The Surface Go: A Waste of $400.
Last time I was overjoyed when the Microsoft Surface Pro was launched. But this time Microsoft tried a different trick for the market hype and ended up launching an affordable $400 Surface tablet named the Surface Go.
I will not compare it to any other products in the same category like the iPad Pro or Chromebooks because there are no similarities to make an apples-to-apples comparison.
The Microsoft Surface Go is small as it is a 10-inch screen touch tablet powered by a Pentium Gold Processor with 4GB of RAM and a slower 64GB eMMC memory.
I think this device is not meant to compete with other devices. Apple iPad starts at $330 giving you excellent battery backup, lots of productivity and utility software compared to this variant of Windows. On the other hand, if you spend $500, then you will get a Chromebook much more powerful than this machine.
Microsoft has played a tricky game of price here. We know that the Surface Book starts from $799. So it is not affordable for everyone. Again, if you buy the Surface Go it costs you only $400. But to convert this into a laptop you need to add $99 for the keyboard stand. Additionally, buying a stylus, Surface Go Signature Cover and the Surface Mobile Mouse jacks up the total cost to over $700.
Microsoft didn’t focus on the aesthetics of the device. I believe so as the Surface Go is looks like the old Surface Pro 2014. It has a 10-inch 1800×1200 resolution display, a stand on the back side, a front camera with Microsoft Hello login, Surface connector port and one USB Type-C for charging and input-output interfacing. Inside the Surface Go is an Intel Gold 4415Y processor with either 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC storage or 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD depending on the price you pay.
Out of the box, the Go runs on Windows 10S which means you can only download and install apps present in the Microsoft Store. The screen freezing issue which plagues most Windows touchscreen apps is still not resolved.
The Surface Go starts from $400 which can go up to $700.
It is clear that the device is not for everyone. In fact, I don’t even know what market Microsoft is targeting with Windows 10S.
In short, the Surface Go is overpriced, low on computing power and looks like a copy from the past.
About the author:
I’m Biplab Das, a technical writer, tech YouTuber, blogger, ICT tutor and a part time website developer. People say smartphones are boring these days, but I think everyone is beginning to take this wonderful technology marvel for granted. Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel MoboMotion.
