The Surface Book 2: A Solid but Overpriced Laptop

Now that's pretty expensive for the specs you're getting but let's not jump to conclusions just yet. The 13 and a half inch Pixel Sense display on the Surface Book is starting to look at it has a 3000 by 2000 resolution which results in a taller display and it's perfect for browsing the web or creating documents while the display looks beautiful in its own right. It's not as nice as the MacBook Pro's display due to the fact it doesn't have AP 3 wide color gamut so colors aren't as vibrant and color accurate, but like we just said it's still a good display and it's definitely one of the best displays on a Windows laptop.

The Surface Book 2 also features 10-point multi-touch and is compatible with the Surface Pen and Surface Dial which Apple doesn't offer for any of their laptops. Now unfortunately, we don't have the Surface Pen or Dial to review alongside the Surface Book but it is nice to have the option to use accessories to help you get more out of your laptop. The trackpad is one of the best I've used on a Windows laptop and is comparable to the daily MacBook Pro user experience. I appreciate having multi-touch gestures on the trackpad, but I'm not a fan of though are the speakers on the Surface Book too it's mediocre at best, it distorts at high volumes and lacks bass and it doesn't get very loud. The 12-inch MacBook sounds way louder and clearer than the Surface Book 2 which is a huge disappointment for such a jam-packed hybrid laptop.

In terms of I/O we have plenty of ports on the Surface Book - including two USB-A ports, an SDXC card reader, a USBC port and the Surface Book's charging port. The charging port is magnetic which is similar to Apple's old MagSafe technology which I really like but it'd be much happier by having another USB-C port or even better a Thunderbolt 3 port.

Battery life on the Surface Book 2 is rated for 13 hours and during our two weeks of testing the laptop, it exceeded our expectations from web browsing to 30 to 45 minute game sessions and watching videos we never really felt like we needed to be by a wall outlet and charged the laptop.

When it comes to performance, the East generation quad-core i7 processor on this top-of-the-line Surface Book 2 works really well in everyday tasks and some casual gaming. Now in Geekbench for the Surface Book 2 scored 5000.81 in single core and 15,500.95 in multi-core which is surprisingly in line with a base model 13-inch MacBook Pro that retails for just $1,299.

In Cinebench R20 we received a CPU score of 942 which is way below than the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro which posted a CPU score of 1583. When it comes to the SSD, we averaged 25 hundred megabytes per second for its read speed and 12 hundred megabytes per second for its write speed which is really fast for every operation and gaming in Unigine Heaven we received a score of 529 an average frames per second of 21 and a max frames per second of 40.8.

When it comes to gaming, we installed some of the games we played occasionally on PC and that's Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Black Ops for now. We weren't very optimistic about gaming on the GTX 1050 and with Overwatch, we were able to play at a constant 60 frames per second in 1080p with settings and medium, but with Apex Legends in Black Ops 4 on the other hand, we were able to get 50 to 60 frames per second in its slowest settings in 1080p which isn't terrible but the game doesn't look as good versus a gaming laptop with a much higher-end graphics card. Gaming isn't the Surface Book strong suit and while it can run some popular titles in low to medium settings at 1080p, serious gamers may want to look elsewhere.

Overall, the Surface Book 2 is a solid device for everyday tasks but the hefty price tag of $3,000 is a bit concerning giving the performance is similar to a base model MacBook Pro however its unique design beautiful display and 2+1 functionality is a refreshing change from traditional laptops. It's hard to recommend the Surface Book in 2019 we think it's best to wait for the next generation Surface Book or pick up the much more affordable based model 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Hey everyone, did you guys like that video? Be sure to click on that like button so we can create content that we know that you guys want to see and follow Apple Insider in all social media channels. If you want the best prices on any Apple gear check out the Apple Insider price guide that is updated daily.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the Microsoft Surface book - it's a hybrid 2 in 1 laptop that can be used as a tablet or a full-blown laptop should you pick up Microsoft Surface book - in 2019 thanks for watching Apple Insider don't forget to hit that like button and be sure to hit subscribe and turn on that notification bell so you know when we upload new videos the surface book is essentially the MacBook Pro lineup for Microsoft it comes in two different sizes there's a 15 inch and a 13 and a half inch variant and even though Microsoft has its own surface pro lineup its specs are not as powerful or feature packed as the book the model we have for review is a top-of-the-line 13 and a half inch surface book - with an 8th gen i 7 processor 16 gigs of ram one terabyte of SSD and it has Intel's UHD 620 GPU and the NVIDIA GTX 1050 as its dedicated graphics card and all of this retails for a whopping price of $3,000 now that's pretty expensive for the specs you're getting but let's not jump to conclusions just yet the 13 and a half inch pixel sense display on the surface book is starting to look at it has a 3,000 by 2,000 resolution which results in a taller display and it's perfect for browsing the web or creating documents while the display looks beautiful in its own right it's not as nice as the MacBook Pros display due to the fact it doesn't have AP 3 wide color gamut so colors aren't as vibrant and color accurate but like we just said it's still a good display and it's definitely one of the best displays on a Windows laptop the surface book 2 also features 10-point multi-touch and is compatible with the service pen and surface dial which Apple doesn't offer for any of their laptops now we unfortunately don't have the surface pen or dial to review alongside the surface book but it is nice to have the option to use accessories to help you get more out of your laptop the trackpad is one of the best I've use on a Windows laptop and is the daily MacBook Pro user I appreciate having multi-touch gestures on the trackpad but I'm not a fan of though are the speakers on the surface book too it's mediocre at best it distorts at high volumes and lacks bass and it doesn't get very loud the 12-inch MacBook sounds way louder and clearer than the surface book 2 which is a huge disappointment for such a jam pack hybrid laptop now in terms of i/o we have plenty of ports on the surface book - including two USB 8 ports if full-size SDXC card reader a USBC port and the surface books charging port the charging port is magnetic which is similar to Apple's old MagSafe technology which I really like but it'd be much happier by having another USB C port or even better a Thunderbolt 3 port now battery life on the surface book 2 is rated for 13 hours and during our two weeks of testing the laptop it exceeded our expectations from web browsing to 30 to 45 minute game sessions and watching videos we never really felt like we needed to be by a wall outlet and charged the laptop now when it comes to performance the East generation quad-core i7 processor on this top-of-the-line surface book 2 works really well in everyday tasks and some casual gaming now in Geekbench for the surface book 2 scored 5000 81 in single core and 15,500 95 in multi core which is surprisingly in line with a base model 13-inch MacBook pearl that retails for just $12.99 in Cinebench r20 we received a CPU score of 942 which is way below than the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro which posted a CPU score of 1583 when it comes to the SSD we average twenty five hundred megabytes a second for its read speed and 1200 megabytes a second for its write speed which is really fast for every operation and gaming in Unigine heaven we received a score of 529 an average frames per second of 21 and a max frames per second of 40 8.3 and when it comes to gaming we installed some of the games we played occasionally on PC and that's overwatch apex legends and black ops for now we weren't very optimistic about gaming on the GTX 1050 and with overwatch we were able to play at a constant 60 frames per second in 1080p with settings and medium with Apex legends in black ops 4 on the other hand we were able to get 50 to 60 frames per second in its slowest settings in 1080p which isn't terrible but the game doesn't look as good versus a gaming laptop with a much higher end graphics card a gaming isn't the surface book strong suit and while it can run some popular titles in low to medium settings at 1080p serious gamers may want to look elsewhere so overall the surface book 2 is a solid device for everyday tasks but the hefty price tag of $3,000 is a bit concerning giving the performance is similar to a base model MacBook Pro however its unique design beautiful display and 2 + 1 functionality is a refreshing change from traditional laptop but it is hard to recommend the surface book - in 2019 we think it's best to wait for the next generation surface book or pick up the much more affordable based model 13-inch MacBook Pro hey everyone did you guys like that video be sure to click on that like button so we can create content that we know that you guys want to see and follow Apple Insider in all social media channels if you want the best prices on any Apple gear check out the Apple insider price guide that is updated daily and until next time we'll see you laterthis is the Microsoft Surface book - it's a hybrid 2 in 1 laptop that can be used as a tablet or a full-blown laptop should you pick up Microsoft Surface book - in 2019 thanks for watching Apple Insider don't forget to hit that like button and be sure to hit subscribe and turn on that notification bell so you know when we upload new videos the surface book is essentially the MacBook Pro lineup for Microsoft it comes in two different sizes there's a 15 inch and a 13 and a half inch variant and even though Microsoft has its own surface pro lineup its specs are not as powerful or feature packed as the book the model we have for review is a top-of-the-line 13 and a half inch surface book - with an 8th gen i 7 processor 16 gigs of ram one terabyte of SSD and it has Intel's UHD 620 GPU and the NVIDIA GTX 1050 as its dedicated graphics card and all of this retails for a whopping price of $3,000 now that's pretty expensive for the specs you're getting but let's not jump to conclusions just yet the 13 and a half inch pixel sense display on the surface book is starting to look at it has a 3,000 by 2,000 resolution which results in a taller display and it's perfect for browsing the web or creating documents while the display looks beautiful in its own right it's not as nice as the MacBook Pros display due to the fact it doesn't have AP 3 wide color gamut so colors aren't as vibrant and color accurate but like we just said it's still a good display and it's definitely one of the best displays on a Windows laptop the surface book 2 also features 10-point multi-touch and is compatible with the service pen and surface dial which Apple doesn't offer for any of their laptops now we unfortunately don't have the surface pen or dial to review alongside the surface book but it is nice to have the option to use accessories to help you get more out of your laptop the trackpad is one of the best I've use on a Windows laptop and is the daily MacBook Pro user I appreciate having multi-touch gestures on the trackpad but I'm not a fan of though are the speakers on the surface book too it's mediocre at best it distorts at high volumes and lacks bass and it doesn't get very loud the 12-inch MacBook sounds way louder and clearer than the surface book 2 which is a huge disappointment for such a jam pack hybrid laptop now in terms of i/o we have plenty of ports on the surface book - including two USB 8 ports if full-size SDXC card reader a USBC port and the surface books charging port the charging port is magnetic which is similar to Apple's old MagSafe technology which I really like but it'd be much happier by having another USB C port or even better a Thunderbolt 3 port now battery life on the surface book 2 is rated for 13 hours and during our two weeks of testing the laptop it exceeded our expectations from web browsing to 30 to 45 minute game sessions and watching videos we never really felt like we needed to be by a wall outlet and charged the laptop now when it comes to performance the East generation quad-core i7 processor on this top-of-the-line surface book 2 works really well in everyday tasks and some casual gaming now in Geekbench for the surface book 2 scored 5000 81 in single core and 15,500 95 in multi core which is surprisingly in line with a base model 13-inch MacBook pearl that retails for just $12.99 in Cinebench r20 we received a CPU score of 942 which is way below than the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro which posted a CPU score of 1583 when it comes to the SSD we average twenty five hundred megabytes a second for its read speed and 1200 megabytes a second for its write speed which is really fast for every operation and gaming in Unigine heaven we received a score of 529 an average frames per second of 21 and a max frames per second of 40 8.3 and when it comes to gaming we installed some of the games we played occasionally on PC and that's overwatch apex legends and black ops for now we weren't very optimistic about gaming on the GTX 1050 and with overwatch we were able to play at a constant 60 frames per second in 1080p with settings and medium with Apex legends in black ops 4 on the other hand we were able to get 50 to 60 frames per second in its slowest settings in 1080p which isn't terrible but the game doesn't look as good versus a gaming laptop with a much higher end graphics card a gaming isn't the surface book strong suit and while it can run some popular titles in low to medium settings at 1080p serious gamers may want to look elsewhere so overall the surface book 2 is a solid device for everyday tasks but the hefty price tag of $3,000 is a bit concerning giving the performance is similar to a base model MacBook Pro however its unique design beautiful display and 2 + 1 functionality is a refreshing change from traditional laptop but it is hard to recommend the surface book - in 2019 we think it's best to wait for the next generation surface book or pick up the much more affordable based model 13-inch MacBook Pro hey everyone did you guys like that video be sure to click on that like button so we can create content that we know that you guys want to see and follow Apple Insider in all social media channels if you want the best prices on any Apple gear check out the Apple insider price guide that is updated daily and until next time we'll see you later\n"