Microsoft Surface Studio

Microsoft's intentions

Microsoft Surface Studio 2 was designed with the intent to be a powerful competitor in the newer range of touchscreen computers that double as workhorses and it did not fail. A machine geared for artists, built with a snappy look but with enough power to handle anything you can throw at it. A pricey machine but that is to be expected with the amount of bristle this beast has been packed with.

Design and internal specs

The design hasn't been upgraded as there wasn't much need given its functionality was peak, why change something that is working well in the market after being received positively. The power can always be upgraded and has been. Running a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor designed for the laptop range with 16GB of DDR4 RAM along with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, that has its dedicated 6GB RAM. These specs are definitely enough to take on most tasks with ease. The space is now an SSD in the Surface range, which is 1TB with the NVMe interface protocol built specifically for SSDs. The CPU is housed in the square base which has rounded corners and also has all the connectivity ports in it, with a spring-assisted hinge connecting it to the screen. This hinge is specifically designed to make the screen seem like it is weightless when it is adjusted and it does well to deliver that sense of weightlessness. Allowing for height and angle to be changed, which are linked. If you increase the height the angle changes to sit up more straight and if you lower it the screen starts to lean back and flatten out so you can use that more easily to draw on with the stylus. Housing the CPU components separately allows for the screen to be super slim at just 0.4 of an inch!

The artist's dream screen

The touch-based display is a 28-inch PixelSense screen with a 4,5000 x 3,000 resolution that offers a 22% higher contrast ratio which has upped the colour depth. A huge part of these kinds of all-in-one solutions as they are geared for people who use the touch screen medium to draw and work on design elements. The screen quality and the upgraded brightness make it a good machine for such work because if you can see your work clearer you can sculpt it better. This makes for a great digital drafting table, so again geared for artists or architects and engineers. It would aid a lot in their work with its size and quality of touch sensitivity when it comes to the Stylus Pen as well. It has also been beefed up to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity along with tilt support making it a lot closer to a natural-feeling sensation of usage. The Surface Pen also attaches to the left side of the display magnetically so you don't end up losing it, being a wireless accessory that isn't held in place. Powered by one AAAA battery.

Ports, audio and facial recognition

The Microsoft Surface Studio's square base has a rounded back where all the ports are placed, this may seem a tad bit of an inconvenient placement but is a design necessity. When the screen is down it rests on the front end of the base and the hinge arms come down parallel with the sides of the base, this would make it impractical to have ports anywhere else on the machine. Set at the back you'll find four USB 3.0 ports, one USB Type-C port, a full-size SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a 3.5mm audio jack. Audio quality is also quite good as the Surface Studio has eight speakers built into the display and another two in the base; it delivers Dolby Audio Premium sound. The Windows Hello camera is a 5MP (1080p) webcam that includes infrared sensors for facial recognition similar to the previous model in hardware but a lot faster in recognizing you and unlocking the computer. A fast login would make anyone happy, artist or an average user looking to answer their weekly emails.

Peripherals and general

The keyboard and mouse are well designed with simple lines and are comfortable to use being good in their response timings too, the only issue is that they require double-A batteries to function and don't have any options for being rechargeable. Microsoft could also have provided connectivity for their Xbox One controllers so this could also be used as a gaming module, but that would also require some more power to be housed into the machine. Still with these specs it can handle a decent amount of games even if not the heaviest ones. It is also a matter of what the brand develops a machine for, this was thought from the perspective of designers and not gamers.

The Surface Studio 2 is top tear

Despite these slight drawbacks the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 can be used as your primary machine, with a great display and enough processing power to be of ample use, investing in one could easily see you through a few years if maintained well. It would be a moot point to compare this to other machines that are not designed specifically for digital artists and content creators. If it were just about the drawing abilities, it definitely makes a case for the top digital drafting table.

Keep in mind that the specs mentioned may vary based on what you chose or the specific market the product was developed for.