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Surface 3 vs. Surface Go 3: Full specs comparison

Here is a comparison of the specs between Surface 3 and Surface Go 3, including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Go 3 See at Amazon

Surface 3 Pros

Reasons that Surface 3 is better than Surface Go 3.

Surface 3 has more ports and slots count than the Surface Go 3. It has seven versus five amount of ports and slots on the Surface Go 3.

Ports	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
microSD card slot	Yes	Yes
Micro USB	Yes	No
Mini DisplayPort	Yes	No
nanoSIM card slot	Yes	No
Surface Connect	No	Yes
Surface Go Type Cover Connector	No	Yes
Type Cover	Yes	No
USB-A	Yes	No
USB-C	No	Yes
Total	7	5

Surface 3 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Go 3. It has four versus three commonly used ports and slots on the Surface Go 3.

Ports	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
headphone jack	Yes	Yes
microSD card slot	Yes	Yes
Mini DisplayPort	Yes	No
USB-A	Yes	No
USB-C	No	Yes

Surface Go 3 Pros

Reasons that Surface Go 3 is better than Surface 3.

2021 vs. 2015

Intel Core i3-10100Y inside Surface Go 3 has a 102% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Atom x7-Z8700 inside Surface 3.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score

Surface Go 3 - Intel Core i3-10100Y

1,570

Surface Go 3 - Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y

1,510

Surface 3 - Intel Atom x7-Z8700

776

Surface Go 3 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface 3. It supports up to 8GB versus 4GB of system memory on the Surface 3.

Max system memory size

Surface Go 3

8 GB

Surface 3

4 GB

Surface Go 3 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface 3. It supports up to 1866MHz versus 1600MHz of system memory on the Surface 3.

Memory type and speed

Surface Go 3 - LPDDR3

1,866 MHz

Surface 3 - DDR3

1,600 MHz

Surface Go 3 weighed 1.2 pounds, 13% lighter than the 1.37 pounds Surface 3.

Weight	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Pound	1.37 lbs.	1.2 lbs.
Kilogram	0.62 kg	0.54 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Surface 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $297.00 $319.00 7% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 128GB WiFi Tablet 10.8" Intel Atom - Silver (Renewed) By Microsoft $185.06 $199.94 7% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (128 GB, Intel Core i5) (Renewed) By Microsoft $192.00 $211.88 9% OFF	See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5” Price
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $479.00 $629.99 24% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Pentium® Gold - 4GB Memory - 64GB eMMC - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $374.92 $399.99 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Black (Latest Model) By Microsoft $500.00 $629.99 21% OFF	See at Amazon

Availability	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Released	2015	2021
Release Date	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015	Introduced: September 22, 2021 Pre-ordered: September 22, 2021 Released: October 5, 2021
Pricing	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB	$399 Gold 6500Y 4 GB 64 GB WiFi $549 Gold 6500Y 8 GB 128 GB WiFi $629 i3-10100Y 8 GB 128 GB WiFi
Generations	2021 Surface Go 3 2020 Surface Go 2 2018 Surface Go 2015 Surface 3 2013 Surface 2 2012 Surface RT	2021 Surface Go 3 2020 Surface Go 2 2018 Surface Go 2015 Surface 3 2013 Surface 2 2012 Surface RT

Exterior	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Dimensions	10.52” x 7.36” x 0.34” (267 mm x 187 mm x 8.7 mm) Width: 10.52” (267 mm) Height: 7.36” (187 mm) Thickness: 0.34” (8.7 mm)	9.65” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.3 mm) Width: 9.65” (245 mm) Height: 6.9” (175 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 mm)
Weight	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)	Surface Go 3: 1.2 lbs (544 g) Surface Go 3 Keyboard: 0.55 lbs (249 g)
Colors	Silver	Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.	Surface Go Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1 mm of key travel. Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Trackpad size: 101 mm x 56 mm Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Size	10.8 Inches	10.5 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.45M Pixels) Density: 220 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio: 1500:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3

Ports	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Image Source: Microsoft Right (4) 1 x USB-A USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Micro USB Charging Port 1 x headphone jack Headphone/Microphone Bottom (1) 1 x Type Cover Under Kickstand (2) 1 x microSD card slot 1 x nanoSIM card slot Surface 3 with LTE only, Optional	Image Source: Microsoft Right (3) 1 x USB-C USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery 1 x Surface Connect Charging, Docking 1 x headphone jack Headphone/Microphone Bottom (1) 1 x Surface Go Type Cover Connector Under Kickstand (1) 1 x microSD card slot

Internal Specs	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Processor	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W	10th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 6500Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-10100Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz	10th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 6500Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 23 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-10100Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz
Memory	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.	4GB 8GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	64GB eMMC 128GB SSD

Connectivity	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
More	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS	LTE version coming soon.

Battery	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Size	27.5 Wh	28Wh Nominal battery capacity. 26.8Wh Minimum battery capacity.
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback	Up to 11 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	13W Micro USB power supply	24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply

Software	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro	Windows 11 Home in S-mode
Built-in Apps	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal	Xbox Game Pass Ultimate one month trial Microsoft 365 Family one month trial

Camera & Audio	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Camera	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
Audio	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound	Enhanced dual far-field Studio Mics 2W stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™

Misc	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology	Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer
Security	-	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Go 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power	Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 165 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power Casing: Magnesium

Key Features	Surface 3	Surface Go 3
At Glance	Released in Early 2015 3:2 FHD+ 10.8” 1280p 60Hz Weight 1.37 lb 0.62 kg Powered By Intel Atom x7-Z8700 4C/4T, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz Geekbench 5 224 Single Core Geekbench 5 776 Multi-Core With integrated Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz Configurable up to 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3	Released in Late 2021 3:2 FHD+ 10.5” 1280p 60Hz Weight 1.2 lb 0.54 kg Up to Intel Core i3-10100Y 2C/4T, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz Geekbench 5 799 Single Core Geekbench 5 1,570 Multi-Core With integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz Configurable up to 8GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 Starting at $399 Gold 6500Y, 4GB, 64GB eMMC Supports Surface Pen 4096 Levels, Tilt sensing, Magnetic Storage. Up to 11 Hours Battery Life Built-in IR Camera For Face Unlock Optional 4G LTE Wi-Fi 6