Since Microsoft got into the hardware world in earnest, every Surface device has been about breaking molds. Surface has made a name for itself as a tablet that can truly replace your laptop and the ultimate laptop, each taking a unique flip on the 2-in-1 format. Now, Microsoft has set its sights on revolutionizing the desktop space with the Surface Studio, a 28-inch all-in-one designed to be the ultimate creative workstation.
On one hand, it one ups the long-established iMac with an even sleeker design by moving the computing parts from behind the screen to the base. On the other, putting digital pen to screen has never felt more natural, thanks to the massive, 28-inch touchscreen that effortlessly folds down into a virtual drafting table orientation.
Although it doesnt feature the latest Intel Core i7 processor and packs last years Nvidia GTX 980M graphics, its more capable than any current iMac and puts many other all-in-one PCs in their place. The only thing that gives us pause with this most impressive desktop is the stratospheric price youll pay to own it its value 100% dependent upon how you use it.
Pricing and availability
Microsofts Surface devices are usually aimed to be premium, but the Surface Studio is on another level with a starting price of $2,999 or AU$4,699 (about £2,390). Every version of this AIO comes with a 28-inch (4,500 x 3,000) display. But, at this level, youll be getting an Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive (with an integrated 64GB SSD) and an Nvidia GTX 965 (2GB GDDR5 VRAM) graphics.
Ratcheting up to $3,499 or AU$5,499 (about £2,790) takes you to the next SKU, doubling the memory and upgrading it to the same Intel Core i7 CPU as our review configuration.
Finally, our own review configuration costs an astronomical $4,199 or AU$6,599 (about £3,350) for another two times increase in RAM and a much larger 2TB HDD (with an integrated 128GB SSD). Graphics also gets a significant upgrade with the Nvidia GTX 980M (4GB GDDR5 VRAM).
To say the least, this is a very pricy desktop indeed. Even if you were to max out the configuration of a Dell XPS 27 AIO, it wouldnt even come close at $3,299 or £2,999 (about AU$4,320). However, a top of the line iMac with 5K Retina Display priced at $3,999 (£3,779, AU$6,319) doesnt seem like much of a bargain considering the stronger specs on Microsofts desktop offering.
Latest news
After nearly a year on the market, the Surface Studio is finally gaining long overdue features, including Adobe Photoshop CC support for the Surface Dial accessory. Well, at least support that extends beyond the rather limited Zoom option thats been in place since Microsofts all-in-one computer launch in December of last year. Unfortunately, it still doesnt let you do much more than tweak brush settings with the Surface Dial.
Even so, Microsoft really wants you to know that the Surface Studio is reliable, contrary to what you might have heard from Consumer Reports. The tech giant cites a 99.999% reliability rate for newer Surface devices, including the Surface Laptop and, of course, the Surface Studio. So far that claim hasnt been met with any response whatsoever from Consumer Reports, yet the age-old buyers mag continues to refrain from recommending any Surface products.
Nevertheless, none of that has kept Microsoft from generating an impressive first quarter revenue of $24.5 billion (around £18.7 billion, AU$32 billion), a 12% increase from the previous years results. After the last quarters 2% slip-up, its no wonder Microsoft was quick to share these figures. However, the company itself says its success was driven by Surface Laptop purchases rather than Surface Studio transactions. Lets hope someday we get a breakdown.
Design
From the moment we pulled the Surface Studio out of its box, we knew we were in love.
There isnt any shortage of impressive desktops what with Apples ever-thinning iMacs to the six-speaker sound on Dells XPS 27 AIO. However, nothing beats the simplicity and elegance of the Surface Studio.
By moving all the components to the basement, so to speak, the display is just a touchscreen with remarkably thin bezels. Without that rear bump, the profile of the screen is a mere 12.5mm, making it slimmer than virtually any dedicated monitor.
Theres also no fat chin underneath the screen to flaunt a Windows logo actually, its refreshing to see no branding anywhere except for a mirrored logo on the back.
The Surface Studio is a modern and minimalistic desktop designed with straight edges and a simple gray on chrome aesthetic. The base of the desktop takes this one step farther by simply being a nearly featureless, ashen box. The noticeable element is a subtle line that wraps around the perimeter of the Studios foundation to provide cooling for the mobile computing parts contained within.
Microsoft arguably takes this clean aesthetic a bit too far, as all the USB 3.0 ports as well as the memory card reader are located on the rear. The lack of USB-C and ThunderBolt also means you wont be able to take advantage of the fastest external drives.
Although weve already said our piece on the Surface Keyboard and Surface Mouse separately, we absolutely adored the completely wireless and clutter free setup when paired with the Surface Studio. The two come included along with a Surface Pen in the box.
Back to the digital drawing board
Weve seen some truly impressive displays, such as the 5K iMac and Dells ridiculous 8K monitor, but the Surface Studio takes the cake.
Although 4,500 x 3,000 pixels isnt the sharpest resolution in the world, it is sharper than a 4K display without being overzealous. This combination of screen resolution and size with the Studios 3:2 aspect also means you can snap four separate programs to each corner and still have a legible view of each app. Frankly, the size and resolution feel just right.
Microsofts nearly perfect sense of color gamut and contrast carries over to its latest PixelSense display. Additionally, there are more color profiles to choose from, including sRGB, Vivid, and DCI-P3 to make it a truly production-grade display.
Holding up this glorious display is the Surface Studios other winning feature, the Zero Gravity Hinge. This catchy-named mechanism absorbs all the torque required to move the 13-pound display, making it easy to switch from a standard all-in-one PC to a digital drawing surface.
When lowered, the Studios touchscreen display holds itself at the same angle of pitch as a standard drafting table. Of course, you can also adjust the display at different levels of tilt and without worrying about it moving under the weight of your hands as you work.
As with the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, drawing and writing on the Studio feel like its almost too good to be true. Surface Pen strokes translate perfectly into lines of digital ink. Unlike other styluses that feel like theyre gliding on glass or cutting themselves into the touchscreen, Microsoft has refined its hardware so that it offers just the right amount of resistance.
Dialing it in
Aside from the Surface Pen experience weve all come to know and love, the introduction of this desktop also came with a new Surface Dial. This curious, mini-puck-shaped accessory is actually a Bluetooth-connected module you can use to change settings on the Studio and in specific Windows apps.
Its intuitive and, within minutes of picking it up, youll realize it both spins and acts as a physical button. Pushing in the dial brings up a radial menu of options like volume and screen brightness controls as well as zooming and scrolling. Hit it again and you can get to tweaking whichever option youve selected.
But thats just the surface (sorry) of what this dial can do. In most apps, you can use the dial as a zoom slider, but for drawing and painting apps, you can more easily switch between tools, change brush sizes and undo your last stroke with a simple twist.
It might sound functionally simple, but having that quick access to physical controls without having to stop drawing is huge if you want to stay absorbed in your process. Of course, this also means only digital artists and other creative professionals are going to get the most out of this accessory.
One other small gripe we have with the Surface Dial is it doesnt stay in place when you have it on the Studios screen. Instead, it slowly slides down the touchscreen even if its lowered all the way.
Unfortunately, thats really the extent of everything the dial does for now. Both FreshPaint and PaintSketch cant switch between colors with the Surface Dial, and theyre the poster children for Microsofts digital art programs. Theres also virtually no integration with Adobes suite for media production apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom and Premiere.
Microsoft has told us support is coming soon and it is working hard with Adobe to make things happen just as their partnership led to Photoshop getting a touch-based interface.
After installing the Creators Update preview (officially available starting April 5th), we were able to squeeze a bit more functionality out of the Surface Dial. The latest version of Windows 10 adds customizable Dial controls and Paint3D as another app for the artistically adept.
Beyond that, though, we have yet to discover more uses for the Surface Dial. For now, wed say theres a lot of potential for the Surface Dial, but you would be better off saving your $99 (£149, AU$149) than buying this extra peripheral.
Performance
You might balk at the graphics chip from last year and the less-than-current Skylake processor on its spec sheet, but the Surface Studio keeps up with other all-in-one machines.
Thanks to its high-end GPU, this desktop pulls well ahead of the XPS 27 AIO and iMac with 5K Retina screen with a Fire Strike score thats nearly four times higher. Unfortunately, the Studios processing power doesnt prove to be impressive, and its more CPU-intensive benchmark scores lag behind.
Benchmarks aside, this desktop knows how to put in work. Microsofts AIO never buckled, even as we loaded up dozens of tabs on two web browsers, a separate Google Music streaming app, Slack, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator all at the same time. Even Lightroom, which usually grinds gaming laptops to a halt, ran smoothly on the Studio as we processed images for this review.
We also played a fair number of Overwatch matches at the Surface Studios full-screen resolution with Ultra settings without issue. During our entire time with the device, we didn't encounter any graphical performance issues that would have required the latest Nvidia graphics.
The most impressive thing about the Surface Studios performance is how quickly everything loaded on it. Rather than being equipped with a traditional SSD or hard drive, Microsoft used Intels Rapid Storage Technology to intrinsically tie a 2TB spinning drive to 128GB of flash memory.
In this setup, the hard drive does all the heavy lifting of storing all your files, meanwhile, a smaller segment of your data is compartmentalized onto the SSD if it has been associated with a commonly used program or service. Although this system doesnt allow you to directly access the faster storage solution, we never felt like we had too as files loaded seamlessly and quickly the whole time.
Final verdict
Theres no doubt the Surface Studio is impressive or that youll probably love it at first sight as well. However, that eye-watering price is something to be heavily considered before you make the dive.
If youre just looking for an all-in-one PC for your everyday computing or office work, youll be much better served by an iMac, Dell XPS 17 AIO or HP Envy 27 AIO. Videographers and photographers would arguably be better served by a similar system with higher-end specs, a dedicated desktop or building their own PC (or two) for the price of a standard Surface Studio.
However, for artists and especially illustrators the Surface Studio introduces a new wrinkle into a world primarily dominated by Wacom tablets. Not only does the Surface Studio allow you to sketch and inspect your picture with one device, the visual quality of the PixelSense display is far greater than that of Wacoms Cintiq display or Dells new 27-inch Canvas.
For those reasons, well reiterate that the Surface Studio would best serve artists and illustrators. Its without a doubt one of the finest premium computing devices ever produced, but theres no reason regular users should purchase this unless theyre in the market for the highest-end iMac and want more options…or bragging rights.
First reviewed April 2017
Gabe Carey has also contributed to this review
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/surface-studio
