When it comes to tablets, most people look at either an iPad or Samsung Galaxy tab to get started with. But in the last few years, more and more people have opted for the Microsoft Surface series.
It’s the same situation with laptops. One of the benefits of Apple’s products is that they make both the hardware device and the operating system, which allows them to work seamlessly together. So if you’re looking for a Windows tablet, who better to opt for than Microsoft?
But the Surface line can be pretty confusing. We’re going to take a look at the Surface Go and the Surface Pro so you know the difference between the two.
Microsoft Surface Go 2 vs Surface Pro 7
Okay, so the basic difference between the Go series and the Surface Pro is the price, and therefore, the quality. The Surface Go is Microsoft’s budget line, and it’s designed to compete against the base model iPad and cheap Samsung tablets. The Surface Pro is more equivalent to the iPad Pro.
And like the iPad Pro, the Surface Pro is more like a laptop than it is a tablet. Because of this, there’s a dramatic difference in price between the two. You’ll typically find that the Surface Pro is around double the price of the Go series, which is a significant amount by anyone’s standards.
And with the Surface Pro being one of the most expensive tablets on the market, most potential purchasers are going to want to know what they’re getting for their money. So, we’ll compare the most recent releases from both ranges – the Microsoft Surface Go 2 and the Microsoft Surface Pro 7.
Overview – The newest models
So, we know that the Pro is the more expensive of the two, and the Surface Go is more targeted at those on a budget. But there are lots of other differences between them that you’ll want to take into account too before you opt for one over the other.
Surface Go vs Surface Go 2
The Surface Go was first released back in 2018, and it’s been one of the most popular Windows tablets on the market. After this, the Surface Go 2 was released in mid 2020, and it improved the tablet in a few key areas.
One of the smaller differences was an increased resolution to make it a 1280p screen. The screen is half an inch bigger, and the battery life was slightly improved too. Plus, the CPU was improved too, giving a more powerful device.
Apart from this, many things stayed the same – the cameras, connectivity and graphics are all the same as the original Surface Go. And whilst some tech specs changed slightly, the most important factor stayed the same – the price.
So whilst it was definitely an improvement on the previous version, the differences aren’t that noticeable. Based on the dates of release, we probably shouldn’t expect a Surface Go 3 until 2022 at the very earliest.
Microsoft Surface Pro Generations: Pro 7 vs Pro X
The Microsoft Surface Pro series has been around a lot longer, and its releases are a bit more confusing. The first model was released at the start of 2013, with the Surface Pro 2 released later the same year.
Fast forward to now, and some of the most recent releases are the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X. Because they were released at a similar time to one another, it can be difficult to know the difference between them.
There are some subtle differences between them – the Pro X has more USB ports for you to use, as well as giving you the ability to insert a sim card if you want to. This is a big part of your decision if you don’t want to rely on Wi-fi all of the time.
It also improves in a few other areas, with a better battery life and an improved web camera too. Plus, if you opt to go for the Surface X keyboard, then it can charge your Surface X pen at the same time.
But it also removes a headphone jack, and a completely different processor makes it a little bit better in terms of performance. So for many people, the Surface Pro 7 is the better option of the two.
Microsoft Surface Go 2 vs Surface Pro 7
Now we know where we are in terms of the generation of each range, we can highlight the main differences between them. I’ve already mentioned the massive price difference, and it’s fair to say that the Surface Pro 7 is better in almost every way. Here’s a few of the areas where it’s better than the Surface Go.
Power
Both of these tablets can come with 4 or 8 GB of RAM, but only the Pro can be upgraded to 16GB of RAM if necessary. It’s probably a good idea to consider this if you’re looking for a device that’s going to last you a long time.
Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4425Y vs the quad-core Intel i5 processor that the Surface Pro comes with.. do I need to say more than this? Yes, there is a version of the Pro that comes with an i3 processor, but when you look at the price difference, it’s definitely not worth downgrading.
In terms of power, the Pro series is a class above the Go, and this may be the deciding factor for most people.
Display
There’s not a drastic difference in terms of display, but the Pro 7 is the winner here. They have the same 3:2 aspect ratio, but the Pro has a higher resolution (1824p) overall than the Go 2 (1280p).
The Pro 7 is almost 2 inches larger than the alternative, so it really comes down to what you’re looking for here. It may be hard to use a smaller device like the Go 2 for any extended period of time if you’re actually looking to get some work done (it’s fine for playing games, though).
Storage
Whilst you can upgrade the storage on your Surface Go, it’s quite expensive to do so. It takes the price up a significant amount, and here, we’re just looking at the base models of each. The Go uses 64GB of eMMC storage.
This is standard for a tablet, but eMMC storage clearly isn’t as reliable or fast as the 128GB of SSD storage that comes with the Surface Pro 7. This is a fair amount of storage for a laptop, and can easily be upgraded if necessary too.
Weakness: Battery life
Now, even though the Surface Pro 7 has been adjudged to be a pretty decent laptop all-round, it’s still not perfect.
The one area where the Pro is weak is its battery life, which is a pretty key area for most people. With the competition providing devices that have a very long battery life, the 7 hours that the Pro offers is little more than mediocre.
And this is the only real area where the Surface Go 2 capitalizes and is actually the better of the two. Sure, that’s likely partially down to its incapability to run more intensive programs, but still, it does have the better battery life of these two devices.
Conclusion
The Surface range is pretty bemusing, but hopefully this has cleared a few things up for you. In conclusion, it’s pretty clear to see how far ahead the Pro 7 is of the Microsoft Surface Go 2. It’s the better device by a large margin.
It’s really like comparing a laptop and a tablet together. The Surface Pro is often referred to as both a tablet and a laptop because of its 2-in-1 design, but it really is a completely detachable laptop. The power and storage are a good example of that.
And whilst the Surface Go is good, it’s left fighting with the iPad and Galaxy tab with the rest of the best mid-range tablets on the market. It’s available at a pretty good price, and it’s a good buy – if you’re looking for a tablet, and not a 2-in-1 laptop.
