Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 stars$2,700 paperweight - Don't buy it if you actually need to use a computer for work, school, or life
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
Just 16 months after purchasing the Surface Studio, it is unusable, and I have to purchase a new computer. The Studio is a beautiful device, but it's unreliable. Do not purchase it unless you have loads of time to spend wiping it and setting it up again, and a reliable back-up to use when the Studio is in the shop.
The Studio decline began with an alert about the power chord, then went into an extremely rapid battery drain despite being plugged in. It wasn't the chord -- I tried the chord from my OG Surface, AND purchased a new chord -- it was the computer battery. When this rapid drain happened, I did an emergency wipe and sent the Studio in for repair. This happened three times, and on the third time Microsoft sent a replacement computer. The replacement computer was fine for a few short months (still got the charging alert, so I suspected something was wrong with this battery, too), then the same rapid battery drain happened -- again, despite being plugged in. There is literally nothing you can do but rapidly try to wipe the computer (again). I sent the replacement computer in for repair.
After a week of my account showing only "pending" for the service request I spent 45 mins tracking down someone in CS who would actually chat with me. I spent over two more hours with CS going back and forth about which computer I sent in -- the original, which they replaced so I no longer had, or the replacement which they said was no longer under warranty -- despite my account clearly showing that it was. CS said that warranty was "for us, not for you." I couldn't get a straight answer on that one. This is when I screen captured the pages and pages of the chat. Unfortunately I didn't screen capture my account page with the warranty info, and the next day the warranty info had been deleted from my account info. CS returned my computer without touching it. After a few more days of back and forth, they told me I could send it in and for $775 they would service it or replace it if they couldn't fix it -- with (another) refurbished Studio. I'm assuming that is also with no warranty for their work, but can't be certain since they stopped replying to my specific questions via email. And I wasn't mean or rude, I'm assuming they didn't want to continue to respond in writing.
I'm very frustrated that Microsoft didn't stand behind their product(s) that clearly and consistently had issues within 14 months of the original purchase, and that instead of honoring the warranty information that they posted to my account, they deleted it. I won't buy another Microsoft device.
