Surface Book 2 13-inch Review

They say the second time around is always better. Microsoft is proving that with the Surface Book 2 13, which delivers a fine laptop that is more powerful than expected. See at Microsoft Store: thrifter.com/sxtb
Written Review: www.windowscen...
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[@KAMU13]

Bought it yesterday; it’s fantastic! Totally kicks Macbook out of the rink.

[@mattheh]

which do you have, i5 or i7?

[@TaccRaccoon]

KK13 how does it do now. Is it still good

[@Minecraftrok999]

@John beason The trackpad is fucking amazing though. If it would be bigger it would be almost exactly as good as the MacBooks trackpad.

[@Minecraftrok999]

@John beason Have you ever actually tried out the trackpad of the Surface Book 2 (not SB 1 !)? I´ve had the direct comparison and in my opinion the Surface Book2´s trackpad is closer to the Macbook than any other Windows laptop I´ve tried. It is damn good.

[@sachinrane4716]

2:15 Would u recommend this for content consumption as well? along with other tasks that it does. Becuz I could see it reduces the video size to some extent

[@AlexSchwartzATV]

This laptop looks unique, feels substantial, has amazing trackpad, screen, design, materials, keyboard, good ports, and its a two in one, with amazing specs that can do 1080p game and handle anything else. Fucking baller.

[@ManitobaMan]

This might be the one to get this year.

[@timojohn9773]

I thought so too at first, but now I might be going with the HP Spectre x360 13 with the i7 8550u. It's most importantly a lot cheaper, while still delivering similar power. I would have to pay 2100€ for SB2 13" with the i7 8650u, 256GB and 8GB RAM. For "just" 1500€ i can get the HP 13" with i7 8550u, 512GB and 16GB RAM. If I pay 200€ more, I could even get 1TB storage or a 4k display. The HP is lighter, thinner (which isn't even a main criteria for me), is a 360 and not a detachable (its quicker to 360 it than detach and reatach) and it has 2(!) thunder bolt 3 connectors, which makes it possible to atach a eGPU to it for deep learning and game development. Most important is longlivity: you can remove the bottom of the HP to repair, upgrade or clean the device. Since I really want to use this device for atleast 5 years, i could atleast change the battery on my own and even upgrade storage.

[@timojohn9773]

Ok, first of all, I am not sure if you are a troll or not. Anyways, where do I start... The "HP 132" is a black printer cartridge. Not a Laptop. The Spectre x360, which i was talking about, has in fact a touchscreen and the same N-trig digitizer as the SB2, with 4096 levels of pressure. In conclusion, you can literally use the surface pen with the Spectre x360. The Spectre does in fact have a WEAKER (not the same processor). The HP has a i7 8550u(which is also overkill for most users), while the SB2 has a i7 8650u, which has a slightly higher (0,2MHz) turbo boost. The Spectre even has a SD-Card slot. And while its battery life is actually shorter than the SB2, it does have a quick charge function, which restores 50%, thats around 3-4 hours of work time, in 30 minutes. And while it does not have a dedicated GPU like the SB2, it does have 2 ("TWO") USB 3.2 Type C Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps connecters, while the SB2 only has a USB 3.1 Type C 5Gbps. That means you can connect a eGPU on the x360, while you can't on the SB2 (which is a real bummer at that price point). Being abled to connect an eGPU means I can get a much higher graphical performance on the x360 than I could get even with the SB2 15" with an GTX 1060. Also, as I said before, the x360 can be opened quite easily is slightly upgradable, combined with the 2x TB3 40Gbps makes it more future proof on the long term. If I get an eGPU, like the GTX1070 for the x360, i could just swap it with a more powerful one in 2-3 years if I really need to. Only real advantage of the SB2 over the x360 ist the 3:2 ratio, which delivers more screen real estate than a 16:9.

[@124akshat]

Its like a MacBook Pro except that it can game. Damn - good stuff

[@kashgohel]

If you're a student, or an architect, or in science, or in engineering.....wow. This laptop and I were designed for each other. :)

[@cristianariel7053]

Kashyap Gohel I am going to study engineering, and I like how versatile this thing is. I am torn between this Surface and the Mac. Do you think is it worth the money?

[@ZeitGeist_TV]

@@cristianariel7053 If you haven't bought a device yet get the Surface Book 2 with dedicated GPU if this will be your primary and only computing device. If you have a powerful desktop then get the Surface Pro i5 8GB with type cover. Only get a MacBook if you are tied to Mac OS ecosystem otherwise it's not worth it.

[@tOnySi]

if youre a student, period.

[@bryanshi1059]

@@tOnySi I might get this, do you think the 13in or the 15in is best for students??

[@timayers8903]

Fantastic review! Very informative, and to the point (which is greatly appreciated). Too many tech reviews big the videos down with information that doesn’t even pertain to the review. Thank you for taking the time to make such a professional review!

[@nahtay72]

I sold a mac mini and a surface pro 4 to get this. I love it.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

The i5 is NOT the same chip as in the old Surface Book. The old Surface Book had 6th generation chips and none were fanless except the M3. The move to fanless is awesome. Great review. I really prefer a smaller device so it's Surface Pro for me.

[@pleasecallmeluke]

I think he ment the same chip as in the surface pro 2017

[@abyssabyssabyss]

There is no fabless surface book. Only the surface pro has a fanless/core m version.

[@SaadKidwai]

Thank you Daniel!! You've done the Best Surface Book reviews!

[@abhikbhaduri7252]

Time to buy a new laptop...I'm bored of my MacBook Air

[@AlbyTheMovieCreator]

don't make my mistake. I did your same thought when sb1 was out and I totally regret this. Battery and many other things in Windows10 are just crap, Macbook Air is just amazing. Don't make this mistake, you'll regret this 100%

[@ratsrock2323]

I didn't. Never looking back - Pen, tablet mode, more powerful, more premium feeling. Plus blazing fast and 1060 graphics? It's a no brainer.

[@hongyangsu2223]

Virtual Conqueror then you can get a MacBook Pro

[@TheKarakRecords]

i also have a MacBook air, been using the early 2014 model, its almost 2018 and products like the new MacBook pros and this AMAZING SURFACE BOOK 2 really make me feel primitive with my Air.

[@saadazzahrani]

AlbyTheMovieCreator The Macbook Air is very bad. It has the worst screen on a premium laptop, lower than average M processor and it costs a grand!

[@thanhdohuu9473]

Almost a year has passed and this thing is still expensive as hell. I would love to upgrade my surface pro to the 15" SB2 for the screen estate for multi-tasking, but with its current price, it's still really hard to justify especially when I don't really need the extra performance, simply the large screen. If only Microsoft releases a 15" SB with an 8th gen core i5, iGPU at a significantly cheaper price and much longer battery, that would be my dream device.

[@thanhdohuu9473]

I'm using the pro with an i7 7660u so there is no point getting the 13" i5. I will consider upgrading if there is a cheap 15" surface in the future.

[@DK_75]

Thanh Do Huu I’m just waiting for Black Friday tbh

[@MattAero]

Great review! I’m trying to decide between 13 or 15 and your 2 reviews help a lot 👌🏽

[@nitsuj6801]

Everything is perfect except 1 tiny thing which really pisses me off. The audio jack positioning

[@MaiONerds]

Lmfao 😂 they were not thinking about that at all hope they bring that down

[@ziqban]

If they put that at keyboard it will hard to hear when we detached from keyboard . When in tablet mode it become easier

[@lalakuma9]

No fan on the tablet part? That's great news! I just just bought a Surface Book 2 from eBay to replace my Surface Pro 3, because my SP3 cooling fan is probably coming loose and making very concerning metallic, grinding noises. Crossing my fingers that my SP3 doesn't fall apart before the SB2 arrives.

[@elliotbrown8598]

Could you please say does the camera modules are exactly same in Surface Book 2 and in Surface Pro 4? Are they vary in diaphragm and light speed values? Which model has the maximal quality of images? Thank you!

[@AlbertoColon2016]

Great video I wish you would've gone a bit deeper on the gaming capabilities of this particular model

[@809castro]

would you recommend surface pro or book 2? for light video editing?

[@Bazman123zx]

It depends how *light* the video editing is. If it's stuff like making small family videos your better off with the pro but if your doing something like KZbin, you could survive with the pro but I would recommend the book 2.

[@skearon]

If you have access to both surfacebook 1 and 2, can I ask if the surface book 13" tablet will attach and work with the 13" surfacebook 2 keyboard?

[@ethanblythe395]

With the recent refresh to the SB2, adding Intel 8th gen quad core to the i5, will I be able to notice the difference when using i5 8th gen vs 7th gen (not for programming or Photoshop but just daily tasks)

[@Charkatak]

Thanks! It is good that you brought up the light bleed...don't know if you still have this surface book 2 laying around. Would be good if you could make a video to show how bad or not that bad light bleed is. I do have a brand new SB2 in the box, but don't want to open it because of light bleed issue which my gen 1 SB experienced.

[@sachinrane4716]

2:15 Would u recommend this for content consumption as well? along with other tasks that it does. Becuz I could see it reduces the video size to some extent

[@sammyjomaa6232]

Whats the monitor? Looks really nice!

[@brocky]

What kind of watch were you wearing? I like the band.

[@teofistoleemikaelab.3979]

Do i need to buy all the accessories for the surface book 2? like the surface dock ?

[@kelseyheard1642]

I’m buying a new laptop for college and love the surface books. I’m trying to keep the price as low as possible and wonder if buying a Surface Book 2 with intel i5 and 128gb of ssd or if it would be smarted to go with an older surface book with intel i7 and 256gb of ssd and nvidia geforce. I’m not planning on doing any serious gaming or anything currently, but want to buy a laptop that will still fit my future needs as time goes on. Any advice as to what I should do?

[@Renjico00]

Kelsey Heard you should buy a chrome book

[@FerTechCH]

"Does have a little bit of coil whine" crap...I will have to wait for the next gen then...Do all of them have this?

[@cybermonkeyusa]

Did they fix the blurry text when using external screens? I have a Samsung 4K and the surface pro 4 looks bad.

[@jonn3132]

Would it be worth buying the i5 version since it still uses 7th generation dual core processor or do you reckon it's worth it to just get the i7 8th gen quad core version? Environmental Engineering student (soon to be) here.

[@cjswoosh32]

Jon N I bought the i7 version, I am a mechanical engineering student. If you’re going to be using a lot of matlab and/or solid works or cad I think it’s worth getting the i7. And if you have the money for it, the version with the dedicated graphics card is worth it for the more demanding programs. But overall the i7 with integrated graphics will probably be sufficient enough

[@annecy49]

Is it going to be updated before end of year 2018?

[@Sciulli999]

it looks like you were using an XBox controller with the 13.5" during the video review... I thought only the 15" version could do that? or does it just connect via Bluetooth on the 13.5"?

[@WindowsCentral]

Wired.

[@tain.9755]

is 106 degrees okay? I don’t know much about temperatures in devices, but will the device last years? I am looking for a laptop to use at university and this sounds perfect.

[@xburningindigo]

Tai N. It will last you.

[@yeeterskeeter1577]

the i5 sounds awesome with a cheaper price than the surface pro with the same spec. should I choose the book over the pro? please gimme some suggestions

[@hansmuller1846]

I would say so. Just switching from my Pro 4 to a SB2

[@wsammajeed7510]

Is that the alpha M intro?

[@Warcrie]

wsam majeed LOL, yes it is

[@gahbi3818]

is the 13 inch for gaming ? can i use the xbox wirless ad play ?

[@arneschmidt5050]

I'm not sure If In should get this or a MacBook Pro 13" and an iPad Pro for notes...

[@hanxuanri603]

Oh no. Why does the surface book 2 13 inch still shows the white line on the right side of the screen when playing video at 4:21? I thought Microsoft redesigned the whole? Great review but disappointed with SB again.

[@solefreak2]

Is it worth purchasing a SB 1 now the prices have come down with the release of this newer model?

[@f-22raptor25]

SoleFreak I think the new one will last longer as the bugs and mechanical problems have been fixed

[@SethiestSeth]

I wish there was a core i5 variant with LTE

[@jdneilso]

Man, I'm struggling...I'm looking for a new device and I can't decide between the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Pro 6.

[@RexDanny997]

James Neilson if you can wait you should go for the surface book 3 when it is released because it might fix all the problems such as tb3 and the mousepad

[@rasquitamsuharman4799]

Menn just go with surface book 2 cus im buying it too

[@AlbertoColon2016]

Can you make a VS video comparing the 13.5 SB2 and the xbox one s. Im trying to decide if to get PUBG for PC or Xbox but don't know which one can handle the game better

[@haiderkhan6923]

CESAR COLON maybe stick to a pc. Versatility and that.

[@abyisheik007]

8:46 He talked about it having Coil Whine (That irritating buzzing sound from the wires as the power passes through) at High Performance Mode.....Hope its not too audible.

[@johnsmith-ei3on]

Not used for games but for browsing and watching movies can u please answer my question please

[@johnsmith-ei3on]

Is it good for watching movies

[@apierc1]

Your website advises the thule gauntlet 3.0 sleeve for the sb2 13 inch, BUT IT DOES NOT FIT, I couldn't comment on "old content" on the website.

[@DeyshaanGTR_]

Thanks

[@michalfabianek399]

Can SB2 use two 4k monitors @60hz via surface dock?

[@DazingCHB]

Historically, no. On the SB1 it was (from what I read) possible using one DP on the dock and the mDP on the SB.

[@ezscootrr]

You can with a Surface Dock. It has two Mini Display Port. Even my SP4 can do that.

[@DazingCHB]

Are you sure they are running on 60Hz? From what i read they will only run at 30Hz!

[@michalfabianek399]

Edwin Capidos Yeah but not at 60hz. I got surface pro (2017) and it does only 30hz with two 4k monitors. 30hz on a monitor is just terrible....

[@anthonyjriz3]

the reason they do video loop test is because its very easy and not power intensive , these 7/8 generation intel chips can do this very efficiently

[@Bonestorm1990]

So? If one compares all devices with a similar video loop we see a comparable result.

[@anthonyjriz3]

yes thats true, but im just saying its not the most accurate/honest way to test, even doing light work like web browsing and MSoffice you're going to get significantly less battery than 17 hours lol

[@WindowsCentral]

Right, but it's about being consistent and easily repeatable. The only other "test" would be a prefab'd one like what some websites use, but even there, the tests makes assumptions about usage.

[@andyH_England]

Anthony Rizzo yes it is a marketing trick that favored sites like this perpetuate. It is easy to do standard tests, in this case, a £3000 performance laptop, why would a business user care how many hours you can watch video? Of course it is irrelevant. It would be easy to run an Adobe Suite and compare across laptops, but guess what, the SB2 would only last a few hours and that won’t sell to the youth market! Saying that, this is near the top of the class for battery life either way. But 20 hours is seriously a daft estimate, using like normal business users 10 hours would be nearer the mark. It would be unfair to mark that down, 10 hours would be enough for the vast majority of business users, though the price is what kills this product for almost everyone.

[@anthonyjriz3]

yea I agree 100%

[@PSBrathwaite]

Can you use two displays with surface book 2, if they aren't 4k displays?

[@caseyb9464]

Patrick Brathwaite yes but you need the docking station

[@xXRsownage]

Should I buy this or the Yoga 930c

[@ojabojaek]

This

[@benikeler]

I bought this laptop and love it, but I lose a good amount of battery overnight on sleep (7-15%), and more than expected through daily use. I was wondering if anyone has discovered the same problem.

[@alextl97]

Can you upgrade the ram?

[@karlareyna2559]

This computer is good to travel photographers ?

[@thecoolcrasher]

Hi Guys, ....Good review. Actually I am looking to buy 13.5 inch, i5 with 8gb ram.......I am a programmer with SAP ERP and cloud sytems. is this configuration more suitable for me.....Can you me your suggestions?

[@m.ahussain4005]

My next laptop❤️

[@claudiusboasman3681]

What's the specs on the tested model?

[@Rousland1]

INSANE LAPTOP !! But so expensive :'(

[@kiyoko335]

Right? But I feel it's better than even the new macbook pro 2018. The i7 SB2 is as much as the MBP i5

[@jacklepino7805]

Its for architects, engineers etc. Cut to: Watches Cartoon Network on the Tablet.

[@PeterOsburg]

Can I run 2 normal full HD monitors with the surface dock?

[@elijah_9392]

Peter Osburg Yes

[@broli720]

Where did you get that background wallpaper from at 9:05

[@nspranav]

Is it capable of MR?

[@pa1kr]

What's the game at 1:50? GoW?

[@beautybykenzie4630]

ANY GOOD APPS I CAN USE FOR VIDEO EDITING

[@nivrosen682]

A good review. Clear.

[@Buddychigo]

Does anyone know if there's a laptop out there with a 3:2 ratio, that has a long battery life (long enough to last a day) and that is not too heavy? I really wanna get the Surface Book 2 but it seems overkill and too expensive for my use.

[@severojr29]

Buddychigo Matebook X Pro

[@princesoin6060]

Try the vivobook

[@Minecraftrok999]

It's been 7 months, but maybe get the i5 without the dedicated graphics chip. Avaliable for less than 1100 Dollars (in the German Microsoft online store).

[@saeed577]

thanks it was very useful💙

[@connortraynor1643]

at 6:57 what app is that?

[@debbie2626]

Can you extend RAM and storage?

[@WannyPena]

Course not.

[@shubham-pawar]

Can anyone tell where to get the wallpapers he used on the surface book 2.

[@Tmc007xy12]

I may want to buy this product

[@teamrabbitalec]

Is there any disconnecting issues with the Surface Pen? That is all I am wondering.

[@kenpurchase819]

Hi, loved both your reviews,best ones out there,also you later follow up reviews about battery drain and coil wine,very helpful,can you please tell me how do I use the Xbox wireless controller,on this does it need an adapter or something,I saw on the 15" it's built into it I think,don't want to buy the wrong controller for it,can you let me know what I need please

[@larryisthellama5162]

What is the display at 3:18?

[@MrNgakakguling2]

should've tell us more about the speaker..

[@WindowsCentral]

It plays audio. In stereo. It's gud.

[@legostarwarsrulez]

watching this on my 1st gen surface book

[@karinandpatrick141]

Hi guys I'm struggling with my sb2 (I7, 512gb). When I'm editing 4k footage, premiere pro is lagging really badly and I'm not able to work properly on this machine. I often have to restart premiere or the whole laptop which is a no go for productivity. Scrubbing through the timeline is a pain and replaying videos within premiere pro works for the first 10 minutes but lags afterwards pretty badly. Does anyone of you guys know what the problem might be? I'm not 100% sure if the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 grafics card is used instead of the Intel HD card. Until now that's my only explanation which I don't know if it's true and if it is, how to fix it. Would be great to hear from you guys. Best regards, Patrick

[@809castro]

hey make sure when you open your video eddting sofrware go to setting and find the option to turn use your gtx... or before you open your software right click and use run with gtx graphic card ...u could do that with any app...if it still lag return it for a new one... i had to return mine now everything its good

[@jigyansunanda994]

I think it all comes down to one point, mac os or windows os .

[@WinrichNaujoks]

But can the pen finally draw diagonal lines slowly?

[@TheHennes36]

Willi Hansen yup it's the same as the surface pro one they finally managed to fix it... It's awesome!

[@WinrichNaujoks]

TheHennes36 fix what?

[@LuluDistrict]

Ugh I swiped my screen bc of ur pic lol

[@johnsmith-ei3on]

Is it a 4K screen a

[@techfreaks4134]

anyone know what shooting game that is?

[@magix973]

Is the i5 4gb ram version of this good enough for audio recording for music ? Looking to buy a surface book 2 but don’t know which one I should look for I literally only want to record and edit music with it . Anyone can help me?

[@iflex7640]

No 4gb ram ond. Cheapest is i5 8gb with 128 storage, and if you are gonna have a lot of files, then get more storage.

[@tripore]

It's amazing that no reviewer spoke about the missing charging port on the tablet.

[@samyulsyed6741]

You need a new mic...so much mic buzz, ouch

[@loeuf]

Sorry, but I have no idea what is coil whine?

[@pefet1989]

Chr Faz when your computer or laptop makes annoying noises inside

[@loeuf]

oh thx

[@theracer6882]

Make video on new xps 13 and new spectre x360

[@Zedris]

i bought surface book one with performance base 8 months ago and i had to return 2 units one overheating and one the paint on the top litterally started chipping off. Im staying away from the surface line after my experience. and from what iv seen alot of people have issues that they should not be having with that price point. my 2 cents are avoid even tho it looks cool and seems worth it god know i still want one

[@darkspl]

Its already been a year?

[@divyanshsadana]

Sir can we play heavy games like GTA5 in SB2 13"?

[@tailishlaller5365]

yes, if you get the 16gb ram i7 (it comes with a GTX 1060)

[@highseas1036]

That 70's Show

[@dqsrious]

i want the wallpaper!!!!

[@Mychannel-zb1wz]

I'll only buy it once they manage to put at least 10h battery life for the tablet only. But it's a beautiful machine.

[@hansmuller1846]

I'm afraid you're asking a little too much here... At least they already have to fit a fully working PC and an insane display inside this super thin tablet. Doubling the battery life doesn't seem feasible to me.

[@sheldon319]

this things awesome i need 1

[@ChrisWong13]

What's coil whine...?

[@pefet1989]

Chris Wong annoying noises from laptop or computer

[@JoseOchoita]

I have no complaints to this computer except the price. Or, perhaps the real complaint is that I need to earn more money.

[@howyay]

razer 13 doesnt have dedicated gpu 14 doesnt have a great battery life

[@AndreJatmiko]

That beard :)

[@bacon8353]

Imma just wait for 2018 cause if I buy this I'll be so excited then 2018 will come and I'll be disappointed with it because there will be much better laptops coming out

[@LifeBeautifulMess]

Keep the beard.

[@arnsassassiner]

hello ?! Microsoft?! can i get a surfacebook 2 13' ?? i just started my majors in EEE in a university .

[@johnsmith-ei3on]

Is does lag

[@CH-ol5rh]

Luckily my Surface Book 2 doesn't have coil whine..