Surface Go

There is a lot to love about this but it falls just short of perfect. Let me be upfront - I am a dyed in the wool Apple man and have been ever since Microsoft brought out widows 8 which I hated with a passion. At that point I already had an iPhone and iPad so going the whole hog with a MacBook seemed a no brainier. I still think it is the best integrated system there is but recently, the fact that iPad iOS is so limited has begun to annoy me. I still have to use a pc for work. This meant I was carrying around a notebook and pen (my iPad didn’t support the pencil) an iPad to be able to use all my productivity apps that my workplace wouldn’t allow me install or more likely didn’t exist on pc. I was about to update my iPad with a new one that used the pencil but I still needed a mobile platform for a full version of excel, not the iOS cut down version. So I looked at the Go. What’s to like? Well windows 10 is a breath of fresh air and is what Windows 8 should have been. I love the fact that on such a tiny gadget, I get full versions of office 365 which is perfect as I move from location to location and spend a hell of a lot of time on trains. To my utter amazement, when I set up my one drive, it recognised I had a work OneDrive account and gave me access without any todo which I fully expected from my super security conscious employer. I have chosen to break the mould and keep it in S mode. I find it largely fine. There are a few things I would love to put on it but I have realised I don’t actually need them. One is my cycling fitness training app the Sufferfest. (It’s on my old iPad) I would have to come out of S mode to be able to Download that because it’s not on the windows store. Also the kindle app isn’t on the Microsoft store!! What?!! That is a real shame actually and was nearly a deal breaker. I read a lot of technical books which I like to note in OneNote. I’ve got over it by having to use my kindle device which is far from ideal as still annoying. The reason for keeping it in s mode is I still don’t trust windows. Apples ecosystm just works. Windows does too but in my experience you need to know how too change the oil and spark plugs when you lift the bonnet. Not so with Apple. Windows S provides a nice safe environment which doesnt allow apps to mess with your settings and I love that. My old home PC take about 5 minutes to boot up because of all the garbage in my start up. I haven’t worked out how to get rid of it but then I use my MacBook all the time now. As a result, the fact this comes with an old and supposedly slow processor, I dont find it noticeably sluggish at all. I am sure 8gb and 120gb of solid state memory really helps but I also don’t do anything that hammers the processor like photo of film editing.I will use my Mac for that. I also don’t play games (life’s too short and there is a whole world to play in outside). I do use spreadsheets a lot. I say that but as a senior manager, I have many minions who do the heavy lifting but I do need to review their stuff. Some of the financial models we use can be fairly large and they seem to work just fine on the surface go. Similarly PowerPoint t and word seem fine and I have yet to find any presentations that are sluggish but then I haven’t had any yet with more than about 30 slides. I mainly use it for OneNote anyway, especially in meetings. With the pen it’s brilliant. I don’t need my notebook and pen anymore. The only bummer and I don’t know if it is the processor or not (I guess it probably is) I find the hand writing recognition software is slow, probably too slow for my needs. But, the accuracy of the recognition is seriously impressive. Another thing to like is the USBc port. I bought a little Lenovo adaptor that gives me a VGA type adaptor as well as HDMI and a USB port. To the usb port I have an old usb expansion port plugged in which means I can run it on a big screen as well as use external keyboard and mouse. Mind you, I don’t bother doing that much as the track pad and keyboard are fine, as is the screen (bar the gripes below). So what’s not to like. Well a few things bug me a little. Firstly, as an (ahem!) older gentleman, I like things big so I do t need my reading glasses all the time. Annoyingly, Microsoft have shrunk the icons to match the screen size. I am sure there is a setting that would enable them to be bigger and therefore probably fewer of them but I haven’t found it yet. Apple iOS icons are a decent size. When you’ve filled the desktop, they give you another page to swipe through. Don’t think this puppy does that. Shame. The second thing that is really annoying is that there doesn’t appear to be any anti glare. This is really annoying when i’m Commuting. Finally battery life sucks. The quoted 7 hours is laughable. I dont seem to get much more than 4 maybe 5 hours which is appalling. The good thing is i’m not often that far from a power plug so it’s not been a problem yet. Also, you can carve it with a USBc cable but it takes forever and doesn’t seem to work with the IPad uk usb charger unit. The charger that comes with it isn’t too bulky and the US one is nice and small. I don’t rate the Edge browser nor Bing as a search engine. I can’t seem to set another search engine such as DuckDuckGo or god forbid google as my default browser. However saving one as a favourite works but it’s an extra step to get onto the web. I have had a few problems with accessing one of my web enabled IOS productivity apps - Toodledo which I have using for years. It seems the version of java or whatever gizmo needed to get the full benefit isn’t up to date enough and working out how to do updates in S mode was a complete pain, thankfully sorted for me by the flagship Microsoft store on Oxford Street, London. As it happens, I discovered Microsoft ToDO which does what I want really well. Finally the Microsoft store is pants really! There’s not a busting amount on it given the huge quantity of software available for download from vendor sites. Ok, you can always come out of S mode but for someone with no interest in knowing how to tinker under the bonnet, I want a device which just works. Windows has never been that OS. I think windows 10 S has the potential but I am probably the only review that likes the idea and reality of S mode (to a point). Overall, I am really happy with this and it does what I need. I’d still prefer to use an iPad at the end of the day but that is probs it because I am used to them. But until they introduce a Mac OS like windows 10 that can work on their iPads and therefore do all I need with MS office, I will stick happily to my surface go. I think Microsoft are onto a winner and maybe if they clear some of my minor niggles for the Go version 2, it really will become a fantastic go to tablet that is an iPad killer. Just no cigar yet Microsoft!

Why I love this thing, it's because it does way more for me than what tablets promised to do. If you are looking at chromebook type devices, this is a much more versatile device imo. It's a full windows OS so I never need to think "will it run this program that I normally use". It will. I wouldn't recommend it for use over 3+ continuous hours because this is a 10" screen afterall and it will strain your eyes especially if you like smaller fonts. The GO works perfectly for me because from time to time I need to log into work to do work and I don't feel like carrying my laptop with me everywhere in case I need it. GO is much lighter and is perfect for those cases where I need to spend 45 minutes logging into the office to restart a server/service etc. But being a regular laptop it works offline. While you won't be able to do much with mobile apps since windows mobile app is pathetic. But for content consumption like watching movies, you are better off with windows than ios or android because you have access to full VLC, windows media player and all the other wonderful tools that doesn't required a walled off garden and the permission of a giant corporation to be allowed to install it. I don't care if MS likes it if I install something or not because they can't control it. So I no longer have to carry a laptop and a tablet when I travel. This is sufficient. From a practical stand point, think of what you can do with a i3 processor and thats what the surface GO can handle easily. Adobe Premiere seems perfectly fine. I wouldn't try hard core gaming. It's not designed for that kind of stress. Anything else, it will run fine. It won't get hot, no throttling. Don't like that it only have 1 USB C and no USB A. Don't like the idea of dongles on a mobile device. Defeats the purpose. The alcantara keyboard is very responsive but I find that I do make more typing mistakes because of the size. But it's still comfortable enough to write a document without making me Rage. First thing I did was get rid of Windows S (stands for stupid) and go right to Windows 10 Pro. I already have a surface book so I didn't need to buy a pen. For those complaining that this doesn't come with a pen. I personally would have hated a pen to be included because nothing is free and they would have jacked up the price of the base model with a pen. Since I already have a pen why would I buy another one? One nice thing you can do is that win 10 now supports casting from your android and ios devices (latter is more temperamental because well ... Apple). So I can navigate through youTube or kindle on my phone and cast it directly to my Surface GO and get a bigger playback screen. It's basically remote desktop for mobile devices but with view only. Doesn't take a genius to realize that MS is eventually going to make interaction possible ala remote desktop. So for 1-2 hours workload or not knowing when you need to work so you need to carry a laptop with you always, I'm thrilled with this device. I got it during the holidays and deals. Paid $403 for the device with 8gigs ram/ 128gig ssd. $105 for the alcantara keyboard. Another $30 for a 128gig microSD. Biggest gripe is that I wish the bezels were smaller and the screen closer to 11". If they just improve palm rejection there wouldn't be a need for thick bezel. 2nd gripe is the lack of USB A. A minor gripe would be the power supply is not the same as my surface book which has a usb A on it for charging devices. They could have just used the same charger.

EDIT, 8/18/18 - So it's been almost a week since I've had my Surface Go. I still love it, but I'm beginning to see the limitations of this device. The limitations are due to Windows 10, not the hardware itself. And I feel that these limitations are very slight--slight enough for me to keep the rating at 5 stars. I feel that these tiny issues are ones that can be adjusted or fixed with software updates, and that's fine with me. The device is still great as-is, but Windows 10 needs little tweaks to make the device better--that's all I'm saying. Personally, I think the issue here is that Windows 10 isn't built for mobile devices. It's still for devices that are meant to sit on a desk or table and aren't nearly as portable--like PCs. The Surface Go is great because it's so portable, but it can be better. For that to happen, Microsoft needs to tailor Windows 10 to make mobile devices like the Surface Go function like a mobile device should. For instance, as it stands right now, I can't listen to music or podcasts with the screen off. I can do that with my iPhone or iPad. But I have to babysit the Surface Go, just like I have to babysit my PC at home. I have to be sitting around, making sure the Surface Go remains awake. Sure, I could mess with power management settings, but why should I have to do that? The competition doesn't require me to do that. Microsoft needs to match that. Many mobile devices have widgets or other controls that can be accessed without unlocking the device. I feel that Microsoft has to match this, too, with Windows 10. It also needs widgets that can be accessed without having to unlock the device. Just very basic controls--turn wifi on or off (for real, not this garbage with Apple disconnecting from wifi for a day), and basic audio controls. Finally: Windows apps should be optimized so that a user can get away with using programs without a stylus or keyboard of some kind. Along with the Surface Go, I have an Ockel Sirius A that I got through an Indiegogo campaign earlier this year--that device has a screen that's about the same size as your average phablet, and it runs on Windows 10. A stylus, mouse or trackpad is definitely needed if you want to get work done on it, even if you plug a lager monitor into the Sirius A. I understand that--Windows 10 just isn't built for a screen that small. But I don't think there's any excuse for a device like the Surface Go that has a screen that's, what...about 10.5"? Like an iPad? And on an iPad, users are expected to be able to use apps on that tablet without needing a stylus or trackpad of some kind. But I can't say the same for the Surface Go. Some of those icons--like taskbar icons, or some of the buttons or drop-down menus I've seen in iTunes, as two examples--are still too small to select them with just a finger. You'd still need a stylus/mouse/trackpad to use the Surface Go as-is. And, sure...of course you can mess around with the display settings on the Surface Go to fix this. But again--why should I have to do that when the competition doesn't require me to do that, and the apps on the competition's devices work just fine without extra hardware of some kind? Overall: Microsoft is getting there when it comes to mobile devices, but it also still has a ways to go to keep up with the competition. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I just got my Surface Go yesterday, and I have to say—it’s a genuinely nice device to have. I like it a lot. I plan on using the Surface Go as a “workhorse” device. I do a lot of writing and I work with spreadsheets, so that’s mostly what I’ll be doing on the Surface Go. I also have iTunes on it—I’m in the middle of downloading some albums to it right now—and I’m downloading some Netflix shows to watch later. The Surface Go can handle all of this very well—and I plan on keeping it in S mode, just to see how far I can go with this device being this way. Word and Excel docs, along with iTunes and Netflix, is pretty much all that I need a device like the Surface Go to handle. I’ve seen at least one tech reviewer (iJustine?) play Fortnite on her Surface Go review unit, so it’s not impossible to do it. It’s just—playing games is not a priority of mine for a device like this one. I want this device to be the one that I’ll do some actual work on. If I want to do fun stuff, I’ll use my smartphone. Overall: I think the Surface Go is a nice device to have if you want a backup computer—something to do the bare minimum of what you expect your average computer to do. Also, just remember who this device is supposed to be for: students and enterprise. If you’re in a school or business environment, then this’ll be a great device to have.

Have you ever been in class and gone to take your notes/book or anything necessary for that class and been flabbergasted at the amount of room these materials take up? Then this is a great product for you. The Microsoft surface Go is small and compact enough that it will slide straight into your carrying bag hardly taking up any room. This will free up the need for carrying multiple notebooks for various differing classes. Note: For optimal use of this product, The Microsoft Surface Pen and access to Microsoft Access is a must. Being able to sync all your notes from your home desktop to this device using One-Note will allow a smooth flow of note keeping for all your classes. You’ll never be more organized when it comes to staying on top of your classes than ever been before. On top of being able to take typed notes within One-Note using this device, if you obtain the pen, you'll also be able to draw any diagrams that appear within your classes as well. You’ll be able to organize and take detailed notes for your various classes, breaking them down further into topic sections. This product is also great for use after class, when you just want to kick back, relax and watch your favorite shows on Netflix or any other viewing apps. Speaking of apps there are a multitude of drawing apps you can investigate and find if you fancy yourself someone who wishes to delve into your drawing skills. This product is well made, and you’ll be able to experience long use times between charging; allowing for longer periods of enjoyment and note taking. Even when you go to charge the Microsoft Surface Go, you'll notice that this device charges extremely fast with the charger it comes with. If you had to witness a weakness of this product, then it would be durability. While this device can be written and drawn upon; be careful of its screen as it can be knocked off tables or dropped. You never want to watch the device you use have its screen broken. Being a Microsoft device, you'll be able to back up all your data through the cloud, being able to easily retrieve your lost data that should also be easily synced with your Microsoft account. Microsoft also offers insurance on this device to allow for cheaper replacement cost, as well as offering a flat, but higher cost to replace without insurance. Overall: Great product with good use for school and casual activities after. You’ll not be disappointed buying this product!

I think the Surface Go is a fantastic device if you don't set your expectations unreasonably high. For reference, I got the 64GB base model, a black type cover, and a Surface pen. After unboxing, setup takes slightly longer than "just a moment" as the device likes to say, but if you've already got a Windows 10 device, it's pretty quick and easy. Following the initial startup, the device will need to download a variety of updates, but within 2 hours or so mine was fully up to date after multiple installations, restarts, etc... standard computer update affairs. I switched it out of "S mode" almost immediately, because I didn't want to be bootstrapped to the Microsoft store, and it's nice that they give you the option. It doesn't require any restart or anything, and allows you to install apps from anywhere. Regarding performance, I have done email, lots of internet browsing and video watching, movies, drawing, and light photo editing and social networking. The device is not lightning fast and it doesn't need to be. It rarely lags more than a second or 2 to open programs but if you're used to a higher performing desktop or laptop then you will notice. The glossy screen is beautiful and photos and videos look great. There are front firing speakers that sound pretty decent but not much better than your average smartphone speakers, but this is understandable. The device makes zero noise as well, no fans or spinning disks are present here and it rarely gets hot to the touch. Really any light duty thing you would do on a normal Windows 10 PC can be done here. And that's where this thing shines, it's versatility is just head and shoulders above laptops because of how wonderfully portable it is. It feels sturdy, good in the hand or in the lap, and the fully adjustable kickstand is magnificent. In my opinion, the add on keyboard is absolutely essential. It clips on quickly and easily with nice strong magnets. The keys are small and take some getting used to, but having a full keyboard with back-lighting in this form factor is amazing. They are far better than on screen typing. The trackpad is also wonderful, it looks silly large on there but that is a good thing. It's responsive and has a nice clicky feeling. I don't think that the Surface Pen is nearly as essential, but it is fun and works excellent. I could see myself using it for casual note taking, there is virtually no noticeable lag. The charger the device comes with has a proprietary port, but you can also charge it via USB-C, which is great if you have a phone with that port, because you only need one charger while you travel. The only things worth complaining about on this device are made up for by its sturdy build and excellent functionality. It makes a fantastic bridge between the smartphone and PC, perfect for when a smartphone just isn't enough and a full size PC is too much. You don't even need to stow it during takeoff and landing on planes!!! So, set your expectations to a realistic level and the Surface Go, even the base model, will meet them. As an added bonus personally, the Surface Go has helped me use my smartphone less, to the point that I removed most social media from my phone. When you don't have Facebook and Instagram in your pocket at all times, it is pretty amazing how quickly you realize how often you used to mindlessly scroll through your feeds. So you could say it has made me more mindful of my screen time and helped me leave both it and my phone in my pocket or out of reach more often, which we could all use a break from now and then. One more thing... this one is just a tip. Don't buy office! This device has a small enough screen that it qualifies for the free version of MS Office Mobile. Search online for how to get them! UPDATE 2/4/19: I've owned this for several months now and have had zero issues. Changing out of S mode and installing Chrome and other non-Windows store programs has been no problem, no noticeable impact to memory usage or performance. Battery life is still good, just a great little device to have.

I ordered this product for the lightweight which makes it easy to travel while having the power of a laptop. I will start with what I like. I bought this with the keyboard and pen. I have never had a device with a pen that you can use to write on the screen before. Which the pen is really handy for writing notes in meeting at school and classes. The keyboard works really well also and must be magnetic because it snaps right on and holds it in place really well. Now as the headline says the issues. When I got the device I had trouble setting it up for the first time. The device would get stuck in a loop of automatic repair and turning itself off. Which I almost returned the device but then I tried doing a total reinstall of windows 10 to get it to stop and the device has been fine after that. I pretty much only use this device at school and work doing school work and streaming videos. Now after a few months of use, this device has started to shut itself off for no reason and it does get aggravating when working on homework or watching a movie and the device keeps shutting off. This happens at random where it might do it every few mins to every couple hours or work fine and not do it. So because of this, it does seem that this device could be unstable so I could not recommend this product to others. Update: Now 3 months after my purchase this surface go has become a very expensive paperweight. It continually crashes so bad that you can't use it and likes to get stuck in the loop I mentioned before. I changed my rating to one star because that is the lowest I can rate it. This would have been perfect for what I wanted to use it for and I so wish it worked but it is just junk and a bunch of money thrown away. Do not buy this stay away.

I've been a Surface fan for several years. I have the Surface Pro 3, and tried the Surface Laptop. At this point in time, one of the more power intense devices isn't necessary for me. I actually returned the Surface Laptop because I didn't feel I used it enough. The Go hits the sweet spot for me because the size is perfect. I primarily use the device from the couch, so the smaller size is a lot nicer. It's very comfortable to hold and so lightweight! If you don't need this to function as a workhorse computer then it is perfectly adequate. I have a business laptop, so never do work from my personal computers. So for me, this is really all the computer I need. I'm not a gamer or editor, so I basically just browse web forums, watch youtube or Netflix, and other basic tasks. I have Word, Excel, etc installed too which is super nice. I think for people in my use case, the Go has plenty of power. The Go's speed is pretty good. At times it seems really fast, and at other times I do notice it is a little slower than more powerful devices. I mostly notice the slower speed when opening new apps or screens. I played a simple game from the Microsoft Store (one of those cooking themed games) and was surprised at how speedy the Go functioned. It really didn't lag at all while I played it. Videos also look crisp and clean on the Go. The only time I noticed the Go acting buggy was with the touch pad keyboard. There were occasions when the keyboard would not open when it was supposed to. The on screen keyboard is sufficient for web browsing, but I would much prefer an actual keyboard for doing a lot of typing. In this regard, I do think you should pick up a secondary keyboard for the Go. I would honestly just recommend the Microsoft keyboard made for the Go, since it was made for this device. It will connect to it perfectly and makes it really easy to travel with. However, if you are only going to use the Go from a desk and not travel with it much, you could probably just choose a cheaper keyboard. It is a shame Microsoft doesn't just include the keyboard with the purchase. Overall I'm really happy with the Go. For me it was a better fit than the Surface Laptop (also a good device but more power than I needed, and the size was preferable on the Go). The main cons are the keyboard not being included in the price tag and the general price of the Go (I bought the 8gb version). If the keyboard was just included in the package it would make the overall price easier to swallow. For basic tasks or as a secondary unit this is a great computer. It has the great build quality of a Surface device but in a more compact device.

I have been using the Surface Go with 8GB of RAM for a couple months now and have become a big fan of what Microsoft has created. The tablet ships with a light version of Windows. I would have been content with keeping that version if the Microsoft App Store wasn't a ghost town. I opted to complete the one time upgrade to Windows Home, which I recommend as you will have access to a far greater selection of applications. One note of caution is that the Surface Go is a smaller form factor so utilizing certain legacy applications may be frustrating as menus and controls are small and hard to control with touch. I also purchased the optional type cover as I intended on utilizing the tablet for productivity apps and it works great with the tablet. It is a great accessory that makes the tablet far more useful. I have used Samsung and Apple tablets along with a Pixelbook as I needed small form factors for traveling with that also could be great media consumption devices. For productivity purposes the Samsung and Apple tablets were frustrating compared to the Surface Go especially in comparing the attachable keyboards and how well OneDrive and Office 365 work. For media consumption the Apple and Samsung tablets were better only because they have a native Amazon Prime Video app. For some reason Microsoft has not prioritized getting Amazon to produce a native app for their tablets yet. If they do this will make the Surface Go as good as the Apple and Samsung devices for offline Streaming services. The Windows OS is better than iOS and Samsung's corrupted Android due to its versatility especially with file management and being largely application agnostic. Apple does not want to make it easy unless you use Apple services while Samsung can't streamline their file management. The Pixelbook's Chrome OS there really is clunky compared to what can be done with the Surface. The Pixelbook is elegant and has the best keyboard I've used, yet the Chrome OS is challenging and hasn't figured out how to make Android apps work seamlessly on the platform. With the switch to the Surface I also ditched the Google line of productivity apps that suffered inefficient interfaces and seemed half-baked with limited features. Although Office 365 does cost money and Google's does not, you get what you pay for. If you do not want to be tied to a single ecosystem that is stifling and expensive (Apple) and want a more refined experience than what Google has achieved with Android or Chrome then the Surface Go is a great option. This is the first table I've actually come to be a fan for. I gave the tablet 5 stars for the quality of the device and OS. I wanted to give this product less of a glowing review due to the ghost town of the app store, but that should not be solely Microsoft's fault as developers are free to do what they want. That being said Microsoft makes up for a lot of missing functionality due to its legacy desktop apps that can be accessed if the OS is upgraded to Windows Home. Now Microsoft needs to really spend money to get developers on board to make this OS more useful in tablet mode.