The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is a premium 2-in-1 device packed with high-end components, a detachable touchscreen, and a dual battery. This laptop was mainly designed for power users. In fact, Microsoft says they built the Surface Book 3 15-inch specifically for creators, explaining the discrete GPU.
Let’s take a closer look at this convertible laptop, which has dominated the market among performance laptops for almost two years now.
Microsft Surface Book 3 15-inch Specifications
- Dimensions: 13.5 in (W) x 9.87 in (D) x 0.568”-0.90 in (H).
- Storage: Solid-state drive (SSD) options: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB PCIe SSD.
- Display: 15-inch PixelSense touchscreen display (3240 x 2160).
- Memory: 16GB or 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x.
- Processor: Quad-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor.
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q, 6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
- Connections: 2 x USB-A (version 3.1 Gen 2), 1 x USB-C (version 3.1 Gen 2 with USB Power Delivery revision 3.0), 3.5mm headphone jack, 2 x Surface Connect ports, SDXC card reader.
- Cameras & Audios: Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing), 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video, 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video, Dual far-field Studio Mics, Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax compatible, Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology, Xbox Wireless built-in.
Microsoft Surface Book 3 15-inch: Design & Display
The Microsoft Surface Book 3 15-inch offers you the flexibility to turn your laptop into a tablet with a push of a button, literally. Tap the key–and you have yourself a Windows-based tablet, entirely separated from the detachable keyboard base.
Although the appearance of the latest Surface Book 3 laptop did not change, we think it did not require much improvement anyway. Its magnesium chassis is minimal, durable, and smooth to touch.
The 15-inch PixelSense display is perfect for video editing and creating digital art. It is bright (about 402 nits) and covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut, making images look hyper-realistic.
Keyboard & Connectivity Ports
Those, who need to stay wired, will not be disappointed: the Surface Book 3 15-inch has plenty of I/O ports to keep you productive. As mentioned above, the laptop has two regular USB 3.1 ports, a USB-X 3.1 port with USB Power Delivery 3.0, a headphone jack, a full-size UHS-II SD card reader, and a Microsoft Surface Connect port. But, unfortunately, there is no Thunderbolt, and we hope that Microsoft will address this with their next Surface Book model.
The keyboard has good spacing and travel, making the typing experience quite pleasant. But we, like many other Surface Book users, would love to have a full-size keyboard already. Microsoft could definitely swing it on their 15-inch model.
Microsoft Surface Book 3 15-inch: Overall Performance & Battery Life
The CPU, GPU, and SSD combo is what makes the Microsoft Surface Book 3 15-inch a true powerhouse. It is fast, responsive, and delivers an incredible 3D graphics rendering performance. Essentially, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti Max-Q card, paired with the 32GB LPDDR4X RAM, allows for that to happen. And, if you want to play games on your Surface Book 3 15-inch, we recommend running them at 1080p or lowering the render resolution down in games that support those settings (think Apex Legends at 100fps in 1080p).
Price
The Microsoft Surface Book 15-inch starts at $1799.99 now, down from $2299.99, although you could probably find it even cheaper on eBay. And the highest 2TB SSD configuration currently retails for $2899.99 on the Microsoft site (down from $3,399.99).
In Conclusion
The Surface Book 3 15-inch is an ambitious 2-in-1 workhorse, no doubt. It combines high-end components with flexibility and portability, taking a swing at Apple laptops, historically used for video editing. However, prepare to spend a pretty penny, even two years later, if you want to take advantage of everything the model has to offer. Still, set out to purchase the Surface Book 3 15-inch? We can help you offset the upgrade cost by offering to sell your used laptop to us via our Gadget Salvation site. We’ll give you an instant online estimate and pay via PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, or check. Have questions? Contact us today to get started!
