Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Review (Intel) 

I tried the Surface pro X. Awesome hardware but windows on arm is still pretty bad. Almost any other OS performs better. And if you want windows specific applications, better to stick with Intel or amd for worry free compatibility. This with a thunderbolt dock and egpu and monitor could be awesome. Expensive though.

@PinmaAmnip some people enjoy watching weird videos. It's just not for me. I like this simple straightforward and pleasant style. Not trying to bring anyone down. I think it's great when young people pursue their passion. Best of luck to them.

Thanks, though that makes me feel kinda old ;). I like what folks of all ages do in the tech space on RU-vid, but yeah, we are definitely low key on the flashy bits... just not my personality (even when I was younger LOL).

Well said. I also am a big fan of the t-shirts.

@PinmaAmnip yeah so cringy . as if like OP was never young people lol

Not to many talk about the dock, to me the dock makes these device lendendary .

I didn't go down the MS dock route but rather a third party usb-c dock with power delivery. Less than half the price, works really well and has more ports. I don't have anything connected to the proprietary port at all on my surface pro 7.

@@mobiletechreview Lisa, Actually while I love the Dock 2 it's still a bit clunky detecting my monitor at times lol. I have a Surface Go 3 tablet which only has 1 USB C port so the dock is nice in that it leaves the port free.

The dock is super nice, the magnetic connection is actually really sweet.

I want to buy pro 9? I don't know wait for pro 10 or buy pro 9. Is pro 10 battery will be better than 9?

@@nasergh9354just buy Pro 11 with X Elite. You won’t be disappointed.

its horrible. They are a scam with the battery claiming "up to 16 hours of battery life" but thats if you have nothing opened and have the lowest settings on as possible. The MOST you will get is 6 hours with only ONE tab open..

I also have Surface Pro 8, using it as a desktop replacement, tablet, laptop, drawing device and occasionally for gaming. It's just so insanely versantile and well built, with slim and light body on top. It's been awesome mostly, but at the same time plagued with problems like heating (just watching RU-vid for long enough makes it warm to the touch, not to even speak of photoshop, drawing becomes uncomfortable without external fans), 4K 60hz not working with Microsoft "approved" drivers, random blue screens, etc. But, it's just the form factor I want, I wouldn't trade it to anything else at the moment despite these problems (which I've actually managed to solve mostly, except for the blue screens, but they occur quite rarely so whatever.)

Just buy a case for it. That solves accidentally pressing the buttons

How is the battery working? How many hours can lasting?

@@panzalvyu Haven't actually counted, but I usually use it about an hour each day and recharge it every 1.5 weeks when it gets low under 20%.

I'll go with the Intel version, too.

U will be disappointed with battery life,only 4 -5 hours

agreed. at least the charge transformer is small and light, unless you're working in the wild there will be sockets around, I'm surprised people carry a battery pack around in an urban setting at least. I have a pro 4 with a cracked screen and falling apart keyboard so looking at getting the 9 used, but from your comment it sounds like getting the 8 might be the more sensible purchase. Is that the case? I'd use it for a bit of everything, web browsing, drawing/design and some 3d modelling.

​@@subspaceanomaly Everything you have said makes sense. I tend to carry the charger with me and usually find a place to plug it in. Also ...If you are using the trackpad and the USB-C port to charge it, the trackpad will eventually be impacted and stop working as efficiently while connected to a charger or a battery. It does not affect the Bluetooth mouse if you are using it. BTW - that has been a challenge for machines of this type forever, and I have always had this challenge. Regarding getting the SP8 or SP9: I would normally say, "Get the SP8 'cos you will not see any performance benefit from going to the 9". However, the issue I have now, and I am leaning towards getting an SP9 for my wife instead of an SP8, is the battery life degradation. If you picked up an SP8 now, that is used - that battery has been used for a year or more. That will degrade it, and because the SP battery is not its best feature - starting from a degraded battery is something you might notice. If you were purchasing a new SP8, you would not have a problem and I would probably say "go for it". Beware of refurbished SP8s. They do NOT swap out the battery as it may have only degraded by about 20%, and they couldn't justify junking the battery for that. It does mean that you get a machine with only 80% chargeability on a machine that, even at 100%, is lacking compared to other machines of its type. What do you think? BTW...I am still enjoying my SP9. I love using it. Love taking it with me. I love it as a tablet and a PC and use it a lot. I also have a surface laptop studio, which is my desk machine, but I keep both synced so I can start a project on one and go out to complete it on the other. It works excellently. I use them with an ASUS external screen (especially in coffee shops, etc). It makes for a compact setup, and I can get much done. I would not be without my Surface Pro. It is a fabulous machine, and I am open to finding one that serves me better, but I have not found anything that either does or seems that it could. I have a Kindle tablet that is great when I use it but I hardly use it. I wanted to get a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra 14.6", but I need help thinking of something I would do with it that I don't already have and do with the SP9. An iPad wouldn't help me, and no other Windows or Android tablets do anything special that I need. I thought about getting a remarkable 2. OneNote and the SP9 do the same job, and I can organise the notes in ways that the remarkable cannot. Seriously - I don't see what else I need or could fit into my life that the surface does not already do ....even with all its faults. I have the i7 16gb and I updated the SSD to 1TB. I think I'll probably update that to a 2 or 4-TB SSD towards the end of this year. I hope that is helpful. (Pls forgive the typos if any are left.)

@@iu1191 very helpful, thankyou for your time writing that. I've been looking on ebay (in the uk) and used surface pro 8 prices are barely 10% lower than almost new pro 9s despite at this point they could be almost 3 years old.. My use case and general finances don't really support a big splurge but it is looking like there isn't much logic to over spending on a used one either. I've also been looking at first gen surface studio laptops.. they seem great. If I wasn't planning on travelling most of the year I would get one of those but was surprised to read that the surface pro 9 is actually more powerful than the old laptop studio. The other thing putting me off is my surface pro 4 has no fan and have read that people with the 8 and 9s have them sounding like aeroplanes just playing a youtube video. Though I put this down to a vocal minority complaining (justifiably) online when reviewers say the fan only turns on under heavy load. But good call on the battery argument, I had thought of it instinctually but not practically. I'll just try and grab a 9 but wait it out a bit for a deal. Hopefully the 10 will be the fanless wonder machine it pretends to be.. Sounds like you have enough gizmos.. enjoy them and stop looking at new gadgets would be my advice, as you say, the surface does it all.

it seem that it was Microsoft Journal for note-taking

What was frustrating for you with the pen issue?

For Surface Pro 9, all except the Core i7 are fanless.

Indeed, but this should be tested as a laptop, not as a desktop chained to a power supply. I never use my SP8 on power, and want to know what I get in optimised settings on battery, as of course battery life is important when out and about. Window's OEMs cheat by reducing performance to fake battery life, yet get a pass by their true fandom.

For PCs, we test it as the manufacturer ships it (their default power plan), since most users never change it from factory settings. We always benchmark with a PC plugged into AC given the significant performance drop when unplugged.

@@andyH_England You don't own a SP8...

@@mobiletechreview How do you know most users never change it from factory setting? Intel and Android users aren't Apple users...

@@msp5138 Because the vast majority of purchases are businesses, schools, and lay people. Believe it or not, us tech-savvy people are still the minority of the population.

No they are horrible. They are a scam with the battery claiming "up to 16 hours of battery life" but thats if you have nothing opened and have the lowest settings on as possible. The MOST you will get is 6 hours with only ONE tab open..