Microsoft Surface Go 3 – 10.5″ Touchscreen – Intel® Core™ i3

review over 3 days of use – things can change over time

I always been a fan of the surface go. I always used the surface go 1 (8gb ram 128gb ssd) on the couch or on the go for meeting, game streaming (gfn, xbox, moonlight, parsec, and stadia, but stadia is complete garbage on everything, android to linux to windows to android TV). So I am a bit sold but here the review.

The upgrade to the surface go 3 is worth it coming from the surface go 1. You can use multiple tab with less struggling. This laptop shouldn’t be used like a main computer, but for light browsing, light productivity office work, meeting, LIGHT gaming (Carrion, dead , media consumption, reading, movie/game streaming, it’s great.

Windows 11 is not too bad, yet. I still prefer windows 10, but windows 11 will keep be upgraded. Biggest downside is the start menu, that microsoft will not have the choice to add the option to go to a standard start menu over time (the more people will get windows 11 the number of complaint will increase. It’s not made in an efficient way – too much like a smartphone, dumb down for everyone can use it. If you always just press the window key and type the program you want to use, you will note see a difference in your day to day. Haven’t encounter any issue with compatibility (YET). Other than that, they got rid of the issue of windows 10 with the old win7 interface options and win10 options. The interface is more standard than the gap we had between having the same options available on the 2 different “interface” and some options only in win7 old menu. Is it worth to upgrade your current computer to win11? NO

Battery life, well it’s simple, every time a company advertise the time, just do this simple calcul. time advertise X 60% = real life condition/day night using. It’s not bad, but you will never get 10hours, even if you disable bluetooth and wifi. You could get 10hours if you put the minimum brightness. Minimum brightness = computer is usable in pitch black. I can get around 6 to 7 hours at 50-60% with a mix of streaming game/multiple tab browsing/meeting. USE EDGE ON BATTERY!!!!! this will make a good difference. Use firefox while plugged in. The more addons you use in your browser, the slower and more battery it’s going to use. Maybe you can squeeze more if you stay in Window S mode…. but unless you are someone who knows nothing about computer (like my mom or dad) get out of S mode. You can recharge in usb-c with a 24watt battery pack (would suggest going to 45w) (BIG BIG ++++++ for a small windows PC)

Yes usb-c charging is working nicely, like it always did. I do like the surface charger, but would prefer have 2 usb-c instead of a proprietary connector dedicated to only charging.

Resolution is good, more standard now even if it’s a 3:2 (1920×1280 vs 1800×1200). If you stream game, try to use a 16:10 resolution to loose less screen real estate. Screen is good, non HDR but good. Direct sunlight is a no-go.

Here is the real battle in today computer market : planed obsolescence. I really liked my surface go 1, but the problem REPARABILITY. I would still use my surface go 1 today and would never bought the go 3, even if the surface go 3 is more powerful. My surface go 1 had 20% battery wear, and try to replace the battery in a surface IS GARBAGE. REPARABILITY RATING : 0/10. every single product can’t be repair now and this is GARBAGE. You can pay microsoft to change the battery, at an atrocious price. You can find a guide on how to do it yourself, but just reading the guides, you will realize quickly you are going to break it. Replacement battery are around 50$. Break the screen, and your tablet is now not worth the investment anymore. RIGHT TO REPAIR, IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. I was thinking about just installing linux on the surface go 1 for the speed issue but the real issue I had WAS THE BATTERY. The real thing that should ALWAYS BE EASILY USER REPLACEABLE ON EVERYTHING. The only thing that really suffer from wear without being able to do much. There is now on the surface, in the surface application something to prolong your battery wear. I will see how it handle this. On paper, it’s a good idea. Let see how it’s implemented and if it makes any difference.

I choose to sell my razer blade stealth and surface go to only use the surface go 3 as my SECOND COMPUTER. If you need an extremely portable window laptop for light productivity, surface go 3 is a good choice. If you need something powerful but extremely portable, like I do, use Parsec to connect to your desktop. If you want a MAIN computer that is portable and offer great performance, don’t buy a surface go. This is a 10inch, full window tablet. There is a compromise on the performance, but the I3 is doing a good job. 4gb of ram is not enough today for window PC, and emmc memory is not worth it for Windows (cheapest window go)

Accessories, I use the old pen, keyboard and mouse from the surface go 1. But realize you will need to buy at least the keyboard, which increase the price.

I am happy with the surface go 3 for what I need. If you are not bound to Windows (or x86)/only stream or read, get an android tablet. Don’t forget to remove all the tracking stuff you CAN remove (now nicely name analytic) sometimes analytic is good, for bug report, but the vast majority of analytic is not for that.

If you have a company that is FOR THE RIGHT TO REPAIR, and is not just doing virtue signaling, POST IT HERE I WILL TAKE ANY SUGGESTION for x86/x64 under 11inch.
Don’t mention anything about apple please….

Save the planet, let us fix our gadgets. If I had to review only the reparability, it would have 0 stars, like everything else we buy today. In 2 years we won’t be able to change the battery of our TV. (well if they put some solar panel on it it would be good, but they won’t)

***feel weird about saving the planet and buying on amazon isn’t? well the guy who put the preorder for the surface go 3 on amazon made a mistake on the price…

If you are looking for a slow computer that is perfectly capable of browsing the internet and maybe a little more, this is fine. Instead of an in-depth review of this now older technology that was clearly not optimized for Windows 11, I’m just going to list the use cases that I have for it:

1) Notetaking: this is a good device to put in a hard-case and take to school/meetings/church and run something like Inkodo with a microsoft pen to take notes. The virtual keyboard works well enough if you don’t get a pen.

2) Kindle: I like electronic books. I use this for reading picture books to the kids pretty often.

3) Homeschool computer lab: I plug it into a dock and use this for the kid’s online typing course. “Epistory” (a typing game) runs fine on it.

4) Select gaming: Along with educational games, it can handle older, less demanding games. “Root” and a few other board game style games work fine too, if you have the patience to navigate to them.

5) Wireless Display: When I travel, this encased tablet becomes an additional 1080p monitor (though only at a 30hz refresh rate). It’s small enough to throw into any bag but large enough to still be useful as a monitor.

However, Adobe Acrobat Pro will crash on this tablet if you try to open any type of complicated document. Adobe Acrobat Reader (without editing features and free) works acceptably.

So if you’re looking for any of these features on a budget, this works fine. If you’re looking for anything beyond basic computer functions, look elsewhere. It’s a good (if outdated) tablet that I’d consider acceptable in the right circumstances.

This device is very limited by its processing power, if order to search the web you have to use Edge otherwise you can experience lag on the device. The form factor and the battery like is perfect. The build quality of the device is also superior. Just lacking performance for me.

Muy bien el equipo

These tablets (and their associated accessories, specifically the ms pen and ms kb) are amazing. I have i3 8gb and I’m able to run docker vms and do software development on the thing. Runs the ubuntu ‘app’ well. Left it on my car roof and it flow off into the street from 6′ high and then actually got RUN OVER by a camry (front wheel) and was fine. For actual real. I use a standard pyrex screen protector, which broke into a million pieces but the surface screen and the keyboard work there is only SLIGHT damage to the back of the keyboard. These tablets are a life saver if you want a reasonably priced tablet that has full PC capabilities (albeit a little slow) in an ultra-portable, ultra-tough form. Thank you MS!