A new generation of 10-inch Microsoft Surface has arrived. It’s called Microsoft Surface Go the new Surface Pro Surface 3
If you are using Surface 3, should you like to upgrade to Surface Go? In this article, we have done a comparison between the Surface Go and Surface 3 to find out whether it’s worth the upgrade or not.
1 Key Features What's new
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
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 Go Surface 3 Released 2018 2015 Release Info
Introduced: July 10, 2018
Pre-ordered: July 10, 2018
Released: August 2, 2018
Introduced: March 21, 2015
Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015
Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing Surface Go for Consumer
$399 - 4 GB | 64 GB | W10 S-mode$549 - 8 GB | 128 GB | W10 S-mode
Surface go for Commercial
$449 - 4 GB | 64 GB | W10 Pro$599 - 8 GB | 128 GB | W10 Pro 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
Display Surface Go Surface 3 Size 10 Inches 10.8 Inches Info
Resolution: 1800 x 1200 (2.1M Pixels)
Density: 217 PPI
PixelSense™ Display
Contrast ratio: 1500:1
Aspect ratio: 3:2
Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
Touch: 10 points multi-touch
Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
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 Go Surface 3 Size Comparison Dimensions 9.6” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.3 mm)
Width: 9.6” (245 mm)
Height: 6.9” (175 mm)
Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 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 Go: 1.15 lbs (522 g)Surface Go with LTE : 1.17 lbs. (532 g)Surface Go Keyboard: 0.55 lbs (249 g)
Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g)Surface 3 with Keyboard : 1.95 lbs (884 g) Colors Platinum
Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
Surface Type Cover
Keyboard:
Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1 mm of key travel.
Trackpad:
Precision glass trackpad.
Trackpad size: 101 mm x 56 mm
Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.
Surface Type Cover
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 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 Go Surface 3 Processor 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 GHz, 2MB SmartCache, 6W
4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics Intel® HD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 850 MHz
Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Memory 4GB 8GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
2GB 4GB
1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage
64GB
eMMC128GB 256GB
SSD
Connectivity Surface Go Surface 3 Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology
Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
Optional LTE
Nano SIM Tray
4G LTE Advanced (22 Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66)
GPS/GLONASS: Standalone and Assiste
GNSS, accuracy up to 3 meters
Optional LTE
Nano SIM Tray
GPS
Assisted GPS
GLONASS
Battery Surface Go Surface 3 Size 26.12 Wh 27.5 Wh Battery Life Up to 9 hours of video playback Up to 10 hours of video playback Power Supply
24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply
13W Micro USB power supply
Software Surface Go Surface 3 OS
For Consumer : Windows 10 in S-modeFor Commercial : Windows 10 Pro
Windows 8.1 Pro
Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial 1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal
Camera & Audio Surface Go Surface 3 Camera
Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video
8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
Single microphone
2W Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
Single microphone
Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound
Misc Surface Go Surface 3 Inking Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
magnetic storage
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
Security
HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box
Surface Go
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
Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting
Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 165 degrees
Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability
Physical buttons: volumes, power
Casing: MagnesiumKickstand: 3 positionsPhysical buttons: volumes, power
Popular Comparisons for Surface Go Here are the most frequently requested comparisons for Surface Go:
Popular Comparisons for Surface 3 Here are the most frequently requested comparisons for Surface 3:
2
Surface Go Surface 3
Processor 7th Gen Intel® Pentium® Processor 4415Y Intel® Cherry Trail Quad Core Atom x7-Z8700
Launch Date Q2'2017 Q1'2015
Lithography 14 nm
Base Frequency 1.60 GHz 1.60 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency Not Supported 2.40 GHz
TDP 6 watt < 4 watt
Level 1 Cache 128 KB 128 KB
Level 2 Cache 512 KB 512 KB
Level 3 Cache 2 MB SmartCache 2 MB
# of Cores 2 4
# of Threads 4 4
Bus Speed 4 GT/s OPI N/A
Max Memory Support 16 GB 8 GB
Max Memory Bandwidth 29.8 GB/s 25.6 GB/s
GEEKBENCH
Single-Core Score 1,836 945
Multi-Core Score 3,823 3,138
3
More Surface Go Resources
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Evan Forrest
Evan Forrest is Editor-in-Chief of Surface Tip, researching and writing articles about Surface-related news, tips, and accessories. He has been using Surface devices since the first release of the original Surface Pro. He is currently using a Surface Laptop 3 as a full-time daily-driver machine. Besides that, he also owns multiple Surface devices including Surface RT, Surface 3, Surface Go/Go 2, Surface Pro 3, Surface Book, and a bunch of Surface accessories to help in research and writing articles.
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