Surface Pro 9 5G Review: One Year Later as Daily Driver

[@justinh.2778]

Loved the review. Thank you! I think this is what my employer is upgrading my work laptop too and I cannot WAIT for it. It'll be lighter to carry back and forth and to travel with.

[@007alztruli]

This is actually one of the best and most honest reviews i have seen in a long time. Talking about actual real world usage for most people, not the nonsense you see in almost all other reviews. The way they constantly talk about nonsense like the Pen, you would think the whole world was filled with artists, graphic designers & gamers.

[@umuti.6727]

Whats about battery life and performance compared to your Pro 8 with Intel CPU ? You mentioned 8-12h with pro 9 5g

[@MeatNinja]

Would love to get a Surface Pro ARM device in the future. Right now I'm using a Surface Go 3 just for Edge/Office/Outlook and it's annoyingly slow. I think ARM is perfectly suited for my use case.

[@AldoJames]

I think it would be a big upgrade from the Go 3

[@volatilesky]

I work remote construction, and I've been considering these, but i heavily use AutoCAD, 3d renders (light use of blender and others for editing, etc), and then the obligatory spreadsheets. I don't know anyone that has one of these i can test out for compatibility sadly.

[@AldoJames]

I would worry about heavy autocad and 3d renders as I don’t think the gpu will be recognising by all the programs you use

[@WiikLyID]

I want to buy an sf9(Intel i5) in 2024 for my light video editing needs, is this device still relevant? is the device hot and noisy? give me a review of your daily use, thank you.

[@chc9149]

Hello Aldo, thanks for your long term review. I was a big Surface Pro fan. But I systematically had one problem : white dots would appear on the screen. And I have owned all the SP between the first to the 7th generation. My understanding is that it is a quality issue in the manufacturing process, with particles nesting themselves between the multiple layers of the lcd screen. Have you noticed any white dots? Has Microsoft finally fixed this problem?

[@AldoJames]

Not at all and I've had the Pro X, Pro 8 and Pro 9

[@jensglathe6287]

Thanks for the review. I don't have one, but I have the Windows Dev Kit 2023 - and the Thinkpad X13s. Can only confirm the day to day usability with WoA. Would like to get my hands on one to bring up Linux on it, though :)

[@AldoJames]

You’re welcome! If you’re looking at putting Linux on there you might even consider an older Pro X

[@jensglathe6287]

Hmm @@AldoJames the Pro X is SC8180 based, not the same. The Pro 9 5G would be on par with the X13s, and that thing is fun with WoA or Linux.

[@cmorait]

if voice calls could work from the sim card it would be fantastic. Have you tried a work around on that to test it ?

[@MicaahMusic]

In your experience, how’s the stand by time? Is it similar to a android tablet that is “always on” and sips battery while in sleep mode?

[@AldoJames]

The standby time is one of the best features! It's like a phone compared to a traditional x86 laptop

[@marshmallowcello7528]

Does the ARM have trouble with emulation or medium setting gaming?

[@AldoJames]

You'll still want Intel or AMD for gaming

[@javierdelgado3915]

They have the potential, but there aren't a lot of emulators that work on ARM. Like Cemu, project 64 wouldn't run on surface with arm. Dolphin emu has an arm version of its emulator and it works well but allt of 3d games on steam either don't start or run very choppy

[@AgentZeroNine1]

Interesting. Glad to see Microsoft and developers stepping up on the WoA support. Intel seems to be hyper focused on beating ARM in efficiency with its new upcoming Core Ultra CPUs. If Meteor Lake's efficiency is as good as Intel and the leaks are staying it to be (especially the Lunar Lake follow up), then I think WoA is going to hit a wall in support. Efficient x86 CPUs make WoA a non-starter.

[@AldoJames]

Ohhh do you think Intel will do it though? I hope they do make the efficiency improvements you're talking about because I am an Intel fan but think WoA isn't going away anytime soon. Did you see Microsoft announce ARM-based server chip, Azure Cobolt this week? I think if they're making their own ARM processors in servers, that tech will flow down to their pc hardware at some point

[@AgentZeroNine1]

​@@AldoJameswith Intel, it's 50/50. They seem to have an issue with keeping things on schedule. That Microsoft ARM server chip is likely just a rebranded Qualcomm chip.

[@Dragonblaster1]

I have one of these coming with an unlimited data plan. I already have a Slim Pen and Signature Keyboard ready for it.

[@AldoJames]

How are you liking it?

[@Dragonblaster1]

@@AldoJames I'm frankly blown away. I do miss full Adobe CC, but I do have a hulking Alienware gaming laptop that can run it, even if the fans do get a bit loud. Full native Office on the SP9 is great, coming from the hobbled M1 iPad Pro that was my previous travel tech, and plenty of non-native apps also work fine. The iPad felt like a Formula 1 racing car chained to a huge rock. The 5G Surface Pro feels like a 1.5l Skoda Octavia SE L that isn't bound to anything. And since I own a 1,5l Skoda Octavia SE L and drive it almost every day, I'm more than happy with that. Another analogy is that my Skoda gives much better mileage than a Formula 1 car.

[@IlyasSAHN]

I have 2 questions: -is there any perceivable difference between 5g and hotspot? - Does samsung Pass work on it (you have to download the samsung internet extension, click on the icon thingy, go into passwords, click samsung pass and download it)? what about quick share?

[@migueletras]

Thanks for the review! Do you think this device is much better than the Pro X? Because the price for this 9 5g is still very high and the X you can find very cheap

[@AldoJames]

Thank you :D Definitely an upgrade over the Pro X in terms of of how well it runs and of course the new pen/camera/5g etc. That being said the Pro X is still a good machine and I guess it depends on if you want to have the latest tech or happy with a bargain on the Pro X

[@shaswatmjha]

Bro can we keep that on odd places like mattress or lap??

[@AldoJames]

Of course

[@ashutoshjha9147]

I hope surface pro 10 comes out with new meteor lake cpu

[@synkadus]

so weird to see people fold keyboard backwards since there is built in stand

[@AldoJames]

what do you mean?

[@IvanJankovicDC]

0:35@@AldoJames

[@mikhail7]

I can’t install any Adobe software. Please help!!!

[@AldoJames]

Adobe struggles on Windows ARM at the moment but they’re saying they’re putting a lot more dev work into it

[@Ironically-Sarcastic]

Some Adobe apps are available on ARM natively now, with more to come, thanks to the new (over) hyped ARM chips coming onto the market right now. Eg. photoshop is running great on my Surface Pro 9 5G

[@abeautifulday9908]

So. A fanless design?

[@AldoJames]

Yup

[@abeautifulday9908]

@@AldoJames can you re-check if it has a built-in cooling fan? I saw some videos said that Surface 9 DOES have a fan.

[@AldoJames]

​@@abeautifulday9908 Pro 9 5G with the ARM processor is fanless but intel versions have a fan :)

[@Yushal]

I highly respect your reviews, but I think is one is too late. I have Pro9 not 5G and expecting Pro10 to come.

[@AldoJames]

Thank you :) I still think there might be people interested how the the Pro 9 5G performs a year after release even if a new device is released. Do you use a Surface Pro?

[@Yushal]

@@AldoJames Yes, I have Surface Pro 9 16gb 256gb. I'm trying to use it as a desktop and on the go. Its high price makes me worry to keep it working on long processes over nights. Thats why I bought a second hand Micro PC for that.

[@hanspeter9592]

I think it's not too late. For Arm devices it's even more interesting how they are performing from year to year. I bought a surface pro x and i was not satisfied with the performance. A review in 2023 would have been really helpful. I got a used Pro 9 5G 8GB with Pen and Keyboard for 550€ now and I really like it.

[@Yushal]

@@hanspeter9592 You should plan for Surface Pro 9 next, the one with no 5G. You will like it more but not for long hours working.

[@Tiralful]

Snagged a 8/256 with keyboard 97% battery health for 650. Total steal.

[@SniperMayer]

Wow this is abysmal compared to even an M series iPad, which also has browser and office support…

[@AldoJames]

What do you mean?

[@agusugian]

But iPad's browser and office are treated as mobile apps

[@Tiralful]

iPad Google apps are abysmal. I tried using my m1 pro for a on the Go laptop and it was lacking a lot of things.

[@wonderfaller]

You DO realize that you should talk DIRECTLY into the microphone in front of you, NOT on the side, right?.

[@jackeroo75]

Bro I can hear him fine.

[@AldoJames]

Are you saying the audio is bad?

[@AldoJames]

Thank you :)

[@Ironically-Sarcastic]

It's a condenser mic, probably on the cardioid setting, so he is using it exactly as intended. You probably see your favourite KZbinrs using dynamic mics with preamps and bunch of other pointlessly expensive equipment, that need to be right in front of their face. Audio is fine on this video.