Hands On With The Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, And Lumia 950XL In New York

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, October 07, 2015, 04:20 PM EDT

We were fortunate enough to attend Microsoft’s Windows 10 Devices event in New York yesterday, at which the company unveiled a new line-up of products, including the innovative Surface Book, the thinner and lighter Surface Pro 4, a re-vamped Band fitness tracker and smartwatch, and a trio of Lumia-branded smartphones, the 950, 950 XL, and 550.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadell (above) And Panos Panay

Microsoft’s Panos Panay handled the bulk of the presentations, and presented the new Surface and Lumia devices, though other execs participated as well, and showed off things like Project X-Ray for Hololens and the new Band. CEO Satya Nadella closed the show and outlined Microsoft’s vision for future products, before opening up a number of demo areas where we were able to get more up-close-and-personal with everything that was unveiled.

More Panos Panay (above) Along With His Teamates

We’ve got a ton of coverage up of all of the initial announcements if you’d like more detail on each individual product. We cover the Surface Book here, the Surface Pro 4 here (and also have a comparison to the iPad Pro posted), the Lumia announcement here, and the Band. While out at the event, however, we snapped a ton of photos and recorded some video we thought you’d like to see as well.

The Microsoft Surface Book

Microsoft Surface Book Image Gallery

The Microsoft Surface Book is a beautiful device, that’s got a few innovative features. The build quality on the product seems excellent; the materials exude quality throughout and it just feels premium in every way. Everything simply feels solid and durable. The keyboard provides great user-feedback and the screen is top-notch too.

Microsoft Surface Book - Clipboard Detached

The unique hinge mechanism also allows the tablet / clipboard to be removed from the base, and provides additional stability when the machine is used in clamshell mode, by extending outward, effectively making the base wider than the top and shifting the center of gravity. The base is also home to additional batteries and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GPU.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Image Gallery

The Surface Pro 4 has been updated in a number of meaningful ways as well. The machines are now thinner and lighter. They’re packing Intel’s latest Skylake-based mobile processors, along with higher resolution screens, NVMe solid state storage, and additional memory—should you want it. There’s also a new Type Cover that’s more ridged, has a larger touch-pad, and keys more akin to an actual laptop.

Lumia 950, 950XL, 550 and Band Images

The new Lumia 950, 950XL, and 550 represent new flagship and entry-level Windows 10-based mobile devices. The 950 series features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 SoC, hi-DPI displays, expandable storage, and removable batteries. And the new Microsoft Band packs in an 11th sensor (a barometer) and has a new curved design that should be far more comfortable to wear than the original, especially for people with smaller wrists.

A Look Inside The Surfaces

We’re still waiting for samples to test and formulate our final opinions, but our initial impressions of all of Microsoft’s latest devices are very good. The company seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, and their vision for the future of mobile devices seems to have been validated by both Apple and Google, who have both revealed devices that mimic the look of the Surface Pro.

Tags: Microsoft, Surface, lumia, Windows 10, surface pro 4, surface book, 950xl

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com