I replaced my laptop with Microsoft’s 12-inch Surface Pro for weeks – here’s my buying advice now

Microsoft’s 2025 12-inch Surface Pro is thinner, lighter, and a bit extra reasonably priced, with a battery-efficient Snapdragon X Plus processor and refreshed design. The most recent model of the Floor Professional rounds out the lineup with a extra reasonably priced possibility centered on ultra-long battery life, new colours, and redesigned equipment to point out off Home windows’ latest Copilot+ PC features. 

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I lately changed my laptop computer with the 12-inch Floor Professional for greater than two weeks now, and the Floor Professional appears to me to be extra of an addition to the present lineup than a standalone improve, significantly compared to the enterprise models Microsoft launched in January.

The 2025 Floor Professional has comparatively modest {hardware}, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of UFS storage, as a substitute concentrating on a extra on a regular basis client who makes use of on-device AI and appreciates the ultraportability. 

Moreover the smaller kind issue, this 12 months’s Floor Professional is available in two new colours: Violet and Ocean (a blueish grey). The default Platinum shade begins at $799, whereas the opposite two will run you $899, bringing the beginning worth a bit additional away from that marketed low worth (and we’ve not even purchased the keyboard but). 

I need to admit that the design on the 12-inch pill appears higher. It appears extra like a premium pill (and extra like an iPad) with rounded corners, skinny bezels, and the webcam moved to the again nook of the machine. 

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Moreover, I am a fan of the brand new Violet and Ocean colorways, which are not what I would name “daring”, however a minimum of they are not the identical desaturated pastels we see in every single place else. The colours prolong to the Floor Professional keyboards, that are up to date by eradicating the alcantara cloth on the entrance of the keyboard for a cleaner, monochromatic matte look. 

As a substitute, the material is relegated to the again of the keyboard case, which has a extra premium pill really feel for storage and transport. The Floor keyboard is purposeful and satisfying to sort on, with springy keys and a responsive, premium trackpad. 

Moreover, the pill snaps to the keyboard a bit tighter and nearer to the pill now, with no hole within the hinge, giving it a barely smaller footprint on the desk. 

The Floor Pen additionally magnetically snaps to the again of the 12-inch as a substitute of storing on the keyboard. This requires you to retailer the machine with the material going through down, as you do not need to squish the pen. When throwing the Floor Professional in a bag, the Pen additionally tends to remain put however can come unattached in the event you’re not paying consideration. 

Microsoft needs to point out off its new AI-driven Copilot+ options, and the 12-inch Floor Professional is an efficient conduit for advertising and marketing them to the patron, particularly with its engaging worth level and the 45 TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. 

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For instance, the long-awaited Recall function remains to be in Preview mode, however it’s getting nearer to a helpful state. Different purposes that leverage AI processes, significantly ones for creators like Capcut, Davinci Resolve, and DJay Professional ought to really feel clean and snappy. This makes it a really AI-ready machine for on a regular basis customers who do not want high-end {hardware} for demanding inventive tasks. 

Operating Home windows on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip should not be an excessive amount of of an issue for many customers on this class, because the areas that noticed essentially the most points with compatibility, like gaming and connecting to legacy software program, are extra seemingly to not apply to the focused person. 

The 12-inch Floor Professional’s modest {hardware} positions itself as a aggressive machine within the household’s lineup. The aforementioned 16GB of RAM and max 512GB of storage, paired with the Snapdragon X Plus and 2196 x 1464 decision (220 PPI) LCD show that targets on a regular basis customers, whereas its 13-inch siblings could be loaded up with extra premium {hardware}. 

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That being mentioned, the Snapdragon X Plus processor is snappy and responsive, excelling at duties that the typical client cares about: quick startup and app load occasions, clean multitasking, and stable battery efficiency, whether or not in laptop computer or pill mode. 

Throughout my benchmarking of the 12-inch Floor Professional, I bought numbers that place it round different skinny and lightweight laptops in the identical worth vary, together with Asus’ Zenbook A14, which additionally options the Snapdragon X Plus processor, and HP’s OmniBook X 14, one of many first Copilot+ PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite chip from 2024. 

The show is sharp and crisp, however it does cap out at 400 nits of brightness and a 90Hz refresh fee. Since it is a pill, it is also fairly shiny. Within the workplace, for instance, I discovered myself readjusting the machine’s angle quite a few occasions all through the day to account for glare from overhead lighting. 

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Talking of utilizing the Floor Professional within the workplace, it really works equally nicely as a laptop computer or a pill, relying on what you want. Indifferent from the keyboard and armed with the Floor Pen, it turns into a quick productiveness pill that enables for word taking, prototyping, and freeform thought technology in Home windows’ Whiteboard app. 

You too can assign completely different actions to the Pen, together with beginning apps or performing capabilities with the button on the machine or the “clicky” on the tip. I’ll say that the Pen’s efficiency could be variable, although. In the event you’re working a number of packages open within the background, you would possibly discover lag whereas writing, particularly in the event you’re shifting shortly. 

Equally, the situation of the front-facing HD digicam signifies that it has a barely downward-up orientation whereas linked to the keyboard, because the kickstand can solely prop it up so excessive. Take into account a clamshell laptop computer, for instance, which might sit at a 90-degree angle or much less. 

In that sense, untethering the keyboard and utilizing it as a pill may be extra optimum for customers who make frequent video calls. 

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Concerning battery life, the Snapdragon X Plus processor ensures that it drains at a mere trickle when the machine just isn’t in use, and is nice sufficient for over a full day’s value of labor on one cost. Microsoft advertises 16 hours of battery life, and I bought a bit over 15 in our video playback check. Concerning extra sustained use, I bought over 10 hours on a single cost, which is not far off from the marketed 12 hours with out utilizing all of the max battery effectivity settings. 

Couple this with the truth that the Floor Professional prices extraordinarily quick. From a totally useless battery, you may get to about 50% in half-hour, and round 80% in an hour. Of the Floor Professional household, the 12-inch is definitely essentially the most battery environment friendly and the quickest to cost. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The 12-inch Microsoft Surface Pro completes the household’s lineup with a thinner, lighter, and extra battery-efficient pill/laptop computer hybrid with refreshed colours and design. It comes with barely extra modest {hardware} (16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage) for a decrease beginning worth of $799. 

In the event you’re in search of a purposeful 2-in-1 pill/laptop computer, take pleasure in utilizing a stylus, and do not want a ton of native storage, it is a terrific possibility, particularly for its long-lasting battery. It is an all-around sharp-looking machine, and the premium keyboard case gives a satisfying tactile expertise. 

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The price of the Floor Professional can shortly add up, nevertheless, because the Floor Keyboard, Floor Arc mouse, and energy adapter are offered individually, bringing the ultimate price over the $1,000 mark. Mixed with the low quantity of native storage and modest reminiscence, I would advocate this machine for customers who’re dedicated to the 12-inch kind issue and wish dependable battery life. 

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