Microsoft’s 12-inch Surface Pro improves on its best traits – and it’s already on sale

The Microsoft Floor 12-inch Floor Professional is on sale throughout Amazon Prime day for $699 for the configuration with the 256GB SSD, and $799 for the one with 512GB. That is $100 off every common worth.

Microsoft’s 2025 12-inch Floor Professional is thinner, lighter, and just a little extra inexpensive, with a battery-efficient Snapdragon X Plus processor and refreshed design. The newest model of the Floor Professional rounds out the lineup with a extra inexpensive choice targeted on ultra-long battery life, new colours, and redesigned equipment to point out off Home windows’ newest Copilot+ PC options.

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I changed my most important laptop computer with the 12-inch Floor Professional for about two weeks, and the Floor Professional appears to me to be extra of an addition to the present lineup than a standalone improve, significantly compared to the enterprise fashions Microsoft launched again in January 2025.

The 2025 Floor Professional has comparatively modest {hardware}, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of UFS storage. It’s being marketed on the on a regular basis client who makes use of on-device AI and appreciates the ultra-portability.

Moreover the smaller type issue, this 12 months’s Floor Professional is available in two new colours: Violet and Ocean (a blueish grey). The default Platinum shade begins at $799, whereas the opposite two will run you $899, bringing the beginning worth just a little additional away from that marketed low worth (and we have not even purchased the keyboard but).

I have to admit that the design on the 12-inch pill seems higher. It seems extra like a premium pill (and extra like an iPad) with rounded corners, skinny bezels, and the webcam moved to the again nook of the system.

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Moreover, I am a fan of the brand new Violet and Ocean colorways, which are not what I might name “daring”, however not less than they don’t seem to be the identical desaturated pastels we see in all places else. The colours lengthen to the Floor Professional keyboards, that are up to date by eradicating the alcantara material on the entrance of the keyboard for a cleaner, monochromatic matte look.

As a substitute, the material is relegated to the again of the keyboard case, which has a extra premium pill really feel for storage and transport. The Floor keyboard is useful and satisfying to kind on, with springy keys and a responsive, premium trackpad.

Moreover, the pill snaps to the keyboard just a little tighter and nearer to the pill now, with no hole within the hinge, giving it a barely smaller footprint on the desk. 

The Floor Pen additionally magnetically snaps to the again of the 12-inch as a substitute of storing on the keyboard. This requires you to retailer the system with the material dealing with down, as you do not wish to squish the pen. When throwing the Floor Professional in a bag, the Pen additionally tends to remain put, however can come unattached for those who’re not paying consideration. 

Microsoft desires to showcase its new AI-driven Copilot+ options, and the 12-inch Floor Professional is an effective car for advertising and marketing them to customers, particularly with its enticing worth level and the 45 TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. 

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For instance, the long-awaited Recall characteristic continues to be in Preview mode, nevertheless it’s getting nearer to a helpful state. Different purposes that leverage AI processes, significantly ones for creators like Capcut, Davinci Resolve, and DJay Professional ought to really feel clean and snappy. This makes it a really AI-ready system for on a regular basis customers who do not want high-end {hardware} for demanding inventive initiatives. 

Working Home windows on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip should not be an excessive amount of of an issue for many customers on this class, because the areas that noticed probably the most compatibility points, like gaming and connecting to legacy software program, are extra probably to not apply to the focused consumer. 

The 12-inch Floor Professional’s modest {hardware} positions itself as a aggressive system within the household’s lineup. The aforementioned 16GB of RAM and max 512GB of storage, paired with the Snapdragon X Plus and 2196 x 1464 decision (220 ppi) LCD that targets on a regular basis customers, whereas its 13-inch siblings will be loaded up with extra premium {hardware}. 

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That being stated, the Snapdragon X Plus processor is snappy and responsive, excelling at duties that the common client cares about: quick startup and app load occasions, clean multitasking, and stable battery efficiency, whether or not in laptop computer or pill mode. 

Throughout my benchmarking of the 12-inch Floor Professional, I obtained numbers that place it round different skinny and light-weight laptops in the identical worth vary, together with Asus’ Zenbook A14, which additionally options the Snapdragon X Plus processor, and HP’s OmniBook X 14, one of many first Copilot+ PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite chip from 2024. 

The show is sharp and crisp, nevertheless it does cap out at 400 nits of brightness and a 90Hz refresh fee. Since it is a pill, it is also fairly shiny. Within the workplace, for instance, I discovered myself readjusting the system’s angle quite a few occasions all through the day to account for glare from overhead lighting. 

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Talking of utilizing the Floor Professional within the workplace, it really works equally properly as a laptop computer or a pill, relying on what you want. Indifferent from the keyboard and armed with the Floor Pen, it turns into a quick productiveness pill that permits for observe taking, prototyping, and freeform thought era in Home windows’ Whiteboard app. 

You too can assign completely different actions to the Pen, together with beginning apps or performing capabilities with the button on the system or the “clicky” on the top. I’ll say that the Pen’s efficiency will be variable, although. In case you’re working a number of applications open within the background, you would possibly discover lag whereas writing, particularly for those who’re shifting rapidly. 

Equally, the HD digital camera’s location has a barely downward-facing orientation whereas related to the keyboard, because the kickstand can solely prop it up so excessive. Take into account a clamshell laptop computer, for instance, which may sit at a 90-degree angle or much less. In that sense, untethering the keyboard and utilizing it as a pill may be extra optimum for customers who make frequent video calls. 

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Relating to battery life, the Snapdragon X Plus processor ensures that it drains at a mere trickle when the system will not be in use, and is sweet sufficient for over a full day’s value of labor on one cost. Microsoft advertises 16 hours of battery life, and I obtained just a little over 15 in our video playback check. Relating to extra sustained use, I obtained over 10 hours on a single cost, which is not far off from the marketed 12 hours with out utilizing all of the max battery effectivity settings. 

Couple this with the truth that the Floor Professional expenses extraordinarily quick. From a very useless battery, you will get to about 50% in half-hour, and round 80% in an hour. Of the Floor Professional household, the 12-inch is actually probably the most battery environment friendly and the quickest to cost. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The 12-inch Microsoft Floor Professional completes the household’s lineup with a thinner, lighter, and extra battery-efficient pill/laptop computer hybrid with refreshed colours and design. It comes with barely extra modest {hardware} (16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage) for a decrease beginning worth of $799. 

In case you’re on the lookout for a useful 2-in-1 pill/laptop computer, take pleasure in utilizing a stylus, and do not want a ton of native storage, it is an incredible choice, particularly for its long-lasting battery. It is an all-around sharp-looking system, and the premium keyboard case offers a satisfying tactile expertise. 

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The price of the Floor Professional can rapidly add up, nonetheless, because the Floor Keyboard, Floor Arc mouse, and energy adapter are bought individually, bringing the ultimate price over the $1,000 mark. Mixed with the low quantity of native storage and modest reminiscence, I might advocate this system for customers who’re dedicated to the 12-inch type issue and need dependable battery life. 

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