Surface Go 2 review: don't push it 

Can you use the Surface Go 2?

The fact that they haven't used "The Go-to computer" as part of the marketing is criminal

I don't think photoshop is the app anyone would be using in this thing. More like office 365 stuffs.

We need this so that price of the older devices will go down.

It really should start with the m3 and every surface go should include a keyboard.

I think I have the perfect usecase for this thing: I want a Tablet with a pen an keyboard, wich runs Windows

I have the 1st gen and run my small business with it. Signing documents, taking notes, email, Office & web browsing all work well and I often have several apps open at once. I think this is for users who need a productivity device, not for creative types. I was hoping the battery life would be better on this new model but it seems it’s only slightly improved. Not sure the upgrade would be worth it.

He did close the door this time!

This review is frustrating to watch. 1) They won't, and will never, include the keyboard by default. It's because all Surface accessories are backwards and forwards compatible, so you can sweat your accessories if you'd like (your Pro 3 keyboard that came out in 2014 is still fully compatible on your Pro 7. Your Go 1 keyboard is fully compatible with Go 2. Dock, charger, pen - all cross compatible across the family and generations - both forward and backward. If you'd like it bundled - the only real reason you're asking that is so you get it cheaper together. MS does this with promos, which happen at the usual seasonal events (black friday, back to school, end of year holidays, etc). 2) This is the only modern Windows 10 tablet (at that size) in market today - full stop. If you'd like a small screen Windows 10 device, that runs a modern CPU, this is your only choice. All other Windows devices at this screen size run 6 year old Atom processors (discontinued), or a custom generic CPU not from Intel. 3) Stop installing Photoshop on devices to prove a point. Which artists looks at this device and thinks "Yeah! Powerhouse!". This isn't and was never designed for that. It's literally marketed as an "everyday device for everyday use", on it's Ad launch video and on the MS Store website. This means web browsing, Office, Netflix, Spotify, Whatsapp, and other casual apps - again, delivered in the only small Windows 10 tablet in market today. In addition, don't show full Photoshop to prove your point, and then compare to Chrome OS, but don't actually show how full Photoshop doesn't even run on Chrome OS - or compare it to the iPad Air, but don't actually show/mention how iPad OS doesn't run full photoshop. And why is that? Because none of those 3 OS categories, at their base device set, are meant for photoshop. Set a standard, or don't.

I fall into the small slither of the Venn diagram. I have had the original Surface Go since November 2018 and it has been a great addition. I'm an engineering university student and I need windows (running MATLAB, Visual Studio, even Quartus Prime). My original laptop was far too bulky for my daily commute. I now have all of my work in OneNote, make notes during lectures using the pen, and I find that the battery life is adequate when getting through 4 hours of lectures and some lab work. There is a growing number of people on my course that use one.

The Verge: Don't push it. My cat: Well, yes, but actually I already did it.

honestly the way you hid the cat with the review title at 1:17 was just rude 😔

Need more cat

Microsoft should ditch Intel and go with Ryzen 4xxxx series APUs. performance will be +50% at least and battery at least another 4hours

Every RU-vidr thinks every dude at home runs Photoshop 😒. 🤦‍♂️

Gadget head here with the previous Surface GO model. It’s great for an every day carry, that doesn’t weigh down my bag in the field, USB C can plug into a guest HUB if I need a bigger screen, I can fire up word, excel, teams, etc with little compromise. But if I need to do anything more than that, it starts falling short. I also love the new updates on the GO 2, the shrunk bezels, the core m3, etc. But if I really need a spec bump, I’ll probably skip up to a mid spec surface pro 7 or if I really want to live life on the edge, I’d go with the Surface Pro X.

"We're gonna make T-shirts and stuff!" I love Dieter.

Everytime I see a video from Verge, I secretly hope it's by Dieter.

I haven't used my keyboard in months. I just use my Surface for taking notes with the pen. I think there are more uses for this than just a computer. People make the same mistake with the iPad, treating it like a computer replacement.

I think you're missing out on just much people value the surface design aesthetic. I know a lot of college students who love this thing for coffee shop work because it's gorgeous. Nothing else in this price range looks this good while running windows.

I like my surface go for college. It’s easy to carry around and I can write essays on the train, and I like being able to use it for Netflix, and I can use class specific programs (like software for Anatomy/physiology), which I couldn’t on a chrome book or iPad. Also it’s easier to use OneDrive and Office apps (I hate office apps on iPad or even macOS)

Really stellar review. Rarely do you ever see someone who really tells you if you'll get great use out of a device, rather than just breaking down and comparing its specs. You helped me a lot on this one. Thank you.

I appreciate your perspective on this. One benefit of the Go 2 over the iPads is that the front facing camera is situated for landscape mode... the iPad line is configured for portrait. That makes a difference when video conferencing.

are there no other use case scenarios? like really? only Photoshop and word comes to mind always? why is this always the case in all the reviews!? Once a guest lecturer at my college gave a complete presentation about data visualisation, frequently switching between Xcel, PowerPoint AND Microsoft power BI over HDMI on our class projector without any hiccups or problems! Can you guess what device he was using? Surface Go 1! seriously not everyone is fixated with photoshopping, video editing. The fact that all windows device reviews on the verge fixate on this, review after review is just sad and wrong.

Finally, now I can afford the first Surface Go.

1:56 for a second I thought you really had the phone in the hand in front of the screen

Hey, I'm also in the center on that venn diagram :)

It's also really good for uni students traveling to and from uni with, carrying to and from classes with. Its also small enough that it fits on the small lecture theater tables. I used to carry a laptop round and it was 1) to heavy 2) too big and 3) wasn't ideal in classes. Best purchase I ever made for uni x

They need to work with AMD to get something cheaper and better battery life. Everything about it is great besides the specs and battery life.

Can I just say I love Dieter's review SO MUCH. He can literally review ANYTHING in the world and I will totally buy it.

I preordered one and I completely agree with this review. I work as an IT technician and I’m always going places to for my job (fortunately not during quarantine). I needed a portable device that I could quickly look things up, check email, work with files, troubleshoot with, and take notes with. Could an iPad have worked sure but having windows is nice because most of our users are on windows. My point is like he said it’s a niche device that if you have valid reasons for wanting it, it’ll get the job done.

I want a tablet I can watch Netflix on in bed that has a keyboard that I can browse the internet on occasionally that isn't slow and isn't Apple. Is that this?

For most students , this is good for doing homework ( less gaming ) or even doing in-class works. As a parent I don't want my kid to play games all day long on a computer.

It's more of iPad (regular and air) and ChromeOS competitor🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️.. It's to get kids and students to get into Windows rather than ChromeOS. And to recommend any chromebook to anyone in 2020 over windows or iPad is, IMO, stupid. Maybe they'll get better in future but right now? Nope.. But buying Surface go at over $700 is also stupid. Get either an iPad if you want a tablet or get a windows laptop for atleast $500..

Dieter and the editor carries this whole RU-vid page

Im a virgo and i want it 😂

Watching this video on my Surface Go 1. I have mine for almost 2 years and it's great for productivity. Alcatara keyboard and mouse - beautiful work combo. Work uses all Microsoft so I'm aligned. I learned a couple lines of Python using the Go too.

I'm going to be honest, if Windows 11 really is a step up with touch input that it feels like a tablet, im replacing my Android tablet with this. No question

Surface 3 was the best surface ever MADE

Yay he closed the door 👍👍👍

This is my favorite device. I can stream RU-vid videos on 4K for 3-4 hours and end up with battery life in between 51-55. It’s great to draw. I ya great for office. It’s amazing to take bots with, especially if you use one note. It’s very easy to grab and go and for the most part it’s pretty fast. When I am watching my 4K RU-vid I don’t experience any interruptions with buffering. I can even do maybe a small game on it. Speakers, mics, and camera are super great. The kickstand as always is a huge pro. Windows hello face works great on it as well. I have the base model ($399.00 USD) with the black microfiber type cover and black Surface pen. I have no complaints about my device.

I really like your reviews. I work as a software developer and nowadays I have learnt to ask the same question that you ask every time, "Who are we making this software for?" Asking this question really puts into perspective what you want to achieve and for whom. Sometimes people get bogged down with specs and features but at the end I think the thing we should really be bogged down is for whom we are doing this

The reason why I REALLY need windows is that I have an old Chromebook and it is just way to slow I can't do online school work without being glitched out. The body of my Chromebook is also fully plastic and that makes it look like a cheap sucker. For me this a cheap upgrade, windows are more useful than IOS and Chrome OS. Plus I would never buy a product from Apple because they only care about the fortune they make from cheap low-quality devices.

I love how he explains it in a layman’s term especially for someone who has no clue about tech related stuffs 😅

I used my Go exclusively when I went through my MBA and it was able to handle everything I needed it to. Tableau visualizations, python programming, Photoshop, light video editing, and typing my thesis. Best of all it weighs next to nothing and I still bring it everywhere with me. Although I might just be used to slow computers since I was used to a 2012 iMac.

The Surface Pro got really good at 3. Hopefully they'll be able to do the same with the Go.

Oh come on Dieter: just buy a used Xeon server, upgrade ssd and ram, put fedora server on it, setup vnc, setup firewall ports, install windows 7 in a vm, setup RDP, install office and every shait you need; then buy a raspberry, an argonone case, a huge battery, a portable monitor, usb wireless mouse and keyboard, usb hub, glue everything togheter and cable manage properly, buy a fast microsd card, flash manjaro arm64 on it, setup remmina to connect RDP to win7 VM on server. Move the damn thing wherever you need then call Paul and shout your love for linux. Ciao. :)

I play WoW and Minecraft on my Surface Go 1 with a Pentium processor. I can download torrents, and run full OS. I can pull the keyboard off for movies. I can do none of those things together on an iPad or MacBook.

Idk man, I love the idea of having a nice, small tablet running full Windows 10, but I just couldn't live with the compromises. That's why I ended up getting a boring, traditional but spec-loaded Dell last November- and that still ran me only $550. Microsoft needs to find a way to get better processors in their Surface devices. Better battery life too!

if you keep following verge 's reviews you are going to go broke with all the apple products they endorse . It makes you wonder if there get paid to through mentions of their products here and there

It's a really honest review. I have a surface go 1. I am also in the center of that diagram: I already own a much more powerful machine for work, I need a laptop like computer to use randomly at home when I need to do things that don't fit on mobile, and I want it with windows because i am a developer and occasionally I want to do fun programming with Visual Studio Code, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Ipads or Chromebooks do not handle that.

This review in a nutshell, a Apple fanatic reviewing non-Apple products. This review so biased and idiotic to watch. All he was simply bashing a product. Not a genuine review. 0% facts 100% hate.

I came in here ready to roast this review for being the standard “Verge” style of invalidating the desktop experience to ride Apple’s jock... realistically though, it just reinforced how my life with the Surface Go went. I bought a Surface Go, pitched in that extra for the better processor... and it did everything I needed perfectly! Loved the size, it was really comfortable to use, and I actually found it decently competent for a select range of games...but I just couldn’t get over the fact that I spent over $800 to get a decent processor with keyboard and stylus... took it all back, and got a core i5 Surface Pro 4 off FB marketplace for $350... that came with stylus/keyboard. I really, really liked the size of that Surface Go... once that price goes way, way down I could see myself getting Surface Go 2.

Lol using photoshop on an M3. Thinking about it doesn't even make sense. That's like trying to run a sub 10 secs quarter mile run in a VW Polo. It'll get to the quarter mile, but it won't be sub 10 secs. I mean like duh.

I still use my Surface 3 to travel. I'm sure the Surface Go is a pretty dope travel companion.

I don't really need it but I was still conciser it to use it to take digital notes that I can also take by hand

I have the first Go (8gb model) for a few years now and its a very handy second device, especially for travel or vacation, you can play a lot of steam indie titles, use light photoshop, illustrator, and many other things. also is pretty convenient to charge with a powerbank via usb C, i prefer windows over any apple product . This second generation doesnt look like a must have upgrade though

If you are looking to buy this take a look at the Lenovo duet. It's $249 at Best buy.

I click video to see if Deiter reviewed it, thankfully yes so continued to watch.

I just got my Surface Pro 2 for $200 and it runs photoshop better than this. 😐

How long until ultra books switch to AMD?

Acer and Lenovo would have a better option with better sspec for even better price. Surface Go should have come with only the ME model and 8gb of ram as default. Also, keyboard should be included. Windows without keyboard is not even legitimate prudent. Have you ever seen anyone with surface who doesn't use the keyboard? 4G is not even a social feature anymore. We're not in 2007 where adding some card isa special feature. Now, you can get $30 phone with 4G. And the price should be around $499 - $599 to to be competitive. Then it would be an essential student product.

Fire the editor who had cover that beautiful cats face at 1:15 with the caption. We deserved to see more of that cat 🐈

Don't listen to this guy, I get over 10 hours of continuous YouTubing viewing (50% brightness with Bluetooth, Wifi, and battery saver on). No problems running Microsoft Office apps, notetaking, or statistical software (R-studio). My SG2 (8 ram, 128 ssd, Pentium Gold) was only $389US and keyboard was $43US (on sale).

I love how they try to use Photoshop or edit video in literally any computer, as if it'd be a good reference for this device's purpose.

Geekbench 5 SG2 m3 chip = 873 2020 base model MBA i3 = 983 Cinebench R20 SG2 m3 chip = 460 2020 bsse model MBA i3 =620 Cost SG2 m3 chip = $629US ($40-$50 keyboard/ $45-$55 pen at Amazon) 2020 base model MBA i3 = $949US (no pen, touch screen, microSD) Once again, Apple's marketing team, I mean "The Verge", is completely wrong...lol

It's an iPad with a proper operating system instead of iOS. That's all you really need to say in order to justify this thing.

ok, I'm one of those tiny number of people. I'm not a gear head. I need Office and I want to store the surface in my tiny 8.5" by 12" desk drawer, hooked up to a monitor and a blue tooth full size keyboard -- and have the flexibility to take it out of the drawer and use like a tablet or a laptop while sitting on the sofa or an airplane. I was 100% sold until you mentioned battery life. Ouch. I have an Amazon Fire tablet with MUCH more battery life than that. *sigh* Has battery life improved in 2021??

This is actually perfect for me. I do a lot of woodworking at home, I like to use design programs to get my ideas on "paper" and always end up taking my laptop around the shop with me. I like how this has a stylus and a detachable keyboard. The only other thing I use my laptop for is browsing anyway, not running any demanding programs. Definitely going to keep my eye out for a sale

I am sorry, but Photoshop takes a while to load up even on much bigger and supposedly much more powerful laptops, so an one-second shot of Surface Go2 loading Photoshop does not mean anything. You are making a misleading and invalid point.

Dieter, you're amazing at reviewing things...

"8gb is enough for windows to not be a sufferfest" What do mean, i run windows 10 on my laptop, it runs fine. My laptop has a weak cpu and 4gb ram, so i dont know what your talking about

My friend has a surface go that she uses for college and she loves it. Takes (took) notes in class, watches Netflix, browse the web, and can even download some audio apps for her now online jazz band class. She has had no complaints

tl;dw: It's Microsoft hardware (which is great), but it's still Microsoft software (which definitely isn't). Move on, consider picking it up if it there's a version that comes with an operating system that has any kind of quality assurance.

I guess this would work perfectly on a laboratory. Keeping notes, maintaining spreadsheets, using an electronic labjournal. Why would you run Ps or Illustrator on this?

All i do is browse, watch netflix and use ms word. Would you recommend me this?

2:58 Price wise you are comparing the surface go to the cheapest iPad but here you are showing a clip of the most expensive iPad...

I ditched my iPad mini, which I liked a lot, for the original Surface Go, and I have been very happy with it. I go everywhere with my SG, with all the benefits of an iPad with the added benefit of being able to run my Office 365 business apps. I leave Photoshop[/Lightroom for my Surface Book. I am always interested when reviewers default to the "cool" apple products like the iPad Pro, which to my mind is a near useless device save for media content because of the limitations of iOS. I am considering upgrading to the SG2, just as I might have considered an iPad upgrade had I not left the iOS/Mac ecosystem.

I got a Go 2 to go with my Book 2 that I've had lol and I'm excited for it

If i were to use this just for college (note taking, watching youtube, writing essays etc.) and switch out of windows s, would it be worth to buy? I definitely need the windows 10, hence why im not getting an ipad

Let me know when you’re taking orders for those t shirts you mentioned I’m a medium 😁

I'm an English teacher who's been working from home lately, but goes to students to teach private classes. I also go to University, so I need to watch lessons, while taking notes. I have tried tablets and IMO they fail miserably at multitasking, they're just portable. I definitely want a GO2 because I need to run at least two windows at parallel to each other, during my classes or university, watch youtube, and do some seldom picture or video editing. There's also the occasional office suit use, as well as skype, zoom and other tools, which I believe this version of Surface can easily handle.

When you actually in school and you use a used surface pro 5.

the Surface Go is not built for heavy lifting, use it for web based stuff like remote logins and video conferencing

I edited my school project video last year on my Surface Go. You just need to pick the right app.

Hey! I have a doubt and maybe someone in the comments can help me: I'm a college student, trying to buy a tablet to carry every day to class to take notes, read pdf, make researches and in the train going home maybe see some youtube videos or Netflix shows... I'm thinking of buying the surface go 2 but I would only be able to afford the 4GB one... or maybe buying the surface go 1 used and I can afford the 8GB... or an old surface pro but I'm afraid that might be too big to carry... What do you think?? Thank you for reading all of this😂

Another classic 'Non-Apple device' review by The Verge then.....

Download Throttlestop to get the SG2's Pentium Gold to run as fast as an i5 processor. Unlike high-performance mode, it won't destroy battery life. I still get around 10 hours of continuous RU-vid viewing.

As a facilities manager, you won't believe how much I appreciate this device. I have the 1st gen 8GB/128 model, and the very size of it while running full Windows has allowed me to work with ease almost everywhere on site. I generally use Office at work (with a few Chrome tabs) and the Pentium processor was surprisingly capable, so it's probably a great solution for those in a similar industry. But I do agree with one thing, the battery life could be better though.

They are all hating on the M3 8100Y. It's really powerful with dual core, hyperthreading and turbo boost. They are as powerful as many older ultrabooks.

Dieter’s cat at 1:22 😂

I have the first edition, 399. Runs basic 365 and chrometabs smooth. I love it, great mix between a usefull tablet and computer. Something the Ipad cant do. Even run my monitor with it its cool.

I’m a Virgo and my wife’s a Scorpio....SOLD!

Literally over a minute and a half to get to the point. Stop the slapstick comedy routine and just get to the point.

I run virtual machines, photoshop, iis express, xampp and visual studio 2019 on my first gen surface go... just saying...

What an excellent presenter you are! Awesomely creative and enterprising!!! Cool and love it !!!

I Need Bigger Version of this Tablet!!! 14/15inch Must be Awesome!!! 😍😍😍

Looking for a device for Itunes, to connect and move music files from external devices, Netflix, e mail. Don’t want a keyboard as long as it’s touchscreen. Don’t need a camera or want to draw or edit photos. Thinking this might work for me...thoughts? Thank you in advance. 🇨🇦

Last time I was this early, I wasn’t born.

They should've used an amd cpu lmao