The larger and more powerful 15-inch version of Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 will be available to pre-order in the UK and Australia today, along with 15 other countries – and a further 17 markets will see the release of both sizes of the 2-in-1 for the first time.
Previously, the bigger and beefier 15-inch convertible had only been launched in the US, but pre-orders are about to go live in the UK and Australia, as well as in Canada and Ireland, alongside the following nations: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland.
The 15-inch model features an 8th-gen Core i7 processor alongside a more powerful GPU than you’ll get in the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 – it runs with a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of video memory (as opposed to a GTX 1050 with 2GB of video RAM).
So there’s more pixel-shifting power here, which is just as well as the display of the 15-inch version has a resolution of 3,240 x 2,160 compared to the smaller Surface Book 2's 3,000 x 2,000 (but because it’s a bigger screen, it actually has a slightly lower pixel density – although this is a very minor difference and nothing you’d actually notice).
Those who want to partake in a spot of gaming on the move will also appreciate that the 15-inch Surface Book sequel has built-in wireless connectivity for an Xbox One controller.
Another benefit of the bigger Surface Book 2 is a beefier battery, with our testing showing that the 15-inch machine lasts for 7 hours and 40 minutes in PCMark 8 Home’s battery benchmark, with the 13.5-inch model running for just shy of 6 hours (still very respectable).
Pricey proposition
The larger convertible will start at £2,349 (around AU$4,060) for the base machine with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, rising to £2,749 (AU$4,750) if you want 512GB of storage, and £3,149 (AU$5,440) for the 1TB model.
You do pay for that power, then, given that the 13.5-inch variant starts at £1,499 (AU$2,590).
Microsoft also announced that from February continuing through to April, both the Surface Book 2 13.5-inch and 15-inch flavours will be rolling out to India, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the following countries: Bahrain, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, and Thailand.
The hybrid hasn’t previously been on sale in these territories, and pricing is still to be confirmed.
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