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Microsoft Surface Go: First impressions

A quick tour of Microsoft's new budget tablet, the Surface Go.
By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer
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Surface Go and accessories

The Surface Go, along with the Type Cover and Surface Pen

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The spec

This is the higher-specced Surface Go with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.

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Unboxing

The box is enough to protect the tablet in transit, easy to open, and easy to recycle once it has done its job.

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Screen to chassis finish

Not the best fitment between the display and metal chassis I've seen.

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Magnesium metal back

Rear of the Surface Go, showing the kickstand.

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Lightweight yet feels a bit flimsy

Despite the magnesium chassis, the Surface Go feels flimsier than the Fire HD tablet, which makes use of a plastic chassis.

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Type Cover connector

This is where they keyboard attaches.

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The kickstand

The kickstand is nice, and makes the Surface Go a lappable device, but it is a bit wobbly.

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The kickstand

It is nice to have a kickstand that works at any angle.

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Buttons

Yes, there are physical buttons on the Surface Go.

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Poor fit-and-finish

The fit-and-finish feels a bit poor, even given the cheap price.

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The display

The display is magnificent. No complaints from me there.

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Type Cover

Since typing on the screen is a bit hit-and-miss, this is a must for anyone pounding out words on the Surface Go.

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Type Cover

The Type Cover and Surface Go come together nicely.

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Type Cover

This is a nicely engineered keyboard that's an absolute joy to use.

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The charger

The Surface Go comes with a beefy charger.

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The charger

The connector on the charger feels cheap and flimsy and I worry about long-term durability.

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Surface Pen

Unwrapping the Surface Pen.

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Surface Pen

Beautifully engineered. The overall finish and aesthetics feel much better than that of the Surface Go itself.

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Surface Pen

I don't like the face that the Surface Pen requires a disposable AAAA battery.

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Surface Pen

The Surface Pen is a joy to use. I see this as a must-have accessory for the Surface Go.

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Type Cover connection

The Type Cover connects well to the Surface Go, and feels secure both in use and when moving the device about.

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Type Cover connection

No, the keyboard doesn't fall off if you pick the tablet up. This is nice.

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Charging port

The charging port is conveniently placed on the side of the Surface Go.

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Charging port

I did find that it was possible to easily dislodge the charging connector by moving the tablet or cable, which is something to bear in mind during use. Also, the plastic nature of the connector gives me concern relating to durability.

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Type Cover finish

The finish of the Type Cover does collect a lot of dirt and debris very quickly.

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Type Cover finish

That said, it does look nice too.

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Ports, ports, ports!

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Ports, ports, ports!

Yes, even a headphone jack!

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Physical buttons feels cheap

There's a lot of rattle from the buttons, and they feel vague and imprecise.

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Rear camera

No complaints about the rear camera, except the fit-and-finish between the camera strip and the chassis is poor.

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Overall, it's a nice package

Little touches like a magnetic attachment point for the pen is nice (although, this does seem like a good way to end up losing the pen!).

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Kickstand wobble

Right out of the box and the kicksand has a wobble, which adds to the cheap feel.

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