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Microsoft Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4

Posted November 3, 2015 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

Here we have one of those face-offs where no matter what, the manufacturer wins. Microsoft makes both the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book. Many are familiar with the Surface Pro, the tablet that can be your laptop. But Surface Book is a new product that's a laptop first and a (relatively speaking) big tablet second. Let that be your first guiding point in choosing between the two: the Surface Pro 4 is a 12.3" tablet that can work as a main laptop, but is designed more to be your take-anywhere, powerful travel partner. The 13.5" Surface Book sets its sights on the 13" Retina MacBook Pro (with a slight nod to the 15" model) and is a fairly powerful laptop with more ports than the tablet. That means it could easily be your main machine.

Even more important is the price difference. Both are pricey pieces, but the Surface Book makes the Surface Pro 4 look affordable. On average it's $500 more than Pro 4 as you walk down the various configurations (when comparing Core i5 and Core i7 models). That gaps narrows a bit when you factor in the $130 or $160 Type Cover for Surface Pro 4. Surface Pro 4 with a Core i5 starts at $999 ($1,130 with Type Cover), while Surface Book with the same specs starts at $1,499. Yes, there's an $899 Intel Core m3 model for Surface Pro 4, but that model exists for those who want to get into Surface Pro as cheaply as possible and don't need the computing power of a Core i5. For these folks, I'd assume Surface Book is out of the competition given the price and horsepower difference.

Both have IPS PixelSense displays with 267 PPI and high resolutions. Both come with the same N-Trig digitizer and digital pen. They have similar excellent brightness, contrast, black levels, gamut and calibration. Both use Intel Skylake 6th generation Skylake dual core U series 15 watt CPUs with Intel HD 520 graphics. But there are graphics variances: Surface Pro 4 core m3 uses Intel HD 515 graphics, the Core i5 has the 520 and the upcoming Core i7 model will likely have Intel Iris 540 graphics. The Surface Book has Intel HD 520 graphics and an optional NVIDIA GPU (similar in performance to the NVIDIA 940M but with faster VRAM).

For those who find Surface Pro 4's display a bit too small, the Surface Book is enticing--that 1.2" of added screen real estate is noticeable and the display feels more like a 14" laptop due to the added height afforded by it's 3:2 aspect ratio. Surface Book has an excellent keyboard and trackpad in a form that's pure laptop. Surface Pro 4's new Type Cover is very good, but may still feel alien to those accustomed to traditional laptops (I rather like it).

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 can run 6.5 hours on a charge without any special tweaking of power management. When Surface Book is separated from its keyboard base, the tablet, or clipboard as Microsoft calls it, runs for 3 hours. If you need to work away from an outlet in tablet mode for longer than 3 hours, Surface Pro 4 would be a better choice.

There are more points to cover, so watch our Microsoft Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4 Comparison video.

Microsoft Surface Book vs. Surface Pro 4 Comparison: Which Should You Buy?

Website: www.surface.com

Surface Book price starts at $1,499
Surface Pro 4 price starts at $899 + $130 or $160 for Type Cover

Related Reviews:

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Review

Microsoft Surface Book Review

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