A wolf in sheep's clothing? Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (X2 Elite, 2026) review

The new Microsoft Surface Pro sounds like a user’s dream come true: a 2-in-1 flagship with the Snapdragon X2 Elite, usable as a tablet and, thanks to the detachable keyboard, as a powerful notebook, with a touch display and stylus compatibility. On paper, that sounds like the big bang. As so often, the devil is in the details. So the question is: is the Surface Pro a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Microsoft sent me the test unit in the color Sand.

Design, build quality and weight

I totally love this brown-gold. The design is elegant, and the whole feel is high quality. The built-in kickstand on the back is firm and holds excellently at any angle. The power button and volume rocker have the same shade, and everything looks like it’s made from one piece.

The tablet alone weighs 895 g, which is normal for this class of device. A current iPad Pro weighs significantly less, but it’s not a full-fledged Windows PC. With the keyboard, quite a bit more gets added, and in a bag you notice the difference from a pure tablet.

Ports

Microsoft stays true to its line: purism instead of port variety.

• Two USB-C ports with DisplayPort output on the left
• The Surface Connect port for the Microsoft charging cable on the right
• No HDMI, no card reader, no 3.5 mm headphone jack
• WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

If you want to use a normal USB-C cable instead of the extra charging cable and also connect the device to a monitor, you have no free port left, for example for an SD card or wired headphones. If you need all of that at the same time like I do, you have to reach for an adapter that you must not forget.

Display

Microsoft goes with a 13-inch OLED panel, and you notice it immediately: rich blacks, vivid colors, high contrast and the typical OLED advantages with HDR content. If you want to save money, you can also get the Surface Pro with an LCD display, which logically can’t match the picture quality of the OLED model. The panel is touch-enabled and optimized for the Slim Pen. For creatives who work a lot with the pen, and for everyone who wants razor-sharp content and movies, the OLED display is one of the strongest reasons for the Pro instead of the cheaper Surface.

Slim Pen and keyboard

The Slim Pen and keyboard are not included. If you buy them, you have a full-fledged laptop.

• Keyboard: It connects automatically and can be used at two angles. Slightly tilted up, typing is more comfortable, but a bit wobbly on your lap. Fully folded down, it’s stable. The key feel is nice, and here too everything feels high quality.
• Slim Pen: It has a button at the end and one on the side, which you can assign in the settings, for example to an AI function that lets you select and copy content on the screen. It attaches magnetically to the keyboard and charges there. Writing works well, but not quite as lag-free as with the Samsung S Pens.
• Negative: The palm rejection. When I take notes with the pen and my palm rests on the display, something is often triggered, which can drive you crazy. I hope Microsoft improves that.

The overall concept is excellent for working on the go, in cafés, at train stations and on planes, as I do extremely often.

Ad: At this point in the video there’s an ad block for Bitdefender Premium Security, the video’s advertising partner. You can find the link in the video description.

Performance with the Snapdragon X2 Elite

It has the Snapdragon X2 Elite, an ARM processor that promises an insane amount of performance on paper. Marketing terms and reality diverge somewhat here. Microsoft advertises up to 50% more performance than the Snapdragon X Elite. But what’s installed is not the fastest but the slowest variant of the X2 Elite with 12 cores. That’s better than the old chip, but only a small step, not a quantum leap.

It’s similar with the graphics: the GPU runs at a throttled clock speed of 1.35 GHz instead of the 1.7 GHz found in other devices with the same chip. It’s noticeably faster than the old one, but compared to the cheaper Snapdragon X2 Plus the gap is surprisingly small, and that version is available at a lower price. If you pay extra for the Elite chip for the GPU power, you don’t get as much for it as the name promises.

Still, the chip is powerful. For 99% of users, including me, the performance is completely sufficient, and I prefer everyday tests to benchmark numbers. My personal final boss is editing my videos with many very large 4K files. With DaVinci Resolve the performance is awesome, even though my device has only 16 GB RAM: no stutters or lag when editing, and the export is blazing fast. And the Surface Pro doesn’t make a sound, there is no fan noise. That’s due to the energy efficiency of the ARM processor, which produces little waste heat. With native ARM applications the performance is extremely strong, and DaVinci Resolve is also available as an ARM version.

The device also convinces with AI tasks thanks to the strong NPU: with 80 TOPS, the Hexagon chip offers almost double the previous generation’s 45 TOPS. Copilot, Live Captions and AI image generation run noticeably smoother and more efficiently.

ARM pros and cons

Not every Windows program runs natively if there’s no dedicated ARM version. It does run, but through emulation, which costs performance. Certain drivers, business tools and older programs can still cause problems. If you depend heavily on x86-specific software, such as certain CAD programs, older games or niche tools, you should check carefully beforehand whether there are compatibility problems.

Battery and speakers

Microsoft states up to 15.5 hours of video playback, a noticeable plus over the previous generation. The battery has 53 watt-hours and delivers decent but not record-breaking battery life in everyday use. As long as I’m not firing up my editing software but using Office, browser and the like, I easily get through a day. For such a small device, that’s excellent.

The two speakers to the left and right of the display get decently loud. At full volume, though, they start to hum a bit.

Price discussion

The price has gone up noticeably compared to the previous generation, while the performance jump, especially on the GPU, is modest. My test variant with X2 Elite, OLED display, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage costs €1,899 RRP bare, and it doesn’t even come with a power adapter.

Item	Price
Surface Pro (X2 Elite, OLED, 16 GB, 512 GB)	€1,899 RRP
65-watt power adapter with Microsoft plug	€90
Keyboard with Slim Pen, currently reduced when buying a Surface Pro (otherwise €309 RRP)	€196
Total	€2,185

For exactly that price you can get the new MacBook Pro with the M5 chip. Just saying. Luckily, not everyone wants to use a MacBook like I do.

Verdict

For everyone looking for a stylish, efficient device for everyday life and creative work, the Surface Pro remains one of the best options in the Windows world. It’s an all-round successful 2-in-1 with a great OLED display, long-lasting battery, flexible form factor and a really strong NPU. If you want to upgrade for pure CPU or GPU performance, you’ll probably be disappointed, because Microsoft has used the slowest Elite variant, and the jump to the cheaper X2 Plus is smaller than expected. You should check ARM compatibility beforehand for specialized software. For real power users with high-end demands, and that will probably be very few, it’s worth looking at alternatives.