It’s one of the smartest storage solutions I’ve seen for something so easy to lose. The tray charges the stylus and hides it away when the keyboard is propped up against the tablet or when closed. The new flattened stylus, which worked as well as Microsoft’s excellent standard Surface Pen, magnetically clips into a tray at the base of the keyboard. If you buy the one with the Slim Pen, it has a neat trick. The Surface Pro X is not compatible with standard Surface Pro keyboards. It is an essential part of the Surface experience, but unfortunately it isn’t included in the price, costing £129.99 on its own or £259.99 with the Slim Pen.

It attaches to the bottom of the tablet with strong magnets and folds all the way around the back of the tablet, out the way, or closes shut on the screen when not in use. The keyboard continues to be brilliant, providing excellent backlit typing with good travel and key feel, a smooth and responsive but fairly small trackpad, and the flexibility to use it flat or at an angle. The Surface Pro X also supports a new version of Microsoft’s excellent detachable keyboard and a new stylus called the Slim Pen. The Slim Pen docks into a small tray hidden in the magnetic strip of the Signature keyboard for travel and charging. The front-facing speakers are tiny but surprisingly loud and good for a tablet.

Unfortunately there is no headphone socket or microSD card slot, which is disappointing. There are two USB-C ports and a volume button on the left side of the machine, with the power button and Surface Connect port in the right. It also hides a compartment for a nano sim and the SSD. The kickstand out the back is the best in the business: stable at a wide range of angles then neatly tucked away when not in use.

The Windows Hello face recognition camera above the screen is simply brilliant, logging you in instantly when you look at it. The 13in screen is sharp, gorgeous and responsive, in line with most high-end laptops. At 774g it’s not light, but this is a fairly large tablet – the Surface Pro 6 weighs 770-784g, while Apple’s 4G 12.9in iPad Pro weighs 633g. The fanless design looks and feels fantastic: solid, thin and exceedingly well-made in black magnesium and glass, the sides nicely sculpted to make them hand-friendly. The Surface Pro X takes the Surface Pro 6’s design, maximises the screen widthways and shaves off 1.2mm of thickness. You can use the Surface Pro X hand-held, but at 774g it is not that light.

Microsoft surface x review