Microsoft Surface Pro 10 Business Review: Bright Display & Small Battery

The Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business is a new Windows tablet that is similar to the Surface Pro 9 in many respects. However, it has a few new features, such as new processors, an AI button on the keyboard, a better webcam and a much brighter display. The anti-glare 600 nits screen is fantastic, but is worth paying at least $1199 without accessories? That’s what you’ll learn in this Surface Pro 10 review.

Display: Anti-Glare 600 Nits

The Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business doesn’t offer many new features compared to its predecessor, but the display has indeed improved a lot. I wrote this review outside in a café on May 1st while the sun was shining on me and the tablet and I was wearing sunglasses. Nevertheless, I was able to work well in Microsoft Word.

At 600 nits, the display is significantly brighter now than the 450 nits of the Pro 9. According to Microsoft, it’s also anti-reflective, presumably with a corresponding coating. It still has some reflections. When I wrote this test in the sun, I was able to See myself, but not as much as with many others.

Apart from that, nothing has changed with the display. It’s still 13 inches in size and has an aspect ratio of 3:2, which is perfect for office work. The resolution is very high at 2880 x 1920 pixels, it’s fully laminated, supports up to 120Hz and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

While it’s meant to be a business tablet, it’s fun for watching Netflix and YouTube. The display looks great and the two speakers on the sides may be small, but they sound pretty nice.

Slim Pen, Surface Pen & OneNote

You can use the Microsoft Surface Pen and the Slim Pen 1 and 2 to write on the screen. The Slim Pen 2 is the latest pen from Microsoft and I think they actually want you to use it. But as I said, the others are also supported.

If you get the Slim Pen 2, you can also get a keyboard cover that has a small charging bay for the stylus. If you place the pen in it, it‘s automatically charged. This is a nice solution, as you won’t lose it in your backpack.

Just like the Surface Pen and its predecessors, the Slim Pen 2 also works well on the Surface Pro 10. It’s very precise, handwriting looks great, and thanks to the 120Hz display, it’s as if the pen responds immediately. I think it’s on the same level as the Apple Pencil and Samsung S Pen.

The stylus is well supported by Windows 11 and is practically made for OneNote. You can use it to write handwritten notes, make sketches, but also use the features of the operating system to create and annotate screenshots or draw in drawing apps. The pen is also well supported in Adobe Photoshop and I like to use it to remove sensor dust or mask something.

So I have nothing to criticize about the pen, which was also the case with the predecessor, and nothing has changed here.

Hardware & Performance

Depending on the version, the Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 135U processor or a Core Ultra 7 165U. You can also choose between 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB RAM, as well as a 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD. You can replace the SSD yourself. Unfortunately, there is no version with LTE or 5G.

You can see in my Geekbench 6 benchmark comparison that the compute performance has improved slightly compared to the Pro 9, the multi-core performance has remained roughly the same and the single-core performance has deteriorated slightly.

The graphics performance has deteriorated in the 3D Mark benchmark. In the Wild Life and Wild Life Extreme tests, it’s significantly more powerful than the Surface Go 4 and iPad 10, but slightly weaker than the Surface Pro 9. The iPad Pro with M2 chipset is significantly more powerful in all benchmarks.

I’ve been using the Surface Pro 9 quite a bit for a year and I don’t notice any real difference in the Pro 10 for Business compared to it. In terms of performance, the behavior in Photoshop and the like, the two feel identical. And you’ve seen that the benchmarks also roughly reflect this.

So, the Pro 10 is primarily a business tablet for office work, but you can also work with it in Adobe Photoshop and other demanding apps, of course. The 8GB RAM of my model is sufficient for Photoshop. But especially if you work with large files, it’s worth choosing 16GB or even 32GB RAM. This is especially true if you want to edit videos.

Although it is not intended to be a gaming tablet, I have tried a few games. Simple and older games run flawlessly. When I tried to play Apex Legends with default settings, however, it stuttered badly – it’s pretty much unplayable. However, it’s quite playable after I set most of the settings to “low” and the resolution to FullHD. Then I noticed slight stutters from time to time only.

Design & Build Quality

The Surface Pro 10 looks almost exactly like its predecessor. We get a high-quality aluminum body that is 9.3mm thin and weighs 879g without the keyboard. Fan slots are elegantly hidden at the top and the fans can be heard under load. It has a Surface Connect port on the right for the supplied charger and two USB 4 Type C ports with Thunderbold 4 support on the left. You can also charge it using these.

In typical Surface fashion, a folding stand is built into the back, which also feels very high-quality and can be extended quite far. I think it’s a shame that there is no longer a MicroSD card slot under the kickstand. This is now missing, as is the headphone jack.

However, you can replace the SSD there and don’t even need a tool to open the flap. You only need to loosen a small screw to remove the SSD.

There is a solid 10.5 megapixel camera on the back, which you can use to scan documents. I guess nobody will seriously take vacation photos with the camera of a Windows business tablet.

Read: The Best Tablets With Keyboard You Can Buy

There is a 12.2 megapixel camera at the front, which has been improved compared to its predecessor. It’s visibly larger and supports Windows Studio effects, with which you can use artificial intelligence to soften the background or set the camera to follow you. It’s actually a wide-angle camera that zooms in like the iPad Pro and pans after you.

These effects work, but for me they are more of a gimmick. Windows Hello facial recognition also works great as usual, allowing you to unlock the tablet quickly and securely.

I think it’s great that Microsoft is making the Surface series more and more maintenance-friendly. It should now be relatively easy to replace 15 components.

Keyboard Cover

You can use exactly the same keyboard covers with the Surface Pro 10 for Business that work with the Pro 9. However, Microsoft has also released a new, slightly revised version for the Pro 10. You can order the keyboard with a charging bay for the Slim Pen 2 or without.

The keyboard is magnetically connected to the tablet and works in exactly the same way as its predecessors. It makes a very high-quality impression, the keys are comfortable to press down and I was able to type blindly and quickly straight away. But as I said, I’m also used to the keyboard from the Pro 9. A backlight is also built in.

A new feature is the AI button, with which you can directly pull up the Microsoft Copilot, so, the AI functions. However, the Copilot is not yet supported in Windows 11 in Germany, where I’m based. I installed the latest beta, but it doesn’t work here yet. This should change soon. Until it’s ready, you can use this AI button to call up the Windows search.

Battery Life

In my battery test, the Surface Pro 10 was very disappointing, especially in comparison to the iPad Pro and flagship tablets from Samsung. It achieved a runtime of 4.75 hours in my test. I always run an HD YouTube video at maximum brightness and in this case at 60Hz in an endless loop. In Google Chrome.

According to Microsoft, it’s supposed to last up to 19 hours with typical use, but that definitely doesn’t reflect my real-world experience. If I was frugal and did simple office work indoors with a relatively dark display, I could just about manage a normal working day.

With maximum display brightness, however, only half a day. An example: I wrote this review in Microsoft Word and checked the specifications in Chrome from time to time. At maximum brightness, the battery went down from 100% to 67%. In just one hour. I set the energy status to “Best performance” and as I said, you can get more out of it if you are frugal. But I think 19 hours is unrealistic.

Microsoft Surface Pro 10 Review: Final Words

So, is the Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for business a tablet that you should buy immediately? If you don’t mind the high price and you want an up-to-date Windows tablet with a bright display, then yes. I think the display is really great and there is a real improvement here compared to the Surface Pro 9.

But if you don’t work outside in the sun all the time, I don’t think it makes sense to upgrade from the Surface Pro 9 to the Pro 10. All other features are almost the same. The performance hasn’t really improved, the design is the same, the Slim Pen 2 works just as well and you can upgrade to Windows 11 for free anyway.

If you don’t have a Surface Pro 9 and want a new Windows tablet, the Pro 10 is definitely a really good Windows tablet. But it’s also quite expensive. If you don’t mind the high price, I think it’s a good choice. However, if you want to save some money, you can get a tablet that is almost as good with the Pro 9, which is now often a good deal cheaper.

Based on rumors, Microsoft will soon be launching a new Windows tablet for consumers, presumably with an OLED screen and possibly only with an ARM chipset. The Pro 10 is a pure business tablet, but anyone can buy it. So it may be worth waiting for the consumer version.