A few days ago I finally got my V after having it on vacation hold over the Christmas break as it was set to arrive the same day that I traveled home. This is my experience so far(driver updates applied):
The good:
- It’s a beautiful device, no doubt
- I love having more ports available and USB PD is great as I can charge it from my Ravpower 26800mah USB-C PD powerbank
- The screen is better than my Surface Pro 3!
- Pen and palm rejection problem seems to be fixed after driver updates. The activation length is now around 7-10mm, a tad shorter than on my SP3, but no problem.
- The keyboard feels very nice to type on, with the exception of a few keys that feel a bit “sticky”
- I find the trackpad to be good, especially compared to the type cover from the SP3
- The Bluetooth functionality of the keyboard is very useful as it allows me to write without having to use time to put it laptop mode. It took me a few mins to understand how to connect and pair, but after that was done it’s been a breeze to switch been writing on my V and my SP3. Unfortunately though, it seems to miss some inputs sometimes.
- I got 230 in cinebench and I think I got the highest single-core CPU in Geekbench 4 of the V’s so far. Granted it’s just by a 20 points or something and some V’s get higher multicore performance.
The “I hope gets fixed/fixable with software”:
- Even with the new audio drivers the sound is still just OK, also I get a very low static from the speakers as well as a more noticeable static when using my Shure E425 earbuds. The static from the speakers remain unless I mute them. The sound quality from the jack seems good otherwise.
- For some reason my screen flickers between two calibration modes when I’m watching videos on Amazon Video, but not when I’m watching youtube or locally stored videos on Media Player Classic.
- Keyboard is still active when flipped behind the device. I would prefer it to turn off when behind like the Surface line does. After what I’ve read Microsoft manages this by comparing an accelerometer in the keyboard to one in the device. Can this be implemented?
- When used in bluetooth mode not all key presses gets recorded. It’s about 1-2 per 20, but it kinda throws off my focus when I’m typing fast.
- The battery life is meh, where I seem to be getting around 8-9 hours with Onenote/Chrome use, without using the power saver setting though. I imagine that the V has the potential to get better battery life through software patches as the Surface Pro has better at the moment and has a smaller battery and a more power consuming U-type processor.
The bad:
- Keyboard has some keys that feel weird, like they’re loose or has breadcrumbs underneath them. Especially my “ctrl”, “n”, “r” and “m” are off as I’ve felt so far. I think it might have something to do with the keys getting stuck on the fabric? Or that they can traverse horizontally too much and therefore get stuck on the fabric.
- Keyboard magnets are not as strong as on the Surface, it’s a minor issue though.
- My screen has a VERY minor defect on it. Probably from the bonding process. It’s only view-able on a white background from a specific angle. First I thought it was fingerprints, but it remained as I cleaned the screen
Conclusion:
All in all I’m pretty satisfied with the V, despite the small problems. However, I’m actually not sure this is the device for me. That’s because of the processor. As an engineering student I imagine I will work alot with Solidworks in the coming years, and while I think the V has power (and RAM) enough to get me through this first and probably the second year, I’m unsure about how its performance will be in the future. A device sporting the 8-gen i7 8550U with it’s quad core and Intel Iris setup seems like a better option for me. Buut, I have grown fond of the community and I’ve already got an emotional connection to my V, so I dunno how willing I am to part with it Also the bluetooth functionality is unique and I really like it.
