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Surface 2 vs. Surface 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface 2 and Surface 3 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface 2 vs. Surface 3

The 2013 Surface 2 features the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 T40 with the boost speed up to 1.90 GHz. While the 2015 Surface 3 features the 2W Intel Cherry Trail quad-core Intel Atom x7-Z8700 with the boost speed up to 2.40 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 10.6″ Surface 2 (2013) and the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface 2 vs. Surface 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 2 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	Better design It’s now thinner (8.9mm), lighter (522g), and new platinum magnesium exterior. Better performance Better single-core and multi-core performance and much better graphics performance (72 graphics cores). Better battery Up to 10 hours of video playback. New kickstand Now in two angles, original 22-degree, and new 55-degree. Better display Higher display resolution with Full HD (1920 x 1080) display. Optional mobile broadband It comes with optional 4G LTE support. More Full-size USB 3.0 port, 3.5MP front, and 5MP rear camera, new thinner backlit type cover.	New design It’s now thinner (8.7mm), new tablet-friendly 3:2 aspect-ratio form factor, and new Microsoft Logo on the kickstand. Full Windows 8.1 You can run all your desktop apps and upgradable to Windows 10. Better display New bigger and better 10.8” Full HD Plus display with 10 points multitouch. Inking supports It now supports a new Surface Pen with 256 pressure sensitivity, tail eraser, and remote Bluetooth activation. New CPU Architecture It’s now using the new quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7 processor for outstanding performance and long battery life. New kickstand Now in three angles. New Micro-USB port It can be charged with any mobile phone charger. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and optional 4G LTE.
What's missing	Can't run desktop apps You can't run desktop apps (x86 or x64) on this device. The only way to get apps is through the Windows Store. No Windows 10 The latest OS you can get is Windows RT 8.1 Update 3 Platinum color only No longer available in black color.	No magnet charging port replaced with the new Micro-USB port. Slower Charging The new Micro-USB has a limited power delivery (13W) compared to its older propriety 24W charger.

Availability	Surface 2	Surface 3
Released	2013	2015
Release Info	Introduced: September 23, 2013 Pre-ordered: September 24, 2013 Released: October 22, 2013	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing	Surface 2 Wi-Fi $449 - 2 GB \| 32 GB $549 - 2 GB \| 64 GB Surface 2 4G LTE $679 - 2 GB \| 64 GB	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB
Amazon Deals	$1,199.99 Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Plus (10 Core), 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage, Sapphire $148.00 Microsoft Surface Go 2 Tablet, 10.5" IPS(1920 x 1280) Touchscreen,Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed) $289.59 Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 12.4" Laptop, Core i5, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM \| Touchscreen, Windows 11 PRO (Renewed)	$139.00 Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) $158.96 Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet (1631) Silver - 256GB, 12in, Windows 8, Intel Core i5 - Renewed $139.99 Microsoft Surface 3 (7G5-00001) - 10.8 inches 2GB, 64GB Wi-Fi Silver, Microsoft Authorized (Renewed)

Microsoft Surface 2 10.6-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Plus (10 Core), 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage, Sapphire By Microsoft $1,199.99 $1,499.99 20% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 2 Tablet, 10.5" IPS(1920 x 1280) Touchscreen,Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed) By Microsoft $148.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 12.4" Laptop, Core i5, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM \| Touchscreen, Windows 11 PRO (Renewed) By Microsoft $289.59 $382.06 24% OFF	See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface 3 10.8-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) By Microsoft $139.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet (1631) Silver - 256GB, 12in, Windows 8, Intel Core i5 - Renewed By Microsoft $158.96 $1,299.00 88% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 (7G5-00001) - 10.8 inches 2GB, 64GB Wi-Fi Silver, Microsoft Authorized (Renewed) By Microsoft $139.99	See at Amazon

Display	Surface 2	Surface 3
Size	10.6 Inches	10.8 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (2M Pixels) Density: 208 PPI Aspect ratio: 16:9 ClearType Full HD Display Touch: 5 points multi-touch	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Exterior	Surface 2	Surface 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	10.81” x 6.79” x 0.35” (275 mm x 172 mm x 8.9 mm) Width: 10.81” (275 mm) Height: 6.79” (172 mm) Thickness: 0.35” (8.9 mm)	10.52” x 7.36” x 0.34” (267 mm x 187 mm x 8.7 mm) Width: 10.52” (267 mm) Height: 7.36” (187 mm) Thickness: 0.34” (8.7 mm)
Weight	Surface 2: 1.15 lbs (522 g) Surface 2 with Keyboard: 1.7 lbs (771 g)	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)
Colors	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys. Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12). 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys. LED backlighting. Trackpad: Two-finger multitouch gesture trackpad.	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Surface Charging Port 1 x Headset jack 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Cover port 1 x Nano SIM card slot (Surface 2 with LTE only)	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Micro USB charging port 1 x Headset jack 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Cover port 1 x Nano SIM card slot (Surface 3 with LTE only)

Internal Specs	Surface 2	Surface 3
Processor	NVIDIA Tegra 4 T40 4 cores, 1.70 → 1.90 GHz, 2MB Cache,	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics	NVIDIA Tegra 4 T40 NVIDIA GeForce ULP graphics 72 Graphics Cores, 672 MHz	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Memory	2GB of RAM	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage	32GB 64GB eMMC	64GB 128GB eMMC

Connectivity	Surface 2	Surface 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 4: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible.	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0 low energy technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray 2G GSM (Quadband: 850/900/1800/1900) 3G UMTS (Bands 1, 2, 5) 4G LTE (Bands 4, 7, 17)	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface 2	Surface 3
Size	31.5 Wh	27.5 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	24W proprietary power supply	13W Micro USB power supply

Software	Surface 2	Surface 3
OS	Windows RT 8.1	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT with Outlook	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal

Camera & Audio	Surface 2	Surface 3
Camera	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	Dual microphones Stereo speakers with digitally enhanced for fuller sound	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc	Surface 2	Surface 3
Inking		Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass
In the box	Surface 2 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 2 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power