I changed my laptop computer with Microsoft’s 12-inch Floor Professional for weeks – here is my shopping for recommendation now

Microsoft’s 2025 12-inch Floor Professional is thinner, lighter, and slightly extra reasonably priced, with a battery-efficient Snapdragon X Plus processor and refreshed design. The most recent model of the Floor Professional rounds out the lineup with a extra reasonably priced choice targeted on ultra-long battery life, new colours, and redesigned equipment to indicate off Home windows’ newest Copilot+ PC options. 

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I just lately changed my laptop computer with the 12-inch Floor Professional for greater than two weeks now, and the Floor Professional appears to me to be extra of an addition to the present lineup than a standalone improve, notably compared to the enterprise fashions Microsoft launched in January.

The 2025 Floor Professional has comparatively modest {hardware}, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of UFS storage, as an alternative concentrating on a extra on a regular basis client who makes use of on-device AI and appreciates the ultraportability. 

In addition to the smaller kind issue, this yr’s Floor Professional is available in two new colours: Violet and Ocean (a blueish grey). The default Platinum colour begins at $799, whereas the opposite two will run you $899, bringing the beginning worth slightly additional away from that marketed low worth (and we have not even purchased the keyboard but). 

I need to admit that the design on the 12-inch pill seems higher. It seems extra like a premium pill (and extra like an iPad) with rounded corners, skinny bezels, and the webcam moved to the again nook of the system. 

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Moreover, I am a fan of the brand new Violet and Ocean colorways, which are not what I would name “daring”, however at the least they don’t seem to be the identical desaturated pastels we see in every single place else. The colours prolong to the Floor Professional keyboards, that are up to date by eradicating the alcantara material on the entrance of the keyboard for a cleaner, monochromatic matte look. 

As a substitute, the material is relegated to the again of the keyboard case, which has a extra premium pill really feel for storage and transport. The Floor keyboard is practical and satisfying to kind on, with springy keys and a responsive, premium trackpad. 

Moreover, the pill snaps to the keyboard slightly tighter and nearer to the pill now, with no hole within the hinge, giving it a barely smaller footprint on the desk. 

The Floor Pen additionally magnetically snaps to the again of the 12-inch as an alternative of storing on the keyboard. This requires you to retailer the system with the material going through down, as you do not need to squish the pen. When throwing the Floor Professional in a bag, the Pen additionally tends to remain put however can come unattached when you’re not paying consideration. 

Microsoft desires to indicate off its new AI-driven Copilot+ options, and the 12-inch Floor Professional is an effective conduit for advertising and marketing them to the buyer, particularly with its enticing worth level and the 45 TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. 

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For instance, the long-awaited Recall characteristic remains to be in Preview mode, but it surely’s getting nearer to a helpful state. Different functions that leverage AI processes, notably ones for creators like Capcut, Davinci Resolve, and DJay Professional ought to really feel clean and snappy. This makes it a really AI-ready system for on a regular basis customers who do not want high-end {hardware} for demanding inventive tasks. 

Working Home windows on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip should not be an excessive amount of of an issue for many customers on this class, because the areas that noticed essentially the most points with compatibility, like gaming and connecting to legacy software program, are extra doubtless to not apply to the focused person. 

The 12-inch Floor Professional’s modest {hardware} positions itself as a aggressive system within the household’s lineup. The aforementioned 16GB of RAM and max 512GB of storage, paired with the Snapdragon X Plus and 2196 x 1464 decision (220 PPI) LCD show that targets on a regular basis customers, whereas its 13-inch siblings may be loaded up with extra premium {hardware}. 

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That being mentioned, the Snapdragon X Plus processor is snappy and responsive, excelling at duties that the common client cares about: quick startup and app load instances, clean multitasking, and strong battery efficiency, whether or not in laptop computer or pill mode. 

Throughout my benchmarking of the 12-inch Floor Professional, I bought numbers that place it round different skinny and lightweight laptops in the identical worth vary, together with Asus’ Zenbook A14, which additionally options the Snapdragon X Plus processor, and HP’s OmniBook X 14, one of many first Copilot+ PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite chip from 2024. 

The show is sharp and crisp, but it surely does cap out at 400 nits of brightness and a 90Hz refresh charge. Since it is a pill, it is also fairly shiny. Within the workplace, for instance, I discovered myself readjusting the system’s angle quite a few instances all through the day to account for glare from overhead lighting. 

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Talking of utilizing the Floor Professional within the workplace, it really works equally nicely as a laptop computer or a pill, relying on what you want. Indifferent from the keyboard and armed with the Floor Pen, it turns into a handy guide a rough productiveness pill that enables for observe taking, prototyping, and freeform concept era in Home windows’ Whiteboard app. 

You can too assign totally different actions to the Pen, together with beginning apps or performing capabilities with the button on the system or the “clicky” on the tip. I’ll say that the Pen’s efficiency may be variable, although. Should you’re working a number of packages open within the background, you may discover lag whereas writing, particularly when you’re shifting rapidly. 

Equally, the situation of the front-facing HD digicam signifies that it has a barely downward-up orientation whereas related to the keyboard, because the kickstand can solely prop it up so excessive. Contemplate a clamshell laptop computer, for instance, which may sit at a 90-degree angle or much less. 

In that sense, untethering the keyboard and utilizing it as a pill is perhaps extra optimum for customers who make frequent video calls. 

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Concerning battery life, the Snapdragon X Plus processor ensures that it drains at a mere trickle when the system isn’t in use, and is sweet sufficient for over a full day’s price of labor on one cost. Microsoft advertises 16 hours of battery life, and I bought slightly over 15 in our video playback take a look at. Concerning extra sustained use, I bought over 10 hours on a single cost, which is not far off from the marketed 12 hours with out utilizing all of the max battery effectivity settings. 

Couple this with the truth that the Floor Professional prices extraordinarily quick. From a totally lifeless battery, you may get to about 50% in half-hour, and round 80% in an hour. Of the Floor Professional household, the 12-inch is actually essentially the most battery environment friendly and the quickest to cost. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The 12-inch Microsoft Floor Professional completes the household’s lineup with a thinner, lighter, and extra battery-efficient pill/laptop computer hybrid with refreshed colours and design. It comes with barely extra modest {hardware} (16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage) for a decrease beginning worth of $799. 

Should you’re in search of a practical 2-in-1 pill/laptop computer, get pleasure from utilizing a stylus, and do not want a ton of native storage, it is a fantastic choice, particularly for its long-lasting battery. It is an all-around sharp-looking system, and the premium keyboard case offers a satisfying tactile expertise. 

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The price of the Floor Professional can rapidly add up, nonetheless, because the Floor Keyboard, Floor Arc mouse, and energy adapter are offered individually, bringing the ultimate value over the $1,000 mark. Mixed with the low quantity of native storage and modest reminiscence, I would suggest this system for customers who’re dedicated to the 12-inch kind issue and wish dependable battery life. 

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