Microsoft Surface Go 3 Review – Watch BEFORE You Buy!

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The surface of the Go 3 looks identical to the Go 2.

The top cover looks exactly the same as well.

Specs:

Processor:   Pentium Gold 6500Y/10^th Gen Core i3-10100Y

Display:      10.5” Touchscreen/1920*1280/3:2

GPU:          UHD Graphics 615.

RAM: 4GB/8GB LPDDR3

Storage:      64GB eMMC/128GB SSD.

Cam:           8MP/5MP Selfie (Windows Hello)

                   Wi-Fi 6

Microsoft reckon will bring a 60% boost in CPU performance.

There is nothing else quite like the Go 3 in terms of what it can do and also the premium build quality for $399 apart from Go 2 which might be a better buy.

With the Go 3 you get the proper tablet and laptop experience and it does not cost a fortune at least in its entry level spec.

The closest in terms of form is an iPad with a keyboard but the Go 3 has windows 11 which is a lot more flexible in terms of app compatibility and options.

It is aimed at people who need an ultra-portable device that can do a bit of office work, watch Netflix, browse the web, doodling taking notes and drawing, etc.

Annoyingly it inherits the same stingy storage options. You just get 64 or 128 gigs.

It is less a problem if you are just streaming and maybe everything else is in the cloud.

We do get a micro-SD card slot which mitigates the problem a little bit but with windows 11 and some apps installed along with your files, you might need some extra external storage.

The Go 3 start to get pretty pricey once you move up to the mid spec.

Platinum Intel Pentium 6500Y, Wi-Fi, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC –      £369.00

Platinum Intel Pentium 6500Y, Wi-Fi, 8GB RAM,128GB SSD –       £499.00

Platinum Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 128 SSD                            £569.00

With the touch cover they go for, £625.00 from £499.00 and £693.99 for the core i3.

For that much money you can get a far more powerful regular laptop with more storage.

Features and Design:

It looks lovely

Feels a lot more premium than the base price might suggest.

Has a smart light weight magnesium alloy body.

Sharp and responsive 10.5-inch 3*2 touch screen.

1080P Webcam.

5MP front camera.

8MP Back camera.

Easy to use one handed as a tablet.

Easy to navigate around the scaling factor in windows but quite the same as a dedicated tablet OS like on an iPad.

Weighs 544g/1.2 pounds.

Easy access to power and charging buttons

Design to use the camera and speakers horizontally most of the time.

A robust hinge. Although there is zero resistance in it. It can come crashing down and crash you fingers.

A signature type cover keyboard covered in a microfiber material for an extra £25.

Connectivity:

USB-C Port

Headphone Jack

Microsoft surface connector.

Wi-Fi 6.

The USB-C Port is used for charging.

The Microsoft connector can be used for charging and plugging in a surface dock if you want extra ports.

In typing the keyboard is way better than Apple’s smart and folio iPad keyboards.

It is much closer to the much more expensive Apple magic keyboard.

The 10.5-inch pixel sense screen which is about the same size as one of the regular iPads, by laptop standards it is pretty small.

The images are sharp enough for most users, it gets reasonably bright.

Color accuracy is good but not quite pro level.

There a haptic motor to give you a sense of drawing on a real paper when using the surface slim pen.

The 1080P webcam is actually really good quality.

The colors are pretty accurate.

The noise is quite low.

The 5MP front camera can also be used for windows hello face arching.

Performance:

Even with the Core i3, performance in windows 11 can be a bit laggy and unresponsive sometimes.

On the GeekBench results for the top spec Go 2 vs the Go 3, performance is only 5%-10% faster which is considerably lower than 60%

The SSD speed is at 1730MB/s read and 250MB/s write for about £700.

An equivalent regular laptop maybe with a 10^th or 11^th Gen i5 would be a lot more powerful.

The Go 3 is completely silent as it does not have a fan.

There is not exactly a lot of graphics power.

In rainbow six siege at 1080P with the lowest settings you get 11 FPS.

At 720P you get 19 FPS.

When streaming games from the cloud you are not using the relatively low power hardware and it does not drain your battery life.

So, cloud gaming either through Nvidia’s GeForce or Xbox is a better way to go with the Go 3.

Not ideal for:

Doing 4k video editing or rendering.

Ideal for:

Basic everyday kind of work.

Cloud gaming.

Battery life:

The battery life seems to be a bit worse than on the Go 2.

While doing some typing work, watching some videos, browsing the web all on mid to highest brightness, the battery drains after the seven-hour point.

On full screen video test, it managed seven and half hours.

Conclusion:

It is better to go for the Go 2.

Its battery is better, the performance is not really that much different, same screen, same design.

The Go 3 is nothing really much of an upgrade.

The Go 3 is a good option for people who want a basic all-rounder machine which is ultra-portable.

In terms of performance and battery life, a regular laptop is a better option.