The Microsoft Surface Event: A Look at the Latest Devices

Hey, what's going on, guys? This is Ken, and I'm here in New York City at the Microsoft Surface event where Microsoft just unveiled a lot of products. Also, Austin isn't here, so he's having me host the video for some reason. Perhaps the real stars of the show are those - the Surface Neo and the Surface Duo.

Also, we are really, really far from them and cannot get a great shot, but here are some press images and press video of 'em, and I hope they look good. The core selling point of these two devices is generally the same. They are dual-screen devices that fold out to reveal a bigger device.

The Neo looks like a dual-screen laptop that folds out into a gigantic tablet, whereas the Duo, I'm gonna try really hard to remember these names. The Duo is kind of phone-sized and folds out to be more of a tablet size. It kind of bridges all of these form factors together.

Now there's not a crazy amount of information about these two devices. Microsoft actually unveiled them literally just to get it in the minds of developers before its launch in 2020, but here is what we do know. The Neo, the bigger one, is running a modified version of Windows 10 called Windows 10 X, which aims to be a dual-screened optimized version of the operating system, and it's slated to run on Intel's 11th-Gen architecture that's being made right now and developed specifically for this device.

And then on the much smaller end, we have the Surface Duo. It is actually a Microsoft Surface phone that is running full Android, so you can run Android apps, and the only thing that's left for it now is... (and the reason why Microsoft announced it now, is so that Android developers can develop apps to neatly work with this device.)

It is really neat in concept, and I actually got to hold it in a closed-off room that's somewhere back there. It was a dummy unit, but I can say that the design of both of these devices feel really good. The hinges feel great. Obviously, there's a lot of really cool material design there, so I think they have the hardware down.

We'll just have to wait and see how the software is executed when these things come out later in 2020. So, a surprise to no one, this is the new Surface Pro, the Surface Pro 7, and it looks more or less the same, but there are some key differences. Something that you'll notice is that there's a USB-C port this year, something that a lot of people have been wanting on the Surface for a really long time.

But, otherwise, it more or less looks the same. Internally, it is upgraded with Intel 10th-Gen Core processors, but I think my favorite feature of all is with the proprietary Surface connector. You can actually fast-charge this thing at 80% in less than an hour, which I think is really, really cool.

The Surface Pro 7 will start at $749 available on October 22nd, but of course, as usual, the keyboard and other accessories like the Pen are also not included, so you'll have to factor that in as well. What does look new, however, is the brand-new Surface Pro X, which harkens back to the early Surface days when it ran on ARM hardware.

So this is running a custom ARM chip, the Microsoft SQ1, that is based on the Snapdragon 8CX. Hoo! I don't know how Austin does this. Now, unlike that 8CX, this is running on a seven-watt TDP and has a redesigned GPU, and it's running full Windows, but with a slight caveat.

So, ARM apps on Windows have been a thing for quite some time, but this actually relies on emulation to run x86 apps. This might not sound great, but Microsoft claims that the x86 emulations shows little to no performance difference as far as how apps run on it.

We'll have to see how this fares in the real world, but on the flip side, ARM does have its own set of benefits as well. What this all means is a thinner and lighter design. This is 5.3 millimeters thick and 1.6 pounds. It also means better battery life. It means...

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey, what's going on, guys?This is Ken, and I'm here in New York Cityat the Microsoft Surface eventwhere Microsoft justunveiled a lot of products.Also, Austin isn't here,so he's having me hostthe video for some reason.Perhaps the real starsof the show are those,the Surface Neo and the Surface Duo.Also, we are really, really far from themand cannot get a great shot,but here are some press imagesand press video of 'em,and I hope they look good.The core selling pointof these two devicesare generally the same.They are dual-screen devices that fold outto reveal a bigger device.The Neo looks like a dual-screen laptopthat folds out into a gigantic tablet,whereas the Duo,I'm gonna try really hardto remember these names.The Duo is kind of phone-sizedand folds out to be more of a tablet size.It kind of bridges all ofthese form factors together.Now there's not a crazyamount of informationabout these two devices.Microsoft actually unveiledthese literally just to get itin the minds of developersbefore its launch in 2020,but here is what we do know.The Neo, the bigger one, is runninga modified version of Windows10 called Windows 10 X,which aims to be adual-screened optimized versionof the operating system,and it's slated to run onIntel's 11th-Gen architecturethat's being made right nowand developed specificallyfor this device.And then on the much smaller end,we have the Surface Duo.It is actually a Microsoft Surface phonethat is running full Android,so you can run Android apps,and the only thing that'sleft for it now is,and the reason whyMicrosoft announced it now,is so that Androiddevelopers can develop appsto neatly work with this device.It is really neat in concept,and I actually got to holdit in a closed-off roomthat's somewhere back there.It was a dummy unit,but I can say that the designof both of these devicesfeel really good.The hinges feel great.Obviously, there's a lot ofreally cool material design there,so I think they have the hardware down.We'll just have to wait to seehow the software's executedwhen these things come out later in 2020.So, a surprise to no one,this is the new SurfacePro, the Surface Pro 7,and it looks more or less the same,but there are some key differences.So something that you'll notice is thatthere's a USB-C port this year,something that a lot ofpeople have been wantingon the Surface for a really long time.But, otherwise, it moreor less looks the same.Internally, it is upgraded withIntel 10th-Gen Core processors,but I think my favorite feature of allis with the proprietary Surface connector,you can actually fast-chargethis thing at 80%in less than an hour, which Ithink is really, really cool.The Surface Pro 7 will start at $749available on October 22nd,but of course, as usual,the keyboard and otheraccessories like the Penare also not included,so you'll have to factor that in as well.What does look new, however,is the brand-new Surface Pro X,which harkens back tothe early Surface dayswhen it ran on ARM hardware.So this is running a custom ARM chip,the Microsoft SQ1, that isbased on the Snapdragon 8CX.Hoo!I don't know how Austin does this.Now, unlike that 8CX, this isrunning on a seven-watt TDPand has a redesigned GPU,and it's running full Windows,but with a slight caveat.So, ARM apps on Windows have been a thingfor quite some time,but this actually relies onemulation to run x86 apps.Now, this might not sound great,but Microsoft claimsthat the x86 emulationshows little to no performance differenceas far as how apps run on it.We'll have to see how thisfares in the real world,but on the flip side,ARM does have its ownset of benefits as well.Now what this all means is athinner and lighter design.This is 5.3 millimetersthick and 1.6 pounds.It also means better battery life.It means...("Think!"J(clock ticking)- LTE.- LTE, that's (laughing).No, but I think one of themost interesting thingsabout this though is the keyboard cover.So it's like a normal keyboard cover.It has the keyboard, it has the track pad,but this one actually integrates the Pen.So, on the top, it'll magneticallyor wirelessly chargethe Pen and cover it upwhen you don't need it.It's a really, really neatdesign, and, honestly,I don't know where I'mgoing with that thought.- It's cool!- It's cool, thanks, Jimmy!That's exactly what I was thinking.Last but not least is the screen.So this is a 13-inchscreen in a 12-inch body,so it actually does go edge-to-edgewith top and bottom bezels,which means that is is easy to hold.You're not gonna have accidentalpresses on the screen,very useful for somethinglike the Surface.And on top of that, it hasa 2880x1920 resolution,which is 227 pixels per inch,which I think overall roundsthis thing up really well.It looks like a really cool product.Again, with it having an ARM processor,we're gonna have to waitand see on the performanceof how this thing looks,but as a package, on paper,it looks really cool.But I think something that in particularAustin is probably super-excited aboutis the Surface Laptop 3.Now it comes in two sizes,the 13.5 and the brand-new 15-inch one,and there's a fewdifferences between both.Now this 13.5-inch modellooks fairly familiarto the previous gen.It has this cloth finish,but the distinction betweenthe 13.5 and the 15-inch modelis that the 13.5 runs theIntel 10th-Gen Core processorson the 10-nanometer process,and the 15-inch modelruns a custom Ryzen chipwith Vega graphics.But I am not the expert on these things,so I'm gonna call oneto see what he thinks.- Microsoft have lost their(woman groaning) minds today.I mean, they've got AMD processors,they've got 10th-Gen Intel,oh, they've got upcoming Intel stuff.They've got Qualcomm,they've custom-designedsome of this stuff withAMD, with Qualcomm.Like, this is, so many Microsoftevents have been boring.So many of them have been so boring.Yet, they threw everything at us.- Ryzen on the Surface Laptop 3.What do you think?- It's semi-custom, but by semi-custom,I don't think it's actuallyall that different.So as far as what I've been able to see,it is actually not aphysically different chip,and it's the same divethey've used on standard 2nd-gen Ryzens.- That's interesting.- The main difference hereis that they're optimizing it,which means it's a fully-enabled GPU.So I think one of the main things hereis that while, yeah,you'll probably be gettinga little more performance,and it is slightly tweakedcompared to regular Ryzen,it should be much, much more stable,much, much more performative.It should be a better overall experiencecompared to other Ryzenstuff on the market.- For a computer that looks likeit can go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Pro,this does have some pros andcons versus that computer.The first thing is thatit does have USB-C,which the previousgeneration did not have,but this also doesn't haveThunderbolt 3 on those ports,which means you cannot expandto, say, an external GPU.A cool thing, though, is thatthe cloth option is optional.So on the 13-inch, you can actually getthis nice aluminum finish,and on the 15, it's standard,which I personally like.But I think the biggest benefit of allis that with that Surface connector,again, this does have that quick charge,so in less than an hour,it can go to 80% charge,which is really, really cool,especially for a laptopthat is as powerful as this.And of course, likeother Surface products,the screen is awesome.The keyboard travel on this is fantastic.It's everything thatyou could possibly wantin a premium, relatively thin package.It's genuinely really cool,and we'll have to get oneof these in to try 'em out.So that has been a really quick lookat what Microsoft had to showus at their Surface event.Definitely stay locked into the channelas we're gonna take anin-depth look at this stuffas they come out,and especially since you'dprobably wanna hear itfrom the boss man himself.