With improved battery life – the tablet jumps from 'up to 3 hours' to 5 – and those NVIDIA graphics the Surface Book 2 should be a contender for one of the best – and most versatile – laptops in the world. A USB Type-C to HDMI adapter will let current head-mounted displays (HMDs) connect easily.ĭespite no massive redesigns for the external appearance underneath the Surface Book 2 is a significant upgrade over the original.

Windows Mixed Reality ready - Both Surface Book 2's support Windows Mixed Reality.

Front camera for Skype - Microsoft worked closely with the Skype team to make the front-facing camera work well with Skype.

Improved audio - Surface Book 2 has reworked the speakers, which are now slightly more powerful but also take up less space.

Display - Microsoft has improved the display with thinner materials and a higher contrast ratio, plus it fully supports that latest Surface Pen and Surface Dial on the display.

There are also now dedicated keys for display brightness.

Keyboard - The Surface Book 2 keyboard and trackpad both borrow from the Surface Laptop's design, with 1.55mm of key travel and the same overall response curve.

Reworked fulcrum hinge - While Microsoft is keeping the gapped hinge, it has been rebuilt to be sturdier, and now both models can easily be opened with one hand.

Besides the refreshed hardware there are many smaller changes: While the Surface Book 2 looks like the original, Microsoft says it is completely rebuilt. Surface Book 2 rebuilt from the ground up However, for typical usage of Windows 10 with modest GPU execution, pushing 10 hours in a real-world scenario should be possible. When gaming and taxing the GTX 1050 or GTX 1060 to its max, battery life may be as low as two-hours, which is common for all gaming laptops. Like all PC manufacturers, Microsoft uses a standard video-rundown test due to its repeatability when measuring battery. Microsoft claims 'up to 17 hours' of battery life, but that number will vary depending on how you use the Surface Book 2. When we benchmarked Gears of War 4 on the15-inch Surface Book 2, it managed a very respectable 80 frames per second (FPS) when configured at a resolution of 1620 x 1080 and graphics set to 'Ultra.' Combined with the native Xbox Wireless support, the 15-inch model is going to be a beast for gaming.

Microsoft surface book 2 13.5