Microsoft on Wednesday launched the latest generation Surface devices including Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3 and Surface Headphones 2. The company has also introduced the Surface Earbuds and two accessories including Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop, a split keyboard with a mouse and Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop, a compact Bluetooth keyboard with mouse. Microsoft said that the new Surface devices and accessories are designed to aid users “work, learn, connect and play from anywhere.” Additionally, Microsoft said that over four trillion minutes are being spent on Windows 10 devices each month which represents an 75% year-over-year increase. The new Surface devices including Surface Go 2 and Surface Book 3 are already listed on Microsoft India website. However, the company hasn’t provided a specific timeframe of its Indian launch.
Surface Go 2 Targets Extended User Base
Microsoft said that the Surface Go 2 offers the “same thin, lightweight design” as the original model but with an 10.5-inch screen with the new device tipped to offer “improved battery life.” Further, the company said that a particular Surface Go 2 model offers “up to 64% faster performance than the original” that was released with the Intel Pentium Gold Processor.
The base model of the Surface Go 2 still features an Intel Pentium Gold Processor but Microsoft offers a top tiered version with 8th Generation Intel Core M3 Processor.
Microsoft said that the Surface Go 2 features “Studio Mics” which is a dual microphone solution that promises “to increase voice clarity and reduce background noise” for video chats.
The base model features 64GB eMMC drive and 4GB of RAM while users can bump the storage to 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM.
Microsoft has maintained the 3:2 aspect ratio that is typical of the Surface products and the Type Covers would be sold separately.
Neil Shah, industry analyst and partner at Counterpoint Research said in a tweet that the Surface Go 2 models are “good for enterprise” users as it checks several of their requirements. The Surface Go 2 supports eSim with an additional physical SIM card slot. Further, the device also supports TPM 2.0 for hardware-based security chip along with enterprise-grade protection with support for Windows Hello face sign-in feature. The Surface Go 2 also includes several sensors including Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer and NFC.
“As we continue to expand our Surface family of devices, our goal is to design a Surface for every person, every work style and every location, scaling from the most portable to the most performant,” Robin Seiler, Corporate Vice President, Devices at Microsoft, said in a release. “To give you devices that can switch context as quickly as you do to take you from work to play to everything in between.”
The previous generation Surface Go device is currently priced at Rs 29,999 on Flipkart.
Surface Book 3 Offers Upto 50% More Performance than Surface Book 2
Microsoft also released the Surface Book 3 that is being dubbed as the “most powerful laptop” that the company has ever made with “up to 50% more performance than Surface Book 2.”
The company said that the Surface Book 2 can deliver up to 17.5 hours of battery life and like its predecessor, the Surface Book 3 includes both the 13.5-inch screen and a 15-inch screen.
“When we first designed Surface Book, our goal was to give people the power of a desktop, the versatility of a tablet, and the freedom of a light and thin laptop in one beautifully designed device,” Seiler said in the release. “Developers, designers and professionals rely on Surface Book for coding and compiling, workloads in Adobe and Autodesk, and for gaming with Xbox Game Pass for PC or on Steam.”
The Surface Book 3 is powered by the 10th Generation Intel Processors and users can bump the GPU to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q model on the 13.5-inch device. The 15-inch device includes the option for Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU while the business users can elevate it to Quadro RTX 3000 GPU.
It has to be noted that the base model of the 13.5-inch Surface Book 3 will arrive with the built-in Intel Iris Plus graphics and 10th Generation Intel Core i5 Processor. The users who are interested to switch to the Nvidia GeForce GPU will need to bump up to the 10th Generation Intel Core i7 processor.
The base i5 model ships with the 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage while the base i7 model arrives with the 16GB RAM and 256GB storage. The Surface Book 3 supports up to 32GB of RAM and the 15-inch devices can run Xbox Game Pass titles at 60 FPS with 1080p resolution.
Surface Headphones 3 Offers Improves Sound Quality
The company said that the second generation Surface Headphones offer “improved sound quality and battery life” up to 20 hours. The Surface Headphones 2 is also said to offer 13 levels of ambient noise control. The refreshed device would arrive in black in addition to the classic platinum as found in the original.
“People tell us that putting on headphones is today’s equivalent of shutting the office door to focus and connect in any setting,” Seiler said in the release. “Our active noise cancellation is adjustable through intuitive on-ear dials and specifically tuned to either block out or amplify human voices. This comes in handy when you are trying to work from home with roommates, kids, significant others or pets.”
Additionally, Microsoft has released the Surface Earbuds for those users who would like to stay connected “without fully shutting out the world.”
“The new Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2, Surface Earbuds and accessories are designed to help you do what you need, from anywhere – a concept that has taken on new weight since we first started working on these products,” Panos Panay, chief product officer, Windows and Devices at Microsoft, said in the release. “Instead of planes, coffee shops and offices, we’re moving from home office to kitchen table to couch, but our need for devices that keep us productive and connected has never been greater.”
New Surface Devices: India Availability
While Microsoft has listed the Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2 on its Indian website, it’s not clear if the Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds would be released in India.
The company on Monday released the Surface Pro X, Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3 in India with the devices initially released in other Surface markets including the US in October 2019.
However, the Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3 and the accessories including Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds are now up for pre-order in several Surface countries including US and Canada. In Several countries, the Surface Go 2, Surface Earbuds and the Surface Headphones 2 will be available beginning May 12 while the Surface Book 3 would available beginning May 21. Microsoft said that the new devices and accessories “will roll out to all Surface markets in the coming months.”
