Microsoft Surface Go 3: Best Budget Windows 2-in-1 Tablet

Although it runs Windows 11 and can be used with an optional keyboard, the Microsoft Surface Go 3 is a tablet designed to compete with Chromebooks and the Apple iPad, not traditional laptops.

- TOM BRANT

A compelling starting price coupled with the refined style and high-quality construction we’ve come to expect from the Surface product family make this the best inexpensive Windows-powered 2-in-1 tablet you can buy. But with few improvements over its predecessor and computing performance that remains lackluster, the Surface Go 3 is also a slightly disappointing third-generation revision to Microsoft’s most affordable tablet, given the advances we’re seeing on other platforms. Also, our Core i3-based tester comes in at $629.99, and that’s without Microsoft’s compatible keyboard accessory, which adds at least another Benjamin.

DESIGN: IT’S MOSTLY A GO 2

The Surface Go 3 follows a familiar design formula: It’s a rectangular touch-screen tablet with an integrated kickstand. Weighing just 1.2 pounds and measuring 0.33 by 9.7 by 6.9 inches (HWD), it’s equally at home in your hands or propped up on a table. That distinguishes it from most other 2-in-1 convertible laptops, which typically weigh at least twice as much and have permanently attached keyboards that make them less natural to use as true tablets.

Like the more expensive Microsoft Surface Pro 8 tablet, the Surface Go 3’s functionality skyrockets when you magnetically attach the optional Surface Type Cover, which adds a keyboard and touchpad to transform the tablet into something that can pass for a laptop. Though Chromebook tablets and the iPad can also be attached to external keyboards, the Surface Go 3’s advantage is that it runs a full version of Windows 11, not the internet- and app-centric iPadOS or Chrome OS.

Microsoft Surface Go 3