Microsoft Surface RT Review

Introduction:

Microsoft, as we know for a long time now, has always had a formidable presence in the computing space. Even now, they still command a sizable piece of the pie, but as we’ve seen, there is a stark shift in what people are using on a daily basis for their computing needs. A few years ago, everyone seemed intent on riding the wave surrounding netbooks, but as we’ve witnessed, it was short lived. Ultimately, Apple redefined the entire computing spectrum with the introduction with the iPad – and of course, the rest was history. Continuing to dominate the scene, consumers quickly realized the advantages that tablets have to offer over traditional laptops. And for a while there, Microsoft sat content in pushing forward with its usual computing platform offerings.

Thankfully, they too quickly realized how tablets are increasingly outpacing laptops – as they prove to have that killer combination of pricing and mobility to attract consumers. Interestingly, rather than following the same routine of just solely building its own tablet platform from the ground up, the Redmond based company is relying on itself to produce its own device as well – much like what we’ve seen with the Xbox and Microsoft Zune (and the Kin phones). Enter the Microsoft Surface, a sleek and ultra-modern looking tablet that’s gunning to make a charge in the competitive tablet market. More importantly, however, is whether Microsoft is able to soundly capture the embodiment of a highly usable tablet platform with Windows RT. Naturally, there’s a lot at stake riding on the back of the Surface – both from a hardware and software perspective.

The package contains:

• AC wall charger
• Touch Cover (sold separately or as part of a bundle)
  

Design:

From afar, the Microsoft Surface looks like any other slate out there sporting one cookie cutter industrial design, but once it’s in our hands, we soon realize that there was a lot of love placed into it. Indeed, it’s not the skinniest (0.37” thin) or most compact tablet out there, but it has all of the required elements to make it an attention grabber against most other things out there on the market. For starters, its tapered edges help to give it a distinctive look of its own – while its magnesium composite chassis, which is a material that Microsoft calls “VaporMg,” comfortably adds a sense of strength and durability to its construction. Fortunately, the Surface manages to maintain a clean façade, as it does a good job of repelling dirt and debris from dirtying its uniform looks.

In addition to that, there’s a reasonable amount of weight (24 oz/680 grams) to instill in us that it’s one solidly made thing. Compared to some of the other venerable tablets on the market, the Surface’s design is right up there and in the same league as the iPad and Asus Transformer Infinity Pad, but we’re most humbled that Microsoft is able to distinguish its offering enough to give it a defined look that’s attractive in many fronts. Taking into account that it’s not too often we find Microsoft helming the design process, we’re undeniably impressed that they’re able to execute it unequivocally so well with this.



By default, Microsoft has made it so that the Surface is primarily held in landscape, and with that in mind, there’s a capacitive Start button below the screen, which merely brings us back to the Start Screen. Above the display, we find its 1-megapixel front facing camera, which has the ability to shoot HD videos too. Nearby, there’s also an LED light that turns on to indicate that the front camera is in use – nothing more than that.

Along the top edge of the tablet, we’re presented with its slightly raised & springy power button and two small notches that initially appear as being part of its speakers, but rather, they’re actually microphones. As for the speakers themselves, they’re located on the upper sections of its left and right trims. To the left, though, we find the volume control and 3.5mm headset jack – while on the right, there’s a full sized USB 2.0 port to connect a variety of accessories and peripherals to the Surface, microHDMI port, and its proprietary magnetic power connector. Finally, the sole item spotted in the bottom trim is the proprietary magnetic accessory connector – for the optional touch covers and type covers.


Flush with the surrounding area, the Surface is packing along a 1-megapixel fixed focused rear camera, which can shoot videos in up to 800p. Just like before, an LED light sits close by, but it doesn’t do anything except to indicate that the rear camera is active.

Not something that’s normally seen with tablets, the Microsoft Surface incorporates a very useful kickstand that firmly locks into the open position. In fact, it’s strong enough to even prop the tablet in portrait – though, its primary function, in addition to giving us a hands-free video watching experience, is to allow us to properly use the tablet along with its optional Touch Cover. Lastly, discretely ticked away under the one side of the kickstand is a very handy microSD card slot.



Display:

Opting for the widescreen format with its display, the 16:9 aspect ratio of the Surface’s 10.6-inch screen makes it ideal for watching videos, which is made better with the kickstand in play. However, knowing that it’s sporting a less-than-spectacular resolution of 1366 x 768, it’s not going to be garnering much attention over the higher resolution displays used by its main rivals. Sure, we’re able to read text from a normal distance away with few nagging issues, thanks to Microsoft’s ClearType sub-pixel rendering technology, but upon closer inspection, we can actually make out individual pixels.

Although some might not fancy knowing it’s boasting a lower contrast level than other displays, it actually makes for a better reading experience thanks to reduced eye fatigue during prolonged viewing. Similar to the iPad 3, the Surface’s display emits warmer color tones, which truly shows off its vibrancy when its brightness is cranked all the way to its maximum setting. On top of that, its wide viewing angles combined with its 400-nit brightness setting helps to maintain its visibility – especially when it comes to outdoor viewing. Noteworthy to mention as well, the Surface features an optically bonded display, similar to in-cell touch technology used by the iPhone 5 and LG Optimus G most recently, allowing the screen to be closer to the surface of the display. There’s no arguing it gets the job done with most benign things, but above all, its low resolution doesn’t do justice in giving its display the sharpness it needs to polarize prying eyes.




Touch Cover:

If you haven’t noticed it already in the Microsoft Surface commercials, the secondary star attraction of the Surface is the optional Touch Cover, which retails for $120 when bought separately and is available in different colors. Acting as a smart cover on one hand, the Touch Cover firmly snaps into the Surface’s magnetic connector dock – with an audible thud sound to indicate it’s positioned correctly. And boy is the connection strong! So much so that it can hold the entire dead weight of the Surface as it’s dangling. Of course, it’s also there to protect the display when it’s closed.

Secondly, the Touch Cover provides us with a full-sized keyboard with directional keys and a trackpad. Lined with a fabric-like material, it manages to retain a very clean appearance at all times, but there’s very little distinction between buttons because of their flush appearance. Sensitivity is hit and miss in our experience, as light taps aren’t registered sometimes – resulting in firmer taps of the finger. To tell you the truth, we find ourselves more productive typing with Surface’s on-screen keyboard. Still, it feels more natural typing things up when propping the tablet on its kickstand and using the Touch Cover, as opposed to laying the Surface flat on our lap to use the on-screen keyboard. If you prefer physical responses, you might want to consider picking up the Type Cover, which is thicker in size and priced a little more at $130, but offers the tactility of real buttons.

Interface:

Long before the world saw its first glimpse of Microsoft’s next-generation computing platform, Windows 8, we fathomed in the back of our minds that its tablet-based operating system would follow a path similar to Windows Phone. Well folks, that’s essentially what came to fruition, as Microsoft RT is clearly showing us. To clarify, Windows RT is a new MicrosoftOS for tablets, that’ll be running on ARM-based devices, which are aimed to compete in the same price category as the iPad and 10-inch Android tablets. Conversely, there are going to be pricier Windows 8 (Pro) tablets, which rely on the full Windows 8 experience – also giving support for the legacy Windows apps, while the RT supports only apps developed specially for it. Initially, the interface will come across as alien to most people, but as with all things, comfort and ease begins to settle in after some time with it.

Using the same design language and style that’s plainly evident in Windows Phone, there’s a lot of pizzazz and wonder seen throughout the interface of the Microsoft Surface. Just like in Windows Phone, Windows RT presents us with the Start Screen, which is comprised of dynamic and boxy looking live tiles. Certain ones in fact, provide relevant data – like social networking posts, the weather, temperature, and other notifications. Unlike Windows Phone, however, we like that there’s more personalization found with Windows RT. Not only can we change the lockscreen wallpaper and rearrange the live tiles to our liking, but we can even choose a background wallpaper for the Start Screen, as well changing the color scheme of the live tiles and menu bars themselves.


Since it’s a new platform and all, there’s a steep learning curve initially – such as knowing the various gestures in place. Once mastered, we appreciate the functionality they offer in navigating around the platform. These can be accessed at any time and they consist of the following:

• Swipe inward from the right bezel: Gains access to Share, Search, Devices, and Settings options, in addition to jumping back to the Start Screen.
• Swipe inward from the left bezel: Quickly jumps between open applications. Essentially, there’s a cool animation that cycles between all opened apps.
• Swiping inward from the left bezel and then quickly back in the opposite direction: Now this one is tricky, but after a couple of tries, it’s fairly easy to execute. With this gesture, we can actually open up a small pane that displays all the open apps – allowing us to switch to any of them with a tap.
• Swipe down from the top bezel: Depending on the app, it’ll provide us specific menu actions. For example with Internet Explorer, we’re presented with the address bar, back/forward buttons, and the available tabs.
• Swipe up from the bottom bezel: In the lock screen, we’re able to unlock the tablet using this gesture. Additionally, it also gives us the same access to the menu options found with the previous gesture.
• Swipe from the top bezel all the way to the bottom bezel: this one closes out the running app completely.

Multi-tasking is one of the strengths found with the Surface, since we’re able to split the screen so that it can accommodate two apps simultaneously. Using the gesture that shows us all the running apps, we can select and drag one so that it’ll be positioned next to the one that’s currently on-screen. Once the two are up, there’s a bar that separates them, which can be moved to allow a specific one to take more of the screen than the other. Simply, it’s practical and works well.


Interestingly, there’s also the “Desktop” of Windows RT, which is the familiar Windows style UI we’re accustomed to seeing on PCs. However, it’s a bit strange to find on here, especially when Windows RT is trying to move past the legacy interface and differentiating itself. In the desktop, we’re given access to Internet Explorer 10, the File Manager, and the preview suite of software with Microsoft Office 2013.


Indeed, we’re digging the bright colors and stylish appeal of the UI, but in our time checking it out, its execution can comes off as being a bit clunky and buggy. For the most part, navigation is tight and instantaneous, but every now and then, it’s plagued by lock ups and short pauses. Sure, it’s a distraction right now, but we’re certain that future software updates will iron out the kinks. As a whole, we definitely like the jazzy vibe we’re getting with Windows RT, but more importantly, it’s a bridge to potentially get consumers to check out Windows Phone as well – since the two share many similarities, so the transition for them would be seamless.

Functionality:

Navigating through the unfamiliar set of organizer apps in Windows RT, there’s no denying the that the style and presentation seemingly employs the same foundational design properties seen with the interface formerly known as Metro for Window Phone. With the People app, we’re able to connect our various accounts (Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc). Naturally, it’s the one-stop shop for all your social networking needs, since it aggregates content all in one place, which is rather dizzying since it appears disorganized – then again, there’s a filter option to specify what content you want to see. No doubt a hindrance to us, there’s no way of posting stuff to multiple accounts simultaneously, and even worse, there isn’t an option of attaching photos with our posts.


As for the other core organizer apps, they don’t deviate from the usual functionality we see with other devices. In the Calendar app, appointments are color coded according to the account. Likewise, the Messaging app is nothing more than a hub where we can view all of our social networking chats. Microsoft includes some other noteworthy and useful organizer apps that are all Bing related – such as News, Finance, Reader, Sports, Travel, Weather, and Bing Search.


Making sure to keep in mind that we’re dealing with a tablet OS here, Microsoft employs a three-panel layout in landscape with its Email app. The farthest to the left is our listing of accounts and its various folders, the middle pane displays the inbox of the selected account, and the last one shows the actual content of the email. All in all, it’s practical to use and keeps us at a good workflow, however, it’s not as comprehensive as we’d like with its features. Moreover, there’s no select all function, which means we’re left to individually opening each one and deleting them.

We’ve mentioned already that the Touch Cover can be a challenge for typing, and instead, we find ourselves having better luck with the on-screen one. Spacious in its layout and employing the same distinct typing sounds in use with the Windows Phone keyboard, we’re able to casually type at a reasonable pace with few nagging problems along the way. In portrait, our thumbs are able to encompass the entire layout – thus, making it easy as well to knock out a few passages of text.


Processor and Memory:

Being a tablet made for the modern times, the Microsoft Surface, which is running Windows RT, is being powered under the hood by none other than an ARM Cortex-A9 based 1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor coupled with a healthy 2GB of RAM. Aside from the random lock ups and freezes we experience once in a while, due to software glitches most likely, the performance of the tablet is smooth and fluid – similar to what’s seen with Windows Phone. Not a shocker in the very bit, It’s no slouch when it comes to executing complex tasks – like playing graphically intensive games. Ultimately, it exhibits responses that are tastefully well executed to instill that it’s a speedy competitor.

On the packaging, the $500 base model of the Microsoft Surface is mentioned to have a storage capacity of 32GB, but in reality, it translates into approximately 20GB of free memory after all is said and done. Luckily, that tally can be supplemented since the unit has a microSD card – or better yet, you can connect external hard drives or flash drives to its USB 2.0 port.

Internet and Connectivity:

For what it is, Internet Explorer 10 gets the job done for everyday normal web browsing. In fact, it has all the qualities we’d want to experience – like proper renders and fluid navigational controls. To be perfectly honest, there are two versions of it on the Surface. One is the touch-friendly version found within the tablet’s main experience, and with the other, it’s access within Desktop mode. Of course, we prefer the former mainly because it’s easier to navigate with touch – whereas the other one is the same exact thing you find on a PC. In case you wonder, none of them supports Adobe Flash.


Currently, the Microsoft Surface is being made in 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Wi-Fi form only. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess if we’ll be seeing cellular connected versions before the end of the year. Complementing that is Bluetooth 4.0 and aGPS, but strangely, it’s lacking other modern conveniences like NFC.

Camera:

Since we’re talking about a tablet here, we’ll reiterate it again that we’re not too keen when it comes to snapping photos with them – mainly because its size doesn’t make it convenient. Nonetheless, if it’s the only thing around, we’re certain that some people would be willing to use it.

With the camera UI, it’s barebones as it can get, since the majority of the real estate is made for the viewfinder. However, there are a few icons perched towards the lower right hand corner that allow us to change the camera, go into video, set a timer, and access the options menu. In order to snap a shot, all you need to do is tap anywhere on the screen – and just like Windows Phone, we can quickly access the camera roll by swiping to the right. Camera aficionados, you’ll be horrified with its zero shooting modes and manual settings!


Before snapping our first pictures, we were already prepping ourselves with the quality of its 1-megapixel rear camera. First and foremost, the camera itself is placed on an awkward angle, which requires some adjustment on our part to get the shot we want. So how’d they come out? Fittingly, they’re nothing worth boasting about, since fine details are pretty much out the door. To its credit, though, the overall shots are tolerable enough for a tablet, since it has a neutral color reproduction and balanced exposure, but when pitted against the quality put out by smartphones, they’re terrible.


Having the ability to shoot videos in up to 800p, which results in giving us a 16:10 aspect ratio, its quality is hardly worth being attached to the term “high definition.” Lacking any serious details , combined with its heavy artifacting, the quality is forgettable in more ways than none. Though, it so happens to record smoothly at 30 frames per second and captures clear audio.

Microsoft Surface RT Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Looking through the photo gallery, we’re most saddened that we’re unable to share images with our linked social networking accounts. Rather, if we download a third party app, like Tweetro for Windows RT, we can select it as an option to share, but there’s not a native one. As expected, we can glance at photos by swiping left/right – while using pinch gestures enables us to see more/less photos simultaneously. Yet another strange occurrence, the app syncs our social networking photo albums, giving us quick access to them. And yes folks, there are a few minor editing functions at our disposal.


No longer attached with Zune branding, the Microsoft Surface opts to integrate XBOX MUSIC with its music player. Visually, it has the characteristic elements of the UI intact with its presentation – while also giving us access to purchase additional tunes. At the same time, we love the dynamic look of the player as it’s playing a track, seeing that images of the respective artist are displayed on-screen and a short bio is accessible as well. Blessed with stereo speakers, its volume output is very pleasant to the ears with its neutral tones – though, we would’ve liked to hear a stronger volume output.


Out of the box, the Surface supports the usual set of video codecs to warm our hearts (DivX, H264, MPEG-4, and Xvid). Obviously, the 16:9 aspect ratio of the display combined with its bright looks make it an ideal choice for watching high definition videos on the go – and it helps that it doesn’t struggle for a moment with its playback.


So you’re probably wondering how we’re supposed to get multimedia content to the Surface when it doesn’t come included with a USB cable to connect to a PC? Well, we’re starting to see that Windows RT is ditching the model of having to rely on a computer for content storage. Yes, it’ll sync with certain things in the cloud (like our Facebook photos), but we’re simply able to copy music and videos on our computer by copying them to a flash drive, and then connecting it to the Surface’s USB port. Going into the desktop, we’re able to use the File Manager to copy and paste content to their respective folders a la the usual Windows desktop experience.

Software:

History has shown us that the survival of a new platform is contingent upon the amount of quality apps that are available for it. At the current state, the Surface isn’t winning in this category yet, as the fairly limited offerings in the Microsoft Windows Store don’t have the star appeal to capture our attention. Sure, you have big named ones like Netflix and Skype on there, but it doesn’t claim anything more advantageous over other versions of the same apps.

Still in its infancy, the Bing Maps experience is yet another example of an elementary offering with the Windows RT platform. Needless to say, it pales in comparison to the defined features and fuller offerings that rival maps services have to offer. Yes, you can get directions to a point of interest, but it doesn’t have voice-guided directions, nor does it offer transit directions. Slim pickings and all, Bing Maps is a far cry from everything else out there.


As much as we adore Internet Explorer 10 for being able to provide us with the full fidelity of the YouTube web site, it would’ve been nice to see a dedicated app on board with the platform. However, for all of you movie buffs out there, the Video app on the Surface provides us access to purchasing movies and television shows from Microsoft’s Windows Store – giving us the option to rent or buy.


When it comes to gaming, hardcore XBOX gamers will surely appreciate the integration of XBOX Live. Moreover, we can also elect to purchase games for the XBOX 360 home console, which are tagged as “on-demand games” – in addition to the usual ones meant to run on the Surface itself that are in the Windows Games Store front. Playing real-time strategy game ARMED, the hardware inside of the Surface shows its prowess in handling graphically intensive processes.

Battery:

Thoroughly impressed to say the least, the Surface puts out an impressive tally with its battery life. So much so that we’re able to get two full days of normal usage with a fully charged battery. By the end of the second day, its battery capacity was at 30%. Absolutely, it’s one of the tablet’s standouts!

Conclusion:

Peering into the tablet landscape right now, it’s quite evident that Microsoft still has some serious work ahead of itself in catching up to the same level of its rivals in terms of platform functionality and comprehensiveness. Windows RT is a big undertaking for the Redmond based company, so naturally, they’re intent on giving users a unified experience to migrate them into Microsoft’s various services – like XBOX Games and its music/video services. However, as we look back at some of the first versions of other respective tablet platforms, like iOS for the iPad or the QNX based OS of the BlackBerry PlayBook, Windows RT has more of a polished appeal right from the get-go.

As for the tablet itself, there’s a good amount of value seen with the Surface’s hardware – minus the low resolution of its display. For the base $500 model, you’re getting a solidly constructed tablet that’s boasting one distinctive look that showcases Microsoft’s surprising craft when it comes to design. Throw in that it’s featuring some high quality materials with its workmanship, it no doubt rolls off the tongue as being regarded as a premium item worthy of making friends drool with envy.

Breaking the surface of the water, there’s a lot of growing up needed in the software side to make it an instant standout choice for hungry consumers. In time, though, we’re confident that Microsoft will be able to steam forward ironing out the kinks – while adding the much-needed refinements to make it a unanimous choice amongst consumers. For now, if you’re willing to experiment and try something new, the Microsoft Surface won’t disappoint.

Microsoft Surface RT Video Review: