Microsoft Surface Pro 9 test: same convertible tablet, more powerful and less autonomous
Surface Pro 9 still feels like a tablet just under 1cm thick with a kickstand on the back. As usual with Surface products, the finishes are perfect and the kickstand mechanism leaves no doubt about its longevity.
To transform this tablet, it is necessary to add a custom keyboard in Alcantara material, which is magnetic in the lower part and folds to hide the stylus shell. It is therefore usual to use it flat or slightly tilted thanks to two magnets that stick to the level of the lower edge of the screen.
The backlit keyboard provides good typing, and the key travel is sufficient. It lacks overall solidity, however, sounding a bit hollow, especially when tilted, as the space below acts as a soundboard.
The relatively small (especially in height) touchpad does its job. We therefore find ourselves making up for its lack of comfort by performing touch gestures directly on the screen. The left and right clicks are relatively noisy with the property ‘cloc’ with each click.
Connectivity is reduced to its simplest expression with two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left edge. The power and volume buttons are at the top, while the power connector retains its position to the right of the screen. The socket has simply disappeared.
The wireless connection is entrusted to the Intel AX211 chip compatible with wifi 6E and its famous 6 GHz band with a speed of 2.4 Gb / s, but also with Bluetooth 5.2.
On the webcam side, there are two sensors. The first on the front at 3.5MP is of very good quality for video conferencing; The second 10MP sensor will allow you to take pictures quickly. Note that the front-facing webcam is compatible with Windows Hello and thus allows you to quickly unlock a Windows session.
To cool the Core i7-1255U’s ardor, Microsoft placed a fan, the extraction of which is very discreet, on the top edge of the tablet. Thus, after about thirty minutes of video encoding, the back of the device reaches just under 42°C and 40.6°C in the front. We don’t notice any particular hot spot, and the metal surface on the back of the tablet also acts as a heat sink.
Despite this strong demand, noise pollution was contained with a recording of 34.7 dB(A), which is not enough to disturb our neighbors in the office.
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