Microsoft Surface RT

I am writing this on a very weird yet amazing keyboard; the 3mm thick Touch Cover for the Surface! It received an audible gasp from the crowd when it was announced at Microsoft’s launch event, unlike the tablet itself! Anyway, onto the review, if you would rather watch than read then check out my video review instead.

So, I have had the Surface RT for a good couple of days now and overall the device is great but does have some major drawbacks…

Hardware

The Microsoft surface RT is an interesting device, Microsoft’s second if you count the Xbox as the first and discount all keyboards, mice and other accessories. It is also the first Microsoft product I have actually wanted just for its looks, the only other computer device that has had the same impact for me was the MacBook Air.

Now even though this is Microsoft’s first tablet you can see from the hardware that they have put a lot of thought and effort into its design. And for me that effort shines through in a very particular way.

The widescreen 10.6” ClearType HD Display is great, with a pixel density high enough so you can’t see the pixels when you use the tablet on your desk (and for the stats fans - that’s 1366x768 pixels with a ppi of 148 which is higher than the iPad 2 but shy of the Retina iPad’s 264). Overall the display shows vivid colours and performs well when playing HD video and viewing photos. As good as the display is, it has one major drawback and that is the 16:9 aspect ratio which forces you to use it in landscape, as in portrait it feels so tall that you would spend a lot of time nodding at the display when looking at it from top to bottom. This ratio also makes it uncomfortable to hold in portrait.

The build quality on the Surface RT is exceptional. I think it is one of the most beautiful tablets ever made. This is because it looks different to anything else out there in the market. Even the speaker grilles are beautiful and it is uncluttered with company names and other fluff. Only the Windows 8 logo can be seen on the kickstand and in a matt black that makes you double take to see what it really is. All the noise that is on almost all tablets is under the kickstand of the Surface keeping the device looking clean and minimalist.

The rear facing camera has been mounted at an angle so that when it is on its kick stand the camera is level for video calls – now that’s attention to detail!

One of my favourite aspects of the tablet is the full sized USB port, which at work is an amazing addition. I can go to a meeting and share files with our design team using a flash drive - no more waiting for things to sync up with the cloud. Plus, I can also charge my GS III with it!

I also found the micro HDMI a great feature as it allowed me to hook it up to the flat screens in all our meeting rooms and present or share information from the tablet.

Now, I want to turn my attention to the piece of kit that turns this tablet into a laptop replacement; the two covers you can buy with the device, the Touch and Type. I decided on the Touch Cover rather than the 6mm thick Type Cover. The reason for this is I wanted to keep the tablet as light and thin as possible and still be productive. If you are interested the Type Cover is a great piece of kit and has the addition of key travel which makes it feel more like you are typing on a proper keyboard. As for the Touch Cover it feels like you are typing on the back of an iPad smart cover. You have no idea if you have pressed the key or not. This can feel a little odd at first and Microsoft said to give it a couple of days but to be honest, in about two hours I was touch typing on it with joy. The key is to type with  confidence, just go for it and know that it will get the right response. If you give it an unconvincing tap, it won’t pick it up, which in a way is great because it means you can rest your hands on the keyboard with out the keyboard going mental.

Microsoft put a great deal of effort into the reassuring click when you connect the covers to the surface. So much so that when I was showing a client the device I happily let the device swing from the cover, (the first time I had actually tried that, so it could have gone horribly wrong!) But it didn’t, that click gave me confidence in the manufacturing of the device.

Software

After all that praise it’s time for the cons… No matter how good your hardware is, if your software isn’t up to scratch you only have half a device. And I am afraid, that is where the device falls down for me. I don’t know if Microsoft can be blamed for that but let’s be honest, they are a couple of years late to the party and they have almost no apps that I want to use. In fact, after a week with this thing these are the apps I have installed on the Surface RT:

1. Evernote (no rich text edit)
2. Netflix
3. BBC News
4. Engadget Beta
5. Radiant Defence (game)

That’s it. As empty as the day I got it and that makes me really sad as there aren’t that many apps that I would love to have and I know there are couple of thousand apps in the Marketplace but like most app stores I am uninterested in about 99% of them. Where are Facebook and Twitter? Yes, I know I can just go to the website but HTML5 has not caught up with natively coded apps yet.

Performance on the other hand is decent with issues only arising when loading apps for the first time. The Marketplace app once took a good 30 seconds to load. I had an issue with Youtube.com the video kept stuttering on HD however, after killing a couple of apps it was good to go.

Battery life is also solid, getting me through the day happily, but if you are going to use it as a laptop replacement then expect to charge it regularly as it will only last about 5-7 hours depending on what you are doing. I have found myself leaving my mac at my desk and taking the Surface to all my meetings and note-taking with Evernote.

The look of Windows 8 is great and different, plus the use of live tiles gives you easy, bite-sized chunks of information.

Conclusion

Overall the device is solid, but it is let down by the lack of apps and poor performing software. The saving grace for Microsoft is that as all the issues are with the software, they will no doubt be fixed with the next update, and the Surface will improve over time.