Microsoft Surface Pro 9, ARM
Specifications

Primary Camera: 10 MPix
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix
Price comparison
Average of 19 scores (from 28 reviews)
Reviews for the Microsoft Surface Pro 9, ARM
Microsoft offers its new Surface Pro 9 now also with an ARM processor, which brings some advantages such as integrated 5G connectivity and fanless operation. On the other hand, the performance also turns out significantly worse than that of the Intel version, despite the higher price.
Source: Techradar

With its bigger screen, nested and slim pencil, and day-beating battery life, the Surface Pro 9 5G moves Microsoft's Surface line in the right direction, but the custom ARM chip brings with it a host of hiccups.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/02/2024
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 90%
Source: Pocket Lint

The Surface Pro 9 follows what the Surface Pro has been doing for some time, only really updating the internal hardware to the latest version. However, with the arrival of the Surface Pro 9 with 5G, there's new internal hardware, new skills and the promise of battery life that will last 19 hours. That means there are difficult decisions ahead, as the Surface Pro 9 with 5G potentially offers a great solution to working on the move with only a few compromises compared to the regular model.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/21/2023
Source: Tech Advisor

The introduction of ARM is a significant moment for the Surface Pro, but it’s not ready for the mainstream yet. Undoubtedly the main issue is the effect on performance, with some noticeable slowdown and less than seamless running of some apps. Alongside a port selection that’s worse than the Pro 8 and that high price tag, it’s hard to recommend. However, the move to ARM isn’t without its benefits. Battery life is truly excellent, and it’s great to see 5G support. The video calling experience is also among the best you’ll find on any Windows device – even without all the new effects. But ultimately, most people will be better off with the Intel version. It’s far less exciting, but a much safer bet.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 12/14/2022
Rating: Total score: 78%
Source: Techradar

With its bigger screen, nested and slim pencil, and day-beating battery life, the Surface Pro 9 5G moves Microsoft's Surface line in the right direction, but the custom ARM chip brings with it a host of hiccups.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/06/2022
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 80% display: 80% mobility: 880% workmanship: 90%
Source: The Verge

Look, I understand that nobody is buying a Qualcomm-powered device and expecting the power of a Threadripper. I don’t want to discount battery life and build quality as selling points, and I know the 5G is convenient. I am prepared for this comments section to be full of complaints that my performance issues are solvable and that people should just suck it up and use Microsoft’s software 24/7. But I am fairly confident that if you are someone who uses any of the emulated apps I mentioned even once a day, most other computers, regardless of their price will give you a better experience, whether it’s an iPad Pro or a Dell XPS or, hell, even an AMD Surface Laptop from the last generation. Windows on Arm is not ubiquitously unusable — but it is ubiquitously limited.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 11/16/2022
Rating: Total score: 50%
Source: Mobile Syrup

Whether or not the Surface Pro 9 is worth it depends on what you need out of a PC. I’d recommend the Pro 9 as a great option for someone looking for an excellent 2-in-1. The Surface Pro is still king in that category, and while the iPad Pro is arguably a better tablet, it’s a worse PC. The trade-off with the Pro 9 is it’s a mediocre tablet, but an excellent PC. That gap is getting much narrower, however. As for the Surface Pro 9 with 5G specifically, I can only recommend it if you work on the go and away from Wi-Fi often enough to warrant having built-in 5G capability (and if your wallet can take another hit from the Big Three). Outside of that, save yourself some stress and get the Intel variant. And if you don’t need the tablet features, skip the Surface Pro 9 entirely and pick a nice laptop – perhaps the Surface Laptop 5, although I need to put it through the wringer first. Finally, neither the Surface Pro 9 or the Pro 9 with 5G are “must-upgrades.” If you have an older Surface Pro that serves you fine, neither Pro 9 model offers many benefits. That said, if your Surface Pro needs an upgrade, the Pro 9 is an excellent option.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/06/2022
Rating: Total score: 75%
Source: Techradar

You don't review a laptop such as the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 5G (or indeed any product) in a vacuum. You have to look at it from the perspective of what came before, what else is available in the market, your experience with the product, and, in our case, our long-time association with Surface gadgets. This reviewer has been using Surface devices since Microsoft introduced them a decade ago. It's been a journey of mostly (but not always) incremental changes, many of which ensured that legacy users wouldn't be left behind. Even when Microsoft unveiled the mold-breaking Surface Pro X, it kept the OG Surface design chugging along with the Surface Pro 7. That changed with last year's Surface Pro 8, which adopted the Pro X look for the Intel platform and was Microsoft's first USB-3-free Surface Pro device.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 11/06/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Engadget

The 5G version of Microsoft's Surface Pro 9 is a handsome hybrid tablet PC, but its custom ARM processor severely limits its performance and app compatibility. It’s far more usable than any previous ARM Surface, but that’s not worth paying a premium over the faster Intel model.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/02/2022
Source: CNet

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/28/2022
Source: Engadget

If you're still interested in the 5G Surface Pro 9, having read my complaints and frustrations, be prepared to pay dearly. It starts at $1,300 with a relatively modest 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, while the Intel model goes for $1,000 with those same specs. And if you want a keyboard, add another $120 for the Pro Type Cover (though we’d recommend the $140 Pro Keyboard instead). Jumping up to 16GB of RAM with the 5G Pro 9 (like our review unit) will cost you $1,600 with 256GB of storage. As you go up the price range, the Intel and SQ3 models end up costing the same — but who wants to pay nearly $2,000 for an ARM-based Windows PC? Perhaps one day, Microsoft's dream of an ultra-thin, ARM-powered Surface will come true. But the company has failed at every attempt to make that happen (my condolences to anyone who bought the Surface RT). The 5G Pro 9 is an improvement, but its beauty belies its many practical issues. If you're at all interested in a new Surface, buy the Intel model and get a hotspot on the side. You'll be far happier.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/27/2022
Rating: Total score: 74%
Source: CNet

Approaching this from a different angle, however, it might be worth looking at the similarly named iPad Pro, just updated for 2022. Combined with a similarly expensive add-on-keyboard, it also attempts to be both tablet and laptop at the same time. Surface Pro is the productivity side of that coin, iPad Pro is the entertainment side. These are my initial hands-on impressions for now, and the updated full review of the Surface Pro 9 with 5G will follow the completion of our benchmark testing.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/25/2022
Source: PC Mag

More than before, you need to be careful when deciding whether the Surface Pro 9 is the right pick for you. Simply put, it’s not necessarily easy to make a universal pitch, as it was for the Pro 8. Caveats of comparing to the Intel version aside, let’s look at what’s in front of us with the Surface Pro 9 SQ3 variant. The device feels as sleek and premium as ever, with a best-in-class kickstand and keyboard. The latter is still sold separately, and the combination can’t quite match up to a laptop, but this type of configuration has its own value. How much one misses the headphone jack will vary, but it doesn’t feel like a necessary exclusion. The SQ3 version isn’t the best deal on a power and storage basis (more than 128GB for $1,299 would be nice), but it gets you excellent build quality, battery life, and useful camera features. For mobile-first users who are excited by 5G support, the SQ3 Pro 9 is an appealing package, and the nicest 2-in-1 detachable around. Consider it a viable alternative to the featherweight Dell XPS 13, a MacBook Air, or a portable Chromebook if the total package makes sense for you. To those less interested in 5G and more concerned with performance, the Intel-based Surface Pro 9 is almost definitely faster and more capable of a set-it-and-forget-it Windows experience.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/25/2022
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: The Verge

But I am fairly confident that if you are someone who uses any of the emulated apps I mentioned even once a day, most other computers, regardless of their price will give you a better experience, whether it’s an iPad Pro or a Dell XPS or, hell, even an AMD Surface Laptop from the last generation. Windows on Arm is not ubiquitously unusable — but it is ubiquitously limited.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/25/2022
Rating: Total score: 50%
Source: PC World

We didn’t extensively test the Microsoft’s tablet for compatibility with modern applications due to time constraints, and that’s traditionally been the weakest point of the Arm argument. You can see that we struggled to get some of our benchmark applications to work, and we’re not going to award an Editor’s Choice award based upon that. But the thrust of Windows on Arm has always been the core applications, namely Microsoft 365/Office and web browsing, and how they run. All of those load and run as expected. Battery life, the other selling point, has been somewhat superseded by Intel’s Evo platform — by convincing laptop makers to build their clamshells a little thicker and with more battery, they easily extended their run time. As a tablet, the Surface Pro 9 (5G) sits within a niche, without the ravenous competition of the clamshell notebook space. That gives it breathing room. But, excuses aside, it’s now within striking distance of mainstream Core products. We don’t have the Surface Pro 9 and its Intel Core processor to test, but the Surface Laptop 5 stands in. The tablet’s battery-life argument holds up, and yes, you can argue that you can trade off a bit of lower performance for improved connectivity. So yes, the Surface Pro 9 (5G) did unexpectedly well. We’re impressed. Is it the best tablet in its class? We don’t know. But yes, we’d recommend that you consider the Surface Pro 9 (5G), and hope for continued competition from Microsoft and Qualcomm in the future.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/25/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Tom's Guide

Microsoft held its annual Microsoft Surface October event and unveiled what's next for the Surface family of laptops, tablets, and PCs. To be specific, we got our first glimpse of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 9, Microsoft Surface Studio 2+ and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5. In this video, we'll give you a first-hand glimpse of the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Studio 2+.
Hands-On, online available, Short, Date: 10/14/2022
Source: Engadget

The Surface Pro 9 is pretty much what we expected: a jump up to Intel's 12th-gen CPUs. But Microsoft surprised us with a huge shakeup for its tablet PCs. There's also a Surface Pro 9 running a custom SQ3 ARM chip, which also includes built-in 5G. Can an x86 Intel processor and a mobile ARM chip really sit side by side? We got a chance to compare the two new machines at Microsoft's hands-on event, and to be honest, we just have more questions.
Hands-On, online available, Short, Date: 10/13/2022
Source: CNet

Hands-On, online available, Long, Date: 10/13/2022
Source: Engadget

Microsoft representatives admitted there may be some confusion among some shoppers, since they can easily walk out of a store with two very different computers. But it sounds like the company is willing to deal with those usability bumps, rather than splitting the Surface Pro line once again.
Comparison, online available, Short, Date: 10/12/2022
Foreign Reviews
Source: Chip (Print) - 9/24

Comparison, , Medium, Date: 08/01/2024
Rating: Total score: 92% performance: 95% features: 91% display: 96% mobility: 87%
Source: PCtipp.ch

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/20/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Der Standard

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/04/2022
Source: PC Welt

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/24/2022
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: PC Guia

Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 04/08/2023
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Smart World

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/23/2022
Rating: Total score: 79% price: 60% display: 85% mobility: 85% workmanship: 85% ergonomy: 80%
Source: 01Net

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/16/2023
Rating: Total score: 78% performance: 90% display: 80% mobility: 100%
Source: Phonandroid

Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/10/2023
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Les Numeriques

Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/26/2023
Rating: mobility: 100%
Source: Charles Tech

Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 01/24/2023
Rating: Total score: 87% performance: 70% display: 90% mobility: 90%
Comment
Series:
Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) is the fifth generation in the Surface Pro family. The Surface Pro is solid as a rock and exudes a sense of futuristic quality. It’s also well-designed, with a look and feels that, while minimally changed from the Surface Pro 4, is still an improvement. The corners are more rounded, and the exhaust vents along the edges are less pronounced. There aren’t many moving parts in the Surface Pro itself. The power and volume buttons along the top are easy to find by feel, and have a crisp action, while the kickstand is smooth and reliably holds the tablet at chosen angle. It now opens up to 165 degrees, an increase from the Surface Pro 4, which opened 150 degrees. Fully flexed, the kickstand can turn Surface Pro into a nearly-flat slate. If a user decides to flip into tablet mode for a moment and fold back the Type Cover, the keyboard will turn off when the cover is tucked back. It can even switch Windows 10 into tablet mode if desired. It attaches to the tablet with strong magnets and connects via a physical port, meaning there’s zero lag when typing. The Surface Pro sports two front-firing speakers on each side of the display. There are small cutouts in the glass to let the sound through, and the design provides impressive sound for a tablet. Music is great, with surprising range, and there’s even a hint of bass. The speakers also get surprisingly loud and can fill a decent sized room without distorting.
The Surface Pro features up to a seventh-generation Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It is seen that the Surface Pro offers a cutting-edge CPU, solid RAM and SSD options, and full support for all of Microsoft’s most innovative Windows 10 technologies. All that will keep the machine relevant for years to come. The Surface Pro is refreshingly light on bloatware. While it’s stocked with the usual Microsoft Windows 10 apps and a handful of casual games, it’s otherwise unencumbered with junk software. The Surface utility is also a nice app that offers the ability to configure the Surface Pen and get some useful information about your machine. Microsoft is using a 45-watt-hour battery in the Surface Pro, which is an increase from the 38 watt-hour battery that was packed into the Surface Pro 4. The Surface Pro also uses more efficient seventh-generation Intel Core processors. Taken together, the new model offers improved battery life over its predecessor. The Surface Pro is eminently portable, at 0.33 inches thick and 1.73 pounds. Even with the Signature Type Cover attached, the machine is easy to carry around and slip into a bag. It might not be quite as thin and light as the iPad Pro, but it’s also a much more powerful machine that can run real PC applications. The Surface Pro bring a whole new meaning to the word tablet. It is a iPad like device but is actually a real computer.
Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam
Qualcomm Adreno 690: Integrated graphics card in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC for Windows laptops. According to Qualcomm 60% faster than the previous generation. Not very well suited for 3D games due to missing driver support and low performance.
Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
SD 8cx Gen 3: ARM based SoC for Windows laptops that integrates four performance cores (ARM Cortex-X1 with up to 3 GHz) and four small efficiency cores (ARM Cortex-A78 with up to 2.4 GHz).» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
13.00":
This range of display format is largely the upper limit for tablets and the lower limit for subnotebooks.
The advantage of subnotebooks is that the entire laptop can be small in size and therefore easily portable. The tiny display has the added advantage of requiring little power, which further improves battery life and thus mobility. The disadvantage is that reading texts is exhausting for the eyes. High resolutions, which one is used to from a standard laptop, are almost not usable.
The same applies to tablets in this size range.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Microsoft:
Microsoft smartphones and tablets have been tested since 2012. There are many reviews with average ratings. The reader's interest is quite given, but the market share is not big enough for the Top 5 smartphone manufacturers (as of 2016).
74.73%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.