Microsoft just announced several new laptops and devices during its Surface Event in New York. These include a new Surface laptop, a new 2-in-1 laptop, and a pair of wireless headphones. The tech giant also announced two devices that will be available next holiday season, including its first foldable smartphone. Here is everything you need to know about the devices that Microsoft announced at its event.
Surface Laptop 3
Microsoft began the Surface event by unveiling an upgraded version of its flagship laptop. The Surface Laptop 3 is bigger and better than its predecessor in almost every way. While the Surface 2 had a 10.6-inch screen, the Surface 3 will come in a 13-inch and 15-inch model.
The new Surface 3 will come with a quad-core 10th-generation Intel CPU, which Microsoft claims is the most powerful mobile processor for any laptop in its class today. This will supposedly make it two times faster than the previous model and three times faster than the MacBook Air.
One of the best features with the Surface Laptop 3 is its battery, which is supposed to last for over 11 hours and charge up to 80% in under an hour. Panos Panay, the chief product officer of Microsoft Devices Group, said this was designed to give you “a consistent experience on how you have to think about adding battery life to your products.”
“It’s what you’ve come to expect,” Panay said. “Every day, you charge your phone, and it charges at about that rate.”
The Surface 3 is available for preorder now, with the smaller model starting at $999, and the larger model starting at $1,199. They will be released to users on October 22nd.
Surface Pro 7
If you’re a fan of writing on your screen with the Surface Pen, you’re going to love the new Surface Pro models. The best-selling 2-in-1 laptop on the planet now lets you add text to a Word document or Excel spreadsheet using the pen. You can even use the other end as an eraser to delete text.
The Surface Pro 7 looks a lot like last year’s model, except it comes with a USB-C port. It’s also 40% faster than the previous model and has two times the graphical performance.
The Surface Pro 7 is available for preorder now for $749, but it won’t be released until October 22nd.
Surface Pro X
While the Surface Pro X is smaller than the Surface Pro 7, it actually comes with a larger screen. That’s because the bezel that surrounds the screen is much thinner. This allows the Surface Pro X to have a 13-inch screen.
However, that big screen comes in a little package. Without the keyboard, the Surface Pro X is 5.3 millimeters thin and only weighs 1.6 pounds.
The Surface Pro X is available for preorder now, but it will not be released until November 5th.
If you’re in the market for a convertible laptop, check out our list of the best 2-in-1 laptops of 2019 here.
Surface Earbuds
Microsoft is also releasing a pair of truly wireless earbuds to contend with the Apple AirPods and the new Amazon Echo Buds. Microsoft claims its new earbuds will have 8 hours of battery life per charge, which would surpass the competition by three hours.
The Surface Earbuds will have two tiny microphones each, which will allow you to interact with your digital assistant. Plus, Microsoft says they will be able to translate over 60 languages in real-time.
The Surface Earbuds will be available later this year for $249.
Future Devices Announced at the Surface Event
Surface Neo
It’s hard to describe the Surface Neo. It’s not quite a laptop, but it’s more than a tablet. The Microsoft team calls it “the next new category” of devices.
“There’s truly nothing else like this out there,” Panay said during the Surface event. “Nothing.”
This dual-screen device allows you to launch two apps at the same time and drag them from one screen to another. Each side of this dual-screen device is 5.6 millimeters thin. In total, the whole device weighs less than 1.5 pounds.
It will have a 360-degree hinge and a magnetically-attached wireless keyboard. When you flip the keyboard around to type, the screen will recognize it and move your apps to the other screen automatically. Or you can detach the keyboard and use the two screens of the device while typing.
The Surface Neo will be available for the holiday season in 2020.
Surface Duo
The Surface Neo wasn’t the only foldable device Microsoft announced during the Surface event. The tech giant also introduced the Surface Duo, the company’s first foldable smartphone. With a similar design to the Neo, the Duo also has a 360-degree hinge that allows you to use the device as a tiny laptop.
Microsoft partnered with Google to “bring the best of Android” to the device while adding elements of its new Windows 10X operating system, which was designed for its new split-screen devices.
The Surface Duo will be available for the next holiday season.