A number of downgrades, and one which’s arduous to disregard
The 12-inch Floor Professional.
Credit score:
Microsoft
The design seems to be fairly just like the present 13-inch Floor Professional general however with some important tweaks. The 12-inch Floor nonetheless helps the Slim Pen and different Floor styluses, however there’s now a magnet on the again of the pill that the pen may be caught to for storage, quite than a divot on the keyboard. The pill nonetheless has a pair of USB-C ports, every of which helps 10 Gbps USB 3.2 speeds quite than full USB 4. However the Floor Join port is gone, and since it is bodily smaller, the brand new Floor Professional is not suitable with any of the keyboard equipment made for previous Floor Professional or Floor Go tablets.
However the largest downgrade is a basic change to the pill’s design. The 12-inch Floor Professional’s keyboard case (nonetheless a separate buy, frustratingly) lies flat towards no matter you’ve the pill sitting on, whether or not that is a desk, a desk, or your lap. If the floor your Floor is resting on is degree and secure, that is principally high-quality. If the floor is delicate or uneven, like a lap or a sofa, this introduces further instability and floppiness, and your keyboard will wobble round extra as you kind on it.
Each of the brand new Floor units being introduced immediately. Word that the Floor Professional’s keyboard sits flat towards the desk, quite than folding up towards the underside of the display.
Credit score:
Microsoft
This is similar method used as the primary two generations of Floor Professional (and the ill-starred Floor RT), and it was additionally a perennial grievance about these designs from reviewers and customers. In 2014, the Floor Professional 3 tweaked the keyboard design in order that the highest of it could fold flat towards the underside of the machine’s display, giving the keyboard some rigidity and stability that endured it doesn’t matter what it was resting on. All subsequent Floor keyboards, together with these for the tiny 10.5-inch Floor Go, used the identical design, till this one.
The iPad keyboard case I take advantage of—a Logitech Combo Contact Keyboard Folio with a built-in trackpad and kickstand—additionally makes use of the flop-against-the-table design, which hasn’t been the tip of the world. However fixing this downside was a significant turning level within the evolution of the Floor Professional, and it is irritating to see that signature enchancment undone right here.