Since its first release in 2012, the original Microsoft Surface wasn’t able to impress most its target consumers. Mainly due to the high price tag and offering much less, compared to the already available convertible laptops on the market. To make matters even worse, Microsoft added the Windows RT into the mix, which allowed users to run small number of selected apps available only on the Windows Store. This did leave a sour taste for the Surface series for many. Years have passed since then; with the passing years the Surface tablets have improved drastically. The same couldn’t be said for the tablet’s market share and Microsoft finally had a chance to change that with the Surface GO lineup. But, yet again, they had to blow it up for themselves.
In a world, where competition is blooming in the tech sector, the only way to attract more customers is providing products with high price to spec ratio. This is getting clearer day by day. So clear that even the mighty Apple had to do something about it, and hence the Apple iPhone SE came to be. The Microsoft Surface GO 2’s $400 price tag hit the sweet spot for many consumers looking for a cheap tablet to replace their old primary laptop or someone wanting a new secondary tablet. However, history repeats itself, Microsoft made the same mistake with the Surface GO that they did with the original Surface.
Surface Go 2 Offers Too Less for The Price
Let’s be honest, no one expects a $400 tablet to run like a $1300 Surface Book, but what people expect from the device is a bit of Good specification to get the job done smoothly. However, what’s on offer for the price tag, can be very disappointing. Compared to its earlier iteration, Surface GO 2 looks exactly the same; with just some minor changes here and there. The bigger 10.5 screen and a newer processor is the most noticeable improvements on the new Surface GO 2. But for the base model, you’ll still end up with 4GB memory and a 64GB eMMC storage. If you want to get the better Intel Core m3 edition with more storage, the price can rise up to $680.
What makes the Surface Go 2 less attractive are the cheaper and yet more simpler Chromebooks and Chinese alternatives, which tend to offer much better specifications for even lower price.
Now, here comes the fun fact, for just $600 Microsoft has been selling the bigger and better Surface Pro 7 i3 edition with 128GB SSD all over the internet. Oh, I almost forGot to mention, the Surface Pro 7 i3 edition also comes with a free signature type cover, which costs $130. This confuses the heck out of me, regarding why anyone would even buy a Surface GO 2 with a keyboard cover for $530; where you could get a much better deal for just $600. The whole sense of buying a Good and cheap tablet such as the Surface GO 2 becomes really non-sense, if we add up its specs and the price of all the extra utility we might need to fully experience the beauty of the tablet.
The Surface GO 2 is a great versatile tablet, there is no denying it. Microsoft aimed this product towards buyers who wanted something simple and cheap for doing everyday tasks. Making this product an alternative for the likes of iPad and Chromebooks. But with the market already flooding with cheaper and similar spec Chromebooks and much more powerful iPad for the same price; one would need to really consider, is the Surface GO 2 really worth it?
Windows 10 in S Mode Can Be a Bummer
Like I mentioned earlier, the Surface GO 2 seems to be Microsoft’s foolish attempt to replicate what they did with the first Surface tablet. Like the first Surface, which ran the Windows RT, the Surface Go 2 runs a more limited version of Windows 10 called the Windows 10 Home in S Mode. What this S mode does is, it restricts your ability to run all Window software and allows you to run only apps available on the Windows store. Although you could easily change to normal Windows 10 if you would like to, but again a really bad move from Microsoft’s side.
Windows 10 Doesn’t Offer Great Experience On Touch Screens
But that’s not all folks. Anyone who had the luxury of using a touch screen laptop with Windows 10, can easily relate about how annoying Windows 10 on touch screen can be. Most of the software’s aren’t optimized for touch and will usually fall prey to mis-touches; not to mention for some software’s touch might not work at all. All of this just adds up on the fact that compared to the iPad OS or even the Chrome OS, Windows 10 isn’t the best OS to use on a touch screen device. Microsoft seems to know that themselves and are already making something called the Windows 10X, which is highly optimized for touch devices. However, unlike Apple or Google, who usually tend to provide strict guidelines for making apps on their platform; none of those could be found from Microsoft. Which leaves the room for doubt, even if Windows 10X does come out, will most of the available or newer software’s will be optimized for touch screen as well.
The Surface Go 2 is already a great tablet, but it could have been a magnificent one; rivaling even Apple’s iPad. Only if Microsoft had offered a better processor, a bit bigger storage and even throw in the signature type cover for free for the base model. All of these could have made the Surface Go 2 the most attractive tablet for $400. But, will Microsoft learn from their mistake and make a much better and appealing Surface Go 3, or, will we see another disaster like the Windows Phone. Only time will tell, I guess.