Microsoft Brings Surface Book 2 to India, Where’s the Surface Go?

Microsoft has launched its Surface Laptop and Book 2 in India. But the more affordable Surface Go is missing.

The Microsoft Surface Book 2 - Both the 13-inch and 15-inch models in one frame. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Microsoft has launched its Surface Book 2, the high-end laptop with Windows 10 in India, with a starting price tag of Rs 1.37 lakh. This puts the hybrid notebook up against the Apple MacBook Pro, something that has served Apple with distinction.

Coming back to Microsoft, there’s another Surface product called Surface Laptop, which also makes its way to the country. This one’s prices start from Rs 87,000 and it is available with Core i5 or Core i7 processors. Interestingly, these two high-end devices were not clubbed with the launch of Surface Go, Microsoft’s competition for the Apple iPad, which left us puzzled.

Both the Surface Book 2 and Surface Laptop will be available across multi-brand stores like Croma and Vijay Sales as well as Amazon and Paytm for those looking at online avenues to buy.

Surface Laptop

Microsoft added the Surface Laptop to its Surface lineup in 2017, which explains why this device comes with 7th generation Intel processors. The Surface Laptop is the lighter and cheaper of the two, which also means you’ll have to feel content with Intel HD graphics on this device. The Core i5 and i7 processors get up to 16 GB RAM and storage goes up to 1TB, all of which are SSDs.

The 13.5-inch screen comes with touch support. 

It gets a 13.5-inch screen with touch support and sporting a resolution of 2256x1504 pixels. The only issue with a thin-sized form factor, weighing around 1.25 Kg is the lack of ports. The Laptop gets one USB 3.0 port, one mini connector for HDMI and audio jack.

Only one USB 3.0 port on the Surface devices.

You’ll have to rely on Microsoft’s patented magnetic port for charging the device. 

Surface devices support Microsoft’s patented charging point. 

One thing is assured with a Microsoft device, the keyboard on the Surface Laptop offers great feedback and the response time for the keys match the best in the business.

Businesses are Microsoft’s core focus with Surface in India. 

Having said that, premium notebooks aren’t likely to attract regular customers. Instead Microsoft is likely to bank on its enterprise business to make money. This was evident when Microsoft spoke only talk about its enterprise clients, rather than talking about how many units of Surface it has sold.

Surface Book 2

The Apple MacBook Pro rival has its work cut out to succeed in India. It’s pretty much like how Google found it difficult to break the duopoly of Apple and Samsung in the mobile segment.

Surface Book 2 supports Pen. 

The Surface Book 2 is undoubtedly a premium product that offers the latest features (except for the 9th generation chipset), but the mind-boggling price tag, ensures people might look at Apple instead. And it’s evident that Microsoft realises it won’t be easy, which is why it is targeting premium, work-minded, young professionals for this device.

The hinge design has been the go-to formula for hybrid notebooks. 

The Book 2 is a new product. It comes with 8th-generation Intel processors. It’s available on both the 13-inch and 15-inch variants.

The screen can be detached after pressing a button on the keyboard. 

Unlike the Surface Laptop, Book 2 supports the Pen with a magnetic stand and lets you flip and fold the detachable screen. 

Fold up the screen of the Surface Book 2 like this. 

Microsoft claims both Surface Laptop and Surface Book 2 rank as a premium products, for its design, experience and features. One of which is the claimed 17 hours battery life. We would love to put that to test very soon.

What About Surface Go?

I expected the product to be part of the launch event sans the pricing. Turns out, Microsoft is likely to wait till next month to launch the Surface Go in the Indian market.

The Surface Go sits at the lower end of the Surface lineup. The Go will compete with the 9.7-inch iPad in the tablet market, which hasn’t seen active competition since the decline of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. With its magnesium design surface and rounded corners, the Surface Go looks like a smaller version of the Surface Pro.

This is the Surface Go. 

The sub-Rs 40,000 laptop segment in India doesn’t boast of quality products, and many expect the Surface Go to freshen things up. But history doesn’t favour Microsoft and probably that’s the reason Go wasn’t part of this week’s launch lineup.

With Surface Go priced at $399 globally, Microsoft has to consider the well-being of its partner OEMs like Dell, Lenovo and HP among others in this bracket. Having said that, Microsoft could be seeing Apple’s lack of traction with iPad in the country (while it continues to lead the segment globally) and is taking stock of the situation before launching Surface Go.