The 12.3-inch Microsoft Surface Pro 6 tablet — Worth it?
Microsoft first announced its Surface hybrid tablets way back in 2012. This came as a big surprise because not only was it the first of its kind, but it was also the first hardware designed, built, and sold by Microsoft to work seamlessly with its Windows operating system.
After that, the tech giant never looked back and continuously built out its Surface hardware lineup to meet the demands of both students and professional users. Microsoft Surface Pro 6 tablet was one of the best-selling tablets of 2018, but many people are still sceptical about the device’s overall capabilities and wonder if it’s still worth it. Today, we’re going to review the Surface Pro 6 and answer the question once and for all.
Specifications
Processor Intel Core i7–8650U / 1.9 GHz
Display 12.3-inch Touchscreen Display (2736 x 1824) Resolution
RAM 16 GB
Storage 512 GB SSD
Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 620
Operating System Windows 10
Design
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 6 has pretty much the same design as its previous models. Just like before, you’ll get three primary modes — tablet, laptop and studio with the kickstand extended 165 degrees. But there’s a new matte-black finish option that makes the 0.33-inch thin magnesium beauty look slimmer than ever before. Its black exterior also does a good job resisting annoying fingerprints, and the slightly gritty texture allows for an easy grip.
The Pro 6’s metal kickstand is very easy to maneuver. This convertible laptop may bounce a bit in your lap but it’s very sturdy and stable. We would’ve liked the bezels around the display to be thinner so that it had a more modern look. But that’s only a minor complaint and doesn’t really affect our overall review.
Even for a tablet, the Surface Pro 6 is very light and weighs just 1.7 pounds. With the keyboard attached, its still only 2.4 pounds.
Display
The display too hasn’t changed much from the previous models, which means it’s still gorgeous. The aspect ratio of the 12.3-inch screen is 3:2. This quite different from the normal 16:9 ratio. Hence, it has a weird 2736 x 1824 pixel resolution. This resolution is higher than HD and looks very sharp at first glance. The screen has good viewing angles and can get very bright at maximum settings, making its colours look vibrant.
The Surface Pro 6 is a tablet so it obviously has touch technology. We definitely have fun with it by poking around in Tablet mode, or just lazily tapping the screen while using the keyboard and touchpad. The touchscreen is also good for stylus use, which is sold separately and magnetically attaches to the side of the display.
Performance
If we compare this Surface Pro 6 unit with its previous model, it’s a big leap forward in performance. This power is all thanks to its 8th generation quad-core Core i7–8650U processor and 16 GB RAM.
Even with 40 tabs open in Chrome, we were able to write smoothly write this review, listen to music, and watch some of our favourite scenes of Stranger Things on the Netflix app. If you’re going to be using this tablet for similar tasks and nothing much more demanding, there shouldn’t be any problem with speed.
It’s got an Intel UHD 620 graphics card, which is powerful enough to handle some casual games. However, this Core i7 model won’t help you with 3D performance. Most tablets can only work off the integrated graphics of the CPU and can’t use discrete graphics cards for modelling, animation, and serious gaming. If you’re thinking of performing those tasks or similar work on the Surface Pro 6, you’re looking at the wrong category.
Connectivity
We didn’t expect many ports from tablets because of their small footprint. Hence, we weren’t really disappointed by the small number of ports on the Surface Pro 6. Aside from the audio jack and proprietary power connector, you’ll find just three connections on the Surface Pro 6: a USB 3.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort, and a microSD card slot. We would’ve liked more than one USB port and a USB Type-C port. But it seemed like Microsoft just wasn’t in the mood to perfectly satisfy its consumers.
Battery Life
One of the best features of the Surface Pro 6 is its improved battery life. We tested the battery by continuously surfing the web at 150 nits of brightness and got around 9 hours and 30 minutes. This is quite good and better than most of its competitors in this range.
The Surface Pro 6’s longevity during everyday tasks was also impressive. We wrote this review on it while juggling lots of tabs in the Chrome browser and streaming music. This unit still had around 42 percent battery left after 5 hours of testing.
Verdict
The 12.3-inch Microsoft Surface Pro 6 tablet is definitely worth it. It’s got solid build quality, power, durability and portability. And most important of all, it’s in the affordable range.
