The Full HD (1920 x 1080) ClearType HD screen on the Surface Pro 2 is pitched as being more accurate than its predecessor’s, and the difference is noticeable, though not necessarily a big one – a side-by-side comparison with the original Surface Pro’s screen shows the new model as subjectively closer to “balanced” colour temperature, compared to the very slight blue cast on the old model. There’s very little to criticise about the Surface Pro 2’s screen – it’s bright and contrasty at all viewing angles, and the optically-bonded panel means there’s little gap between the stylus tip and the display being drawn on. The screen on the Surface Pro 2 is easily on par with the best tablet screens other manufacturers have to offer. If there’s one nitpick with the screen, it’s that its reflectivity is somewhat distracting in bright sunlight, though no worse than any other tablet we’ve played with.

On the back, we see the first change, and it’s purely cosmetic – the Windows logo silkscreened on the back of the first-gen Surface Pro has been swapped with the Surface text logo itself. I prefer the older design myself, but it’s definitely not a big deal either way. The biggest external change, however, is the kickstand mechanism. The Surface Pro 2 adds a second, larger angle to the original Surface Pro’s single-position stand; and allows the tablet to balance well on your lap, and on the desk – where the user does not need to slouch to view the screen head-on. We’d like to see a third, shallower angle on the kickstand, or even a variable-angle kickstand like on the Sony Tap 11, but the stand on the Surface Pro 2 is a definite improvement over its predecessor.

Unlike the obvious outward cosmetic changes on the Windows RT-based Surface 2, the Surface Pro 2 has seen very few changes on its exterior from its predecessor. For starters, it’s clad in the same VaporMg casing with the same matte black coating as the Surface Pro, which gives a very strong feeling of solidity and quality, but is a little too slippery in my opinion and happens to be a huge fingerprint magnet. From the front, the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 are identical; especially from the sides where they’re just as identical, with the selection of USB 3.0, microSDXC and mini DisplayPort ports unchanged from the original Surface Pro. The thickness and weight are the same, too – which is unfortunate, as both could definitely be improved for hand-held use. Though, neither are as huge a deal as the thin-and-light crowd would have you believe, as there’s little noticeable difference when carried around in a bag.

It’s a good enough tablet, and a good enough laptop

The Surface Pro 2 comes with a Wacom compatible stylus included in the package, which does a good job of conveying brush strokes and pressure sensitivity in Windows Store-based applications such as Fresh Paint (included out of the box), and Autodesk Sketchbook Express. Unfortunately, proper stylus support for desktop apps such as Adobe Photoshop isn’t included out of the box, so users looking to pick up a Surface Pro 2 for professional graphics work will need to download the required drivers from the Wacom website. The other issue we’ve observed is that stylus accuracy around the edges of the screen is quite mediocre out of the box, and worse at the corners of the screen, and that installing the Wacom drivers only exacerbates the issue. It’s an issue that can be solved through manual calibration, but we’d like to see better stylus performance and compatibility without needing to install separate software and drivers and perform time-consuming manual calibration. Finally, there’s no dedicated slot for the stylus within the tablet, which leaves the Surface pen without a home (and in danger of being lost) if either the charger or the external graphics adapter are plugged in.

The other major features on the exterior of the Surface Pro 2 are the cameras and speakers, both of which are adequate, but neither of which are much to write home about. The 720p units in the front and back of the tablet are perfectly acceptable for Skype or video conferencing, but little more than that, and frankly, I’m okay with that – putting a high-quality rear camera in the back of a tablet only encourages people to become tablet photographers, which, if you’ve been anywhere near a concert or public event, you’ll agree should be discouraged. The front-facing camera could definitely be improved for HD video calling, however. The speakers are on the left and right sides of the tablet underneath the cooling vents, and are roughly what you’d expect for side-facing tablet speakers – somewhat tinny and lacking bass. If there’s one thing Samsung have done right with their tablets, it’s the front-facing speakers – they make a significant difference in the multimedia experience, and Microsoft would do well to bring them to the Surface line. Luckily, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, and audiophiles could potentially attach a USB DAC to drive serious sound systems.

The biggest changes to the Surface Pro 2 are on the inside; the processor has been upgraded to a 4th-generation Haswell chip, the Intel Core i5-4200U, which provides about the same level of performance as its predecessor’s Ivy Bridge CPU, but with improved battery life (which we’ll see in the benchmarks section). Storage, while still on the mSATA interface, has been upped from the 64/128GB options on the original Surface Pro to include 256GB and 512GB SSD options alongside the existing sizes. The 256GB and 512GB models also receive a boost to 8GB DDR3L RAM, which should help in memory-intensive situations. We’ll go into more detail on how these hardware changes affect performance later on, but suffice it to say that the Surface Pro 2 delivers Ultrabook levels of performance in a tablet form factor.

The active cooling fan and vents that line the Surface Pro 2 might indicate that the performance that the Intel processor brings comes at a cost of lots of noise and heat, but surprisingly that’s not always the case. The fans only seem to kick in when the system is really being pushed to its limits, such as multithreaded photo and video editing applications, Flash-heavy websites, and intensive games; otherwise, the Surface Pro 2 remain as silent as the fanless ARM and Atom-based iOS, Android and Windows RT tablets. When the fans do run, the sound made is more of a quieter whoosh rather than a high-pitched whine, which is a non-issue in all but the quietest environments. The Surface Pro 2 does get quite a lot warmer than the aforementioned mobile OS-first tablets, however; it seems that Microsoft has tuned the power settings towards letting the tablet reach a higher thermal profile before letting the fans kick in. If you’re particularly susceptible to sweaty palms, the tablet’s casing can get quite uncomfortable to hold, especially under load, though flipping an attached Touch Cover (or Type Cover, attached in reverse) to the back provides a surer grip.

Finally, we’ve also got the updated Type Cover 2 alongside the Surface Pro 2, and it’s both a step forward and a step back from the original Type Cover. The keyboard is the step forward – the typing action is firmer and the key travel feels a little deeper than the original, while retaining the full key size that made the Type Cover an impressive keyboard to type on. The keys are also now backlit, which will please some; I’ve not personally found backlit keys important for my use, but it definitely helps usability in less well-lit environments. The step back is the trackpad – it’s marginally smaller than the trackpad on the original Type Cover, and is now made of the same vinyl-like material as the rest of the Type Cover 2’s casing, which makes the trackpad hard to differentiate from the palm rest by feel alone. The trackpad on the Type Cover 2 is adequate for single-finger pointing, but its limited area means multi-finger gestures such as scrolling or pinch-to-zoom are cumbersome to perform. It’s also quite susceptible to accidental taps, which gets in the way during extended typing. The mouse buttons are just as annoying – unlike the physical buttons present on the original Type Cover, the Type Cover 2 reverts to touch-sensitive pads identical to those found on the Touch Cover and Touch Cover 2, and their action feels incongruous with the typing action offered on the keyboard. If you do pick up a keyboard accessory for the Surface Pro 2 (or the Surface 2) and don’t need a backlit keyboard, try to pick up the original Type Cover if you can – or be prepared to pick up a Bluetooth mouse.