Review: Microsoft Surface 2

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Microsoft seems serious about being a 'Devices and Services,' company and the devices piece of this master plan is hinged on products like the Surface 2. The ARM-powered Windows RT tablet is now slightly thinner, more powerful and features a better 1080p HD screen plus various necessary refinements. Is this a better Windows tablet? We find out.

I owned a first generation Surface RT tablet. I was attracted to the slick form factor, solid build and really wanted to give Windows RT a chance and I was heavily invested in MS Office, most specifically Word. To have this working on an ultraportable device sounded good to me. The hardware limitations and lack of apps on the software end made it difficult to consider the Surface (and Windows RT) as a serious productivity tool.

Microsoft seems to have listened to some of the complaints of users. They've improved aspects of the Surface 2 without necessarily messing with the design and overall user experience.

The kickstand is now improved, making it possible to incline the Surface 2 in two positions. While typing on your lap is still les than ideal, it is at least somewhat viable now although not at all comfortable for prolonged periods.

Two things stand out about the Surface 2. The increase in overall performance as well as the glorious new ClearType HD display. Windows 8.1 seems to bring a number of refinements. The Surface is more responsive, the multi-touch component feels snappier and that's on a higher definition screen. That's possibly because of the new Tegra 4 processor as well as the 2GB of RAM and improvements in the OS.

Surface 2 now features 10 hours battery life as well, which is a welcome upgrade. The hardware feels solid like we've come to expect from Microsoft although the reparability score for the Surface 2 is ridiculously hard to repair (the teardown wizards at iFixit.com gave it an abysmal 1 out of 10 because you can damage it just by trying to open it). Word to the wise, if you're buying any Surface tablets, spring for the extra Microsoft Complete Warranty.

While running many of the native Windows 8 apps was great on the Surface 2 (they still have the only ARM tablet version of Office, so yeah, that's a feature), trying to find good apps on the Microsoft Store was just as limiting and frustrating as what I experienced months ago.

Just a simple thing like finding alternative browsers to Internet Explorer is an apparent impossibility in Windows RT. As a Chrome user, I found it frustrating to not be able to install an RT version. The only workaround is to install the Google Search app which surreptitiously opens a gateway to various Google services.

The same thing goes for finding a good image editing application or even a simple video editing application running on the Surface. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, just a way to import videos and stitch them together, something that other devices running the same Tegra processor can easily do.  People complain about Apple and iOS being a walled garden but Microsoft's Windows RT marketplace feels like a Gulag by comparison.

Microsoft also continues to promote and market the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 with the Touch and Type Covers, which continue to be optional accessories even if they are integral and completely inextricable from the proper Surface experience. My review unit Surface tablet came without any keyboard and I felt I was reviewing half a product.

It is completely understandable that including the keyboards would drive pricing up (although Microsoft has been known to heavily discount and even bundle the keyboard to get stalled stock of the original Surface RT moving), but the keyboard it isn't an option, it is a requirement.

As a modern tablet, the Surface 2 presents some welcome upgrades from its predecessor, which Microsoft continues to sell, possibly because they have a lot of unsold stock. Surface 2 is definitely the tablet to consider if you're looking for a portable, Microsoft Office focused device and don't mind the app limitations.

PC users who are looking to buy their first tablet and who have no preconceived notions of what the experience is like on iOS or Android, should be fine with the Surface 2 provided they understand that none of their Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 software will work on it and that they need to find Windows RT compatible versions of their most used software.

Rating: 3 out of 5