In the past, Microsoft has struggled to marry its legacy desktop operating system with more modern touchscreen interfaces. The Surface Go 3 is the perfect representation of this problem. The touchscreen experience on Windows 11 is better, but due to limited hardware and middling battery life, it’s still frustrating to use.
The new Surface Go 3 is a modest spec bump from its predecessor, but it also launches alongside Windows 11, the first-named iteration of Microsoft’s OS since Windows 10 launched in 2015. That update brings a lot of quality-of-life upgrades for touchscreen users, which might make this tablet appealing for casual readers and note-takers. I just wish the battery lasted a little longer.
At first glance, it might not seem like the Surface Go 3 is that much different from its predecessor, but look under the hood and … well, there still isn’t much difference. The new tablets run on 10th-generation Intel chips, which is a marked improvement over the eighth-generation processors used in the Surface Go 2. However, if raw power was your only concern, you’d still probably be better off looking at a comparably priced iPad.
The base model starts at 64 GB of internal storage and 4 GB of RAM, though you might want to spring for more of each. I tested the Intel Core i3 model ($630) which comes with a 128-GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM, which occasionally strained a bit during a normal workday. It never dipped into what I'd necessarily consider poor performance—except when using Chrome, but more on that later—I also had the best version of Surface Go 3’s hardware. That's something to keep in mind when deciding which model to buy.
Physically, the Surface Go 3 is also much like its predecessor. That’s a good thing. It maintains the same 10.5-inch display with Goldilocks bezels—small enough to feel minimal while still giving you a solid grip. It has a MicroSD card reader tucked under the fold-out kickstand and a single USB-C port on the side next to the headphone jack.
You can still magnetically stick older Surface Pen models to the side of the Go 3 for convenience and charging, but the newer Surface Slim Pen can’t be attached the same way. It’s still compatible as a wireless pen and can be paired with the tablet, but you’ll need to charge it via USB-C every once in a while. This is disappointing, but hey, the Surface Pen works fine and is a little cheaper than the Slim Pen. It's no huge loss.
The most substantial change on the Surface Go 3 isn’t the hardware, but the concurrent arrival of Windows 11. Microsoft has never quite nailed the balance between desktop and touchscreen interface, but this experience is the closest so far. The revamped taskbar, more touch-friendly settings menus, and an updated File Explorer all work more intuitively with your finger than the clunky context menus and tiny touch targets of Windows 10.
However, this is an incremental improvement at best. There are still moments where it’s clear the interface expects you to use a mouse. You can drag a window to the left or right side of the screen to snap into a side-by-side view, but there’s no obvious way to use Windows 11’s new, more useful Snap Group layouts.
If you’re using an app that’s not made by Microsoft—or the parts of Windows the company still hasn’t finished updating to the more modern interface yet—then you can bump into some clumsy menus that are too tiny to touch with your fingers or even a stylus. For example, I tried out a free storyboarding app to test out the tablet’s drawing capabilities. It worked great until I had to navigate the tiny toolbar up top that was clearly meant for a mouse or trackpad.
In my colleague Scott Gilbertson's review of the Surface Go 2 last year, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that, unlike its predecessor, the tablet was able to get through a full day of work with no problem. Unfortunately, the Surface Go 3 is a step backward. I used the machine to write throughout a regular workday and it only lasted seven hours before shutting off entirely.
That falls far short of the 11 hours of battery life Microsoft touts. To make matters worse, that day, I only used Microsoft Edge and only occasionally opened other apps like Slack. Another day, I tried working in Google Chrome, but the tablet lagged so much it wasn’t really usable.
I eventually settled on working in Edge, but I kept one Chrome tab running in the background, playing music through YouTube. That day, I was only able to get five hours of battery before the thing died. It’s not surprising that Chrome is a battery hog—and these were both fairly unscientific tests—but no matter how I used the Surface Go 3, I couldn’t work a full day without reaching for the charger.
The Type Cover Microsoft sent with the tablet is comfortable enough to work with all day, but it highlighted the tablet's limitations—if you're pecking away all day, the Surface Go 3 might struggle. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more casual device for reading, watching a bit of YouTube, or occasionally taking down some notes (with a chonky pen), this could be a great little tablet. Just keep a spare charger handy.