Microsoft Surface Pro LTE review

The hybrid of the tablet and a laptop for those who should always be in touch. Microsoft began selling Surface Pro with cellular support.

Many users have not yet finally switched to smartphones and work with computers not only at home, but also in trains, parks, cafes. This is quite the usual thing if you find the available network Wi-Fi. However, some mobile computers do not depend on Wi-Fi, since they support the communication standard LTE. They have the Internet everywhere.

Search for a laptop with built-in cellular communications, a modern design and an extensive set of functionality, so that you want to use it every day, is a difficult task. Each computer or laptop with a cellular bond belong to the corporate segment. Most often they are clumsy and possess outdated possibilities. Another option is the iPad Pro with LTE, but this is still a tablet, not a computer, so it will come far away.

LTE support laptops This year may become serious power, as the Qualcomm Always Connected PC is released. Before starting sales, the browsers told about the Surface Pro LTE device from Microsoft, which is the same last year's tablet, but with support for cellular communication. In American stores, it is already available for orders.

Surface Pro LTE is also intended for corporate users. They can buy entire departments, which happened last year. However, they can be attractive and for ordinary users of computers. This is a modern device of category 2 in 1, which connects to the Internet without the need to access Wi-Fi networks. This is the first Surface laptop that can be called a truly mobile computer. With him, you can go anywhere and not lose functionality. Microsoft has previously tried to do the same with Surface 2 and 3, but there was no sufficient capacity, and now we have the first Surface Pro with an integrated cellular tie.

All the advantages and disadvantages of the Wi-Fi support model are described in last year's reviews that are easy to find on the Internet. This article will host unique aspects of the LTE support versions.

We can say that the presence of communication removes users the last limitation. There is the same functionality that in the Wi-Fi version, which came out of the past in the summer. Touchscreen with a diagonal of 12.3 inches and aspect ratio 3: 2, Intel Core processors of the 7th generation, although the 8th is already released. Without keyboard device weighs less than 900 g. The murderer's outer difference between the Wi-Fi and LTE models is that the polycarbonate strip is at the top has a different color compared to the metal case and the SIM card compartment, next to which the slot is located Memory MicroSD.

The novelty costs $ 150 more expensive compared with the standard version, for which you get an integrated modem with support 20 LTE frequency bands. This is a Qualcomm X16 modem, which was used in many Android smartphones last year. Microsoft does not tell what cellular operators in the United States support this device, but sold and unlocked versions. Like iPad Pro with a cellular connection, Microsoft tablet has an integrated map ESIM and a Nano-SIM SIM-SIM compartment. Between these two services, you can switch in the "Parameters" application.

Microsoft promises the duration of operation of 12.5 hours compared with 13.5 hours in the model only with Wi- Fi. This promise is based on tests with cyclic video playback, and not on real application scenarios. In everyday operation, the device could stretch about 7 hours, which is a bit inferior to the duration of the Wi-Fi version, but remains a normal value for the computer of this size. Of course, no one would refuse to see a larger battery here, but most people should be enough for them.

The difference between the computer with the connection to Wi-Fi and with a mobile communication version is small, but it is detached. Prior to work on the train, instead of setting up , access points and the connection is simply turned on the computer and start working. When the train moves, cell tower moves with it, but the device is capable of searching and connecting faster than when using a smartphone as an access point. In addition, the battery and smartphone will not be consumed simultaneously.

The use of a cellular computer is safer than connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, and more convenient to the use of access points with the need to enter the login and password.

Exit to the network on LTE Surface Pro occurs so easy that you do not even need to think about it. With this computer, you can easily do all the necessary work without any problems without being distracted by network setting and other unpleasant little things. The same can be said about the iPad with LTE support instead of version only with Wi-Fi, but here we have a full-fledged working computer.

Since this computer is running Windows 10 with a desktop browser and programs, you need to monitor your data consumption, especially if it is not unlimited. In just a few days of work, almost 4 GB of data was burned when using Slack, email, multiple browser tabs, Twitter, downloading and updating applications from the Microsoft Store, etc. Naturally, watching YouTube videos or listening to music from the Internet consumes traffic even faster. This is clearly an unlimited plan.

All this allows you to work pleasantly and effortlessly away from home or office. No need to worry about whether you can find Internet access - just turn on the computer and work. If your job involves constant moving, paying for an unlimited plan can pay off.

Using a computer with a cellular connection is so convenient that it's hard to go back to the model without it. I would like to believe that in the future mobile computers will be just like that. That future is not far away, and the Surface Pro LTE is a harbinger of it.

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