During its Surface 2019 product announcement event, Microsoft made one of its most successful announcements, both figuratively and literally: the Surface Neo tablet and Duo Surface phone destined for late 2020. But what about its 2019 products ?
After examining two of them so far, I am wondering the same thing.
Microsoft's team leader Panos Panay has positioned the Surface Neo and Duo as the beginning of the next phase of the company's hardware evolution and its future in space.
Judging by the lack of innovation or the true progress of the 7-inch Surface Pro 3 or Surface Laptop 15, it is becoming increasingly clear that Microsoft's primary goal is. That's not to say that neither device is downright bad, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone to buy it, let's say its predecessors, especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on the horizon.
Don't forget your customers in the present
Microsoft may have made AMD a flagship mobile processor maker with its new 15-inch Surface Surface laptop, but it gave it plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the larger frame sizes on the table. Likewise, the only thing that tangibly changes about the Surface Pro 7 from the Surface Pro 6 is a USB-C port that replaces a DisplayPort.
Of course, both the Pro 7 and Laptop 3 have completely new silicon, and the Laptop 3 chip has been designed specifically for this device, but otherwise they have not changed or are insufficient, respectively. For example, the Pro 7 could have adopted an HDR screen or even thinner screens for a larger area, while the laptop 3 could have had more ports, like many more.
Although we shouldn't focus on what it isn't, rather than what it is, it's getting harder and harder not to do as we move to the next level of computer hardware: These two devices just don't participate.
This potentially gives new Surface users or customers the most advanced silicon upgrade in 2019 and a new, larger 1.5-inch laptop screen. While we haven't spent a lot of time with the Surface Pro X yet, its prices for what is likely a bit more than the performance of a flagship phone are already raising concerns.
For your money in 2019, it's probably best to use Microsoft's 2018 tablet and hopefully a 13.5-inch laptop screen, the company's 2018 laptop, both of which we reviewed.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft's exciting future is still long.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm practically thinking of giving up my iPhone for Android because the Surface Duo is as interesting as it is exciting. However, who knows how many dual-screen or folding-screen phones we'll see by 2020?
We could say the same for the Surface Neo, and we know that Lenovo's striking new ThinkPad X1 tablet, which uses a flip-down screen, not two separate displays, is going to beat the Neo in the store in a big way.
This leaves Microsoft's 2019 surface line for a whole year to overcome figurative waves and endless competitor arrows, as long as the company's biggest new products sit in the oven for a long time for nearly 12 months.
Yes, I'm also eager to see the wonders of Microsoft on two screens, but not at the expense of what could have been an easy innovation in 2019. All we needed was a selection of ports worthy of a 15-inch laptop (and maybe more power). Microsoft's seventh tablet looks more like a victory lap than a well-deserved nap, certainly not at these prices.