4 Best Laptop 2017
The Top Award Winning Laptops You Can Buy
With its virtual HALO keyboard and ingenious writing surface, Lenovo’s Yoga Book paves the way for the next generation of ultraportables
Pros
Super thin and lightweight
Fantastic note-taking device
Decent battery life
Cons
Slightly sluggish performance
When the 2-in-1 Yoga Book was first announced, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that Lenovo had taken leave of its senses. As the manufacturer who first perfected the convertible laptop concept, though, Lenovo is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of laptop design – and it's got a pretty good track history of not getting it disastrously wrong in the process. This time around, it's raised the stakes higher than ever – the Yoga Book is by far the riskiest experiment yet.
For starters, there’s no physical keyboard. Instead, you get a fancy virtual one with illuminated, futuristic-looking keys that look as though they’ve been pulled straight from an episode of Black Mirror. They vibrate when you tap them, too, giving you a reassuring sense of haptic feedback as you type.
This isn’t a merely aesthetic touch, however, as the Yoga Book is able to turn that virtual keyboard into a full-blown, electromagnetic resonance (EMR) writing surface, allowing you to draw or scribble down notes with its bundled stylus at the flip of a switch. Simply press the small stylus button in the top-right corner and the illuminated keys instantly disappear.
It’s incredibly versatile, and the lack of physical keys means Lenovo has also been able to pare back the Yoga Book’s aluminium magnesium-alloy chassis to a mere 9.6mm when closed, making it the world’s thinnest hybrid. Likewise, at just 690g, the Yoga Book barely weighs more than your traditional paper notebook, making it incredibly easy to slot in your bag and use on the go.
Lenovo Yoga Book review: Halo keyboard
Admittedly, typing is a little awkward. At first, it feels like you’re learning to type for the first time – there’s just something about it that doesn’t quite feel natural. Stick with it, though, and you’ll get used to it pretty quickly. I wrote this review using the Yoga Book’s keyboard, and while the first draft was riddled with typos and mistakes, my fingers soon began to adapt. Just don’t expect to type very fast, as I found it wasn’t quite able to keep up the pace when I began to increase my overall typing speed – it's much more pleasant to type on than you might expect, but it's still no match for proper, old-school keys.
Theoretically, typing on the Yoga Book should improve over time, as Lenovo’s said it has artificial learning software built in. I didn’t see much, if any, evidence of this taking effect during my testing period, but it should be able to learn exactly where your fingers land when you hit certain keys and adjust its active key area accordingly. For instance, if you always hit the spacebar below the defined area on the keyboard, the Yoga Book should remember that and still register the keypress for you.
Turn the keyboard off, though, and the Yoga Book excels as a proper note-taking device. Using the stylus to draw and take notes feels perfectly natural, with near 1-to-1 precision thanks to the pen’s 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity. I much prefer it to writing directly onto glass, and the keyboard’s built-in palm rejection means you can naturally rest your hand on it without making any random marks on the page.
It’s actually very similar to Wacom’s Bamboo Spark notepad, which also used an EMR surface to track individual pen strokes on a pad of paper before turning them into digital notes to view on your phone or tablet. Here, you get the added benefit of seeing exactly what you’re writing on the screen above.
However, the really attractive thing about the Yoga Book is its bundled magnetic clip. This allows you to clip any old A5 notebook to the Yoga Book and still take notes, giving you both a physical version and a digital copy to share with friends or colleagues. In the Android model I was sent for review, all my notes were instantly saved into Lenovo’s proprietary Custom note saving app, but the Windows version automatically saves everything into OneNote, allowing you to access it instantly from any Windows device via the cloud. This is by far the best way to use the Yoga Book, and is perfect for the frequent minute-takers who need both physical and digital copies of important notes.
Lenovo Yoga Book review: Display
Despite the fancy keyboard and effective stylus, Lenovo hasn’t done quite so well with its display. It has a 10.1in, 1,920 x 1,200 panel at its disposal, but despite a surprisingly high maximum brightness of 422cd/m2, its overall colour accuracy was a little lacking, covering just 81.2% of the sRGB colour gamut. This makes it a poor fit for serious graphic work, but considering its price of just £450, it seems churlish to be too harsh on it.
Lenovo Yoga Book review: Performance and battery life
As previously mentioned, there are two types of Yoga Book available – an Android version and a Windows 10 Pro version for £100 more – but both come with the same specs. This includes a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor clocked at 2.4GHz with 4GB of RAM. It’s not a particularly fast combination by any means, but it’s more than enough for light computing tasks on the move.
In Geekbench 4, for instance, the Yoga Book scored 3,222 in the multi-core test and 1,162 in the single-core test. This is a little on the low side for a laptop, but should serve you well for general use. In practicality, I didn’t have any noticeable issues when zipping around multiple, less demanding applications, only with the keyboard struggling to recognise fast keypresses on occasion.
Graphics performance wasn’t quite so impressive, but that’s hardly surprising given its svelte dimensions. That said, its average of 19fps in the GFXBench Manhattan 3 onscreen test is still pretty impressive, putting it roughly on par with one of last year’s flagship smartphones. In practice, running Sky Force Reloaded was a little problematic, with the occasional noticeable frame drop whenever the action got a little too frenetic, but simpler games such as Threes ran perfectly fine.
Battery life is pretty good, too. With the screen brightness set to our standard measurement of 170cd/m2, the Yoga Book lasted 7hrs 22mins in our continuous video-playback test, giving you a decent day’s use away from the mains.
Lenovo Yoga Book review: Ports and connections
Of course, a natural downside of having such a thin device is its sheer lack of ports. Still, the Yoga Book tries its best, as you get a micro-USB port, a micro-HDMI output for connecting it to an external display, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As far as network connectivity goes, there's built-in 802.11ac wireless, along with Bluetooth 4 to hook up some external peripherals.
Lenovo Yoga Book review: Verdict
Despite a couple of niggles, the Yoga Book is an exceptional note-taking device that, for £450, does an excellent job of bridging the gap between laptop, tablet and notebook. Lenovo should be applauded for pushing the boundaries here, and it genuinely feels like a step forward over the various Surface and Surface Pro-alikes that have come and gone in recent years.
You also get more for your money than the now aged Surface 3, as Microsoft expects you to spend extra on a keyboard and stylus – both of which come as standard with the Yoga Book. Admittedly, I’d probably be more inclined to go for the more expensive Windows version of the Yoga Book over the Android model on test here, and not least for the much wider selection of stylus-friendly creative applications, but the Android version may still be a good fit for those who regularly use Google Docs.
Whatever your thoughts on the Yoga Book, I’d advise trying out the keyboard before you buy, as the lack of physical keys certainly won’t be for everyone. However, if you're convinced that a convertible is for you, and you like the idea of it doubling up as a physical notepad, then the Yoga Book might be the laptop you've always wanted. For this kind of money, it's a steal.
Click Here To Learn More About Lenovo Yoga Book 10.1 inch (Touch Atom X5-Z8550 4 GB 64 GB Intel HD Graphics No-ODD Win10 Pro) - Carbon Black.
2. Dell XPS 13 (2016) review: Refined perfection
This next-gen improvement sees the Dell XPS 13 move from a tantalising purchase to an essential one
Pros
'Infinity Edge' display still dazzles
Decent Kaby lake upgrade
Marvellously mobile
Cons
Lower than expected battery life
There are plenty of reasons why I’ve been so protective of my 2015 XPS 13 over the past 11 months. As the only member of Expert Reviews to flatly refuse a MacBook Pro, the XPS 13 is still my definition of the nigh-on–perfect Windows laptop. The thought of swapping it for something else genuinely never crossed my mind. Well, not until now.
I didn’t expect Dell to improve on it with its latest refresh. But I was wrong. Put the two models side by side, and there’s barely a jot of difference between them. But for the fact that the new, improved XPS 13 is varnished in a warm rose gold, rather than the gunmetal-grey finish of my own, I’d have been left playing an almost-impossible game of spot the difference.
Despite looking outwardly identical to its predecessor, the XPS 13 is still a beautiful laptop in 2017. The lid tapers towards the front edge when it's closed, measuring just 15mm at its thinnest edge, and as it weighs in at 1.29kg, it’s still plenty light enough to carry around every day.
Dell genuinely hasn’t changed a thing. That solitary Thunderbolt-powered USB Type-C port can still be spotted on the left edge, and is accompanied by two regular USB 3 ports, an SD card slot and 3.5mm headset jack.
Dell XPS 13 (2016): Performance and battery life
By far the biggest improvement is hidden inside. The new XPS 13 now comes equipped with a seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7500U processor clocked at 2.7GHz. This quad-core Kaby Lake chip is quite the performer, too, scoring a total of 50 in our demanding 4K benchmarking tests – a result that makes it 9% faster than last year’s model.
That’s only a modest performance improvement – indeed, it may have fared a little better if Dell has given us the maximum 16GB of RAM – but it’s no slouch. My last-gen XPS has started buckling under the pressure once I open too many Chrome tabs at once, but I’ve had no such issues with Dell’s latest.
Don’t expect to do much gaming, though. While there’s enough power to keep Minecraft ticking along, Intel’s integrated HD Graphics 620 chip only has a limited amount of horsepower at its disposal. It is very marginally quicker than the previous generation, but you’ll need to drop the resolution and detail settings right down if you want to get more recent games in your Steam library to run at a decent frame rate.
Battery life, on the other hand, is far from an improvement. This is the third Kaby Lake-powered laptop I’ve tested so far, and already I’m beginning to spot a worrying trend. Lasting just 7hrs 46mins away from the wall socket is verging on unacceptable, especially when 2015’s XPS 13 reached 11hrs 30mins. There’s a clear power-efficiency issue here and I suspect that power-hogging QHD+ screen could be the culprit.
Dell XPS 13 (2016) review: Display
It might not do wonders for battery life, but the QHD+ display is a sight to behold. The super-skinny “Infinity Edge” bezel looks great, and image quality is gorgeous. The 13.3in, 3,200 x 1,800 display covers 92% of the sRGB colour gamut, which makes for gloriously intense colours, and the contrast ratio of 1,109:1 provides oodles of detail from the darkest to the brightest corners of the screen. The only downside is that the display’s peak brightness of 290cd/m2 isn’t quite bright enough for use outside on brighter days.
An optional touchscreen is also part of the package, but while it can come in handy in some instances – such as juggling between multiple Chrome tabs – it’s more of a luxury than a necessity. It also adds 90g to the non-touch XPS 13’s 1.2kg starting weight.
Dell XPS 13 (2016) review: Keyboard and touchpad
Thankfully, there haven’t been any significant changes to the keyboard. The keys are nicely spaced, and there’s just the right amount of movement and feedback to be had with each keystroke. Backlighting still comes as standard, too.
The touchpad is well-sized, at least as far as the XPS 13’s slender chassis permits. Windows 10 multi-touch gestures were performed without any slip-ups, and it’s easy to jump between multiple applications with relative ease. I wasn’t even tempted to plug in a USB mouse while working in Photoshop – it’s that good. It does seem to pick up greasy fingerprints a little too easily, though.
One thing that Dell really should have fixed is the XPS 13’s awkwardly placed webcam. It’s still located at the bottom left of the display, which means that getting a suitable angle for video chats is still tricky – flattering it is not.
Dell XPS 13 (2016) review: Verdict
Dell’s latest XPS 13 cements its position as the best Windows ultraportable there is. Battery life remains a sticking point, but with this near-perfect mixture of price, performance and portability, there’s nothing else to match it. Or at the very least, nothing that hasn’t got an Apple logo on it.
If you’ve already got last year’s model, then there aren’t enough improvements here to justify an upgrade. But if you’re searching for the most refined Windows laptop on the market, then Dell’s new XPS 13 is the one to buy.
To Read More About Newest Dell XPS 13 -9360 Laptop (7th Generation Intel Core i7 7500U, 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Silver , QHD+ Touch Screen , Windows 10 Home) (I7 256 GB SSD) Find Here.
3. Dell XPS 15 review (Late 2015, Skylake): The best Windows 10 laptop but for how long?
The Dell XPS 15 is the ultimate Skylake-based Windows 10 laptop, but a new Kaby Lake model approaches
News: Kaby Lake Dell XPS 15 launches
The 2015 XPS 15's reign of Windows laptop domination might be at an end. Launching sometime in February 2017, a new Kaby Lake-powered XPS 15 may just push the last model off the top spot.
Announced at CES 2017, Dell's new XPS 15 features Intel's core i7-7700HQ processor, a GeForce GTX 1050 GPU and up to 32GB of RAM. At first glance, this is one hell of a performance beast. Design-wise, not a whole lot has changed, although it looks like we might be getting Windows Hello login, with Dell ditching passwords for a fingerprint scanner.
If you're thinking of picking up an XPS 15 today, I'd wait. Dell's 2015 models of XPS 15's haven't really gone down in price since release, and I'd expect the flashier models to retail for roughly the same price. Watch this space.
Nonetheless, you can check out my original Dell XPS 15 review below.
Dell XPS 15 (Late 2015, Skylake) review
When you first set your eyes on Dell’s gorgeous InfinityEdge bezels it's difficult not to be immediately wowed. Sure, it's been around for some time now, but I'm still incredibly impressed every time I see it make an appearance on a newer model. Put it next to any other bog standard laptop and it absolutely shines, really standing out on the store shelf. Thankfully, that's still the case with the XPS 15's gorgeously large screen.
As was the case with the XPS 13 later last year, it's sticking with the same metal chassis of the 13.3in laptop, but stretched it out a bit to support the wonderful 15.6in display. It's not as petite as the XPS 13, but it's definitely worth it for the extra inches of screen space and with just 5.7mm of bezel all the way around, it still takes your breath away.
Looking past the screen for a moment, it's an incredibly expensive high-performance laptop. Beauty does come at a price here and the comparisons to the MacBook Pro are almost unavoidable. The XPS 15 does compare very favourably against Apple's 15in powerhouse, particularly when it comes to size and weight. While the 15in Macbook Pro measures 18mm all the way round, the XPS 15 tapers from 11-17mm in thickness.
Admittedly, the picture above is a little deceiving, as it only starts getting slimmer from around the front 20mm of the device. It certainly looks slimmer from afar, but in reality it's more or less the same as its Apple rival. Both laptops weigh about the same as well, with the touchscreen SSD model of the XPS 15 reviewed here weighing 2kg, and the Macbook Pro tipping the scales at 2.04kg.
Keyboard and Touchpad
As you'd expect from Dell's premium XPS range, the XPS 15 borrows many of the same design cues as its gorgeous little brother, as it uses the same aluminium chassis and carbon fibre composite keyboard and palm rest as the XPS 13.
That said, I can’t help but feel the carbon fibre loses some of its appeal when applied to a larger surface area. On the XPS 13, for example, its small footprint meant you had less excess space around the edge of the keyboard, making the whole laptop seem neater and more compact. The XPS 15, on the other hand, has the same sized keyboard, but a much wider palm rest, meaning you see a lot more of its lightly checked interior. To me, the additional space means the XPS 15 doesn't look anywhere near as classy as the XPS 13, but that's one of the downsides of choosing a slightly larger laptop. Put the XPS 15 alongside the Microsoft Surface Book, too, and it suddenly looks far less stylish.
The palm rest also becomes slightly warm to the touch during day-to-day use. It never becomes uncomfortable, but it is noticeable. The keyboard itself is sensibly laid out, aside from the rather thin Enter key, but I did eventually get used to it after a while. Still, considering how much keyboard real estate the XPS 15 has at its disposal, it's baffling that Dell didn't decide to go for a slightly larger set of keys.
Fortunately, the rest of the XPS 15's backlit keyboard is very pleasant to type on. It’s not the most accurate keyboard I’ve used but, there’s a respectable amount of travel to each keystroke and I could certainly get close to around 80% of my recorded top typing speeds compared to a mechanical keyboard, which isn’t bad for a laptop.
The large touchpad makes good use of the available space, too. It’s accurate and responded wonderfully to each stroke, tap and multitouch gesture that came its way. As such, navigating around Windows 10 is both slick and intuitive. There are no dedicated mouse buttons, but left and right clicks at the base of the touchpad worked perfectly without any hitches. In fact, you can actually click in all but the top inch of the touchpad for a left click if you don’t jog the current position of your cursor.
InfinityEdge Display
All but the lowest specification from Dell is equipped with a glossy 3,840x2,160 (4K) resolution display. That’s a higher resolution than Apple’s Retina panel on the MacBook Pro (2,880x1,800). Keep in mind, the cheapest XPS 15 option only has a 1,920x1,080 panel, however.
My review unit came with the 4K display, and to say it’s simply stunning is a huge understatement. Dell makes some bold claims about its accuracy, stating it can display 100% of the Adobe RGB colour gamut, but our colour calibrator was able to confirm this is indeed the case, showing both 100% coverage of the Adobe RGB and sRGB colour gamuts. If you’re looking for true colour accuracy, the XPS 15 delivers with aplomb.
There’s no shortage in terms of brightness, either. The panel reaches almost eye-searing brightness levels of 363.4cd/m2, so it's unlikely you’re going to struggle when using it outdoors. In fact, I had to dial it down a few notches when using it indoors, as my eyes quickly became fatigued at maximum brightness. Black levels do suffer slightly as a result, however, and our measurement of 0.34cd/m2 is by no means the deepest I've seen at this end of the market. The same goes for its contrast ratio of 1,065:1, which is respectable but unremarkable.
The numbers only really tell part of the story, though. Under more subjective tests, the screen still looks beautiful with plenty of crisp, sharp detail and vibrant colours. The reflective coating did prove occasionally irksome under certain lighting conditions, but no more so than other reflective screens I’ve used.
It also comes with Dell's PremierColor software pre-installed, which lets you fine tune the display to your surroundings, task or taste with ease. Luckily, the XPS 15 doesn’t have the same adaptive contrast that was on the XPS 13, either - as confirmed by this useful tool. As such, creative professionals are in for a treat.
The ultra high resolution panel option also has a touchscreen coated with Corning Gorilla Glass. It responded perfectly to all manner of swipes and gestures and the laptop’s hinge is strong and firm enough to withstand constant prodding.
Dell has included some nice software touches that make working with the ultra high resolution display that much easier. When you click and drag a window, a small pop-up ‘virtual monitor’ appears near the mouse or your finger if using the touchscreen. Dragging the window here will let you snap the window into different positions, saving you from having to maximise them fullscreen or dragging them long distances across the screen.
Without it, managing multiple windows can often be a slow and cumbersome process on such a high resolution display, particularly if you don't have any scaling options enabled. Fortunately, Windows 10's high-resolution display scaling is much better than older versions of Windows, which has previously been one of our biggest complaints about high-resolution screens. For the XPS 15, you’ll want to turn up scaling to at least 150%, if not 175%, to reach a happy compromise which still lets you read text comfortably.
Performance and Battery Life
As is always the case with Dell's laptops, there are numerous configurations available when buying the XPS 15. Originally, at launch, the bottom of the range was the aforementioned 1,920x1,080 resolution model, which cost £1,099 at time of writing and came equipped with 8GB of DDR4 memory and a Skylake-based quad-core 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-6300HQ, which can Turbo Boost to 3.2GHz. This was the only model with a Core-i5 processor.
Every other model came with a quad-core 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ (with Turbo Boosting up to 3.5GHz) and 16GB of DDR4 memory. Here, the main difference between the remaining models is storage capacity. There was a 1TB hard disk + 32GB SSD option (£1,449 at time of writing), a 512GB PCIe SSD model (£1,649), and a 1TB PCIe SSD (£1,899) version. All four models came with Nvidia GeForce 960M graphics that has 2GB of GDDR5.
Since launch, Dell has done away with all of the hard disk-based systems. Instead, the lowest-specification option has a 1,920x1,080 screen, 256GB SSD and 8GB of memory for £1,149. The next model up again has a 1,920x,1080 screen but increases memory to 16GB and storage to 512GB for £1,299. The remaining two options remain the same specifications-wise, but the cost of the 3,840x2,160, 16GB memory and 512GB SSD has fallen to £1,599 at time of writing. The top option remains £1,899.
For the specifications, the Dell XPS 15 is priced very competitively against the 15in MacBook Pro with Retina display, especially considering the latter is still based around Intel's 4th generation Broadwell processors. For £100 less than the top-end MacBook Pro, you get double the storage and a more up-to-date processor with the XPS 15, and our 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD model saw sequential read speeds of 1,525.51MB/s and write speeds of 541.54MB/s.
Performance from the XPS 15 in our benchmarks was also excellent. It managed an overall score of 111, with excellent scores across the board when it came to image editing, video editing and multitasking, and this puts it right up there as a viable desktop replacement. With its SSD, the XPS 15 boots up and shuts down swiftly and Windows 10 feels super responsive. Combine the excellent performance with an immaculate screen and you have a system that’s superb for both work and play.
The dedicated GeForce 960M graphics even makes it possible for moderate gaming, too. Dirt Showdown at 1,920x1,080, 4x anti-aliasing and Ultra graphics saw 45.1 fps and even Metro Last Light Redux saw playable framerates. Admittedly, I had to turn off the difficult super-sampled anti-aliasing in this case, but doing so meant framerates of 31.6fps at 1,920x1,080 resolution and Very High graphics.
It’s never going to compete with a proper gaming laptop, but if you’re willing to compromise on image fidelity (and put up with its rather loud fans), you’ll be able to get some playable framerates even on more taxing games. For example, dropping down to Medium graphics quality in Metro Last Light saw the framerate jump up to 51.5fps. For this to even be possible on a laptop like the XPS 15 is an impressive feat.
The only disappointing part of the XPS 15 was its battery life, which garnered only 5 hours 40 minutes of video playback from its 84Whr battery. This is a far cry from Dell’s advertised battery life of 17 hours, but considering how well specified the system is, this is actually pretty reasonable compared to other 15.6in laptops I've tested, and you'll get a little more in day-to-day use if you're careful. It's worth noting that you only get the 84WHr battery with the SSD-based models. This is because the space that's used for a hard
It's worth noting that you only get the 84WHr battery with the SSD-based touch models. This is because the space that's used for a hard disk in the older cheaper configurations allows for a larger battery when an M.2 SSD is fitted instead. However, even though the newer low-end configurations now include an SSD, they still use a smaller 56Whr battery, which will obviously mean less stamina although I couldn't say how much without putting one through the same test. It's a shame you only get the larger battery with the touch-screen and SSD models, as there should now be space for a bigger battery in the cheaper configurations. The non-touchscreen models with the smaller 56Whr battery weigh a little less at 1.78kg, so there's some solace at least.
Usefully, the XPS 15 has a handy LED battery gauge on the side of the laptop to let you know when you're running low on power. It's a shame it doesn't come with the same svelte charger as the XPS 13, but if you need some serious mobile power, Dell does sell a 1,800mAh Power Companion device which adds some extra battery life and lets you charge other mobile devices over USB.
Connections
Like the Dell XPS 13, the XPS 15 has a Thunderbolt 3 multi-function port that can be used for charging, data transfer, and connecting the laptop to an external display. This uses the familiar USB Type-C connector, as such works fine with USB-C devices, but with faster transfer rates of up to 40Gbps versus 10Gbps for USB 3.1 when used with Thunderbolt peripherals. You can also use it with Dell’s optional and yet-to-be-released Thunderbolt Dock will let you output to three displays at 1,920x1,080 or two displays at 3,840x2,160.
Without the dock, there’s a full-size HDMI connection for an external display, two USB3 ports, an SD card reader and a headset jack. For those looking for an Ethernet port, you’ll need to buy an optional USB Type-C to HDMI/VGA/Ethernet/USB3 adaptor. You do, however, get 802.11ac MiMo Wi-Fi.
Conclusion
The Dell XPS 15 is a stunning laptop. It doesn’t have the instant visual impact of the diminutive XPS 13, but there’s no doubt it’s packed plenty of power into a streamlined 15.6in laptop. It marries performance with stylish looks, and it more than meets expectation considering its premium price.
The build quality is also superb and the InfinityEdge display still looks absolutely stunning. While I can’t attest to the 1,920x1,080 display model, you’ll certainly won't be disappointed by the Ultra HD XPS 15. Between this and the XPS 13, Dell has two shining lights that show off Windows 10 to its fullest. The XPS 15 is the ultimate Windows 10 laptop that competes with, and in many aspects overtakes, the 15in MacBook Pro, and it wins a Best Buy award.
The Microsoft Surface Book is finally available in the UK, but that's a whole different kind of beast. It similarly can be configured with a dedicated graphics card but one that doesn't meet the performance of the XPS 15's. In its defense, it's a 13.5in hybrid 2-in-1 so in terms of size it should be compared with the XPS 13 but that's not available with a dedicated graphics card. If you're not specifically looking for a laptop that can convert into a tablet with an excellent stylus, nor one that comes in a small form factor, the Dell XPS 15 is far better value for money.
Click Here To Learn More About Dell XPS 15 15.6-Inch Notebook - (Silver) (Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 32 GB SSD, GTX 1050 4 GB Graphics Card, Windows 10).
4. Microsoft Surface Pro 4 review: Still a rock solid choice
The ultimate Windows 10 device, the Surface Pro 4 still holds the top spot
Microsoft has really hammered home the whole "Surface tablets can replace your laptop" mantra for a long time now, so much so that it's sort of lost most of its meaning. Sure, the statement is largely correct, Surface Pro's are wonderful machines, if rather pricey, but I feel like Microsoft needs to get the hint that we know this already. The thing is, the latest Surface Pro 4 not only replaces your laptop, but your desktop and notepad too, it's one hell of an all-encompassing device.
This might be the only device you'll ever need then, that is of course, until the Surface Pro 5 finally shows itself to the world. Currently slated for a Spring 2017 release, we won't quite be seeing it just yet, but it's worth bearing in mind that if you're planning on picking up a Surface Pro 4, you might be best waiting for the imminent reduction in price.
Surface Pro 4 review: Pricing
Before I get down to the review, we have to talk about options. The Surface Pro 4 is expensive, no doubt, but how austere your Surface Pro 4 life will be depends on the specification you choose. I had a mid-range Surface Pro 4, with a 256GB SSD, an Intel Core i5-6300U processor and 8GB of RAM. The price for the tablet alone (including the Surface Pen stylus) is £1,079, but this is not a credible work device unless you buy the £110 Type Cover.
If you want to cheap out on a but keep the i5, half the RAM and half the storage, your tablet subtotal will be £849. Can't stomach that? Switch out the Core i5 for a fanless (and 20g lighter) Core m3 for a base price of £749. Step up to a Core i7 and you'll pay either £1,499 or £1,799 if you want 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
I have the middle-of-the-road choice, so can't comment on the performance of the low-power Core m3; if Microsoft makes these available for review I'll see how big the performance drop is.
Surface Pro 4 review: Display
By itself, the Surface Pro 4 is a light, if slightly thick tablet with a 12.3in screen. Despite having the same footprint as last year's Surface Pro 3, thinner bezels mean the screen is 0.3in larger diagonally. Screen resolution has also increased, up to 2,736 x 1,824 from 2,160x1,440 on the Surface Pro 3. This takes pixel density from 216ppi up to a huge 267ppi - narrowly beating the 12.9in iPad Pro's 264ppi, if you're counting.
It's sharp. Really sharp. Lines drawn with the Surface Pen are so smooth you can hardly tell they're on a screen at all. Text looks great, too, with no jagged edges in sight. To get anything done with great effect you will need to ensure Windows 10's display scaling options are set to 200%; 100% is laughably difficult to read. If you hook the Surface Pro 4 up to an external monitor, you'll be happy to know that Windows 10 now supports per-display scaling, meaning you won't end up with giant windows and text a 24in Full HD monitor - one of the biggest gripes we had with every version of Windows before 10.
The numbers add up, too. Our colour calibrator measured the Surface Pro 4's screen capable of displaying 97.5% of the sRGB colour gamut, meaning it's just a fraction off total coverage. At maximum brightness, the Surface Pro 4 pumps out 400cd/m2, which is far too bright for indoor use. Thankfully, automatic brightness is effective but subtle; it doesn't wantonly flick between modes and always seemed perfectly adjusted for my liking. Blacks are well-served, with the screen letting just 0.3cd/m2 of light through on pure blacks, even on maximum brightness. This gives the Surface Pro 4 an overall contrast figure of 1,316:1, which is very credible.
Colour accuracy is similarly impressive, with an average delta-E figure of just 1.61. What this means in real terms is the screen produces colours that are, for the most part, indistinguishable from the 'perfect' version of that colour. This is great for graphic designers, artists and photographers who demand colour accuracy, as they won't have to invest in an expensive monitor. Particularly important are greys, which were all accurate. The weakest area, as is the case with many screens, was bright red and bright orange, with the latter producing a rather high delta-E score of 4.05 and looking a shade paler than it should.
Displays on thinner tablets are often compromised by heavy backlight bleeding around the edges. This isn't the case with the Surface Pro 4; if you look very closely you'll find it, but only on a completely static, black screen. I even used the colour calibrator to check for patchy brightness right at the extreme edges of the screen and it noted a mere 0.04cd/m2 brightness disparity on a completely black image.
Surface Pro 4 review: Design and build quality
The Surface Pro 4 weighs 786g, which is heavy for a tablet but perhaps forgivable when you consider both its size and specification. I was perfectly happy carrying the tablet around the office, leaning it on my knee and balancing it on my arm when taking notes or doodling in meetings. I used it instead of a notepad thanks to the excellent Surface Pen and had no issues sitting it in my lap on the sofa.
The kickstand is superb. It's strong enough to hold the Surface up but easy enough to adjust with one hand. There are no notches, either: you simply tilt it to whatever angle you want and leave it there.
It does look chunky, even though it's only 9mm thick, but this is to accommodate the fans and the full-size USB3 port on the right edge. I'm happy Microsoft decided to keep the USB3 port and not replace it with a smaller USB-C connector; there aren't enough USB-C peripherals yet and having to carry around an adapter would have been a huge faff. Next to the USB3 port is a Mini DisplayPort connector, which comes in very handy when you're in laptop mode. Finally, there's a 3.5mm headset jack on the left side.
But first: notepad mode. The Surface Pro 4 is perhaps the best advertisement for Microsoft OneNote you could wish for. More accurately, if you buy a Surface Pro 4 you'll have almost no choice but to use OneNote. The Surface Pen, which is included in the price of the tablet, includes a button on the top dedicated to opening OneNote. Double tap it and you'll open OneNote with a version of whatever you were just looking at that you can scribble on. It all happens in an instant, which is crucial for making this tablet's transformation into a notepad as seamless as possible. I do find it a little bit annoying that Microsoft doesn't let you customise what the eraser button does, triggering those feelings of the inflexibility you get from Apple products. What if I find a note-taking app better than OneNote? Heaven forbid.
The Surface Pen is powered by a AAA battery, which Microsoft claims has an 'all-year' battery life. There's no way to check the status of your pen's battery, though, so you should keep a AAA handy to avoid disappointment. The Pen has 1,024 degrees of pressure sensitivity, which could make it a genuinely attractive propositions for digital artists who may be using a dedicated pad for drawing.
I'm no artist; most of my pen usage was in the form of notes, but it did feel incredibly responsive and, more importantly, accurate. If I pick a thin pen nib in OneNote but press as hard as I can, the line I draw is satisfyingly thick. If I draw a tick or circle an object on screen, the pen trail thins as I lift it off the screen. It's immensely satisfying more than anything else, and makes writing on the Surface a genuine joy. The palm rejection is as good as it gets and at no point was I able to trick the Surface into thinking my finger was the pen or vica versa.
The primary button the Surface Pen is essentially a way to turn taps into right-clicks. In OneNote, holding down this button performs a lasso select function, letting you draw around an object. The button at the top doubles as an eraser. Press it against the screen in OneNote and it'll erase, either the entire line or part of it depending on your settings.
Storing the Pen when not in use is better than any previous Surface Pro. Microsoft has bowed to pressure and has placed strong magnets on the left edge of the tablet that, while perhaps not strong enough to withstand abuse in a cluttered backpack, means I don't feel like it's at risk of getting lost.
In short, as a tablet the Surface Pro 4 is superb. But it's far too expensive by itself and that means, perversely, you have to spend more money to get more bang for your buck. Enter the Type Cover.
The ultimate Windows 10 device, the Surface Pro 4 still holds the top spot
Surface Pro 4 review: Type Cover and laptop mode
The Type Cover has seen several changes over last year's model. Gone are the full-size keys; instead we get an island-style layout that both looks classier and feels better. Button response is great; there's lots of travel (for such a thin keyboard) and the click response is satisfying. There was no adjustment period whatsoever when I started using the Surface Pro 4 as my primary work device. I was tapping accurately and quickly as soon as I started.
A really nice touch is the togglable FN key. Instead of having to hold down the FN key to access the top row of F buttons, you just hit the FN button once and use the F keys to your heart's content. Like Caps Lock, the FN key has a light in it to let you know it's active, which is great. I'd love to see more laptop manufacturers do this.
I'm personally not a fan of the buttons Microsoft has chosen for the top row: F1 and F2 are occupied by keyboard backlight adjustment buttons, which is odd. I'd have preferred screen brightness adjustment here. You get a single media key in the form of Play/Pause on F3, which the next three buttons are occupied by volume controls. There are no skip or back buttons to be found. This makes sense to an extent; the rest of the F keys are occupied by Print Screen, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and Insert. This is a device for getting work done.
The Type Cover is made from a soft material, which is an equal measure of weird and comfortable. Soft furnishings on a device my hands will spend a lot of time touching seems odd, but looking at heavily used Surface Pro 3s from last year, the material seems to last pretty well.
The touchpad is one of the finest examples I've seen. It's Precision Touchpad branded, which gives it two distinct advantages. The first is that it supports gestures built directly into Windows, including the three-finger swipe gesture for opening the multitasking pop-up. It also means every tap, swipe and drag feels immediate, which is something I've only seen so far on a few other laptops that have also joined the Precision Touchpad scheme. The real proof of quality here is that I was rarely tempted to use the touchscreen while reviewing the Surface Pro 4; I find myself reaching out and scrolling and prodding with most other touchscreen laptops, but the Surface Pro 4's touchpad is so good, I barely even thought about the touchscreen when in laptop mode.
Microsoft has also announced a Surface Pro 4 Type Cover with Fingerprint ID. This is available for £135 and allows you to sign in using your fingerprint. The cover will also work with the Surface Pro 3 allowing older devices to be upgraded with Windows Hello touch capability. Your fingerprint ID is then stored in Microsoft Passport and can then be used to also authenticate purchases from the Windows Store. The new Type Cover with Fingerprint ID will be available March 15th.
The keyboard and tablet sit comfortably on both my desk and my lap, even when sitting cross-legged with the whole lot balanced on one leg. Thanks to the flexible kickstand, having the laptop on my lap doesn't mean I have to compromise viewing angles.
The front-facing speakers are great. Even at maximum volume, you lose no fidelity from music and dialogue, and there's even a hint of mid-range in there. Covering the tiny grilles at the front make little difference to sound quality, with most of the meaningful audio comes from within the tablet portion. You could happily use this device without headphones if you wanted to.
There's a dual webcam system in place, used primarily for Windows Hello. Windows Hello is Microsoft's answer to facial recognition, in this case using the two cameras to capture a 3D image of your face. Once it knows your face (with and without glasses), logging in is as seamless as sitting down in front of the Surface. Within a couple of seconds you're logged in, without having to press a key.
Surface Pro 4 review: Performance and battery life
My review unit was powered by a dual-core 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-6300U processor from the Skylake generation. It has a low maximum TDP of 15W, even when Turbo Boosting to 3GHz. Web browsing, emails, videos are all smooth as silk and I had no issues with stuttering at any point, even with media-heavy web pages. Strangely, the more programs I had open (Spotify, Paint.NET, Chrome, OneNote) the noisier the fans became, to the extent that they were emitting a whooshing noise constantly until I started to close some windows. This only happened once, and I haven't been able to recreate this since. For the most part, the Surface Pro 4 remained whisper quiet.
Running our intense multimedia benchmarks, it unsurprisingly piped up again, but the rear of the tablet never became uncomfortably hot, which is a credit to the design of the cooling system. The performance was admirable, with an overall score of 44 in the benchmarks, including a high 78 in the photo conversion test. For context, a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 desktop chip scores 100 overall. This is a quick piece of kit for short bursts of activity, but it suffers when performing long, high-intensity tasks such as video editing but arguably if that's your usage scenario the Surface Pro 4 shouldn't be on your shortlist.
Our light gaming benchmark is Dirt Showdown. Running at High settings on 1,280x720 resolution, it managed 22.9fps, which isn't playable. Cranking it down to Low settings at the same resolution, the integrated Intel HD Graphics 520 was able to produce 40fps, which is reasonable enough. This isn't a device for hardcore gaming, but the simple 3D games found in the Windows Store and some older titles will be just fine and can be a welcome distraction.
Battery life in everyday use is excellent, lasting a little over seven hours. This was reflected in our battery benchmark, where the Surface Pro lasted 7h40m. This benchmark involves playing a Full HD video every half hour with the screen at half brightness.
With conservative use and Battery Saver switched on, you might be able to get through a full day of work, but it's touch and go. I wouldn't leave the house without the charger. The charger, by the way, has a USB port on it for charging. It's an ingenious solution to the Surface Pro 4's lack of ports and means you can charge your smartphone without having to unplug other USB peripherals.
Surface Pro 4 review: Bugs and glitches
My time with the Surface Pro 4 wasn't without incident. I had two issues, one of which repeated itself. Twice when waking the device up from sleep, the screen didn't fire up, despite Windows being logged in and producing sound. I was able to combat this by connecting a monitor via the mini DisplayPort connector, which seemed to fix the problem. The second issue was the touchscreen, which became non-responsive in the middle of a meeting. The touchpad and keyboard continued to work, but I was forced to hard reset the tablet in order to fix the problem.
Since our review was first published in late 2015 Microsoft has released several firmware updates for the Surface Pro 4 that are expected to have an impact on the bug described above. An update in December was specifically for the Intel HD Graphics 520 driver to 'improve stability'.
Other users had experienced issues where the Surface Pro 4 wouldn't sleep properly and would experience extremely high power consumption when the device was supposed to be using next to no power. This too has subsequently been fixed with a new firmware update. Users who have installed the new firmware have reported a significant reduction in battery drain when the system is in sleep, from as much as a drop of 7% per hour previously to just 1% after the new firmware.
Surface Pro 4 review: Conclusion
The Surface Pro 4 can replace your laptop, there's no doubt. It's fantastically well built, has one of the best styluses out there and can power its way through pretty much anything you throw at it. My reservations are related to its battery life and the glitches I encountered. For such a portable device, battery life that doesn't seem to stretch to what I'd consider to be 'all-day' is a minus point, although not a showstopper. The issue is also slightly negated by the lack of longevity exhibited by many of the Surface Pro 4's rivals, too. It's also comforting to see a reasonably consistent stream of firmware updates for the Surface Pro 4, meaning that while it might not be completely polished now but isn't far off it.
At the moment, it's the best device to show off the capabilities of both Windows 10 and Microsoft as a whole. It's a cohesive machine where you feel truly connected, thanks to a great touchpad, tactile keyboard and clever stylus. I've only ever previously felt this with Apple MacBook devices in the past. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say, and going by the number of devices that look to emulate the Surface Pro range, both already released and on the horizon, and it's clear Microsoft is on to a good thing. As it stands, the Surface Pro 4 is the ultimate Windows 10 experience.
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