Surface Go—Microsoft's 10-inch, $399 tablet—launches today in 25 markets. Many publications around the Web have had a couple of days to review Microsoft's latest attempt at a cheap(ish) computer, and opinions are surprisingly varied.

Surface Go is a shrunk-down version of the Surface Pro, Microsoft's kickstand-equipped two-in-one tablet/laptop. It has a smaller screen (10-inches, 1800×1200), a weaker processor (an Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y, which is a two-core, four-thread Kaby Lake chip that was launched about 18 months ago), slower and smaller storage (64GB, using an eMMC interface), and reduced battery life (estimated at 9 hours). But it's cheaper. A lot cheaper: the base model is just $399, compared to $799 for the base Surface Pro.

Go keeps all the major Surface design elements: a variable-position kickstand, 8MP rear/5MP front cameras with Windows Hello facial recognition, the Surface Connect magnetic charging and dock port, and a 10-finger multitouch screen with Surface Pen support. It retains the microSDXC card reader and 3.5mm headset jack and adds to this a USB 3.1 generation 1 Type-C port. As with other Surface tablets, Surface Go supports the Type Cover detachable keyboard covers, though because of its new, smaller size, it'll need new, smaller Type Covers. The keys are about 85 percent of full-size, with about 1mm of travel compared to the 1.3mm on the Surface Pro.

For $399, you get 4GB RAM, 64GB of eMMC storage, and Windows 10 Home. An extra $50 upgrades to Windows 10 Pro, and an extra $150 upgrades to 8GB RAM and a 128GB NVMe SSD. The review systems all seem to have been the 8GB/128GB configuration; this means that their storage, in particular, will be considerably quicker than the base 4GB/64GB version. Microsoft has plans to introduce a version with integrated LTE and 256GB storage, but there's no price or availability for these just yet.

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Poor performance

One thing almost every review agrees on is that the Go's processor is slow. The Pentium 4415Y is a 6W processor running at 1.6GHz (with no turbo boosting). As with other Intel chips, that power draw is configurable, and Microsoft has apparently cut it to 4.5W. It should still hit 1.6GHz, but the tighter power envelope means that it will cut back its speed even more aggressively to keep within its thermal budget.

On the one hand, this does mean that the system is fanless, and most reviewers found that it didn't get unpleasantly hot under load. But the performance is weak. The cheapest Surface Pro uses a Core m3-7Y30 chip. This is the same architecture (they're both Kaby Lake chips with two cores and four threads) and a comparable power spec: the m3 is, by default, rated at 4.5W, though it can be configured at up to 7W, and Microsoft appears to use this 7W configuration.

In its normal configuration, it has a base clock speed of just 1GHz, rising to 1.6GHz in the 7W configuration. But it also has turbo boost all the way up to 2.6GHz and 4MB rather than 2MB of cache. In the Geekbench processor benchmark, the m3 in the Surface Pro scores around 3,100 points in the single threaded test and 6,000 in the multithreaded test. The Surface Go's Pentium? Around 2,000 and 4,000, respectively.

This is a big upgrade from the Atom chip used in Microsoft's last attempt at a cheap tablet, the Surface 3, which scores around 1,100 and 2,800. So it certainly could be worse, but clearly there's a sizable performance gap between this Pentium-branded chip and even the slowest of the Core-branded parts.

In practice? Gizmodo wrote that while the system was fine for browsing and mail, it was the slowest system (by far) in a Photoshop benchmark, and it achieved around three frames per second in a Civilization VI test. Engadget found that "complex webpages with embedded video" and OneDrive synchronization both pegged the processor at 100-percent usage, concluding that, while "you'll have no trouble if you're using it to browse a few webpages or watching Netflix," you shouldn't go "overboard" with "dozens of browser tabs" or heavier applications such as Photoshop.

Mashable was less complimentary. The site described the Go as "painfully slow," saying that it "chokes up fast under even light usage." Chrome struggled with "more than a couple of open tabs," and scrolling in Chrome often stuttered, though the reviewer noted that Edge had "almost none of the janky scrolling issues" and works "way better."

But overall? "The slowness is noticeable all throughout Windows 10 on the Surface Go," VentureBeat found similarly, complaining of "noticeable lag" when typing quickly or navigating heavy websites.

Several reviews also expressed concern over the 4GB model; even relatively light browsing workloads can push a machine past 4GB, and at any price point, we find it hard to recommend a 4GB machine in the year 2018.

The low-power processor might be expected to show good battery life, but this was also an issue. The device has a 27Wh battery, and Microsoft estimates that it'll sustain about 9 hours of video playback. Engadget's video test actually clocked in at just shy of 10 hours, which is solid, though far behind the 13 hours, 40 minutes of the Surface Pro in the same test. But Engadget's reviewer found that his "usual workflow" gave about 6 hours of life. Mashable's writer said that his usual workload of a few Chrome tabs and Spotify music gave between 4 and 7.5 hours of life. Ed Bott at ZDNet wrote that he was getting between 5 and 7 hours of productivity work.

At the upper end of these experiences, the Surface Go can just about last the majority of a working day, especially if you're not tied to your keyboard the whole time. But at the lower estimates, this is not a machine that's going to last a whole day or even a long flight. At 4-5 hours of productivity work, you're going to be plugged into the wall more often than not.

Surface is as Surface does

Overall, the performance and battery life are very much compromised in a bid to meet a particular price and size. Everything else, however? It sounds like Microsoft has done a solid job. The recent iterations of the Type Cover keyboards, for example, have been well-liked; they're pleasant to type on, with a crisp feel and a reasonable amount of key travel given their size. The backlit Surface Go Type Cover seems to follow this tradition. The reduced size wasn't to everyone's liking—a PC World reviewer wrote that his average-sized hands "began to cramp after a period of typing," and Mashable's writer complained that he could manage only "30 minutes" before his arms got fatigued due to the "cramped keyboard."

Engadget's reviewer felt, by contrast, that the keyboard "blows away any other tablet" keyboard and compared it particularly favorably to Apple's iPad Pro Smart Keyboard. He said that he had "no trouble" writing long articles on the Go. The Verge's writer said that he didn't have "any issues" with the smaller keyboard or touchpad after taking a couple of hours to acclimate to the size.

The display was broadly liked; 400 nits of brightness was enough for some outdoor usage, with Engadget calling it "gorgeous" and Mashable praising its brightness and viewing angles. But there were a number of complaints about the size of the bezels. The bezels are pretty wide, giving plenty to grab hold of when using the Surface Go as a tablet, but as a laptop a larger screen would be better. The Verge complained that the screen felt "cramped," Mashable wrote that the bezels look "terribly dated," and, similarly, Gizmodo wrote that the bezels feel "quaint."

Build quality, the kickstand, the stylus support, the cameras (including Windows Hello facial recognition), and even the port selection (one USB Type-C port, one Surface Connect charging port, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a microSDXC reader) were universally liked.

Mixed conclusions

So, should you buy one? That's hard to say. Mashable was a fairly unequivocal "no:" for light productivity, a Chromebook or iPad does the job for less money, and the performance is too problematic for anything much beyond that.

On the other side of the coin, Windows Central reckoned that "as a mini-PC [Surface Go] is about as good as you can get," and Ed Bott said, "It's the best cheap PC I've ever used." Gizmodo called it the "perfect representation of what laptops at this price should be."

For everyone else, it depends. TechCrunch says that it's worth a look, but there's no shortage of competition around this price point. Acer and Lenovo, among others, offer decent systems that are a bit cheaper. PCWorld concludes that, if you want a tablet, get an honest-to-god tablet (which is to say, an iPad) rather than a system with Windows 10. But if you want something small and light and might just need the full flexibility of a PC, Go is the system to go for. Engadget acknowledged that the Go is "full of compromises" but that, as a "secondary device," the keyboard and software compatibility give it the edge over other tablets. The Verge concludes similarly: it's "probably not the right thing to be your only computer," but it could have a "real place" as a secondary machine. And VentureBeat took a similar line: if you really want the flexibility of a two-in-one, "you're unlikely to find anything better," but if you want either a laptop or a tablet, "you'll find better options for less."

The price is a particular sticking point; the reviewed spec is $549 for the system, plus either $100 or $130 for the keyboard (the more expensive one being fabric-covered). At $679, it puts you squarely into laptop territory and is a lot more than you'd expect to pay for something like a Chromebook. Compared to the other Surface products, the Go is certainly cheaper, but it's not cheap. To be a winner, Microsoft will need buyers who either put a big premium on the flexibility the machine offers or who place particular value on the design, materials, and build quality.

That may be a tough sell for education customers who are looking at $300 Chromebooks. But for home users and even corporate customers, the Surface Go may yet find a home.