By Jaron Schneider
Publication Date: 2026-03-24 18:01:00
In 2017, I picked up a Surface Book II to review. While, as a photographer, I didn’t like it, I had to admit that it did tick a lot of boxes for the average user.
The Surface Book
I don’t have a lot of praise to heap on Microsoft’s Surface line, but I will say that of all the designs it has attempted over the years, the Book was always my favorite. The hinge is the best part; described as a “dynamic fulcrum,” it expands when opened and contracts to close. It’s neat-looking but, more importantly, very functional.
It also supported two screen mounting directions: standard or reverse. Standard would keep it looking and feeling like a traditional laptop, while reverse would allow you to close the Book fully but still access the screen, so it would act like a tablet.
This was always, though, a laptop first. Surface computers were (and arguably still are) advertised more as a tablet hybrid with an optional keyboard, but the Book was always more traditional. The…