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Initial Experience with Surface Go

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The author was tired of carrying their heavy laptop to class and study rooms, so they started looking for a lightweight and portable device that could meet their needs. They considered various tablets but ultimately chose the Surface Go 2018 4+64. After using it for 20 days, they found that it fulfilled their requirements for a mobile office device. However, they noted a few issues such as poor performance, a small screen, and limited battery life. They also mentioned that the Surface Pen and handwriting experience were surprisingly good. Overall, they were satisfied with the device's functionality, despite its drawbacks.

Background#

  • After countless times of carrying my laptop to the classroom and study room, I finally got tired of the weight of my Xiaoxin Air14, even though it is considered a lightweight and versatile laptop.
  • My requirements: lightweight, long battery life, ability to install applications freely, preferably with native desktop browser support (to avoid the hassle of syncing).
  • So I turned my attention to various tablets: I ruled out the iPad first because I don't have a US account, and Safari has limited support for codeserver; within my budget, the only good options for Android tablets are Xiaoxin Pad/Pad Plus, but after trying them out in the store, I felt uncomfortable and there's no guarantee that I can install the international version.
  • As a result, the only option left is a Windows tablet. To be fair, the best CPU performance under 1,000 yuan should be the Cube Mix Plus with an N4100 processor, but the quality control of the non-branded tablets is really not commendable. After weighing the options, I ended up with the protagonist of this article: Surface Go 2018 4+64.

Experience#

  • As I write this sentence, I have been using the Surface Go 1 for over 20 days (you can check the commit records on GitHub).
  • Overall, it almost meets all my requirements for a mobile office device. It performs excellently in various environments: next to the soldering station during engineering training, in the study room, connected to a monitor in the dormitory using a docking station, and so on.
  • Of course, it can't be perfect, after all, it only costs a little over 1,000 yuan (you get what you pay for!). Overall, there are a few issues:
  1. Sluggish performance. I bought the lowest-end 4+64 version, which has the worst performance among all Surface devices. It's hard to imagine that it takes nearly 10 seconds to open VSCode. However, poor performance also has its advantages. The Pentium 4415Y processor has a TDP of only 5W and relies entirely on passive cooling, so it remains quiet at all times.
  2. Small screen. I compared it with my classmate's iPad Air 4, and the screen of the Surface Go 1 is even smaller than the iPad's. Although the pixel density is acceptable on the small screen, it still falls slightly short compared to the vibrant Retina display of the iPad. The screen may have aged a bit, and the backlight is not always very uniform, making it unsuitable for prolonged staring.
  3. Poor battery life. Despite the low power consumption of the hardware, the small battery of the Surface Go 1 is insufficient for 2021. Due to the compact design, it is impossible to replace the battery.

So, that's my experience in a nutshell. If I have any new discoveries, I will update them here.

  • Additional content added after purchasing the Surface Pen The handwriting experience with the Surface Pen on Inkodo/OneNote Win10 is surprisingly good, with an acceptable latency. The handwritten strokes, once set up, are very close to writing with pen and paper. Inkodo is on par with any handwriting application on iPadOS: PDF support, various pen styles, image insertion, cloud synchronization, and more.

Updated on December 4, 2021: Many reviews about Windows 11 mention that many updates (such as the File Explorer) are evolving towards a more touch-friendly direction. However, the actual touchscreen experience is still not satisfactory. I reluctantly connect a keyboard and use the touchpad and arrow keys when viewing PowerPoint presentations.

Updated on September 2, 2022: Last semester, I used the Go intensively for note-taking, textbook reading, and homework. Apart from the poor battery performance and occasional app lag, it basically reached the level of non-entertainment functionality of an iPad. I am already very satisfied with it.

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