Surface Go 3 is still a small, lightweight and affordable all-Windows PC, but Windows 11 may not shine on it.

Author: Mary Branscomb | November 15, 2021 | Topic: Tablet PC

Microsoft's 10.5-inch Surface Go 3 weighs 544 grams (1.2 pounds) without the Type Cover keyboard.

The latest model of Microsoft's small 2-in-1 tablet/laptop, the Surface Go 3, has the usual excellent Surface build quality and industrial design, and is no different from the Surface Go 2 in appearance. The two recent Surface Go models have a 10.5-inch screen (1920x1280 vs. 1800x1200) with slightly higher resolution than the original Surface Go.

The consumer version of Surface Go 3 starts at $399.99, while the "business version" model with additional security and management features and optional LTE mobile broadband starts at $499.99. 

Surface Go 3 is priced at $399.99 (not including keyboard cover and Surface stylus).

The new Surface Slim Pen ($129.99) will be used with the Surface Go 3 (like any Surface Pen), but the keyboard has not yet updated the charging well. If you are using an older Surface Go model keyboard, it is exactly the same as the keyboard cover ($84.99). The pen and keyboard are not included in the price of the tablet.

A USB-C (not USB 4) port plus a 3.5 mm audio jack and a MicroSD card slot under the bracket means you can only plug in one peripheral device at a time. But the Surface Connect port means you don't have to choose between peripherals and charging, although you can still charge via USB-C as needed. The network is the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, Windows 11 new support) and Bluetooth 5.0. 

The screen border of the Surface Go 3 (left) is narrower than that of the first-generation model (right), but there is no change from the Surface Go 2.

The consistency is intentional. For organizations purchasing accessories such as protective sleeves, keeping the dimensions and port positions the same is an advantage. Various healthcare and emergency services in the UK use Surface Go as a light and very portable option. For example, the same is true for call centers, where small space, low price, and the ability to drive external displays are key. 

Surface Go 3 keeps the ports and buttons in the same positions as the original Surface Go (top device in each image).

The front webcam is still a 5MP model that can record 1080p at 30fps, but this is already one of the best laptop webcams, easily defeating the 720p cameras in many laptops. The 8MP rear camera is suitable for snapshots, but not for patches in ordinary smartphones. The Windows Hello 3D camera is also very good, once we turn on the device, it will recognize us under a range of lighting conditions. Dolby audio stereo speakers sound good in music and video calls. 

The appearance of Surface Go 3 may not have changed, but inside the shell, there is a specification bulge. We looked at high-end models equipped with Intel Core i3-10100Y processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD storage. The price in the name of the consumer is $629.99, and the price as a "commercial" model is $679.99. Cheaper consumer models are Pentium Gold 6500Y and 4GB RAM/64GB eMMC ($399.99, but may reduce performance) or 8GB RAM/128GB SSD ($549.99). 

The new Core i3 CPU is a considerable improvement over the earlier Surface Go models. It is very suitable for mainstream business applications, browsing and video conferencing in Teams, but (described below) the Windows 11 interface is not always as fast and efficient as the benchmark results might lead you to expect. Interestingly, we saw better benchmark performance when using Go 3’s own charger instead of the earlier Surface (official, Microsoft) charger. 

As always, battery life depends on what you are doing. Playing video heavily relies on GPU hardware acceleration, so it is actually very energy-efficient, and we can continuously play video for slightly longer than the 11 hours claimed by Microsoft. However, when the screen brightness is set to 36%, web browsing, using Twitter, copying files, and using Office applications such as OneNote and Outlook consume 75% of battery life in less than two hours. The battery saver played a role at this point, and we completed another 75 minutes of work, which adds up to a disappointing 3 hours and 15 minutes. In contrast, the original Surface Go running Windows 10 only needed 50% of the battery to allow us to work under similar conditions for two hours. 

Of course, with a small and lightweight tablet like this, you may not settle down and work for a few hours, but grab Go for a few minutes at a time, and then close the lid. We found that the Go 3 still consumes more power than the original Go under these conditions (11% of the battery in 22 minutes instead of 6% in 18 minutes), so you may need to slide the battery pack into your outing Bring your bag when you are. 

Microsoft tells us that the Arm-based Surface Pro X will be the only Surface with only Windows 11; on other devices such as Surface Go 3, users will have the right to choose, but our evaluation unit comes with Windows 11. We were able to install the new Windows subsystem for Android and run applications such as Amazon Kindle and (by sideloading the Google Play store) Geekbench, all of which run just like regular Windows applications. In fact, when we use the Android version of Geekbench, the scores in some runs are almost comparable. 

Sketchbook running on Surface Go 3 and Windows 11: A "working" Android application.

On a small screen like Surface Go 3, mobile apps are not misplaced (they are definitely optimized for touch), and the smartphone-style Windows 11 interface may make more sense-swipe on the edge of the screen to open, for example, widgets And notifications are more natural on a tablet than on a laptop. If you like Windows 11, then you will like Surface Go 3. 

But the fun of Surface Go has always been that it is a real PC that can run standard Windows workloads—just in a small, lightweight, and slim package. Therefore, if you find Windows 11 annoying on larger screens, you might not like it more. 

We found that the touch availability of Windows 11, such as large invisible borders around windows, designed to make them easier to move or resize, actually hindered them. That's because they block the content behind the border-like browser tabs that you can see but can't close or select. 

Windows 11 may also obscure the true performance of Surface Go 3. We initially believed that part of the reason for poor hardware performance was the inability to reliably select and open applications with touch. When we connect the keyboard, the focus will randomly switch from one window to another, or randomly move the cursor in the text while we are typing. This is disappointing for a new operating system on an otherwise good new hardware.

Like the previous model, the Surface Go 3 shines as a portable device: it is perfect for working on an airplane pallet table or on a crowded train, and it also fits in a backpack or a kit in the back of a car. However, due to the new Core i3 CPU or Windows 11, battery life seems to have gone backwards.  

The high-quality 220ppi PixelSense screen makes watching videos fun, and the speakers and webcam can make excellent video calls in Teams. But you will definitely choose a higher-spec Core i3 model. Unless you are a fan of Windows 11 or really need a specific Android application, Windows 10 may be a better choice until more problems are solved. 

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