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Microsoft Surface Book 2 (HMW-00009) review

Microsoft Surface Book 2 (HMW-00009)

CHOICE Expert Rating

73%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Long battery life in our tests when used as a laptop
  • Base has its own battery
  • Very good storage read speeds in our tests
  • Very good screen in our tests
  • Very good keyboard
  • Very good touchpad
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Relatively sluggish Wi-Fi speed in our tests
  • Very slow to charge to 80 per cent in our tests when used as a laptop
  • Not as well balanced as a regular laptop when used on a lap
  • Stylus not supplied
  • Small amount of connectivity built in (2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB-C, SD card slot)
  • Lots of preinstalled software that makes the Start menu look cluttered

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
Windows 10 Pro

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
73%
Performance score
58%
Tablet use score
79%
Ease of use score
77%
Battery life score
71%
Display score
85%
Audio score
55%
Wi-Fi score
66%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
338
Storage read-speed (MBps)
2638
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
27
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
7:35
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
2:16
Expert tester comments
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 won't blow you away with its performance (even though its price might suggest otherwise), but it's a tablet-first laptop with all the processing power residing behind the screen. Its desktop base adds extra battery life (there is also a model with a graphics card included in the base) and allows it to be used reasonably well as a traditional laptop. Consider this if you're primarily after a stellar tablet, but also want a notebook computer. Note that the price does not include a stylus, for which you have to pay extra. Note: This laptop's performance is not directly comparable to current products due to it being tested with an older version of our benchmark.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
C
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not collected

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$2,197.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
13.5
Native screen resolution (pixels)
3000 x 2000
Processor (CPU) type
Intel Core i5-7300U
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.6
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
Intel HD Graphics 620
Storage capacity (GB)
256
Available user space (GB)
205
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.5
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.2
Size (mm, H x D x W)
23 x 232 x 312

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
0
USB 3.0 ports
2
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
1
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
3

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