My Surface 3 4GB ram / 128GB eMMC model arrived today, unfortunately missing the keyboard I ordered (Stock issues apparently) I will predominately review mainly Chinese tablets here on Tech Tablets. But since this is the first new gen Atom Cherry Trail X7 Z8700 I thought it would be a good base point for the Chinese X5/X7 Atom Z8000 series tablets that should becoming later in the year. No Chinese MFG has announced any Atom X5 or X7 tablets yet, but I think they will soon.
The Surface 3 will be the Atom tablet for the Chinese to beat, so I will be using the benchmark data from the Surface 3 as a reference point for the next gen Chinese Cherry Trails.
So far my impressions of the Surface 3 are:
- Disappointing eMMC speeds, I’ve seen faster on the Chinese ones reviewed.
- The Intel Atom X7 Z8700 is no faster CPU wise than the Z3775 & Z3795 (More on this later)
- The Intel HD Gen 8 GPU is a step up over the Bay Trails as expected.
- Same top of the line build quality as the Surface 3 Pro
- Disappointing battery life, It had 63% and after installing a few games dropped very quickly to 22% (More testing required)
- Micro usb port can be used as a USB 2 port with an adaptor, so it’s not just for charging! Why the hell did the topic so called review sites never test or cover this?
- Microsd card slot is usb 2 speed limited. Unlike the Surface 3 pro’s slot.
- The Surface 3’s microusb port can power a 2.5″ hard drive.
Videos and more info to follow on the Surface. Also a Z3775D Vs Z8700 test. PiPo W3 vs Surface 3.