Microsoft's Surface Pro 12-inch is compact, manages long battery runtimes and is silent

Qualcomm's Snapdragon-X-series processors have been around for about a year, but we had to wait until now to get a passively cooled device. Microsoft's new 12-inch Surface Pro convertible is the first device powered by a Snapdragon X Plus SoC without fans. The SoC can consume up to 35 Watt for short periods and then levels off at 15 Watts. We were obviously eager to see the performance at this power level, and the result was a positive surprise. Even at 15 Watts, the performance is still competitive and on par with Intel's Lunar Lake chips, for instance, so there is sufficient performance for everyday use.

This begs the question why other manufacturers do not offer passively cooled Snapdragon devices and this is also the case for Microsoft's own Surface Laptop 13, which is equipped with the same Snapdragon X Plus. Instead of an overpriced subnotebook with conventional cooling, Microsoft should have offered a passively cooled Surface Laptop 13 to stand out from the competition.

In addition to the high quality of the chassis, the small Surface Pro 12 also offers a decent IPS touchscreen (90 Hz, sRGB) as well as Wi-Fi 7. The battery runtime is good, but there are some areas where Microsofts wants to save some money. You only get two USB-C 3.2 ports and the UFS storage cannot be upgraded. The RRP starts at $799 for the base model with 256 GB storage, but the accessories quickly increase the price to more than $1100. Microsoft does not include an power adapter and the new keyboard cover including stylus (which now attaches to the rear of the device and cannot be stored inside the keyboard cover anymore) is rather expensive at $249. The quality of the illuminated keyboard is good, though.

Microsoft's new 12-inch Surface Pro is a very interesting and compact convertible, which distinguishes itself from the rivals by being fanless. Please see our comprehensive review of the new Surface Pro for more information.