Microsoft has announced a new tablet for companies and students, the Surface 3. The tablet has a 10.8" display with a resolution of 1920x1280 pixels and an aspect ratio of 3:2. The tablet will be sold for less than the Surface Pro 3.
Although exact sales numbers have never been released, Microsoft appears to be pretty successful with the Surface Pro 3. It appears the company hopes to continue that success with a cheaper tablet. With the Surface 3, the company targets students and mobile professionals.
The Surface 3 is, with its 10.8" display and resolution of 1920x1280 pixels and aspect ratio of 3:2, smaller than the Surface Pro 3. The tablet supports input using a Surface Pen but Microsoft doesn't ship it with the tablet by default. The model weighs 622 grams and the device is made from magnesium.
The Surface 3 is powered by an Atom X7-Z8700, a new quad core CPU from Intel based on the Cherry Trail platform running at a regular clock speed of 1.6Ghz. The SoC should make it possible to playback video for 10 hours. The SoC is accompanied by 2GB RAM and the device has 64GB flash memory. Microsoft also sells a variant with 4GB RAM and 128GB flash. The Surface 3 supports Wifi-AC, Bluetooth 4.0 and has a regular USB 3.0 port, mini displayport and MicroSD memory card reader. The device is charged over a micro USB 2.0 port.
Microsoft has also added a 3.5MP front camera and a 8MP back camera and sensors like an accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyroscope, compass, GPS and magnetometer. Besides the regular versions with Wifi, also versions with LTE will become available.
The tablet runs Windows 8.1 and will get a free upgrade to Windows 10 when that's released. Purchasers of a Surface 3 get an one year Office 365 Personal subscription.
The device with 2GB RAM and 64GB flash memory will be priced at $499, the 4GB RAM, 128GB flash memory variant will cost $599. Both will become available by the 5th of May. Although Microsoft also lists other models, it hasn't disclosed pricing or availability on those yet. The Surface 3 will ship without keyboard and/or stylus.
