The Surface Pro has always been an ambitious device, but in the past couple iterations, it’s really come into its own. It has beautiful design, powerful internals, and a great detachable keyboard. It’s not perfect, though. First off, it’s expensive. The Core m3 version starts at $800 — and that’s without the keyboard or stylus. Secondly, it has apretty old-school port selection, choosing not to opt for USB-C.
As is true with any groundbreaking product, there will always be a host of lookalikes that are worse in some ways and better in others. We’re not even just talking about 2-in-1s here — these are all laptops that explicitly have the same detachable keyboard design of the Surface Pro.
So if the Surface Pro is too expensive, or if you don’t like its port selection, here are four Surface Pro alternatives that might work.
The Best
Eve V – $800+
You may have never heard of the Eve V — after all, it’s not made by any of the usual suspects. Instead, the Eve V is a crowdsourced machine, backed by an Indiegogo campaign that raised over $1.4 million dollars.
The idea was simple. See what people actually wanted out of a 2-in-1 computer, and build it. The result is the best alternative to the Surface Pro, held back only by the stylus, which doesn’t have anywhere near the sensitivity levels of Microsoft’s Surface Pen. In addition, our tests showed that performance wasn’t quite as strong, either.
Other than that, the Eve V does two important things right — the price, and the port selection. The Eve V starts at $800, but that includes both the keyboard and pen. Compared to the same value with the Surface Pro, you’re saving $160. Secondly, the Eve V offers a great port selection, including a USB-C 3.1 port, and a USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 port.
The Rest
HP Spectre x2 – $1,049+
There’s no doubt the HP Spectre x2 resembles the Surface Pro, but there are some significant differences. The first is the sleek, gold kickstand, and refined style of the all-black aluminum body. The Surface Pro looks great as well, but the Spectre x2 offers a decidedly different aesthetic that some people will no doubt favor.
The Spectre x2 also has a slightly higher resolution display, two USB-C ports, and a slightly lower price. Although HP doesn’t offer a Core m3 version like Microsoft and Eve, a similarly-configured Surface Pro is a good $300 more expensive.
Lenovo Miix 720 – $1,249+
The Miix 720 starts at $1,249 for its Core i7 version — and only goes up from there. However, when you do the price comparison, you’re looking at major savings up against the Surface Pro. On these high-end models, a similarly-configured Surface Pro will cost you over $600 more than Lenovo’s alternative.
What you receive is a wonderfully-made device, using the Yoga-style watchband hinge on the kickstand and finished in the business-class aesthetic Lenovo is known for. The Miix 720 does without adding a bunch of extra weight or thickness, competing with the Surface Pro’s already compact size.
Dell Latitude 5285 2-in-1 – $900+
Dell’s Surface Pro competitor has everything you’d expect to see: a simple, thin design, stuffed with a Core i3 CPU, 128GB of SSD storage, and 4GB of RAM. It doesn’t have the distinguished style of the Surface Pro, or some of the other options on this list, and it’s a bit heavier. Yet it does have the rest of the bases covered. In particular, if you’re looking for something that will blend in with your office surroundings, the Latitude 5285 2-in-1 is a good choice.
In addition, the Latitude 5285 doesn’t have the best resolution at 1,920 x 1,280. Dell does, however, claim that the device manage up to 12 hours of battery life with its 32 watt-hour battery, which isn’t bad. Again, Dell’s offering is quite a bit cheaper than the Surface Pro, mostly because it includes the necessary keyboard and stylus bundled in.
