It also has a nicely redesigned top row of keys that includes frequently-used functions. (No word from Microsoft on whether a Touch Pad keyboard is en route.) Like the Surface 3 itself, the associated keyboard is smaller, although Microsoft makes up for it by organizing the keys far closer to the side edges than on the SP3’s keyboard. Like virtually every generation of Surface machines, the Surface 3 ships with its own backlit Type Pad keyboard. The space savings may translate into a bit more comfort on planes. The Surface 3’s superb, 1920×1280-pixel, 10.8-inch screen is slightly smaller than the 12-inch display on the Surface Pro 3, but it has the same 3:2 ratio. Once on your desk, the new Surface 3 hardware looks nearly identical to the Surface Pro 3’s. Unfortunately, like some modern phones, if you drain your Surface 3 completely you’ll be forced to charge it for a minute or two before it boots-an annoyance when you need to use the tablet right now. You can even use an external battery charger.

The new charger design also means your phone’s charger could substitute in a pinch, or if you wanted to cut down on the number of cords you carry. The absence of fan noise is nice, although the Surface Pro 3’s fans are so well designed that the tablet fan noise never climbs louder than a hiss.

The Surface 3’s battery life is about what you’d expect from its somewhat small battery.īecause the processor consumes so little power, Microsoft eliminated fans entirely, passively dissipating heat through the tablet chassis. The extra-efficient chip also means the Surface 3 can have rather small 27Wh battery and yet still last 8.2 hours in our MobileMark 2014 battery rundown test-shorter than the Surface Pro 3’s time, but still enough to get through a fair amount of the day. In part, that’s because the 1.6GHz Intel Atom x7-Z8700 used within the Surface 3 sips power, so it doesn’t need a hulking wall wart. Unbox the Surface 3, and one new feature stands out: the new 13-watt micro USB charger, the same kind of connector used by your cell phone. The Surface 3 uses a charger with a microUSB connector, the same connector found in your cell phone. A tablet upgraded with phone technology Rob Schultz

Surface go 3 keyboard compatibility