Price hike
Aside from the storage space issues on my Surface Book 2, the other big limitation was 8GB of RAM. If you buy the weakest version of the Surface Book 3, a Core i5 with integrated graphics, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, you’re going to suffer exactly the same limitations. Hardly fa ta l, bu t a bugbear.
If you can afford the extra £400 – and yes, the price really does jump from £1,599 to £1,999 without passing Go – you double up the RAM, gain a Core i7 and enjoy GeForce graphics, but are stuck with that 256GB SSD. Which means that the first spec with a 512GB SSD costs £2,449, with the only compensation coming in 32GB of
RAM. If you want 1TB of storage, you’ll need to pay £2,699 for the top-end consumer model.
It’s a similar story for the 15in Surface Book 3, but this range starts at £2,199 for a Core i7/16GB/256GB combo, with a 32GB/512GB variant for £2,699 and a 1TB model for £2,899. None of these are going to win gongs for value.
Speed boost
Whichever version you buy, you’re going to see a speed hike over the previous Surface Book, but don’t expect miracles. As we frequently point out, a slender body with minimal cooling opportunities means that the processor won’t run at full pelt for long before red flags start appearing and they’re told to slow down. So it is here.
I tested the Core i7-1065G7 version, and in short bursts it’s very quick indeed: that’s well illustrated by this laptop’s performance in our photoediting test, which took it 74 seconds compared to 98 seconds for the Core i7 Surface Book 2. Similarly, a 1,276 result in the single-core Geekbench 5 test beats any current AMD Ryzen mobile chip.
If you’re looking for a system to tear through 3D renders, though, you’re far better off with a “proper” laptop. To use a handy example, the humble Honor MagicBook 14 ( see p65) took 90 seconds to finish our photoediting benchmark – significantly slower than the Surface Book – but then completed our multitasking test in 23 minutes. Compare that to 34 minutes for the Surface Book 3.
Microsoft would have shaved some time off if it had chosen a faster SSD. While sequential read speeds of 1,702MB/sec are excellent, those tailed off to 555MB/sec when writing. Probably not enough of a slowdown to make much difference in most real-world tasks, but a potential bottleneck nonetheless.
3D effects
One of the advantages of including the discrete Nvidia graphics chip in the base of the unit is that you give it more room to keep cool, and that means it won’t throttle back during games. Note, though, that you’ll still suffer when playing games that are CPUlimited, and I saw this most obviously during testing with Dirt: Showdown. From cold, the Surface Book averaged 104.3fps at 1080p (with High settings), but this dropped to 78.1fps when it was still running hot after a benchmarking session.
Both of those rates are more than playable, and if you stick to lower resolutions and unchallenging detail settings then you should find the Surface Book 3 can tackle modern games. Where you will struggle is playing games at the panel’s native resolution of 3,000 x 2,000; it spluttered to an average of 34.7fps in Metro: Last Light (High quality) at this resolution, but managed 52.3fps at 1080p.
Note that its gaming skills inevitably drop even further if you switch to the tablet alone, as it then relies on Intel’s integrated graphics. It managed only 38.4fps at 1080p in Dirt: Showdown, while its score in the GFXBench Car Chase off-screen test dropped from 152fps to 53fps.
After hours
“At the start of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, for example, the drums sound like drums rather than someone tapping on margarine tub lids”
Where you will thoroughly enjoy using the Surface Book 3 for afterhours entertainment is when watching films. Back in the days when cross-Atlantic flights were a thing, I spent many a happy hour watching films on my Surface Book 2 – this is another time where its detachable screen comes to the fore, as you can detach it, flip the base around 180° and then reattach it. The screen moves closer to you and won’t get banged by a reclining seat in front.
While I obviously haven’t had the opportunity to put this to the test for the Surface Book 3, the screen appears to be identical. A peak brightness of 368cd/m2 is great for every environment except bright sunshine (and even then it’s usable), while its colour performance is exemplary: it covers 90.6% of the sRGB gamut with an average Delta E of 0.85. A 1,624:1 contrast ratio adds yet further to its punchy appeal.
My only caveat is that its Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 coverage aren’t so strong, at 62.3% and 64% respectively. While that rules it out for print designers, don’t be put off if you’re a Netflix addict as dark scenes still render superbly on this device.
It appears that Microsoft has upgraded the speakers. Whereas listening to music on the Book 2 was a chore due to sounds crunching together, it’s much clearer on the Book 3. At the start of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, for example, the drums sound like drums rather than someone tapping on margarine tub lids.
Microsoft has made a similar tweak to the front-facing webcam, which is still a 5-megapixel unit but now produces discernible detail. Not to give you nightmares, but my two-day-old stubble was clearly visible on the Book 3 whereas it looks more like grey fuzz on the Book 2. All of this means that if you’re looking