Microsoft Surface Pro X review: Gorgeous hardware, buggy software

For years now, the Surface Pro has been the best Windows 2-in-1. It delivers a useful, familiar desktop environment for multitasking in a lightweight tablet body. But the line hasn't changed much physically since the Pro 4. A serious redesign is beyond overdue, and thankfully Microsoft is ready to show us something new.

The Surface Pro X is the thinnest Surface yet, with the slimmest bezels I've ever seen on a Microsoft tablet. Cosmetically, this thing is a major upgrade, but the Surface Pro X is also different on the inside. It uses a custom chipset that Microsoft says is the fastest ARM processor in a PC and has an integrated gigabit LTE radio for speedy cellular data. The Surface Pro X is Microsoft's latest attempt at making Windows run on an ARM-powered device, after the mess that was the Surface RT.

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[jayb]

Just like other Surface products, MS stumbles a bit on the first iteration, but I expect that later versions will be much better. They didn’t really nail the Surface Pro until the 3rd or 4th generation.

[盾神京矢]

1:27 Thickness of 5.3 mm is quite deceptive. It is the marketing of Microsoft in the press conference. 5.3 mm refers to the thickness behind the click stand. The whole thing is 7.3 mm thick, which is not that impressive for an ARM tablet. Nonetheless, that would be impressive if it is a true Windows PC.

[bkvm]

They should've gone with the design of the pro x for the surface pro 7

[FudoCesar]

Just going for surface pro 6 this time. Battery life is just simply amazing

[terrycarlton]

Gee I’m sure it had nothing to do with 20 tabs open 🙄 Plus it wasn’t the ARM based version of Edge

[TedThomasTT]

Come on Engadget, surely you must know why the surface pro 7 can't be this thin...

[PeteOliva]

Seems like a great device if you don't need it for demanding work. I opted for the Surface Pro 7 because of the creative apps I need to use and I made the right decision because even the i5 I picked up just tears through Premiere Pro jobs like a champ. With fast charge, the shorter battery life isn't a huge dealbreaker for me since I can basically top it off from wherever it's at within an hour.


It's hard to argue with this form factor, though. I hope they can more closely reconcile the design of these two devices in the future, I see no reason why they couldn't adapt the new keyboard with the tucked in pen to the main Surface line in the future. I'd love to see that.

[curtisquick]

This will be my next work machine. It checks all the boxes and is both lighter and slimmer than any other Windows laptop I have seen.

[parul]

Finally I found true reviews while others are only talking about features. After watching 7-8 videos, here I came to know that it doesn't run all apps so I'm concerned about running my daily-use software on it. Thanks for sharing true review. Keep up non-promotional reviews. Following you.

[Kolya-chu]

Agh! The blue screen of death! Love your videos!

[bradavon]

Why did you try and install Slack 64-bit? It's well known x86 64-bit software isn't supported :-/. Install the 32-bit version. You may have a point about App compatibility, we don't know from this review. You've tried to use Apps/Games which Microsoft have said aren't compatible.

[SCIENindustries]

slack is available in widows store, why did you downloaded it separately? 🤨

[Tigermaxxin]

the surface pro 7 also experienced the "you can't adjust screen brightness" issue

[storm]

Glitches happen with every new device. Even on the all magnanimous ipad pro. Besides. Thats not to say they're excused, but Microsoft never said or positioned the Surface PRO-X as a gaming device. It's supposed to be for professionals on the go who run daily tasks like word and excel tasks, send emails, do some design or illustrations, hence the demos during the launch of this device. That should have been your focus. Did it do all Microsoft position it for? Yes. Focus on that in your reviews. If customers want an all round PC that does everything including gaming, they know this doesn't even come close. Be circumspect in your review so we your viewers don't read meanings into your motives. We're are descerning! Thanks

[xmlthegreat]

That thing with Edge is just MS Edge... I usually have to reload the browser just to get it display anything on my Predator Helios 300, which is why I never actually use it, only when it gets launched by apps.

[leonelmateus]

doesn't stand up in portrait mode either I'm guessing.

[myblackberrybold]

Compare to Surface 7, do you think it is best to get Surface 7 instead Surface Pro X?

[KnightsWithoutATable]

This is running across the same problem that many PC competitors did back in the 80's: can not run 90% of the software that a PC can. Nobody wants to buy their software twice or have to learn new software because the new machine doesn't have a version of what you already know.

[ggZuper]

What do u expect for a 1st gen windows/ARM device.

[marcohde]

Most productivity software today is 64-bit meaning only 32-bit exe files can be run on this device, this is a big problem for Windows 10 ARM