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Should You Get The Surface Go For Gaming? My 1-Year Verdict
Is the Microsoft Surface Go a good tablet for playing Windows games? Here is my verdict after using it for a year.
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I bought the Microsoft Surface Go because I had to fly a 15-hour trans-Pacific flight.
The one reason why I bought it over an Android or iOS tablet came down to its operating system. I had a huge Steam library with games that I knew would get me engaged for hours on end.
But are my expectations too high? After all,I have the original Surface Goreleased five years ago. It’s nothing like a gaming PC.
So, I did some research on games it could play (and I’ll share the mega-list at the bottom).
Surface Go Gaming Capabilities
Let me just say this from the start: if the game exists natively on Android or iOS, you’re better off playing it on those tablets. You’ll get better performance and a more optimized experience overall.
Gaming on the Surface Go often requires you to compromise on your expectations. It might play newer games, but not as smoothly as a gaming PC.
However, the good news is that with every new Surface Go, Microsoft pushes the performance envelope further and further.
The newSurface Go 4 has major performance improvementsas compared to the Surface Go 3 including a more powerful four-core Intel N200 chipset, offering a 4.5x performance increase and 8GB RAM is standard, whereas in the past, you could still buy 4GB variants.
Ultimately, a more powerful Surface Go will allow you to play more games. If you are consideringwhether to buy a Surface Go 3 or Surface Go 4, read this.
4 Reasons Why It’s Great For Gaming
No matter which version you get, here are the biggest advantages of buying a Surface Go.
Super Portable
The Surface Go is one of the few Windows-based tablets which weighs around 500 grams. With the Type Cover keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse or gamepad, you’ll have a portable gaming machine under one kilogram.
Plus, while the 10.5-inch screen isn’t a lot of real estate, but that could be an advantage. In cramped spaces like trains and on planes, you can’t use anything much larger than that. I tried using my 15.6” gaming laptop on a plane’s tray table and I had nowhere to put the mouse.
Fantastic Travel Computer (Charges Everywhere)
I’d like to bring your attention to my 15-hour flight.
I had two computers – one with a 230W power brick and the Surface Go, with its 24W charger. For comparison, including a 24W charger is increasingly typical for high-end smartphones.
If you tried plugging a 230W power brick into an airplane’s power socket, it wouldn’t work. On the Surface Go, I had power for the whole flight because the low wattage didn’t trip the circuit.
What’s more, you can charge the Surface Go using a USB-C charger. The Surface Go’s USB-C port supports PD 3.0 and can take 5V, 9V, 15V and 20V.
I’d recommend getting a higher-wattage USB-C charger if this is the route you’re choosing. I used a 15W USB-C charger and noticed my battery slowly whittling away even though it was charging.
Kickstand Helps You Get Eye-Level Gaming
On a long flight, it becomes quite unsustainable to bend your head downwards to look at a screen. You will feel sore and tired.
The great thing about the Surface Go is that it has a thin kickstand that fits into the gap where the TV screen is.
All you have to do is to slot the kickstand into the gap, and then adjust the screen so that it locks the Surface Go in place. While it might fall out of place if someone bumps into it or if the person in front rocks the chair, it still felt very secure for the most part.
For completeness, I’d just have to highlight here that not all planes have the same TV configuration and it can be luck of the draw.
Also, if you want to do it this way, then you will need a wireless keyboard, mouse, or gamepad because you can’t use the Type Cover while it’s dangling in the air.
Plays Windows Games Unlike Tablets
This is key.
On my 230W gaming computer, I have some games that I enjoy playing. Rimworld, Oxygen Not Included, Factorio, Deus Ex (the original from Y2K).
Strategy games are especially difficult to play without a keyboard and mouse, and hence they’re generally only seen on Windows tablets.
If you’re a gamer, you’ll know which games can suck you in for hours on end. These are fantastic games for long-distance travel because time will pass so quickly. For me, strategy games tend to be very good at occupying my time.
3 Reasons You Should Avoid The Surface Go
Small Screen Can Strain Eyes
The 10” screen is a small niche in the gaming field, which also means that sometimes, fonts that are large enough on a 24” desktop monitor might end up looking a bit too small on the Surface Go.
This was the case when I played Half-Life 2. I noticed myself bending closer to the screen so that I could read what was on the screen.
If this is the case, check whether you can increase the size of the UI. Some games like Oxygen Not Included allow you to do so. Or else, you can try running the game at a lower resolution which will enlarge all the text.
Low Internal Storage
This is a major issue, especially if you have a modern game.
I don’t use the Surface Go purely for gaming purposes. It has Photoshop, Visual Studio Code, Adobe XD, and other software. I generally only have a few GBs of space left for games.
The good thing is that the Surface Go does have an expandable microSD slot. The downside is that some software won’t install on a removable drive and microSD is slower than the integrated SSD.
Multi-Platform Games Leave Windows Variant In The Dust
If your game exists on Android or iOS, you’re better off playing them on those platforms instead.
When developing for these platforms, game developers can optimize a game because of the more narrow parameters. On the other hand, Windows is like the Wild West. That means that weaker hardware, as seen on the Surface Go, tends to suffer from imperfect optimization.
In addition, no Surface model has a dedicated GPU. This is starkly contrasted by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, which delivers an exceptional gaming experience.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and Adreno 740 GPU which provide smooth gameplay, detailed graphics, and minimal lag todemanding games like PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9, Fortnite, and Genshin Impact.
It’s the same story with the iPads, whereby the latest M1 and M2 chips are leaving Microsoft Surface tablets in the dust. Even the top-of-the-line Surface Pro 9 will not keep up with any of these tablets in gaming performance.
So, the conclusion is… if you can’t play the game on your Surface Go, try the Android or iOS version. You might be surprised at the rift in performance!
Mega-List Of Games Playable On Surface Go
🟢 Plays smoothly
🟠 Might work better on a higher-end Surface Go
🔴 Does not play well
Conclusion
One does not simply buy a Surface Go for gaming purposes.
Instead, I bought it because I wanted to have a portable Windows computer for work-on-the-go, entertainment, and maybe some simpler games.
The mega-list of games above shows what type of games work best. If they’re 20 years old, they will probably run. If they’re 2D games, they will likely run. If they’re recent 3D games, they’re less likely to run.
But owning the Surface Go has been great because of how many things it can do. It comes down to the question: how important is Windows in a tablet to you?
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