I tested the cheapest Surface Pro Copilot+ PC for a week and it easily replaced my daily driver

The Windows PC industry has been in a rut over the past decade. Microsoft and its OEM partners routinely ship a batch of new devices every year, usually based on incremental speed increases for Intel CPUs. If you buy this year’s model, you’ll get slightly better battery life and a modest performance boost over last year’s crop. Yawn.

That predictable pattern is why the just-released Copilot+ PCs have so much potential. Yes, they run Windows 11, but at their heart is a new engine: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X-series Arm-based processors.

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My Surface Pro 11 (I know the official name is “Surface Pro, 11th Edition”, but let’s keep it simple, okay?) arrived last week. I deliberately ordered the cheapest configuration and had no idea what to expect. Yes it should better battery life than an Intel-based alternative, and all preliminary benchmarks indicated it would deliver impressive performance, but seeing is believing.

After a full week I can say without any qualifications: this machine is absolutely amazing.

My original plan was to use the new Surface Pro as a secondary mobile device, while leaving my Dell Precision workstation on the desktop for my daily activities. I now use the new Surface Pro as my daily driver.

How did this happen? Let’s dive in.

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The experience is well known

This is a radical shift in the Windows ecosystem, but it doesn’t feel all that different from its predecessors. In fact, it’s almost indistinguishable from the Intel-powered Surface Pro 9 that sits next to it on my desk. The thin bezels around the displays of the two devices have almost the same dimensions. The new device is the same weight as the Surface Pro 9 at 1.9 pounds and is a few ounces heavier than the Surface Pro to make something. a connection. The Type Cover from the older Surface Pro clicked into place on the Surface Pro 11 exactly as expected.

And as for the software, well… It’s Windows 11, which looks and works the same on an Arm-based PC as it does on an Intel device.

Also: 7 Ways to Make Windows 11 Less Annoying

The big difference is that this next-gen machine runs extremely cool and quiet. After a three-hour Zoom call the other day, the chassis was barely warm; on an Intel-based machine, it would have been uncomfortably hot. There’s a fan on the Surface Pro 11, but I didn’t hear it spin up, even under the most demanding conditions. And it’s extremely responsive, with none of the hesitation I occasionally noticed on the Surface Pro X. If you’ve used a MacBook Air with M2, the feeling will be familiar.

Of course, this new device also embodies everything you love and/or hate about the Surface Pro design. If you’re expecting a radical change that makes the kickstand sit more comfortably on your lap, I’m sorry to say you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re familiar with that design, you’ll find this iteration to be utterly familiar.

Battery life is a big win

If the Arm architecture has one killer feature, it’s battery life. The Surface Pro X delivered on that score, but it did so at the expense of performance. This generation, on the other hand, extends battery life impressively and does so without any compromise on speed or responsiveness.

It’s still a bit too early to make any definitive statements about how long I can use this Surface Pro before I start looking for a place to plug it in. The first week with a new device is never normal, because it involves a lot of work. downloading, installing, configuring and futzing, which is probably not common.

Also: How to Improve Your Windows Laptop’s Battery Life

But these actual usage figures come from a report generated by Windows Powercfg /batteryreport to command, to speak for oneself.

With an average actual, perceived battery life of over 10 hours, this Surface Pro can run for well over twice as long as my Intel-based Surface Pro 9. That’s also at least as long as the M2 MacBook Air in my office.

Compatibility is good, but not perfect

The battery life of these Snapdragon X PCs is certainly a success, but compatibility is less clear.

Microsoft has been developing Windows on Arm for more than a decade, and it’s remarkable how well most software works on an Arm-based PC. If you do most of your work in a web browser and in Microsoft Office, you may never notice a difference. But there are still some rough edges, and you can expect compatibility issues, especially if you’re using older hardware or apps that require low-level system drivers.

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On this PC, of ​​course, every preinstalled Microsoft app is compiled to run as native ARM64 code. That includes the Edge browser, the full suite of Microsoft 365 apps, and every conceivable Windows utility, from PowerShell to Registry Editor to Calculator. Even the semi-official PowerToys collection installs in ARM64 mode. I installed a wide selection of progressive web apps that run in the ARM64 Edge environment, and they all ran fine.

Regular x86 apps written for Intel-based machines usually install without issue in the Windows on Arm emulation layer, and there was no apparent performance hit for the apps I tried, including my favorite screen recording utility, SnagIt.

Many third-party developers have gone to the trouble of recompiling their apps for Arm64, and if you can find them they’re preferable. You may have to do some digging, though. For example, the default download for VLC Media Player is a 64-bit x86 version, but there are nightly builds available that are compiled for Arm64 machines. Likewise, the normal download options for 1Password will give you the x86 release, which is problem-free, but there is a preview of the Arm64 version if you know where to look.

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But I’m not sure what to make of Adobe, which tweeted earlier this year that it’s “excited to announce your favorite Adobe apps are coming to Copilot+ PCs.” What does that even mean? Photoshop has been available in an Arm64 version for three years, albeit with significant limitations, but I can’t find a native Arm version of Acrobat. Maybe Adobe just means that the x86 versions are certified to run in emulation mode? Who knows.

And then there’s Google, which finally released an Arm64-native version of Chrome in April. Hurrah! But you won’t find any version of the Google Drive for Desktop sync client that works on a Copilot+ PC. If you try to install the x86 version, you will get this unfriendly error message:

So if you’re a confirmed Google Drive user and want your cloud-based storage to integrate with File Explorer, you’ll have to stick with Intel-based machines for now. Or maybe switch to OneDrive.

The most troublesome compatibility issues arise when you try to install an app that requires custom drivers for low-level access to networks and the file system. Most commercial VPNs, including Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, will refuse to run on Windows on Arm for this reason; try Wireguard or Viscosity instead. And if you insist on using a third-party antivirus app, you’ll probably end up frustrated. (Spoiler: You probably don’t need it.)

Also: The best VPN for Windows: tested and reviewed by experts

I had no hardware issues to speak of. My 10 year old Logitech C930 webcam worked just fine. And so does my trusty Brother laser printer. ScanSnap x1600 scanner. I connected the Surface Pro 11 to a StarTech Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Docking Station and everything worked exactly as it should.

Your mileage may vary, of course, especially if you have exotic hardware like video capture cards and old multifunction printers that require custom driver packages and don’t work with the included Windows drivers. Luckily I don’t have any of these.

The AI ​​story is incomplete

Each PC in the Copilot+ line contains a powerful neural processing unit designed to accelerate AI-based operations. Because I wasn’t in love with the expensive new ones from Microsoft Flex keyboard and I stuck with my old Type Cover, but I didn’t get a special Copilot key. Instead, I had to run the Copilot app, which works exactly like it does on any other Windows 11 PC. If it chatted faster, I wouldn’t notice.

Also: I tried Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC and it beat my MacBook Air 3 ways

And of course, what was supposed to be the main feature of these new PCs, Recall, was pulled at the last minute due to security concerns and will be available as a Windows Insider Preview feature later this year.

Some of the app-based AI features were more useful. The Surface Pro 11’s front-facing camera is one of the best I’ve seen in a laptop, and the AI-powered Studio Effects (accessible via the Quick Settings menu in the taskbar) include some useful options like auto-framing and eye tracking. The neural processing unit makes background-blurring options look more natural than they would on a conventional camera.

The Paint and Photos apps are also loaded with AI-based image creation and editing features. The options to remove background distractions and use blur effects to simulate portrait mode were useful; the style options, which transform a photo into an alternative style (impressionist, anime, etc.), feel gimmicky.

The real question is whether these features are powerful enough to make you switch from your current image processing tool to one of Microsoft’s built-in options. History says this is a pretty big ask.

Even if you avoid the AI ​​features entirely, there’s more than enough power in this budget PC. And as long as your apps and hardware requirements aren’t exotic, you’ll appreciate the cool, quiet operation.