I tested the cheapest Surface Pro Copilot+ for a week and it easily replaced my daily controller

The Windows PC industry has fallen into a rut over the past decade. Microsoft and its OEM partners routinely ship a number of new devices each year, mostly based on incrementally faster Intel processors. If you buy this year’s model, you’ll get slightly better battery life and a slight increase in performance over last year’s crop. Yawn.

This predictable pattern is why the just-released Copilot+ computers have so much potential. Yes, they run Windows 11, but at their heart is a new engine, the Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X series of processors.

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My Surface Pro 11 (I know its official name is “Surface Pro, 11th Edition”, but let’s keep it simple, OK?) arrived last week. I deliberately ordered the cheapest configuration and had no idea what to expect. Yes this should get better battery life than the Intel-based alternative, and all preliminary tests suggested it would deliver impressive performance, but seeing is believing.

After one full week I can say without reservation: This machine is absolutely brilliant.

My original plan was to use the new Surface Pro as a secondary mobile device while keeping my Dell Precision workstation on the desktop for day-to-day activities. I now use the new Surface Pro as a daily driver.

How did it happen? Let’s dive in.

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Experience is known

It’s a radical shift in the Windows ecosystem, but it doesn’t feel all that different from its predecessors. In fact, it’s almost indistinguishable from the Intel-powered Surface Pro 9 that sits on my desk next to it. The thin frames around the displays of both devices have almost the same dimensions. At 1.9 pounds, the new device weighs the same as the Surface Pro 9 and is a few ounces heavier than the Surface Pro X, though it’s not something you’ll really notice until you have to lug it through the airport while you’re rushing to produce. connection. The Type Cover from the older Surface Pro clicked into place on the Surface Pro 11 exactly as expected.

And as for the software, well… It’s Windows 11 that looks and works the same on an Arm-based computer as it does on an Intel-based device.

Also: 7 ways to make Windows 11 less annoying

The big difference is that this new generation device is extremely cool and quiet. After a three-hour Zoom call the other day, the chassis was barely warm; it would be uncomfortably hot on an intel processor machine. There is a fan inside the Surface Pro 11, but I have yet to hear it run, even in the most demanding conditions. And it’s extremely responsive, without the hesitation I occasionally noticed on the Surface Pro X. If you’ve used an M2-equipped MacBook Air, the feeling will be familiar.

Of course, this new device also embodies everything you like and/or dislike about the Surface Pro’s design. If you’re expecting a radical shift that will suddenly make your lap stand more comfortable, I’m sorry to say you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re comfortable with that design, you’ll feel completely familiar with this iteration.

Battery life is a huge win

If the Arm architecture has a killer feature, it’s battery life. The Surface Pro X delivered the goods with that score, but it came at the cost of performance. This generation, on the other hand, dramatically increases battery life and does so without any compromise in speed or responsiveness.

It’s still too early to say definitively how long this Surface Pro will let me work before I start looking for a place to plug it in. The first week with a new device is never typical, as it involves a lot of downloading, installing, configuring and futzing, which probably won’t be a regular thing.

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But these actual usage numbers from a report generated by Windows Powercfg / battery report command, speak for oneself.

Averaging over 10 hours of actual, observed battery life, this Surface Pro is able to run more than twice as long as my Intel-powered Surface Pro 9. That’s also at least as long as the M2 MacBook Air in my office.

Compatibility is good but not perfect

Battery life is an unqualified success for these Snapdragon X PCs, but the compatibility story is more mixed.

Microsoft has been developing Windows on Arm for more than a decade, and it’s remarkable how well most software runs on an Arm computer. If you do most of your work in a web browser and in Microsoft Office, you may never notice the difference. However, there are still some rough edges and you can expect some compatibility issues, especially when using older hardware or applications that require low-level system drivers.

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On this PC, every pre-installed Microsoft application is naturally compiled to run as native Arm64 code. This includes the Edge browser, the full collection of Microsoft 365 apps, and every imaginable Windows tool, from PowerShell to Registry Editor to Calculator. Even the semi-official PowerToys collection installs in Arm64 mode. I installed a wide selection of progressive web applications that run in the Arm64 Edge environment and they all worked fine.

Mainstream x86 applications written for Intel-based computers generally install without issue in the Windows on Arm emulation layer, and there was no apparent performance degradation for the applications I tested, including my SnagIt screen capture tool.

Many third-party developers have gone to the trouble of recompiling their applications for Arm64, and if you can find them, they are the preferred option. But you might have to do some digging. For example, the default download for VLC Media Player is the 64-bit x86 version, but nightly builds compiled for Arm64 machines are available. Likewise, the normal download options for 1Password will get you the x86 edition, which is seamless, but if you know where to look, there’s a preview of the Arm64 version.

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But I’m not sure what to make of Adobe, which tweeted earlier this year that it’s “excited to announce that your favorite Adobe apps are coming to Copilot+ PCs.” What does that even mean? Photoshop has been available in an Arm64 version for three years, albeit with significant limitations, but I can’t find a native version of Acrobat for Arm. Maybe Adobe means the x86 versions are certified to run in emulation mode? Who knows.

And then there’s Google, which finally released a native Arm64 version of Chrome in April. Hurrah! But you won’t find any version of the Google Drive for Desktop sync client that works on a Copilot+ computer. If you try to install the x86 version, you get this hostile error message:

So if you’re an authenticated Google Drive user and want your cloud storage to integrate with File Explorer, you’ll have to stick with Intel-based computers for now. Or maybe switch to OneDrive.

The most common compatibility issues arise when you try to install an application that requires its own drivers for low-level network and file system access. Most commercial VPNs, including Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, will refuse to run on Windows on Arm for this reason; try Wireguard or Viscosity instead. And if you insist on running a third-party antivirus, you’re likely to be frustrated. (Spoiler: You probably don’t need it.)

Also: Best VPN for Windows: Expertly Tested and Reviewed

I haven’t had any hardware issues to speak of. My 10 year old Logitech C930 webcam just worked. So does my trusty Brother laser printer and ScanSnap x1600 scanner. I connected the Surface Pro 11 ka StarTech Thunderbolt 4/USB4 docking station and everything worked exactly as it should.

Of course, your mileage may vary, especially if you have exotic hardware like video capture cards and old multifunction printers that require their own driver packages and won’t work with the bundled Windows drivers. Fortunately, I don’t have anything like that.

The story of AI is incomplete

Every computer in the Copilot+ series contains a powerful neural processing unit designed to accelerate AI-based activities. Because I didn’t jump on the expensive new Microsoft Flex keyboard and I stuck with my old Type Cover, I didn’t get a dedicated Copilot key. Instead, I had to run the Copilot app, which works exactly the same as any other Windows 11 PC. If it chatted faster, I didn’t notice.

Also: I tested Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC and it beat my MacBook Air in 3 ways

And of course, what was supposed to be the flagship feature of these new PCs, Recall, was pulled at the last minute for security reasons and will be available as a Windows Insider Preview feature later this year.

Some app-based AI features were more useful. The front-facing camera on the Surface Pro 11 is one of the best I’ve seen on a laptop, and the AI-powered studio effects (accessible from the Quick Settings menu on the taskbar) include some useful options like auto-framing and eye-tracking. The neural processing unit helps make background blur options look more natural than on a regular camera.

The Paint and Photos apps are also packed with AI-based features for creating and editing images. The options to remove background noise and use blur effects to simulate portrait mode were useful; style options that transform the photo into an alternative style (impressionist, anime, etc.) seem unusual.

The real question is whether these features are powerful enough to make you switch from your current imaging tool to one of Microsoft’s built-in options. History says that’s a pretty big ask.

Even if you avoid AI features entirely, there’s more than enough power in this budget computer. And if your applications and hardware requirements are not exotic, you will appreciate its cool and quiet operation.