If you're in the market for an all-powerful pro-spec 2-in-1 then the Surface Book 3 is hard to beat. But we know Microsoft has the potential to turn things up to 11 for a fourth-gen model - so if you're not in a rush you might want to wait for the goodness that brings.

Sumptuous screen resolution; Muscle-wire release system to separate base and screen; Distinctive & solid design; Full-size ports & USB-C

Big bezel starting to look dated; Big & heavy design; Pricier than ever; Screen is reflective & lacks ultra-wide colour gamut; No Thunderbolt 3 speed

The Surface Book is a minor upgrade over its predecessor, and some clear shortcomings mean it’s starting to look a bit dated when compared to the competition.

Excellent keyboard; Great screen; Good port selection

Poor gaming performance; Lacklustre speakers; No fingerprint scanner

The most ambitious hybrid laptop design around. A good buy if you don't mind a chunkier hybrid

Solid gaming performance; Great keyboard and touchpad feel; High-quality

Short tablet battery life; Heavier and thicker than most conventional hybrids; Expensive

With an advanced mechanical locking system for the keyboard base, powerful graphics processing, multiple cameras and batteries, and a brilliant near-4K display, the Surface Book 3 is an innovative, excellent detachable laptop.

Unique detachable design; Powerful graphics processor; Many configuration options; Comfortable keyboard; Dual 1080p cameras; Beautiful PixelSense display

Pricey; Keyboard base adds significant weight

“The Surface Book 3 is not for everyone, but it's a one-of-a-kind laptop that's a joy to use.”

Unique 2-in-1 design; Big; sharp display; Powerful graphics; Great video editing performance; Excellent keyboard

Limited processor performance; Very overpriced; Reduced battery life

I’ve been waiting for the Surface Book 3 for two and a half years. Microsoft’s 15-inch Surface Book 2 was largely just a refinement over the original model — released nearly five years ago — so I was really hoping the company was holding back some big changes for the Surface Book 3.

Great keyboard; 3:2 nearly 4K display; GPU performance

No Thunderbolt 3 support; Hinge detach and GPU reliability issues; Battery life underwhelming

Please Microsoft, just make a convertible

The Surface Book 3 claims to be Microsoft’s performance-driven laptop. That can sometimes pose a problem for the 15-inch model, which has to compete against some of the best laptops like the Dell XPS 15 and Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch. Those laptops use powerful eight-core Intel Core i9 processors, which promise excellent performance. But a powerful 13-inch laptop is more rare. That’s where this smaller Surface Book 3 has a chance to shine. My review configuration came with an Intel 10th-gen Core i7 CPU, a discrete Nvidia GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics card, and a whopping 32GB of RAM. The $2,500 price is high, no doubt, but based on the specs alone, this might be the most powerful 13-inch laptop ever made. The Surface Book 3 is a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, it remains the most futuristic laptop on the market today, despite a design that’s identical to the Surface Book 2 released in late 2017. Pushing a button and tearing off the display is just as satisfyingly geeky as always — no...

Strong performance; Good battery life; Excellent input options; Sharp, high-contrast display;

Bulky chassis; Expensive;

The third generation of the Microsoft Surface Book 3 remains a stunning physical specimen with world-beating engineering and a unique feature set. However, it's very expensive compared to the conventional laptops that will be a better fit for most user's needs.

Gorgeous engineering, Unique feature set, Fully detachable tablet functionality, Discrete Nvidia graphics

Very expensive, Not especially fast, Slightly chunky, Battery life is only adequate

The Surface Book 3 is a strange machine. It is unlike any other laptop, hybrid or tablet PC, essentially being a combination of all three: a proper articulated laptop with the screen docked and a full tablet when the screen is undocked.

Pros: excellent keyboard, great trackpad, brilliant screen, great stylus, good performance and battery life, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 discrete GPU, SD card slot, good cameras and mics, Windows Hello, screen comes off.

Cons: expensive, no 6 or 8-core processor options, relatively big and heavy, no Thunderbolt 3, only one USB-C.