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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So this is a Surface Book 2, the 13-inch version.
00:09Now, when the original Surface Book launched in 2015, I thought it was one of the coolest pieces of tech available at the time.
00:14It was just really impressive because no one else was making something quite like it.
00:18Two years later, we're still there. No one else is making something quite like this.
00:23The CPU is built into the screen, it's removable, and it's a fully functional tablet by itself.
00:28And then the GPU is in the keyboard, so when they connect, it becomes a full-fledged, graphically powered laptop.
00:35So, I mean, a lot of people want something like this. It's something quite unique, but it comes at a pretty steep price tag.
00:41This thing, this unit here, starts at $2,000 US.
00:44Now, there is a cheaper version, but the cheaper version does not have the dedicated graphics card in the keyboard.
00:51So that makes it not as cool, or just not as unique, to be honest.
00:55So I'm going to focus just the experience on this one, the $2,000 version.
00:59Now, there's a 15-inch version that's significantly more expensive.
01:02I may do a video in the future on that, but 13-inch for this video.
01:05I want to talk about the hinge first.
01:07This is a hinge that, when it first was announced, I had mixed feelings about it,
01:11because I felt like there's so many moving parts, there's places that dust can get into,
01:16there's just a lot of things that could go wrong.
01:18I thought, that's not the case.
01:20Two years later, people still don't have any major issues with the hinge.
01:23Now, the design isn't for everyone.
01:25It can look a little bit weird, but functionally and mechanically, it's really well made.
01:29When you open it up, you'll notice that very little has changed aesthetically.
01:32The screen is still the 3x2 aspect ratio with good color accuracy.
01:36It's bright, it's high-res, there's no complaints here.
01:39There's no pen in the box this year, it's an extra $100 if you want to buy one,
01:42which I thought was a little bit weird, but I guess not everyone uses a pen, so it's understandable.
01:47The one I'm using is actually from the Eve, and it works perfectly fine.
01:51The keyboard and trackpad are nice.
01:53It's a noticeably better typing experience than the original Surface Book.
01:56It's a little bit quieter, and it just feels more responsive than the original Surface Book keyboard.
02:01Not that that one was bad, it was already good.
02:03This is just a little bit better.
02:05The trackpad has also improved.
02:06It's obviously still running Windows Precision Drivers.
02:08The button mechanism feels a little more deliberate when you press it,
02:11and it's a little bit louder than I remember the Surface Book one to be, but it feels awesome.
02:16So, keyboard, trackpad, both excellent.
02:19Performance is good.
02:20It's the quad-core Kaby Lake R.
02:22It's a 15-watt CPU, but it's fast and short bursts.
02:25Multi-core performance is really strong now,
02:27but the question is whether this extra speed really makes a big difference for what you do,
02:31and it really depends on your workflow.
02:33The truth is, for the majority of people that are using a device like this,
02:37it won't make their workflow or just work experience that much faster.
02:41You need specific apps that can handle multi-core processing.
02:44Some computational stuff will really benefit from it, and same with video editing,
02:47but at the end of the day, it is a 15-watt U processor,
02:50so it's not going to be the fastest laptop in the world.
02:52One thing to keep in mind, the 13-inch version does not have a fan in the tablet component.
02:57The 15-inch version of this device, like the Surface Book 2 15-inch screen,
03:01does have the same processor as this, but there is a fan in there,
03:05so it's able to run at a higher clock speed for longer periods of time.
03:08It also pulls, I think, 20 watts instead of the 15 watt at max.
03:12There is some CPU throttling when you push it hard enough,
03:14but most people won't notice it because this is not the device that people would choose
03:18for really heavy CPU activity.
03:20In terms of gaming performance, it's actually pretty good.
03:22The GTX 1050 pushes out some decent performance.
03:25You have to run it at a lower than native resolution,
03:28but light to moderately demanding titles are very playable on this device.
03:32There are reports that the 15-inch version with the GTX 1060
03:35is actually pulling more power than the AC adapter can supply,
03:38so it's actually draining batteries while you're using it.
03:40That doesn't happen on the 13-inch version,
03:42because this is running a 1050, slightly less power drain.
03:45So, yeah, if you want to play games on this device,
03:48I mean, neither of them are a good choice,
03:51but the issue doesn't happen on the 13-inch version.
03:53The speakers. Surprisingly, these have been improved this year.
03:57They're not as good as the 13-inch MacBook Pro speakers,
03:59but they sound pretty good, and they're positioned well.
04:01You get really nice stereo separation.
04:03The webcam is really good. It's actually one of the best webcams I've seen on a laptop.
04:07The mic quality sounds pretty good as well.
04:09Battery life on this thing is very good.
04:11I'm getting around 10 hours of use with the screen at 250 nits.
04:14Now, this is with it in laptop mode.
04:16With the screen removed and just using it as a clipboard,
04:19I'm only getting around 3 hours.
04:21This has a 23-watt-hour battery inside the screen,
04:23and I think a 67-watt-hour battery inside the base.
04:26But overall, good battery life.
04:28It'll easily last you the full day.
04:30And for people that aren't familiar with how the charging works,
04:32you can charge the tablet by itself,
04:34or you can connect the tablet to the keyboard
04:36and just charge the base, and everything will charge up altogether.
04:39The drive speeds are a mixed bag.
04:41The read speeds are fast, but the write speeds are a little bit slow.
04:44The thermals are good. The temperatures are comfortable,
04:46both in tablet and in laptop mode.
04:48The fan noise under max load is a little bit loud,
04:51but it's kind of expected considering the size of the chassis.
04:54So there's a lot of stuff I like about the Surface Book 2,
04:56but the big things are not so much the CPU and the GPU upgrades.
05:00It's the little things, like the things like the speakers,
05:02the keyboard, the trackpad,
05:04things that they didn't have to change,
05:06but they tweaked it anyways because they're just trying to make a better product overall.
05:09And I really like that.
05:10That being said, there are things that I dislike about this thing.
05:13And the first one, the big one, is the price.
05:16Now, the price, when you first look at this thing, seems very expensive.
05:20It's $2,000 for a 13-inch laptop with a U processor and a GTX 1050.
05:24If you spent that money on something like an XPS 15,
05:27you'd get something that's more powerful.
05:29But the reason why it costs this much
05:31is because Microsoft is the only company making something like this.
05:35No one else makes something like this.
05:37And the reason why is because it's super hard to engineer this hinge,
05:40and it's super hard to engineer this device,
05:43to have a CPU up top and the GPU on the bottom.
05:45Because if it wasn't hard, you bet that Huawei or Xiaomi
05:48would be making something like this for a lot less money.
05:50But they aren't because they can't.
05:52And that is why they can charge whatever they want to.
05:55I don't like the price.
05:56I still feel like it's like 10-15% more than it should be
05:59because this is such a good product.
06:01If it was more appropriately priced, more reasonably priced,
06:04I think a lot of people could make great use of this.
06:06But we can't because it's just a little bit of a price range for a lot of people,
06:09which is unfortunate.
06:10The other thing I don't like about this thing
06:12is the lack of a Thunderbolt 3 port.
06:14So it has a decent port selection,
06:16two USB 3s, an SD card slot, and a USB-C,
06:19but it doesn't support Thunderbolt 3.
06:21And that really bugs me because
06:23this is a device that costs as much as it does,
06:25and it's their flagship product, right?
06:27Every single other manufacturer out there who's making flagship laptops
06:30has Thunderbolt 3 support in 2017,
06:32and it just lets you connect to faster storage,
06:34external GPUs, 4K displays, or at least multiple 4K displays.
06:38There's just a lot of good features that come with Thunderbolt 3,
06:41and it seems so weird that they didn't include it.
06:44Now, the omission of Thunderbolt 3 feels almost purposeful.
06:47Like, they did it with intent, and that's what bugs me.
06:50Like, are they waiting for Surface Book 3 to come out so they can sell that?
06:53Or was it some, like, cost-saving measure?
06:56I have no idea, but it doesn't make sense to me
06:58as to why they didn't include such a ubiquitously useful port
07:01in late 2017.
07:03And I guess that leads to my last thing I don't love about it.
07:05The AC adapter they include is a proprietary connector,
07:08and it would've been nice if they included a USB-C adapter.
07:11You can charge it through that port,
07:13you just need to supply your own adapter.
07:15So overall, great device, you just gotta make sure
07:17that you're using it to its full purpose.
07:20Because if you're buying this and you're not making use of the tablet,
07:23and you're not making use of the detachability and all that,
07:25then they're probably cheaper devices that would've been a better fit.
07:29But if you can make use of it, and you can afford its relatively high price tag,
07:32you're gonna enjoy it.
07:33Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video.
07:34Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
07:36See you guys next time.