Microsoft Surface Book 2 (15-inch, 2017)

Crazy long battery life Massively powerful Lightweight yet large tablet Excellent cooling

No up-firing base speakers Small trackpad Very pricey No Surface Pen included

As it turns out, one of the best 2-in-1 laptops to date is just a larger Surface Book – one that can handle the latest PC games and last for a helluva long time, to boot. Not to mention that this is the best tablet for drawing that we’ve tested yet. We...

Massively powerful for a 2-in-1 ; Battery life is excellent ; Lightweight despite size and spec ; Screen is superb ; Can play modern AAA games at high settings

Surface Pen is not included ; Drab grey finish ; Speakers are so-so

Premium alloy construction. Elegant convertible design. Sharp high-resolution touch display in new larger size. Discrete Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics. Very long battery life. Multiple configuration options. Xbox wireless controller receiver is integrated.

16GB RAM maximum. Surface Pen is an additional purchase. Adding SSD storage is pricey. Some finicky issues required troubleshooting in our tests.

Bottom Line: The Surface Book 2 is a feat of design, a top-of-the-line premium convertible 2-in-1 laptop that's fast, long lasting, versatile, and portable. It's even up for gaming.

But it’s not just about the components. Microsoft’s display is arguably the best in any notebook. The magnesium finish is fantastic. The design is interesting, and functional, and the versatility of the detachable display, even if only to flip it...

Modern, detachable design; Great stylus; Long battery life; Vivid, bright display; Finally has USB Type-C ; Expensive; No Thunderbolt 3 ; The 15-inch Microsoft Surface Book 2 is the most versatile Windows 10 machine for creative pros, if you're willing...

Expensive; No Thunderbolt 3 ; The 15-inch Microsoft Surface Book 2 is the most versatile Windows 10 machine for creative pros, if you're willing to pay a premium.

The 15-inch Microsoft Surface Book 2 is the most versatile Windows 10 machine for creative pros, if you're willing to pay a premium.

The fastest laptop hybrid yet ; Impeccable colour-accurate screen ; Long-lasting battery life

Very expensive ; SSD performance isn't the best

The key question is whether the 15in Surface Book 2 is worth the added investment over the 13.5in model. I’m afraid, alas, that the answer to that question has to be no and that’s purely down to the size of the gap in price.

Incredibly versatile and powerful ; Good battery life considering the power ; Compact and portable

Pricey ; Base model isn't worth considering

The Microsoft Surface Book 2, just like the generation, is a laptop possessed of a unique set of capabilities. It’s fast and powerful enough to game on, you can comfortably run any application you care to think of on it and the display is good enough...

The new Surface Book 2 adds a long list of worthy upgrades, from new CPUs and gamer-ready graphics cards to a bigger 15-inch version. Battery life and performance are both excellent.

The two-in-one design still feels awkward at times, and for some users, the detachable screen may be superfluous. The most interesting new components are only available in very expensive configurations.

The Surface Book 2 is a satisfying sequel, but like many sequels, it may be trying to broadly serve too many audiences.