Microsoft Surface Book Microsoft Surface Book 2 Intel Core i7-8650U 8GB Review

The Surface Book 2 is a weird one. It's a gorgeous, detachable tablet-laptop hybrid with a stunning screen, but it's held back by specs that were already dated when it launched. The one thing to know? This is a premium-feeling machine for light tasks, but don't let that GTX 1050 sticker fool you into thinking it's a gaming or serious creative rig. At its core, it's a beautiful, over-engineered web browser.

The numbers don't lie, and they're pretty rough. That Intel Core i7-8650U lands in the 13th percentile for CPU performance, which means it feels sluggish for anything more than basic multitasking. The GTX 1050 (47th percentile) is a discrete GPU, sure, but with only 2GB of VRAM, it's basically a paperweight for modern games. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage are also in the bottom 15% of all laptops. The only real performance surprise is how good that 3000x2000 screen still looks.

At its original price, this was a terrible value. At $499? It's a maybe. You're paying for the unique form factor and that excellent screen, not the performance. If you need a pretty secondary device for notes, streaming, and web browsing, it's an okay deal. If you need a primary laptop that can actually do work, look elsewhere.

Forget the gaming laptops on the competitor list—this isn't in their league. The real comparison is the ASUS Zenbook Duo, another innovative dual-screen machine that's far more powerful and modern. If you don't need the detachable gimmick, a used MacBook Air M1 or a base model iPad Pro with a keyboard will run circles around the Surface Book 2 in speed, battery life, and support, for similar money. The Surface Book wins on screen crispness and the pure 'wow' factor of detaching the screen, but loses everywhere else.

Only buy this if the detachable tablet is a non-negotiable must-have feature for you, and you're getting it for a steal. For everyone else, it's a hard pass. Its performance is thoroughly outclassed by cheaper, newer devices. It's a fascinating piece of tech history that shows its age in every single task you throw at it.