Snap is introducing a new tool to help more young Americans get involved in politics. Dubbed “Run for Office,” the Mini adds a curated database of more than 75,000 local and state elected positions Snapchat users can browse directly through the app.

Before you see a list of opportunities, the tool will ask you to share some of the issues you’re passionate about in your daily life. Those can include things like the environment, the economy, education and more. Additionally, Snapchat users can also use the tool to nominate their friends.

The company built Run for Office with help from New American Leaders and nine other candidate recruitment organizations. Once someone indicates they’re interested in pursuing an opportunity, the Mini will connect them with those groups to provide them with candidate training.

“Running for office shouldn’t be just for those who are white and wealthy. If we want a democracy that works for and represents all of us, then we need leaders who reflect our increasingly diverse, multicultural communities” said Ghida Dagher, president of New American Leaders. 

By Snap’s estimation, it’s ideally positioned to help get more young people involved in politics since it reaches approximately 90 percent of 13 to 24-year-olds in the US. This isn’t the company’s first foray into politics. Ahead of the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election, the company added voting resources to help drive higher voter turnout in those contests.

The three main Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Nintendo Switch. You'll be able to play Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and Kingdom Hearts III. They're all cloud streaming games on Switch, so you'll need a good internet connection to play them. The release dates and other details will be announced later.

The announcement was made during the last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation. That game's director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that Sora from Kingdom Hearts is SSBU's final DLC fighter.

The first Kingdom Hearts title to land on Switch was the rhythm game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory in 2020. The Square Enix series also arrived on PC earlier this year.

Nintendo has finalized the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster with the reveal of one last DLC fighter. Director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that Sora from Kingdom Hearts is joining the ranks.

Before the stream, Sakurai noted on Twitter (per Google Translate) that "new fighter may be a character you don't know." That dashed many fans' hopes that the fighter would be Waluigi or, as was previously rumored, Master Chief from Halo, though Sora isn't exactly an unknown quantity. The final Mii Costumes, which will be available on October 18th, are Doom Slayer (from Doom, naturally) and Octoling and Judd from Splatoon.

The last added fighter is the 82nd playable character to join the lineup since SSBU arrived in December 2018. The other members of the $30 Fighters Pass Vol. 2 bundle are Arms' Min Min, Steve and Alex from Minecraft, Sephiroth of Final Fantasy 7 fame, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Kazuya Mishima, a staple of the Tekken series. Nintendo has brought together characters from a vast number of franchises in SSBU, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, Bayonetta, Persona and Street Fighter.

Amazon announced a revamped Kindle Paperwhite family last month, but the standard Kindle remains one of the best options if you're looking for a reliable and relatively affordable e-reader. It's normally priced at $90, but you can get it for $60 right now in a limited-time sale. The only time we've seen the e-reader drop to a lower price was during Prime Day back in June when it was $55.

We gave this model of the Kindle a score of 91 when it came out in 2019 — while it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as the Paperwhite has, it will be exactly what some need in an e-reader. Key upgrades include a higher contrast display and four LED front lights that make it easier to read in dark environments. Amazon also refined the design to be sleeker, although this Kindle is not waterproof like the Paperwhite is.

The Kindle excels at being a basic e-reader and it will be an upgrade if you're used to reading books and articles on your smartphone's screen. The anti-glare display is much easier on the eyes, the built-in 8GB of storage can thousands of titles and the battery will last weeks on a single charge. The only major downside to the Kindle is one that all other Kindles have, too: you'll have to deal with Amazon's lockscreen ads, unless you pay extra to remove them.

If you are interested in the extras that come with the Paperwhite, Amazon seems to be trying to get rid of the previous version as it anticipates the arrival of the 2021 e-reader, which will ship at the end of this month. The 2018 Kindle Paperwhite in twilight blue is currently on sale for $75, which is a record low. This model gives you a higher density display, a waterproof design and Audible support, so you can listen to audiobooks saved on the device when you connect a pair of wireless headphones. Both e-readers are good choices, so it ultimately comes down to which features are necessary to you and how much you're willing to spend.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

While Chromebooks are meant to be an affordable alternative to standard laptops, you could easily drop hundreds on a fancy Chrome OS devices. Out of all of the Chromebooks we've tried, Lenovo's Flex 5 hits a sweet spot that most people will appreciate thanks to its solid performance, convertible design and attractive price tag. But today you can get the machine for even less thanks to a one-day sale on Amazon — the online retailer has the laptop for $300, or $130 off its normal price and a new record-low.

The specs on the Flex 5 are good even at its normal $430 price tag, but they're made even better by this sale price. The laptop has a 13-inch 1080p touchscreen along with a 10th-gen Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Getting a Core i3 Chromebook for $300 is a great deal, and the memory and storage numbers are pretty standard for midrange Chrome OS devices. We'd never recommend a standard laptop with 4GB of RAM, but Chrome OS does more with less. One of the reasons why we named the Flex 5 our favorite Chromebook is that it performed well even with just 4GB of RAM. As far as storage goes, as long as you're not installing a bunch of Android apps or downloading your entire Netflix library, 64GB should serve you well.

We also appreciate the Flex 5's convertible design, allowing you to use it as a tablet if you wish. The laptop isn't the slimmest, measuring 0.66-inches thick and weighing about three pounds, but it does include two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, which is a more modern selection compared to those on other affordable Chromebooks. Lenovo did a good job packing a lot of value into the Flex 5 Chromebook — it's rare to find this combination of features at such a reasonable price point, and now that it's $130 less then usual, it's a no-brainer for anyone looking for a new Chrome OS laptop.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Mozilla likes to cut distractions and speed up browsing, and its latest browser reflects that priority. The developer has revamped Firefox Focus for Android and iOS to give it a "fresh new look" (including a dark theme), more privacy and quicker access. There's now a shield icon to quickly turn trackers on or off, not to mention a global counter for every blocked tracker. You'll find a shortcut feature, too, to help you visit favorite sites that much sooner.

Firefox is receiving improvements on other platforms. On top of easier password autofill, Firefox users on Android (iOS is coming later this year) can easily create new passwords for apps or unlock accounts using only biometric data like fingerprints and facial recognition.

And yes, Mozilla is taking advantage of Microsoft's loosened Windows 11 store rules for third-party browsers. The company has promised that Firefox will be available through Microsoft's app portal "later this year." While that doesn't provide a firm date, it's a welcome addition for users who want to quickly grab an alternative to Edge.

When a device reaches its eighth generation, it can be easy to assume you’re getting more of the same: faster chips, a thinner, lighter design and some aesthetic tweaks. But, in the case of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8, which arrives today alongside Windows 11, you’re getting the biggest redesign the tablet has seen in years. And actually, it’s heavier than the Pro 7.

In exchange for a 15 percent weight gain, you get up to 52 percent better battery life and Thunderbolt 4 support, plus a larger display with skinnier bezels and a 120Hz refresh rate — something rarely seen outside gaming machines. It looks different, too, taking style cues from the ARM-based Surface Pro X. Other upgrades include newer 11th-gen Core i5 and i7 processors and a slightly higher-resolution rear camera.

On paper, it addresses two of our three main complaints about the Pro 7 (the detachable keyboard is still sold separately, though). But before we declare the Pro 8 a slam dunk, it’s worth noting that the starting price is now $1,100, up significantly from $749 on the Surface Pro 7. (Microsoft both eliminated its lowest-end sku for non-business customers and raised the price for its remaining configurations.) Given that, it’s worth considering whether the improvements are worth the price hike — and how the Pro 8 compares to traditional laptops now that it costs just as much.

Hardware

The display

Dana Wollman/Engadget

Microsoft has always offered lovely displays on its Surface devices. Even with the original Surface, which debuted in 2012, the bright, high-res, low-glare panel was a standout on an otherwise confused seeming device. The Surface Pro 8 is no exception. The touchscreen here is 11 percent larger than before — 13 inches, up from 12.3 — with a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution that’s nearly 11 percent sharper than the Pro 7. It’s also 12.5 percent brighter, according to Microsoft. (OK, that’s the last time I’ll use the word “percent” for a while.)

In short, it’s bright, colorful and I never struggled with the viewing angles, regardless of where I was sitting in the house or how much sun was streaming in from outside. On a roof deck, however, the 450-nit screen didn’t feel quite bright enough at max settings — something to keep in mind if you intend to use this on the go.

Most important is the 120Hz refresh rate. This is a relatively new addition to the world of notebooks. Even so, it’s already something of a meme for reviewers like us to say something like “you don’t know what you’re missing until you experience it.” I’m annoyed to say that is 100 percent true. So, here’s me repeating a tired cliche: You will likely be happy with the 60Hz mode that’s enabled by default, but once you switch to 120Hz in the settings, you won’t want to revert back.

I noticed the difference immediately, even with the sort of mundane tasks I do hundreds of times a day: launching apps and minimizing windows. It all happens faster. It’s worth noting, however, you’re unlikely to notice much of a difference in movie playback, as Microsoft did some software work specifically to lower the refresh rate for that use case.

Everything else

Dana Wollman/Engadget

That bigger display comes at the expense of the surrounding bezels, which: good riddance. This is, of course, not a new design tactic. For years, laptop makers have been trimming the fat around their screens. Microsoft did this with the ARM-based Surface Pro X and, sure enough, the Surface Pro 8 looks a lot like the X. Its enclosure is aluminum, while the Pro 7’s was a magnesium alloy, but the effect is similar. This is a good thing, considering the dated design was one of only a few complaints in our Surface Pro 7 review.

In addition to having a larger screen, the Pro 8 is also heavier: 1.96 pounds without the keyboard, up from 1.7. (The keyboard adds 0.62 pounds.) Of course, “heavy” is a relative term. I would be less inclined than ever to use the detached tablet the way I would my smartphone. But my shoulder bag feels appreciably lighter now that I’ve swapped in the roughly two-pound Pro 8 for my three-pound MacBook Pro. Even the power brick is lighter.

Dana Wollman/Engadget

Besides — and I can’t emphasize this enough — the Surface Pro 8 isn’t a mobile device. It looks and acts like a laptop, even if the keyboard folio isn’t included. It has a thin railroad track of vents along the top and sides, a necessity given the Core i5/i7 processor inside.

Meanwhile, the two USB-C ports now support Thunderbolt 4. Users have been requesting this for a while, and it means that people can now plug in high-speed drives, multiple 4K displays and eGPUs.

The built-in kickstand also suggests Microsoft knows people are going to spend more time docking the device than holding it. The kickstand in this year’s model is at once gorgeous and slightly annoying. The weighty aluminum helps the Pro 8 feel like the high-end device it is. Even the “snap” it makes when you pop it into place somehow sounds premium. On the other hand, even after using the Pro 8 for a few days, I still find the kickstand awkward to pull out; the narrow divots make it tough to grab onto.

Dana Wollman/Engadget

Once you get it open, though, you’ll enjoy flexible viewing angles and a sturdy design that makes it comfortable to use the Pro 8 in your lap. I even used it on my outstretched legs while propped up in bed, though I don’t necessarily recommend that for extended use.

Finishing up our hardware tour, the rear camera now shoots at 10 megapixels, up from 8MP, and can record in 4K. The images are… fine. But certainly not worth the embarrassment of shooting photos in public with a 13-inch tablet, nor the inconvenience of having to hold a two-pound device steady. Just use your smartphone.

I’m more impressed by the webcam, the same 5-megapixel/1080p sensor used in the Pro 7+ and Pro X. It’s just so much more capable in mixed lighting than my MacBook Pro. A coworker who I regularly see on video calls remarked on the “night and day” difference from my normal setup. Not only was the image sharper, but it did a better job lighting my face.

In use

Dana Wollman/Engadget

To test the Surface Pro is also to test its accessories. And this year, it also meant getting acquainted with Windows 11, which is available for everyone starting today.

As part of its reviewer package, Microsoft included the Surface Pro Signature Keyboard ($180) and the new $130 Slim Pen 2, which uses a haptic motor, and promises lower latency, a sharper tip and improved precision. That pen docks inside a charging cradle on the Signature Keyboard, which was also designed to be used with the Surface Pro X.

Like earlier Surface keyboards, the Signature is covered in Microsoft’s soft Alcantara material, which feels like either suede or felt, depending on how I touch it. All told, there are two ways to use the keyboard: you can allow it to lie flat on your desk, with the pen cradle exposed above the Function row. Or, you can fold up the pen-dock piece so that it magnetically attaches to the tablet’s lower bezel. This lifts the keyboard at a more ergonomic angle.

There are pros and cons to each method: I find the ergonomic lift more comfortable, but felt distracted by the flimsiness of the panel under my furious typing. On the other hand, as insubstantial as the panel feels, the buttons themselves are spacious and springy. The wobble might sometimes annoy me, but I rarely miss when touch-typing on this.

Dana Wollman/Engadget

The trackpad, meanwhile, is decently sized. Two-finger scrolling feels smooth. (And thanks to the screen’s relatively tall 3:2 aspect ratio, I do slightly less of that on webpages.) For extended use, I preferred using a Bluetooth mouse (in this case, the $30 Ocean Plastic Mouse that Microsoft included with my Surface Pro 8 loaner). But you don’t need a standalone mouse, especially if you’re on the go.

For whatever quibbles I have about the keyboard (including the fact that it’s sold separately), I love the Slim Pen 2. The haptic motor is a small but delightful touch, vibrating when you flip over the pen to erase something. I used the pen to write in Windows 11 text entry fields and Windows mostly recognized my sloppy handwriting. In the Microsoft Store I had to try twice to get it to decipher “Evernote”; it initially thought I typed “everyone.” But other than that it generally understood what I was trying to write.

Aside from Evernote, I tried the pen in other apps including OneNote and the recently redesigned Whiteboard, the latter of which I found particularly enjoyable. (What can I say? I’m a sucker for rainbow and glitter pens.) I also sometimes found myself just scrolling with the pen, even though it’s just as easy to use my fingers. By the end of my testing period, I felt about the Slim Pen 2 the way I did in my iPad Air review last year: Most people don’t need a stylus, but they’re more fun to use than you might think.

Dana Wollman/Engadget

In both laptop and tablet mode, I felt charmed by Windows 11. The OS makes a good first impression with a fast and efficient setup, including the Windows Hello facial recognition enrollment process, which only took a few seconds. I admittedly felt disoriented seeing the center-aligned Taskbar, but you can move it back to its proper place on the left.

Additionally, I appreciated the redesigned Microsoft Store, where it was easy for me to quickly find and download all of my favorites. And in tablet mode, the elements get subtly larger when you unplug the keyboard, making it easier to select what you want using a combination of finger taps and the large on-screen keyboard.

Perhaps most impressive of all is the feature that allows you to hover over a window’s maximize icon to see different layout options, including half-and-half, a two-to-one ratio and a couple types of quadrants. It’s just so much more convenient than dragging a window toward the side of the screen, hoping it snaps into place and then tinkering (using a possibly finicky touchpad) to get the window sized the way you want. Frankly, I always found the split-view experience kludgy across Windows, macOS and iPadOS, but with this change I think Microsoft clearly has the more elegant solution.

Performance and battery life

For the record, I did not test the entry-level $1,100 model but rather, a more expensive $1,900 configuration with a quad-core 3GHz Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Though the benchmarks indicate a laptop whose performance equals or slightly trails other Core i5/i7 machines with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, for all intents and purposes it felt like a fast machine in everyday use. As I said, too, all of this mundane stuff feels that much zippier when you switch to 120Hz mode.

As for battery life, Microsoft claims the Surface Pro 8 can last up to 16 hours on a charge, up from 10.5 on the last generation. Battery performance was one of my colleague Cherlynn Low’s main complaints about the Pro 7; it actually performed worse than the model that preceded it. I’m happy to report that the battery life here is much improved: I logged 13 hours and six minutes in our standard test, up from seven hours and 50 minutes on the Pro 7. That was with the default 60Hz screen refresh rate, of course; with the 120Hz option enabled, the machine lasted seven hours and 36 minutes under the same conditions.

It’s worth noting that, while Engadget has tested laptops this year that lasted even longer in the same battery test (think: 15, almost 17 hours), those systems either packed a less-powerful ARM processor or were significantly larger and heavier. Considering the Surface Pro 8’s chip and relatively light weight, the battery life is pretty good.

Configuration options

Dana Wollman/Engadget

The Surface Pro 8 starts at $1,100 with a quad-core Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The base-model Surface Pro 7 cost $749, but that was with a Core i3 chip and half the RAM, just four gigs. (If you don’t mind aging, lower-powered hardware and would rather save money, Microsoft sells the Surface Pro 7+ for $800 with a Core i3 CPU.)

Even with that caveat about the discontinued Core i3 sku, if you wanted a Core i5 machine last year with 8GB of memory and 128 gigs of storage, the price was $900 then, not $1,100. So, while calling it a $350 price hike feels imprecise, it’s definitely a $200 increase even if you stick to direct comparisons.

But I digress. If you’re happy with the Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM on this year’s base model but want more storage, you can buy an otherwise identical machine with a 256GB or 512GB SSD for $1,200 or $1,400, respectively. A Core i5 machine with 16GB of RAM costs $1,400 with 256GB of storage.

Meanwhile, the least expensive Core i7 model costs $1,600. (That, too, has 16GB of RAM and a 256GB drive.) From there, you can step up to Core i7 with 512GB of storage ($1,900) or a terabyte ($2,200). If you really wanted, you could have Core i7, a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM, all for a cool $2,600. Oh, and you’d still have to pay extra if you wanted the keyboard and pen.

There’s also an LTE-equipped model. Just know that that variant maxes out at 512GB of storage and won’t be available until “a later date.” They will start at $1,100 with a Core i3 processor.

The competition

To recap, the base $1,100 configuration with the $180 keyboard costs $1,280, and let’s be real: You definitely want the keyboard. That puts it squarely in ultraportable-laptop territory.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Perhaps its most obvious competitor is the Dell XPS 13, a longtime Engadget favorite that we described as “tweaked to near perfection” in our most recent review. It currently starts at $967 on Dell’s website with a Core i3 processor. You can get a Core i5 machine with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $1,170, whereas the Surface Pro 8 costs $1,100 with 128GB of storage and no keyboard. However, a touchscreen brings the XPS 13 to $1,269, which is similar to what the Surface Pro 8 costs with the keyboard. At that point, it depends on your priorities: You get a more optimal typing experience with the XPS 13, but pen support and more flexibility with the Surface Pro 8.

Another easy comparison: HP’s Spectre 13 x360. It’s a convertible laptop with a Core i5 CPU, Iris Xe graphics, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $900. In our review we awarded it a high score of 94 and listed barely any cons, one of which was the webcam.

It’s also worth comparing the Surface Pro 8 to the most similarly specced Apple products, though my thesis about the Pro 8 is that the likeliest shoppers are already committed Windows users. If you want a proper laptop, the best comparison is the 2.8-pound MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 chip, which costs $1,000 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. (Versus $1,380 for the Surface Pro 8 and keyboard with the same amount of memory and storage.) Obviously, there’s no touchscreen, though.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

Perhaps the better comparison is the iPad Pro, which starts at $799 with 128GB of storage and a smaller 11-inch screen. (The 12.9-inch model starts at $1,099). Like the Surface Pro, it doesn’t come with a keyboard or stylus (in this case, the similarly priced $129 Apple Pencil). Apple’s first-party Magic Keyboard costs $299, but you can pay less if you choose a third-party brand. Brydge, for instance, lists its keyboards between $150 and $170 depending on the size of the iPad Pro.

All of this is to say that if you opted for the smaller 11-inch model and went with Apple’s own keyboard, you’d be paying a similar total price as you would for the Surface Pro 8 and keyboard. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is more similar in size to the Pro 8 but is more expensive once you factor in the keyboard.

More than hardware, the choice there comes down to the user experience. iPadOS will feel more familiar to iOS and macOS users, and it has a better selection of touch-specific apps, but it just isn’t as good at multitasking as Windows 11.

Wrap-up

Dana Wollman/Engadget

The Surface Pro is incrementally better in its eighth generation, with a fast-refreshing screen, much-requested Thunderbolt 4 support and a return to long battery life. But it’s also more expensive than ever, with a $350 higher starting price that effectively wipes out any price advantage it once had over premium ultraportable laptops. The pricier the Surface Pro gets, the more caveats I have to append to my recommendation.

The pen-on-tablet experience is lovely, but the most persuasive reason for me to recommend the Surface Pro is the 120Hz display. It truly makes a difference in everyday use. Microsoft needs to do a better job communicating the benefits to would-be buyers, though. I understand why it’s disabled out of the box (battery life, duh), but how will average users find it if they’re not in the know? And as of this writing, the 120Hz refresh rate doesn’t get a prominent mention on Microsoft’s product page.

Meanwhile, as good as the typing experience and battery life are, they’re not necessarily superior to a comparably priced notebook. If you only have money for one high-end laptop-like device, then, the bar seems higher for choosing the Surface Pro over an ultraportable.

Special thanks to senior editor Devindra Hardawar and reviews editor Cherlynn Low.

Yubico's latest physical security keys have another layer of security: fingerprint readers. The YubiKey Bio Series is the company's first lineup with built-in biometric authentication for passwordless and second-factor logins.

You can use the keys on desktop platforms that support WebAuthn, including Windows, macOS, Chrome OS and Linux operating systems and Chromium-based browsers including Edge and Chrome. With the Yubico Authenticator for Desktop app, users can add and remove fingerprints. If, for some reason, you can't use the fingerprint reader, you can enter a PIN instead.

Yubico

YubiKey Bio devices support FIDO2/WebAuthn and U2F protocols, as well as the YubiEnterprise subscription service. You'll be able to use the same key for a variety of operating systems and desktop devices. It'll work with any app or service that supports FIDO protocols, including Citrix Workspace, GitHub, IBM Security Verify and Microsoft 365. 

Yubico opted for a three-chip architecture, which allows it to store fingerprint data separately on a secure element. The company says that provides "enhanced protection from physical attacks."

YubiKey Bio keys are available from Yubico's website in either USB-A or USB-C formats. The USB-A model costs $80 and the USB-C is $85.

Microsoft has been trying to straddle two different worlds with the Surface Go. When it launched in late 2018, Microsoft positioned it as an inexpensive way to get the 2-in-1 Surface experience. Three years later, that’s still true: The Surface Go 3, which Microsoft unveiled in late September, is an exceedingly well-built tablet, with a lovely screen and strong kickstand. For a device that starts at $400, it feels great.

But the full truth of the Surface Go 3 is a little more complicated. You need to shell out at least another $100 for a keyboard. And, seeing as Windows still doesn’t offer a great tablet experience you need the keyboard. Not to mention the basic $400 Surface Go 3 is underpowered – so by the time you’re buying a keyboard and bumping up the processor, storage and RAM, you’re spending as much money as you might on a full-fledged laptop with a larger display and more powerful internals.

Our review unit came with a 10th-generation Intel Core i3-10100Y processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. But that configuration costs $630, not including the $130 Alcantara-clad Type Cover and $100 Surface pen Microsoft sent along as well. It’s a fairly capable machine despite its tiny size, making it a potentially great travel companion. But if you’re going to spend $860 for the kit that I’m testing, you should know exactly what you want to do with it that you can’t do with a standard laptop.

When we reviewed the Surface Go 2 last spring, we noted that it was nearly identical to the first version, with the notable exception of a larger screen. This time out, I’m pretty sure the external hardware is completely identical. The Surface Go 3 is the exact same size and weight as its predecessor, and the display is the same 10.5-inch, 1,920 x 1,280 touchscreen as before.

That’s not a knock on the hardware, though, as the Surface Go 3 is a wonderfully designed and constructed device. I haven’t used previous Surface devices extensively, but Microsoft’s reputation for thoughtful hardware is well deserved. The screen is bright, sharp and colorful, with great viewing angles. I also very much appreciate the taller 3:2 aspect ratio – a 16:9 panel here would feel very cramped for vertical space.

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

I’m also a big fan of the infinitely adjustable kickstand. I’m no visual artist, but the way you can push it nearly all the way around to prop up the tablet for drawing is a brilliant design decision, and the way the Surface Pen magnetically snaps to the side for easy access is very handy. It really makes me wish I could draw, but alas.

As before, the Surface Go 3 only has a few ports and buttons. There’s a USB-C port on one side as well as a headphone jack and Microsoft’s proprietary charging port. The good news is you can use the USB-C port for faster charging (as well as any other peripherals you have) and use the cables you probably already have instead of the slower charger. Up top, there’s a power button and volume rocker; an 8-megapixel camera stares out from the back of the tablet. Two stereo speakers flank the display, and there’s a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a 1080p resolution for video calls. It also works with Windows Hello for face unlock. Finally, under the kickstand you’ll find a Micro SDXC card reader, but you really have to go searching for it.

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Every time Microsoft releases new Surface tablets, questions follow about whether Windows is actually a viable platform for touchscreen use. With Windows 11, the answer is still “not really.” But purely on the strength of its hardware, the Surface Go 3 is a lovely tablet. The 3:2 aspect ratio makes it work well when holding it in either portrait or landscape mode. And at 1.2 pounds it’s a little heavier than an iPad, but not so much so that you’ll get tired of holding it.

We typically recommend Surface buyers use the device with some kind of keyboard, so nearly all my time testing the Go 3 was with Microsoft’s Type Cover attached. It’s unchanged from last year’s version, but that’s OK because Microsoft’s Surface keyboards are surprisingly good. Given the Go’s small size, it felt a bit cramped at first, but after giving my hands a little time to adjust it wasn’t an issue. 

The keys have decent travel and feel very solid, despite the Type Cover’s extremely thin design, and the magnets that attach it to the Go are very strong. The touchpad is fine given its rather small size, but – like the keyboard – it's not something I want to use for hours on end. When I was using the Go 3 at my desk for extended work sessions, I preferred using a Bluetooth mouse.

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

The Type Cover weighs just over half a pound, so the tablet plus its keyboard cover is a good bit less than two pounds total. While the overall design hasn’t changed, the Surface Go 3 and its keyboard cover are still a very compact and well-designed set. There aren’t many devices that can provide the full Windows experience in such a portable package.

Unfortunately, as with the prior Surface Go models, you’re trading portability for performance. The Core i3 powering the $630 Go 3 that I’ve been testing is enough for basic tasks, but if you try and push things too much you’re going to be disappointed. My workflow is fairly modest: I mostly live in a browser (I used Edge for this review), and I also run apps including Trello, Slack, Todoist and Spotify. I also wrote this review in Word, to get the full Windows experience. Usually, the Surface Go 3 kept up with these tasks, but I had occasional music stutters and tabs often had to be reloaded if I navigated away from them for more than a minute or two.

Occasionally, things got worse. The Surface Go 3 mostly ran Adobe Lightroom fine, but moving through the interface definitely required patience as UI elements and photos took a while to load. And if I had it open along with any other programs, things slowed down significantly. Browser tabs were more likely to reload, and opening or switching between other apps took a lot longer. Lightroom performance itself was not terrible, though exporting an edited RAW file to a JPG took long enough that I did most of my photo editing and exporting for this review on my MacBook Pro. Exporting a single image probably took about 10 seconds, compared to a second or two on my Mac.

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that being on a video call also led to serious performance issues. When I was on a Google Meet call with some co-workers, switching that and Slack was painfully slow, and Slack had to refresh entirely as if I just opened it. While we’re at it, Slack performance was mediocre on this machine; jumping between different channels and conversations led to noticeable delays. (I’m willing to put some of the blame on Google and particularly Slack, because Slack's Windows app is not good. But not all of it.) That sums up the Surface Go 3 experience pretty well — I often just had to wait a lot for things to catch up.

Running our usual suite of Windows benchmarks confirmed my impressions – indeed, according to Geekbench 5 and PCMark10, the new Core i3 processor is nearly identical to the m3 that it replaces. This just highlights that Intel still doesn’t have a great solution for smaller devices. Apple’s $330 iPad, which I just reviewed, hit 1,336 (single-core) / 3,349 (multi-core) on Geekbench 5, compared to the 859/1,450 I got running it on the Surface Go 3.

The battery situation also leaves something to be desired. I got about five hours using the Surface Go 3 during normal use doing my normal work routine — not awful, but given how low-powered the processor is, I expected more. It also makes the Go’s portability less useful, because if you can’t be away from a charger for a full work day, what’s the point of having such a small device? The device did last quite a long time in a lower-power test. The Go 3 lasted almost 11 hours while playing back HD video, which matches up with Microsoft's estimates for 11 hours. 

The Surface Go 3 isn't the fastest to charge, either. I had the device plugged in while running some benchmarks, and it took a whopping three hours to charge from 50 percent to 100 percent using the included charger. I was pushing the system pretty hard during that time, but even when I was doing less intense work, it took a good long while to charge. When the Go 3 was asleep, it still took about two hours to fully charge it up from 20 percent. 

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Benchmarks don’t tell the entire story, but they should give you a good idea of what to expect with the Surface Go 3. I could see the Go 3 making sense as a second computer, a companion to a more powerful Windows desktop for travel. If I was still commuting, I’d be happy to use the Go 3 on my hour-long train ride to go through email, do a little writing and manage all my to-dos. I could also see it being a good companion for running around at events like CES or E3. But I’d probably get tired of writing on that tiny screen.

But $630 plus another $100 minimum for the Type Cover is a lot of money for a device that feels rather slow and rather cramped. For that kind of money you could certainly get a more capable Windows laptop. Apple’s iPad is also a great option for a secondary computing device, and has the benefit of an OS that was built with tablets in mind; it’s also far more responsive than the Surface Go 3, and there are plenty of keyboard covers out there for getting real work done.

The value calculus does change if you’re a visual artist, I think. I have zero drawing ability, so the Surface Pen isn’t terribly useful for me. But it’s a very good stylus, and I could see artists who like to use Windows appreciating the Go 3 as a portable drawing tool that can also be a full-fledged computer when you need it. But once again, an iPad probably has better app support for artists who prefer a stylus.

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Probably the biggest issue with the Surface Go 3 is that nothing has significantly changed since Microsoft released the Go 2 almost a year and a half ago. The design is still good, but performance and battery life are essentially unchanged, despite the new chip. I can’t recommend that anyone get a Surface Go 3 with the Pentium Gold processor; it feels like the low-end model exists only so Microsoft can say it sells a $400 tablet.

Just like its predecessors, the Surface Go 3 can be a pretty useful tiny Windows device, though you’re paying a premium for the portability. And the price for performance ration is seriously out of whack. If you’re a Windows fan, it'a decent option as a secondary device for casual work and for when you want something extremely portable. There aren’t a lot of comparable Windows devices out there, and the hardware’s design and built quality remains outstanding. Just make sure you buy the Type Cover, don’t expect much from tablet mode and be patient if you’re running a lot of apps.

The Surface Laptop Studio proves that Microsoft has learned from the mistakes of the Surface Book — well, most of them. Instead of over-engineering a way to have a detachable screen on a powerful notebook, the Laptop Studio's display simply tilts forward. Press it down even further, and it turns into an angled digital easel, similar to its larger sibling, the Surface Studio. That hinged screen isn't entirely unique — we've also seen similar implementations on the HP Spectre Folio and Acer's ConceptD 7— but it's still distinctive enough to justify a spot in the Surface family.

After reviewing the Surface Book 3 last year, it was clear that Microsoft needed a new strategy. All of the Surface Books were actually tablets that docked into a keyboard base, which housed an additional battery and an optional discrete graphics card. The PC guts were placed entirely behind the Book's screen. That was an ingenious way to make a detachable slate that could take advantage of powerful GPUs, but the tight size constraints severely limited CPU power. It was a design that simply couldn't keep up against other laptops, which could fit much more powerful hardware.

Enter the Surface Laptop Studio, one of the first Windows 11 PCs. At first glance, it looks like a direct MacBook Pro competitor. Even before you see its moving screen, it's evident this isn't your typical notebook. Its bottom half looks like two slightly different-sized tablets stacked together. That gives you thin edges to hold, but a bit more height to fit in beefy specs. At 3.8 to 4 pounds (depending on the chip you get), it's over a half-pound heavier than the 15-inch Surface Laptop 4. It’s clearly not trying to be an ultraportable, but Microsoft is also trying to keep it from feeling like a hefty gaming laptop.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Microsoft’s most intriguing display yet

The Surface Laptop Studio’s 14.4-inch screen is a bit sharper than 1,440p, with a 2,400 by 1,600 resolution. Notably, it's one of the first productivity PC screens with a fast 120Hz refresh rate. That's something Microsoft also brought to the new Surface Pro 8, and it simply makes everything on the display look smoother, no matter if you're scrolling through web pages or jotting down notes with the Surface Slim Pen 2. Typically, high refresh rates have been reserved for gaming laptops (faster action means better headshots, of course), though it's also a marquee feature of Apple's iPad Pro.

In its standard notebook orientation, the Laptop Studio's display fits right alongside the rest of the Surface family, which historically have had some of the best screens on the market. It also features Dolby Vision support, allowing you to enjoy the higher brightness and contrast from HDR videos and games. I've seen countless laptop screens over the years, and while the XPS 15's OLED is still the high bar for me, the Laptop Studio comes very close. Everything looks fantastic, and that high refresh rate leads to less eye strain after hours of web browsing (and working on this review). It makes sense: If the screen can scroll more naturally, your eyes don't have to work extra hard to keep track of everything.

Even though it's surrounded by some chunky bezels — something Microsoft avoided with the Surface Pro 8 — the Laptop Studio's display entranced me. And that's before I started spending time with its flexible modes. You can pull it forward with just two fingers, and it magnetically rests between the keyboard and trackpad. That's useful for binging video, especially if you prefer using the touchpad instead of dirtying your screen. Another plus for the Surface Studio: It has surprisingly powerful speakers, including two subwoofers spitting sound out the sides of the laptop, and two tweeters blasting through the keyboard. They also support Dolby Atmos for (very basic) simulated surround sound.

You can get into easel mode by pulling the Laptop Studio's screen completely forward, where it's angled up slightly for sketching and writing. And while Microsoft hasn't advertised this too much, you can also push the screen backwards so that the keyboard is completely behind it. That could be helpful for stepping through presentations without turning your entire computer around.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

That last orientation also gives you a clear view of the Surface Laptop Studio's unique hinge. The area directly underneath the display is covered in a smooth cloth, which also keeps the hinge from making direct contact with the screen. The hinge mechanism feels a bit flimsy at first, until you figure out where the display is supposed to rest for each mode. Microsoft reps tell us that they typically put their hinges through years of testing, so they should last for the lifetime of the laptop. Still, I'd certainly be anxious about putting this laptop in front of a small child. My parental spidey sense can foresee disaster if a kid starts pulling the screen.

A solid Surface Book successor… mostly

The big takeaway after living with the Laptop Studio for around a week: It's so much easier to use than the Surface Book. I don't have to worry about hitting the eject button to release the screen, and placing it in the exact right spot when I want to lock it back in. There's no obscene hinge curve, which always made it difficult to fit the Surface Book into slim bags. And finally, Microsoft can throw more power into a high-end Surface!

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Well, sort of. The Laptop Studio is powered by quad-core 11th-gen Intel chips, either the i5-11300H or the i7-11370H. Both are a big step up from the 10th-gen hardware in the Book 3, but it's curious that Microsoft didn't push for six or eight-core CPUs. If Dell can squeeze a six-core chip into the XPS 13, why can't Microsoft make that happen in its flagship Surface notebook? When asked about the power limitation, Microsoft representatives said their research showed a quad-core CPU with discrete graphics (the Laptop Studio can also be equipped with NVIDIA's RTX 3050 Ti) was the best option for their users. But as someone who knows plenty of media professionals and other would-be Laptop Studio customers, I find that hard to believe.

Even if that's the case, it's hard to recommend a system with a quad-core chip when there are so many competitors sporting more power. At least Microsoft is using Intel's beefier H35 chips, which are meant for ultraportable gaming laptops. Our benchmarks show the Laptop Studio is a significant step up from the Book 3 in every benchmark. But it doesn't have a chance against the Razer Blade 14, which can be equipped with an eight-core AMD CPU and NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU. That's particularly damning when the Blade 14 tops out at $2,800, whereas the comparable Laptop Studio model is $2,700. The only downside for Razer is that its machine comes with 16GB of RAM, instead of the Surface's 32GB.

It could just be that Microsoft is setting itself up for an even bigger Laptop Studio down the line. The Book 3 came in 13.5- and 15-inch variations, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a future 16-inch studio with even beefier hardware eventually. Perhaps Microsoft is just waiting to see what Apple's next hardware refresh means for the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Ignoring how it competes on a hardware level, the Laptop Studio is a solid performer for everyday computing tasks. It's also fast enough to reach between 90 and 100fps in Overwatch at the Studio's native resolution and ultra graphics settings. That's better than what I saw with the XPS 15 OLED, which could only reach around 70fps in 1,440p with a slightly slower RTX 3050 Ti. For most people, it'll be very capable for media work with some light gaming on the side. Still, I can't help but sigh at some of the benchmarks: how is it only slightly faster than the Surface Pro 8 — a tablet — in Geekbench 5?

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

I was similarly annoyed by the Surface Laptop Studio's anemic port situation. It only has two USB-C ports alongside the proprietary Surface Connect slot. Thankfully, those USB-C connections also support ThunderBolt 4, so they'll work with high-bandwidth storage devices, external GPUs and let you string together multiple 4K external monitors. Still, it's a shame to see the Book 3's SD card slot go. I suppose Microsoft is just following in Apple's footsteps here with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, but it sure seems like a missed opportunity to outdo their competitor. Also, strangely, while the Surface Pro 8 has an easily accessible NVMe SSD slot for additional storage, there's no secondary SSD slot for the Studio. (Though you could unscrew the bottom of its case and replace its SSD eventually.)

So that's a few big strikes against the Surface Laptop Studio, at least as a machine meant for creative professionals. Thankfully, Microsoft brought over one of the best aspects of the Book 3: that fabulous keyboard. It's wide, responsive and has some of the most satisfying key travel I've ever felt in a laptop. It's also accompanied by a Precision Haptic touchpad, which has no moving parts, but does a great job of mimicking that click you feel when pressing on a trackpad. That tech isn't new, exactly: Apple has offered it on MacBooks since 2015, but we're only now beginning to see it on PCs, like Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The new Surface Slim Pen 2 — which unfortunately costs an additional $130 — is also the perfect companion to the Laptop Studio's excellent keyboard and trackpad. It's easy to hold and it has a haptic motor of its own, which helps to mimic the feeling of putting pen to paper. That's a thoughtful addition, as the feeling of a stylus nub against glass always felt unnatural to me. The Slim Pen 2, meanwhile, makes me feel like I'm actually writing in a notebook. And unlike the Surface Book, there's a secure spot to store the new stylus right underneath the keyboard. It also wirelessly charges off of the Surface, which is much more convenient than carrying around tiny spare batteries.

Speaking of batteries, the Laptop Studio lasted an admirable 12 hours and 25 minutes with a 120Hz refresh rate during our battery benchmark. When I knocked that down to 60Hz, a must if you ever need to save some energy, it went for 17 hours and 15 minutes. But really, save your eyes whenever possible — just keep 120Hz on.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Wrap-up

Here’s the thing: I genuinely like using the Surface Laptop Studio. Its flexible screen is far less frustrating than the Surface Book’s, it has an excellent keyboard and it’s powerful enough to play a few games. But I can’t help but want more, especially after seeing how much the Surface Book line struggled since its inception.

With a starting price of $1,600, the Surface Laptop Studio directly competes with Dell’s XPS 15, the MacBook Pro 16-inch, and the Razer Blade. You’d have to shell out at least $2,100 to get the NVIDIA GPU, which puts it up against far more powerful gaming laptops. So here’s the question: How much is a tilting screen worth to you? If it’s more important than having the best CPU and GPU power around, the Surface Laptop Studio will suit you well. But if you want genuine power for a similar price, just get the Razer Blade 14 already.