Microsoft Surface 3 review
Will it be third time lucky for Microsoft's Surface?

The Microsoft Surface 3 is comfortably the best of the lower-cost Surface hybrids to date. The sum of improvements made to the hardware, both in the tablet part and the keyboard, and full Windows 8.1’s flexibility make it a very workable portable companion to a more powerful desk-bound laptop or desktop.
-
+
Good screen quality; greatbattery life; strong removable keyboard
-
-
Low CPU and storage performance; limited RAM; Fiddly to use on lap
Another impressive feat of industrial design in the keyboard is the backlight, adjustable using a keyboard shortcut. Few laptops at the price have keyboard backlights, a sign that with the Surface 3, a buyer benefits from higher-end features that have dripped down to entry-level.
Display
The screen is another good example of this. The Surface 3's display is 10.8 inches across and 1,920 x 1,280 pixels in resolution. This is the 3:2 equivalent of 1080p, and gets the tablet very good, if not quite iPad Air-grade, sharpness.
This is easiest' resolution Microsoft could have chosen too. Higher-resolution QHD-or-greater Windows laptops and tablets often suffer from scaling issues, Windows 8.1 doesn't deal with the problem as elegantly as OS X. Every application will have been made with 1080p screens in mind, largely sidestepping the issue.
While the tablet is not designed to accept all that many non-native resolutions at full screen, it will handle 1080p fullscreen apps perfectly well. In this instance, the Surface 3 simply puts small black bars above and below the screen area.
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
-
Is ChatGPT making us dumber? A new MIT study claims using AI tools causes cognitive issues, and it’s not the first – Microsoft has already warned about ‘diminished independent problem-solving’
News A recent study from MIT suggests that using AI tools impacts brain activity, with frequent users underperforming compared to their counterparts.
By Ross Kelly Published
-
Hackers are using Microsoft 365 features to bombard enterprises with phishing emails – and they’ve already hit more than 70 organizations
News A new phishing campaign uncovered by researchers at Varonis shows threat actors are abusing Microsoft 365's Direct Send feature to launch phishing attacks.
By Emma Woollacott Published
-
Plans announced to resurrect former steelworks as a ‘green’ data center
News Plans have been put forward to transform the former Ravenscraig steelworks in Scotland into a green AI data center.
By Ross Kelly Published