 Fahrenheit or 41 degrees Celsius.
So it's a very cool and quiet machine,
although as I mentioned earlier,
it does have a little bit of coil whine.
For battery life, Microsoft was promising 17 hours.
Now that is a video loop test.
The reason they do that is it's repeatable and consistent.
Modern processors scale so dynamically,
that it's really task-dependent
on what your battery life is going to be.
That makes any estimate very difficult
to give you, but I can honestly say
that using this device for eight hours
minimum is very likely.
You can definitely push it towards 10 hours
and maybe even more depending on your display brightness.
I did not feel I ever needed to bring
a charger with me all day, and that's really
what we're looking for here.
This is a significant improvement over
the original Surface Book, and I'm really glad to see it.
You won't get 17 hours, and if you're going
to game and use that GPU, it'll be significantly less.
GPUs are very power-hungry, but overall,
this is a very good machine for battery.
Now the Surface Book 2 13-inch
is Windows Mixed Reality-capable,
but I'm not in love with the experience.
First of all, you're going to have
to use a USB Type-C dongle in order
to connect a display adapter up to it.
That's because there's no dedicated HDMI display port.
And that's not so bad, but then you also have
to plug in a USB Type-A, and since
it's on the other side, you're going
to want to use a hub for that.
Now, the experience has been okay.
It works, but there's something with
the refresh rate in that USB Type-C port
I'm not really in love with.
I think it's a software issue,
it could probably be fixed, but I definitely feel
like the Surface team didn't build
this device with Windows Mixed Reality in mind.
Now we should talk about the pen.
There's none included in the box,
so that's an extra $99.
Microsoft is following a similar model
with the Surface Pro and passing
the cost off to customers.
A lot of people don't use
the pen and Microsoft says they synched
the cost back into the device,
used more quality components.
We'll just have to take their word for it.
So, for $99 you get a new pen.
Though luckily, it supports all those new features found
in the Surface Pro, including 4,096 levels of pressure,
tilt support, and advanced features
in inking, including that low latency,
which is very much welcomed.
I've been using the pen extensively here,
and I really enjoy it.
It feels very much like the Surface Pro.
So if you're big on inking, you'll want
to pick up one of those pens.
And at least you can pick your color now.
Okay let's bring it all in, what do I think
of the Surface Book 2?
It's a significant improvement over the original.
In fact, let me speak to the early adopters.
You know who you are, you bought
a Surface Book on day one and you probably got burned
by a lot of issues.
Microsoft had a ton of problems
with the Intel Skylake chipset on there.
Heck, Windows Hello barely worked on it as well.
Now that was fixed later on with
a lot of firmware updates, but there were ongoing problems
that were really frustrating.
I can say, I did not exhibit any issues here
going into Surface Book 2.
Everything just worked.
Windows Hello was reliable, it didn't overheat,
the battery life was phenomenal.
Now there are still some small problems.
For instance, there is coil whine,
at least when plugged in in High Performance mode.
When it's on battery, I didn't notice anything.
That may bother some people, and I hope Microsoft
can fix that during production.
That may be related to
that new Intel Core i7 processor as well.
But overall, the experience has been really excellent.
It's all the small changes here.
It's the new keyboard, it's the trackpad,
the display looks better, even
the audio speakers are better.
Pen and inking is better.
You can use Windows Mixed Reality on this.
You get all-day battery life.
You get significant performance,
especially with that i7 and GTX 1050 model.
So besides those looking to upgrade,
who else should buy this device?
Now obviously, it's very expensive.
I don't want to belabor the point,
Surfaces are never cheap.
They're not about value, they're
about performance and quality.
There are a lot of good alternatives
on the market, including ones from Dell,
HP, and even Razer.
So, if you're looking to save some money
and still get value, I would check out those devices.
However, if you're a student,
an architect, or you're in science
or engineering, that's where Microsoft
is really aiming this device for,
and I think it succeeds.
It's a great choice if you can afford it.
So in conclusion, Microsoft calls
the Surface Book 2 the ultimate laptop.
And you know what, I think they succeeded.
There's no other device on the market
that does as much as this thing.
The only thing that's better
is the Surface Book 2 15-inch,
so make sure you check out that video.
Before we get started, if you're interested
in the Surface Book 2 15-inch,
make sure you click the link
for the video for that, no.
Should I point?
I kinda don't think I should.
- [Man] You don't, no...