Testseek.co.uk have collected 364 expert reviews of the Microsoft Surface RT and the average rating is 74%. Scroll down and see all reviews for Microsoft Surface RT.
January 2013
(74%)
364 Reviews
Average score from experts who have reviewed this product.
Users
(80%)
426 Reviews
Average score from owners of the product.
740100364
The editors liked
The business tablet of choice. Microsoft Office available. Engineered design
Well built
Distinctive design
Hybrid functionality
Decent overall performance and battery
Battery life
Expandable storage
Multitasking
The Microsoft Surface is sturdily built
And the kickstand is a welcome flourish for pro-users. Ignore the haters
Microsoft’s touch keyboard cover is a masterful piece of work. It’s wafer thin but you can pick up a quick pace on it with a bit of practice on it. If you’ve got a regular train commute where you can nab a table
It’s a great way to plow through your emails in the morning. The physic
Solid build
Built-in kick-stand
USB socket and SD card slot
Decent headphone sound
Pretty Metro interface
Useful keyboard cover
Has Office
Attractive
Robust design
Beautiful Live Tile interface
Bundled Office suite
Touch Cover actually works
USB port can be very useful
Support for multiple user accounts
Nice keyboard cover
Bright display
Good specs.
Neat keyboard cover
Bright screen
Well specced
Feels good and chunky
Nice keyboards
Office
If you need it
Excellent keyboards
Useful kick
Stand
Great for Windows 8
Stylish look and premium feel
Remarkably good finish
Device and OS are generally responsive
Battery life / Fast charging
Touch Cover with keyboard is surprisingly effective
MS Office comes preloaded
Solid build quality
Windows RT is great on tablets
This is the closest a tablet comes to a laptop experience
Great battery life
Screen is brilliant
Largely crash-free
Lightweight
Sturdy construction
Built-in Office 2013 apps
All-day battery life
Great screen
Excellent speakers (for a tablet)
Unique
Durable design
Good performance and battery life
Superb keyboard cover(s)
Sturdy build
Tough kickstand
Windows apps
Terrific keyboard covers
Fullsize USB port
Good battery life
Smartly designed
Compact and light
Touch Cover sleeps and wakes the tablet
Comes with full version of Office 2013
The editors didn't like
Some clunky software installed. Limited thirdparty software
Interface controls are awful
Meagre app ecosystem
Slow app load speed
Camera poor compared to competitors
Not lap-friendly
Slow loading times
Lack of apps
The Microsoft Surface looks gorgeous in press images. Up close
It’s another matter
For one
It’s not nearly as thin as it looks. Much more of an issue is the aspect ratio
With an 10.6-inch screen (that’s not nearly as sharp as a new iPad or the Google Nexus 10’s display) it’s extremely wide
And added to the bulk
This makes it all but impossible to use in portrait mode. That’s a real shame
A
Poor selection of apps
Not the most intuitive experience
Can be slow to respond
Very few apps to start with
Dull design
Not cheap
Sluggish browsing
Desktop mode is confusing
App ecosystem is lacking
Limited 1
366x768 display resolution
Touch Cover is a £100 optional extra
Will soon be up against the Surface Pro
No GPS or 3G connectivity
Has firstgeneration bugs
Rather weighty and chunky
Odd Windows quirks
Small choice of apps.
Chunky
Hefty build
Windows 8 quirks and lack of apps
Split personality OS
No Retina display
Standard display
Heavier than iPad 4
Sluggish graphical performance
Screen definition / Very new OS (lack of content)
Modern UI control gestures aren't always that intuitive
Published: 2012-11-16, Author: James , review by: makeuseof.com
Abstract: The Surface tablet is a flagship Microsoft product — its first foray into the tablet market as a hardware manufacturer. It's almost as locked-down as the iPad – the only applications you can install and run being those that come from the Windows Store — y...
Abstract: A few weeks ago Microsoft held a massive press event in New York where it invited media from around the globe to witness the launch of its latest operating system Windows 8. While the event focused on the software side of things, we didn’t know at the ...
Exceptional design and hardware performance, Highly practical USB port, Longlasting battery, Office applications and SkyDrive integration, Identical user interface as on Windows 8
Low display resolution, Problems with Touch Cover, Small backfacing camera resolution, Slow and unstable Windows Mail, Amount of currently available applications
The Microsoft Surface for Windows RT is an exceptionally convincing and polished device hardware-wise, which represents serious competition for existing top-class 10-inch tablets. Compared to these, it has certain advantages and shortcomings which make i...
Published: 2012-11-13, Author: Andrew , review by: tomshardware.com
Apple's original iPad was introduced in April of 2010. Since then, we've only considered one tablet a serious competitor, and that was Google's Nexus 7. In fact, in The Nexus 7 Review: Google's First Tablet Gets Benchmarked , the plucky little seven-inche...
Extremely well made and designed, An innovative take on mobile computing, Outstanding multitasking capability, Excellent for mobile productivity, Office included at no extra cost, Highquality display
Weak app selection on launch, Aspects of the UI are not intuitive, Tegra 3 processor is at its limit in this application, Touch Cover is cool, but not particularly functional, Not as capable as Windows 8
There is no question that the Microsoft Surface RT is a fresh take on the tablet space - there simply no other device that is a hybrid of a tablet and a notebook - it also includes a tablet and notebook user interface specifically designed for each mode...
Was this review helpful?
(80%)
Published: 2012-11-13, Author: Warner , review by: gottabemobile.com
Even though it's hard to get it installed, we like this case better than the Otterbox and Lifeproof cases we've used. However, those cases offer more extreme protection at a higher price. The UZBL case doesn't cover the power port and headphone port, whic...
There’s good reason why these two are regarded by many as the two most outstanding tablets on the market right now. Every way we dissect it, there’s no arguing that they exhibit all the qualities we look forward to seeing on premier tablets. If you’re...
Published: 2012-11-06, Author: Charles , review by: zdnet.com
Performance & battery life, In the absence of crossplatform benchmarks for comparing Windows RT to iOS and Android devices, we're left with browser benchmarks to give some indication of comparative performance. The picture is mixed, with the Surface showi
For a first outing, Microsoft's ARM-based Surface running Windows RT isn't bad at all, but it is a real curate's egg — both in terms of the hardware and the software. The tablet's build quality is generally good, but there are annoyances, mostly to do ...
Published: 2012-11-04, Author: Andrew , review by: tomshardware.com
We've been using and testing Microsoft's Surface for more than a week, and we have mixed feelings about the tablet on its own and the tablet with the Touch Cover. We're much more excited about using the Surface with Microsoft's Type Cover. The kicksta...
