Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 4 last year and it has taken quite a while for it to make it to the Indian shores. Launched officially in India in January 2016, the Surface Pro 4 is Microsoft’s fourth generation 2-in-1 device, which, although a tablet with a snap on keyboard, is renowned as a laptop-first product. While India did not get the top of the line Surface Pro variant, it is at least better than not having any option at all. So is this the 2-in-1 to go for? Let us take a look.

Build and Design: 8/10

The Surface Pro 3 was a good product and Microsoft hasn’t tweaked much with the overall design philosophy, which makes sense. ‘If it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ Having said that, the Surface Pro 4 is thinner and lighter than the Surface Pro 3. It measures around 8.5mm thick as opposed to the 9.1mm on the Surface Pro 3. Even with the heft, the Surface Pro 4 weighs around 766 grams whereas the Surface Pro 3 weighed close to 800 grams.

Looking around the tablet, the Surface Pro 4 has a magnetic connector at the base where you get to attach the Surface Type keyboard cover. On the left hand side at the top you have the 3.5mm audio jack, the volume rocker and power standby buttons are present on the top and it takes some time getting used to operating them blindly. There were occasions when we accidentally pressed the power/standby button when we wanted to increase the volume. Along the right hand side you have the mini-DisplayPort, a single USB 3.0 port followed by a power port towards the base. All along the Surface Pro 4, you will find vents for cooling.

The rear of the Surface Pro 4 is made of silver metal with the Windows logo right in the centre. The kickstand mechanism on the Surface Pro 4 is quite sturdy and the hinge can stretch back almost all the way. Once placed in a particular position, the kickstand stays steady and will require pressure being applied from both ends for the kickstand to move. The attention to detail on the hinge is worthy of praise.

Surface Type Cover and Surface Pen

This is one area where there has been sufficient improvement. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Type Cover Keyboard feels a lot more spacious thanks to the chiclet keyboard, unlike the closely spaced keys on the previous generation Surface Type cover. The keys on the Surface Type keyboard have a lot more travel and it actually feels like you are typing on a regular keyboard on a laptop, it’s that good. Getting used to the keyboard and typing fast takes just a couple of hours. It adds just a 4.54mm thickness to the Pro 4. It also comes in as many as five colours and it is backwards compatible with the Surface Pro 3

Microsoft has paid a lot of attention to the trackpad, making it much larger than the one on the Surface Pro 3’s Surface Type keyboard. The rectangular trackpad also covers gestures such as two finger scrolling, pinch to zoom and so on. It is a single slab of plastic and has a nice soft click. The palm rest area around the Surface Pro 4 Type cover is made of grippy material.