Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Core m3) Tablet Review

[Redaktion]

Fourth Time's a Charm. The highly-anticipated fourth rendition of Microsoft's Surface Pro is finally here, and it brings some valuable refinements. Thanks to a low-power Core m3 CPU, our review unit is completely devoid of moving parts—making this more tablet than ever before. But is it finally the tablet than can replace your laptop, or is it just another product of compromise?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-4-Core-m3-Tablet-Review.153843.0.html

[MrSparc]

Noise 95% for a fanless device??? Please update this item to 100%.
The noise that you have heard was a fly in your room  ;D

[Steve Schardein]

It isn't going to bother most people, but in a silent room, the electrical noise is audible from the top right of the device. 95% is ALMOST perfect! ;-)

Steve

[Meh]

I'm very thankful that you noted the electrical noise. Indeed I have too good hearing and I also work in a room that is a bit too silent to ignore these electrical noises. In office the electrical noise is not an issue, but in the evening I'm afraid it only leads me to return such noisy work tools back to the seller.

I would be interested in knowing how these low tdp skylake devices cope with above normal I/O demands. One year ago I purchased the most powerful quadcore netbook i could find, only to realize that the performance will collapse if I'm making a file backup to local drive or simultaneously trying to max out gigabit usb3 throughput to network storage. In fact, that particular device turned completely unresponsive until the usb3 adapter throughput dropped below maximum. For example: any use was impossible while I was transferring backups to network, for the simple reason that I was able to move the mouse only with >1 sec delays and keyboard was completely unresponsive until transfer was completed (or the speed dropped).

[Steve Schardein]

Although I did not specifically test throughput via USB 3.0 or system responsiveness simultaneous to such transfers, I will say that I performed heavy USB 3.0 transfers during my testing of the system, as well as even heavier network transfers, and never once was bothered by stalling or slow operation.

Steve

[Robgoren]

Great review. I really appreciate the PWM results, although I find them quite surprising. When I observed the screen on the i5 Pro 4 model through a cell phone camera, I could clearly see the telltale scrolling bands of PWM at around 25%. Perhaps the Core M version is efficient enough to avoid PWM altogether.

[Konig-Wolf]

Fantastic review, as always. Will you be evaluating a Core i5/i7 model to evaluate the change in thermal performance, noise, and battery life? Right now, I'm trying to decide between a Surface Pro 4, an HP Spectre x2, or a Dell XPS 12 (2015)...the battery information, thermals, and noise will probably be what helps me decide between these devices. Thank you in advance.

[spw]

Thank you for your review... It is great that new core-m performance is so good, I am enjoying my last year model (T300Chi) and by far the best feature is lack of noise! Too bad that Surface Book does not have core-m option too.

[Mikko]

Just bought the SP4 i5 on Tuesday. I have not been able to confirm with a DSLR if it has PWM, but I bought it based on this review.

Yet my eyes are burning and in the next morning are totally bloodshot.
So, it might be that there still is some kind of PWM, maybe it is too high frequency to be measured or maybe it's only in very low brightness levels, but it definitely irritates my eyes a lot.
And for those who doubt this problem is real, this laptop I'm writing this (Lenovo t420) does not have PWM and gives ZERO eye strain. Also at home I have the HP ZR2740w, which gives also absolutely no eye strain.
I have to still investigate this further and test with my DSLR if there is some sort of flicker, but I fear I have to sell it as there is no chance to return it.
A warning to others who have the same issue with flickering displays!!!

[Kyobias]

I saw that fanless variation (core m) also has ugly vent hole which the only reason that I hesitate to buy one.
What I want is complete-sealed design. Does anybody try to seal all of these vent hole?

[Johnjohn]

Η απόλυτη κάβλα!!!! Όπως και το Surface Book μαγκες μου!!!  :D :D :D

[Didi]

Why is there no reference to the driver/firmware issues that plagues SP4 (sleep drain battery...)? That kind of issues isn't expected in a premium no-compromise  ultra mobile pro device, and can very well completely hinder the intended use of the device itself, and consequently the purchasing decision. What's more, the issue is talked about all over the web, and it seems that the February fix isn't working as it should. From a device rated 88% I'd expect the smoothest experience.

[nicola_cortesi]

The link to the official Samsung webpage were the updated driver for the SSD can be installed that is given in the review only allow to download the drivers for the NVMe SSD 950 PRO which has 512GB. The driver for the 128GB model (Samsung NVMe Mzflv128) are not available on the Samsung website and I haven't found them anywhere on the web. Do anybody know where to download them?