My initial review of Surface Pro X that I got today

[Ramirez]

Today my Surface Pro X (8/128) arrived. In self isolation it is good to play around with gear and I have got time in my isolation to really test this beauty.

My first thoughts, this is THE IPAD PRO. I have an iPad Pro 12.9, although it too is a beautiful design with powerful hardware, it feels like a kids tablet to me in comparison with SPX.
It is the OS of course that makes the difference. SPX with full Windows 10 compared to iOS. If iPad Pro had a bit more of Mac OS. iOS has its great sides but I feel like iOS should be
more geared towards the normal iPads.
There is just so much more you can do with a full blown OS even if this ARM based device doesn't work with all apps (the X64 ones).

The kind of hybrid this SPX is, is the future. This is how I would like portable tablet/computers to be. I had the Surface Pro 4 a long time ago. SPX is a different beast and I like it.
So slim and yet so fast; Win 10 runs smooth, AMR64 apps runs fast and I haven't had any problems with the X86 32 bit programs I have tested.
Battery lasts long.

All you have to do when going for SPX is know how to set it up, know what you need and use work arounds for the software that does not work at this moment.
Some applications don't need the desktop software, those can be used though ARM64 Firefox or the Chromium Edge variant.

I am enjoying the screen with the thin bezels, it is easy to take with you everywhere and you don't need the charger alot.

I have bought cheap accessories for my SPX, a cheap "Surface Pen", Adrawpen, wokred great right out of the box, a small foldable Bluetooth keyboard and Microsoft Surface Mouse.
I am going to use this as a tablet and a mini "Surface Studio".
With the small foldable keyboard, mouse and Pen I actually gets quite close to the screen, easy when using touch, mouse, keyboard and pen in combination when working the device.
I am not using SPX as a laptop, when I want to use it comfortable it is a tablet and when I work with it, it turns to a mini "Surface Studio" on a desk.

I see the future right now.

 

[sharpuser]

Hi, @Ramirez

Cool review. Makes me want to get a Surface Pro X.

Welcome to the Surface Forums

 

[Ramirez]

Another thing that is just enjoyable with these Surface Pro hybrid devices is the Pixelsense screens.
I think SPX is even just a little bit better than on the other Surface Pro devices as it is slightly bigger.
For me with not perfect eyesight I can easily read even small text on SPX. I absolutely love the screen!

 

[Ramirez]

In chase of some photo/image editor software and I just installed GIMP 2.10.2.
Not the most modern looking GUI but it works smooth and fast on SPX
Even the Pen input works well with Pencils and Brushes. I recommend GIMP to SPX owners.
It is free software.

 

[Ramirez]

I am continuing my reviewing of this great hybrid device on ARM.

I just downloaded GameGuru on SPX, a simple game creating editor. I have used GameGuru before on different computers like desktop i7 and AMD Ryzen computers. Strong systems with dedicated GPU:s and a lot of RAM memory.

I just started creating a game on it and when testing it, it runs smooth and good on SPX. Now I can at least create something on SPX and see directly how the hardware corresponds.

And this also brings me back to days of old. The Commodore 64. I started out with the C64 and I remember programming in Basic. I made simple text games and so on.

10 PRINT "WELCOME"
20 PRINT "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"
30 INPUT A$
40 PRINT "HELLO" A$
RUN

Or something like that if I remember correctly

Well in some ways the simple GameGuru editior combined with LUA script coding gets me back to that feeling on a machine that don't run every app and game that is out there.

If you cannot run everything on SPX, why not create your own things on SPX?

 

[Ramirez]

Just amazed by this little SPX.
I have an Acer Predator with 8 gen i7 6 core CPU and Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU that I have used for some time.
I am not exaggerating when I am saying that SPX feels snappier in normal Windows operation, SPX feels a tad faster when using it doing normal things in Windows.
The ARM specific browsers are really fast.
Of course, for heavy duty things the Predator beats the SPX but you don't do 4K rendering or something similar everday.
I do feel that the SPX is every persons portable device for everyday stuff.
The amazing display and formfactor, everything about SPX is just great.
It has surpassed what I thought before buying it 10 times.
This is not the far future product, it is the near future and today I can do almost everything on it. The things that work really work fast! As reviewers that understand this product wrote; You can use SPX right now for 95 percent of your computer needs. I concur.

 

[scs]

In chase of some photo/image editor software and I just installed GIMP 2.10.2.
Not the most modern looking GUI but it works smooth and fast on SPX
Even the Pen input works well with Pencils and Brushes. I recommend GIMP to SPX owners.
It is free software.

GIMP - is it compiled for ARM CPU or intel 32bit application?

 

[Turbo4AWD]

I love having the pen functionality. When I have to sign waivers for volunteer work, they don't always use E-Sign, so I just load up the PDF form on my Surface Pro 6 and grab my Surface Pen and sign the document, then email back the PDF file. Other people actually print the PDF out, then sign with a regular pen, and scan the document back into PDF before emailing it back. Such a waste of paper and hassle.

 

[Spiegs]

Being a huge Apple user, I didn't have huge expectations for the laptop portion of the experience, but I am blown away! It doesn't bother me that a super light mobile device can't run desktop-class software.