Video calling has been the best experience I have had with the Surface Pro 9 after several days of using it as my daily driver. The device has a goodWebcam. Most other tasks were not very fast.
It is due to the fact that most of the apps I use are not native on Arm. These are not obscure applications. I chat with people, watch video, and play a game, and I use the same programs that many other people do.
I don't think this laptop will be as slow for everyone as it was for me. The payoff of the Arm version of the Surface Pro 9 is dependent on the makeup of the constellation of apps that comprise your online life.
The Surface Pro 9 is portable, well-built, and nice looking, just like the Surface Pro 8. It is expensive. The keyboard and stylus aren't included in the base price of the cheapest model. The keyboard and pen are included in the test unit, which is still not the most expensive Pro 9 you can buy. Heavy users of many emulated apps will not be able to afford this device.
The design department didn't try to fix what wasn't broken, and the Pro 9 is as portable, well-built, and nice looking as the Pro 8 was. The keyboard deck is strong, the kickstand is sturdy, and the stylus is comfortable. The display is smooth and crisp. The Pro 9 is not as heavy as the Pro 8.
The keyboard is strong and stable.
There is a small slot for the Surface Pen.
The keyboard is easy to remove and snap on.
The price does not include the keyboard.
The color scheme is the only change that is noticeable. The only way to modify the Surface Pro 8 models further was to purchase a funky colored keyboard deck. There are new colors to choose from on the full exterior of the Pro 9. It appears that only the Intel Core i7 models have this assortment of color options.
There is also a limited edition design. The plain-old Platinum one was sent to me. Tom Warren was in Redmond earlier this month to see the cuter colors.
The headphones jack has been removed from the Pro 9. There are two other ports, as well as a slot for the Surface charging device. The power and volume buttons have been moved. The design is very similar to that of the Surface Pro X, which is a bit thinner and lighter.
The biggest news is 5G. The Arm version is more expensive because the Intel model doesn't have this feature. T-Mobile's network in the US is where I bought a pre-paid plan from. Getting this plan set up was a bit of a process that I had to go through multiple times. The mobile plans app was very slow and froze up multiple times during the process.
When 5G was up and running, I was getting speeds of around 40mbps down and 55mbps up. It seems likely that the person is using T-Mobile's low-band 5G network, at least where I live. Nothing was fast. The 5G models appear to be capped at 16GB of RAM and come with LPDDR4x, while those without 5G can go up to 32 gigabytes of RAM.
The dimensions are 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches and the weight is 19.95 lbs. 11ax, 5G, 4G, and WCDMA.
The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is one of the advantages that Qualcomm has over the Intel model. The purpose of this is to take the load off of the Pro 9. There are new camera features that use it, such as portrait background blur, automatic eye contact, and Voice Focus.
The features worked, but their effectiveness was not consistent. The one that worked well across the board was automatic eye contact; regardless of where my gaze was, co-workers told me that it looked like I was looking directly at them. I would use this feature all the time since my eyes tend to wander when I pay attention. The blur effect did a great job of differentiating me from my background. When it didn't pick up that I was moving, there were times when it didn't follow me as promised.
Voice Focus appeared to have a problem. Umar told me that while he could hear me, the tracks seemed to be fading in and out of the background. When instrumental portions were completely muffled, lyrics would be clear when they came back in and then fade out again. He heard the same songs behind me on a Teams call and didn't think anything was being done to suppress them.
It feels like I'm putting fancy headlights on a car that can only go 15 miles an hour. It would have been great if Microsoft had put these features on the Intel models.
In order to use the laptop, an agreement is required.
Microsoft software license terms and manufacturer's hardware warranty and agreement.
There are a lot of things that can be agreed to.
Privacy settings include location, Find My device, diagnostic data, inking and typing.
There are mandatory and optional agreements.
The Pro 8 was fast. It is unsurprising that Microsoft is still selling an Intel model of the Pro 9 alongside a model from the same company. The value of Windows on Arm is far from where it needs to be.
My frustration with this computer was not related to work. As I opened more things and began more processes, it slowed down. It had problems from the beginning to the end.
It would take almost three seconds to switch between channels if I had only slack open. It would take 11 seconds to open, then be frozen for four seconds before I could press play. When I typed in the browser, I saw a lot of lag, which resulted in all kinds of typos. The video would freeze when I tried to watch it on the internet. My strokes would either be late or not show up if I used the Surface Pen to annotations. It would crash when I tried to open it.
I decided to stick to apps that were running on Arm. Trust me. I switched from chrome to edge and it was faster than chrome, but it was still slower than other high-end computers, such as Arm-based devices. The experience of calling on Teams was good, but the app was slow and unresponsive. The settings app froze and I had to stop it. The only Arm app I used was OneNote, and it was very easy to use. I suppose the paint was okay. I let Microsoft know about the issues, but they didn't reply back in time.
I can swap my entire workload over to these few Arm-friendly apps. The Pro 9 is a risk because many people don't have that luxury.
The deal with these mobile systems is that you give up some power in exchange for longer battery life. The 10 hours of continuous use that I averaged from this device is more than I have seen from most Windows laptops this year. I was able to stay awake for 12 hours and 23 minutes by changing the refresh rate. It's fine This is a longer lifespan than the Intel model.
I don't see it being enough to overcome the weaknesses in the performance of the SQ3 Pro. The Pro was only able to get up to 57 percent in an hour due to the slow charging. I only had 6 hours and 42 minutes of continuous 5G use.
The letter keys have a width of 0.6 and a height of 0.1. The keys are not visible from the power button. The Fn and Caps Lock have indicators on them. There is a power button. The volume keys are close to an inch in length. The keys are grayish-blue with white text. The speakers averaged 75 decibels in my testing, which is a tad louder than a standard external speaker. The laptop does not have a keyboard. An extra 0.68 pounds is added by the keyboard. A single hand can open the lid. The contrast ratio is 12:1. The length of the touchpad is 4 inches. Clicking through several menus is required for setup to happen. Facial logins are supported by the Pro, but not fingerprints.
The accessibility menu is included in Windows 11. A screen reader is included in Windows 11. Third-party screen readers are supported by it. There is a list of compatible software on Microsoft's website. Speech recognition and voice typing are supported by Windows 11. The color filters can be toggled with Windows + C. Under Personalization, standard dark mode and custom colors are available. The size and color of the caption can be changed. There is a keyboard that can be remapped. It is possible to support sticky keys. There is a keyboard on the screen. The size and speed of the scurvy can be adjusted. Eye control is supported by Windows 11. The snap layout feature is accessible by hovering over the Maximize button.
The Surface Pro 9 has a lightweight build, good battery life, and 5G support. Microsoft has been trying to get that goal for a long time. A fanless, beautiful tablet with a fancy camera that also runs a full desktop operating system is one of the things. There are people who love Apple's hardware but are fed up with the limitations of iPadOS.
Microsoft has a science behind it. It hasn't figured out how to make Windows on Arm viable for the high end mainstream. In the past several years, Apple has created a specialized chip architecture that has changed the look and feel of its products. It hasn't yet been achieved with Microsoft's Arm devices.
I don't know if my speculation is worth more than anyone else's, but I can only guess how much of that is Microsoft's fault. The original Surface Pro X was the one that started it all. The Surface Pro X runs the Windows operating system well. Microsoft hasn't done enough to offset the compromises this computer asks of customers The story I tell about the SQ3 Surface Pro 9 is the same as it was three years ago. It's not ready for the $2,000 big league.
The current processor line from Advanced Micro Devices excelled in both power and efficiency. The Surface Laptop 5 is only Intel-only, but Microsoft has kept the modem in. To me, that is a missed opportunity.
I am aware that nobody is buying a device that has a Threadripper on it. I know the 5G is convenient and I don't want to discount battery life and build quality as selling points. There will be a lot of complaints that my performance issues are solvable and that people should just use Microsoft's software 24/7.
Most other computers, regardless of their price, will give you a better experience if you use any of the emulated apps that I mentioned in my previous post. Windows on Arm is limited, but not ubiquitous.
Amelia Krales is a photographer.
The Surface Pen was included twice in the quoted price. We apologize for the mistake.
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