The Surface Go, of course, was launched as being the affordable Surface, and at Rs 37,999, it indeed was. However, there were many who considered it to still be on the expensive side when one considered what it brought to the table – it came with a considerably smaller 10.1-inch display (albeit a full HD one), 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage and well, it came with an Intel Gold processor, which was considered a notch below the Core i3. In some ways, the Surface Go is reminiscent of the Surface 3, which was released in 2015 and ran on an Atom processor. That device, however, was never released in India, leaving the Surface Go as the best option for anyone looking for a Surface experience on a tight budget. And well, unless you are looking for some high-end gaming, the Surface Go is a formidable proposition at its new price tag. That small display might rankle some, but it is bigger than the base iPad’s 9.7-inch display and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It also makes the Surface Go super portable at just 522 grams, and a frame so small that you can literally dump it into a bag and take it along. It also is made of the same magnesium material used in other Surface tablets and also has the iconic Surface kickstand, allowing you to prop it up anywhere. No, it does not have the most power-packed processor so we would not really recommend it for anything more than routine writing, browsing, and social networking, but in that zone, it remains formidable, and also offers close to nine hours of battery life. The display is a good one and the presence of dual speakers with Dolby Atmos makes it great for watching videos. It supports the Surface Pen and yes, you can attach one of those Surface Keyboard covers to it, although both of those will have to be purchased separately. Yes, it has its shortcomings – it has EMMC storage rather than SSD storage, it only has a single USB Type C port, although it does have a microSD card reader for expanding that storage. The rear 8-megapixel camera is mediocre at best and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera is decent enough for video calls, but then we were never too convinced by the “tablet as a camera” concept. And then there is the matter of Windows 10 Home running in S mode (restricting you to apps from the Windows Store), although that can be turned off. This being a Surface, you are assured of hardware and software support right from the Big M! We can hear the geek brigade complaining about the processor, but at its current price, the Surface Go is a terrific deal for anyone who wants a basic tablet, or a blogger who wants a backup device to carry around. It is incredibly compact, works reasonably fast, has great build and battery life and with its new price tag, leaves you with enough change to buy a Surface keyboard as well. Incidentally, even the 8 GB/ 128 GB model is a terrific deal at its price, as it comes with SSD storage. Thanks to Flipkart, the Surface just became really affordable. For a while anyway. Only time will tell if these prices will stay. Our advice: Go get it. Or rather: Go? Get it! Buy Surface Go on Flipkart
