Looking for a better priced Surface Pro 4? The $600 Acer Switch Alpha 12 offers 90% of a Surface Pro, at well-nigh one-half the cost. While Acer'southward brand doesn't portend quality, their latest 2-in-one hybrid offers every bit the refinement of a Surface.

And so should you buy the Acer Switch Alpha 12? If you lot're looking for a 2-in-ane convertible tablet and can't afford a Surface, the Alpha offers a reliable culling. Those seeking perfection should look elsewhere.

Aesthetics, Design, and Hardware

Look and Feel

The Acer Switch Blastoff 12 looks and feels like a premium tablet, with a somewhat dated brushed aluminum back and rounded corners. In terms of how information technology feels, Acer went a great bargain out of its manner to shave down every sharp edge. The streamlined issue – while somewhat cumbersome – comes off every bit pleasant to agree, for brief periods of time. Virtually users won't notice the difference between the heft of an Alpha compared to the Surface. In truth, at that place are few 12-inch tablets out at that place that you could comfortably concord for any menses of time.

Of particular note is the Switch Alpha's kickstand, which allows users to reposition the tablet in several different configurations. Compared to the borderline lacking kickstand on the Surface, the Switch Alpha's pattern is robust, stiff, and comes with a condom grip. The grip doubles as a handle, assuasive users to hold the tablet in either hand with the keyboard discrete. Users tin also wield the Blastoff with its keyboard folded back, although in this configuration the tablet weighs 2.8kg -- which isn't much less than a 12-inch laptop.

acer-switch-alpha-hinge-max-flex

While not aesthetically superior to the Surface, in terms of functionality, the Alpha possesses 3 distinct advantages: First, the kickstand maintains a much stronger, stiffer hinge than the angled flap on the Surface. Second, information technology's completely fanless, which means the Alpha runs silently fifty-fifty with its processor running full nail. Tertiary –a backlit keyboard comes included – and it doesn't feel like a shabby, rattling piece of garbage. The keyboard feels and looks almost as practiced as the Surface's, with one shortcoming: its backlighting offers only a single brightness level. A fair compromise, considering the Blastoff costs $300 less than the base-model Surface Pro. The price gap increases with higher end models.

Hardware

Acer ships the Alpha in a dozen different variations. Of these, the three almost common versions are the depression-finish, mid-range, and high-end models. The everyman end of the spectrum comes with a Core i3 (the difference between Core processors), 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid state drive (what's an SSD?) for $600. The mid-tier platform includes a Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD for $800. Finally, the high-end model uses a Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD -- and it runs for $one,000.

I'm unsure every bit to why Acer doesn't offer any model with 16GB of RAM. Fifty-fifty though most modern computing tasks don't crave big amounts of RAM, enough users use virtual machines or do heavy-duty video editing, which might atomic number 82 to sales for their ultra loftier-cease models. Notwithstanding, 4GB should be sufficient for the majority of users every bit the current design of Windows 10, which uses RAM compression, makes 4GB of RAM an acceptable amount.

The rest of the Alpha's specifications are standard across all models. Although rumored to offer a 1080p variant, all models include a 2K screen, with a resolution of 2160 ten 1440 pixels. It also uses a 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac dual-ring (what's dual band?) wireless adapter.

acer-switch-alpha-screen

It's also the heaviest out of all the Surface clones, weighing in at around 2.8 pounds, with the keyboard attached. That'southward near 15% heavier than the Surface Pro iv. In truth though, it'south hard to differentiate between a 2.8-pound device and a ii.four-pound one.

Ports, Cameras, and Buttons

The Switch Alpha includes a generous serving of ports – more than any other 2-in-1 on the planet. The right-side of the tablet houses a 3.5" audio jack, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 3.1 Type-C port (what's USB-C?), a proprietary charging port, and a microSD card slot. It's worth mentioning that the Blastoff can receive a charge from its USB-C port at the same rate of speed as the butt jack connector. That's fantastic blueprint. It charges at around 19v/2.37a, which means it can receive 45-watts of power -- with the right charger. Unfortunately, many USB-C chargers simply won't part every bit advertised. I tested the Alpha's USB-C charging capabilities using a Lumsing 48-watt USB-C charger. The Lumsing charger manages to output around 20-watts, which indicates ability delivery somewhere around 12.5v/2a. Lumsing scores an F on FakeSpot, though. Just it is confirmed to work with the Switch Alpha.

acer-switch-alpha-ports

On the left-side of the tablet rests 3 aluminum buttons: A home-screen button, book rocker, and power button.

acer-switch-alpha-buttons

It also sports two cameras: a front end-facing web photographic camera and a rear-facing 5MP photographic camera. Neither camera works with Windows Hello, so unlocking the device with your face won't ever happen. Apparently, Windows Hello requires infrared capabilities, which most of today's spider web-cameras lack. Fifty-fifty so, the Surface Pro 4 does offer Windows Hello, and that's a fairly significant advantage.

windows hello incompatible

Screen Quality

While writing this review, a question gnawed at me – where did Acer cut corners to hit a $600 entry-level price point? The 2d cheapest alternative to the Alpha is the HP Spectre x2, which costs $200 more and comes with a Core Grand processor. And HP cutting a lot off its display – the Spectre includes just a 1080p resolution screen. But Acer'due south 2-in-i comes with a 2160 ten 1440 screen.

acer-switch-alpha-display-front

One of the places Acer cut corners: battery life. The LCD console used in the Blastoff doesn't appear to offer the latest standard in power stretching applied science – Panel Self Refresh (PSR). PSR allows devices to switch off the device's graphics processor for as long equally the image displayed does not change. PSR on average extends battery life by about an hour. But when a device shows a still image most of the time (such as reading), the battery life tin can skyrocket by equally much as 26% , according to the consortium governing the Embedded DisplayPort standard . Unfortunately, the LCD panel used in the Blastoff doesn't announced to offer PSR technology. This is an unfortunate omission for a ii-in-ane device that might often function as an e-reader. Even so, the tradeoff betwixt quality and toll might not deter someone looking to relieve hundreds over a Surface.

Performance

Because yous more than likely won't use the Switch Alpha with manufacturer bloatware included, I'm performing benchmarks on a clean configuration. Windows 10 makes the de-bloat process unproblematic: Just run the Windows x Media Creation Tool.

Unlike the majority of Surface clones, the Switch Alpha doesn't utilise the slower Core Yard processor, which is a fanless, reduced-power variant of Intel's "mainstream" mobile Cadre i processors. The Core M processors typically offer improve functioning than Intel'southward Cantlet processors, such as those used in regular Surface three, but with worse performance than even a Cadre i3-6100U. So, comparing the depression-end Switch Alpha to the entry-level Surface 4 Pro, you get better operation for effectually $400 less. The 1 area in which it compares poorly to the Surface Pro: bombardment life.

Battery Life

The worst, perhaps deal-breaking, characteristic of the Switch Alpha: poor battery life. Users won't get more than than 5 hours of uptime on a unmarried accuse. In truth, no 2-in-1 device with a mainstream Intel processor offers more than vi hours of standard utilize. The reason stems from the thinness of the tablet grade-factor; the thinner a device, the smaller its battery size. In theory, Acer's fanless cooling organization should help offset its atomic battery. In practise, information technology loses at least an hour of uptime compared to its competition.

Tinkerers tin increase the length of their device'south battery life by optimizing their wireless connexion (at the expense of connexion reliability), optimizing their graphics processor for maximum battery life, de-bloating their system of apps, and entering battery life manner. With these modifications, battery life increases essentially, just I constitute that the length of uptime relates more than closely to the kind of activities existence performed, rather than the implementation of whatever specific or combination of user-configurable battery life optimizations. In short, here's what I found out:

  • Bombardment life for standard use: ~5 hours.
  • Reading: ~8-10 hours.
  • Gaming: three-iv hours.

Past any standard, these are mediocre at best battery life numbers. While you could easily find budget laptops with worse battery lives, in the $600 price range, some devices can outlive the Alpha past a factor of two or even three. Of course, none of those devices would be 2-in-1 hybrids with mainstream Intel processors.

Windows Ink

In the Windows Anniversary Update (AU), Microsoft added a unique feature for Windows convertible two-in-1 tablets: Windows Ink. It's trivial more than a notation-taking application, but information technology makes drawing notes using a stylus much easier. Users simply need to click on the Ink icon in the taskbar to begin sketching. Nonetheless, Acer did not include a stylus with its Alpha starter package, and and so I was unable to test this characteristic. The pressure-sensitive stylus offers 256 degrees of pressure level, which makes it on par with the Surface Pro 3.

Liquid Cooling

Traditionally, laptops use mobile processors that require a fan. Fans come with four problems: First, they can suck up a fair amount of wattage, thus they incur additional drain on the battery. Second, fans tin produce a lot of racket. Third, fans have up a lot of space, which results in a thicker tablet. Lastly, fans intermission downward over fourth dimension through a combination of wear and tear, and dust accumulation.

Acer'southward LiquidLoop cooling system dispenses with a fan. It uses a rut pipe pattern, which transmits thermal waste free energy from the processor into the aluminum trounce of the tablet. The loop style design helps distribute heat throughout the entirety of the metallic shell, which aids thermal dissipation. Afterward stress testing (using Prime95) the Acer for an hour, the temperature rose as high as 75 degrees Celsius, which approaches the thermal shutdown limit of the processor (which is probably somewhere between lxxx and 90 degrees Celsius).

acer-switch-alpha-temperatures

I don't have a thermal temperature reader, but I approximate the metallic body of the Acer to reach somewhere around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Not exactly burn-inducing, merely definitely on the threshold of discomfort. Fanless cooling systems rely extensively on the ambient temperature. The hotter the atmospheric condition, the less efficient the cooling system. Therefore, someone living along the equator might adopt an active cooling system.

Fortunately, no one in their right mind runs software like to Prime95 for an hour on a 2-in-1 device. Overall, I would estimate Acer's cooling organisation as splendid. Hopefully, other manufacturers adopt information technology. Otherwise, we're stuck with the lackluster Core M processor in the short term.

Warranty and Reliability

Acer bumped up the Alpha's warranty to a whopping two years (which is the standard warranty for products carried at Costco). That's double the warranty offered past the Surface Pro four and beats all competitors within the ii-in-1 hybrid tablet market -- which is astonishing on a $600 device. Acer might feel confident nigh the long-term durability considering of its fanless cooling system and lack of moving parts. It's non a standard warranty, either. It'due south a "traveler's warranty" which covers multiple regions and includes both ship-in and send-out costs. Here's a discussion I had with Acer's customer service:

warranty-terms-acer-switch-alpha

I'm still waiting on an iFixit teardown (this review volition receive an update once that becomes available). From what I can tell, the Switch Blastoff employs standard Phillips screws, which anchors its rear console in place. It seems that with a little flake of oestrus gun activity, the rear panel detaches from the Alpha, revealings its guts.

Compared to the Surface Pro line, the Blastoff seems to offer far amend reliability. In fact, Consumer Reports dumped the Surface from its line of recommended devices based on an estimated 2-year failure rate of 25%. For context, less than 10% of premium laptops fail within a 2-year period.

Should You Buy the Acer Switch Alpha 12?

What's Great?

  • By far the least expensive Surface Pro 4 clone effectually
  • High-quality construction
  • Fanless Mainstream Intel Processor
  • Charges over both USB-C and its butt connector
  • ii years of international warranty with covered shipping costs for Costco customers!

What's Non And so Expert?

  • Not compatible with Windows Hi
  • Loaded with bloatware
  • Stylus loop seems flimsy

What's Terrible?

  • 3-four Hours of bombardment life for gaming

The price difference is so enormous; I can't run across myself recommending the Surface over a Switch Alpha. The 2 years of warranty really put the Switch Alpha over the height.

Those looking for a cheaper version of the Surface should check out the Switch Alpha. It performs on the same level, offers superior build quality, merely loses nigh an hour (or more) of battery life in comparison. For those looking for a perfect 2-in-ane, you're ameliorate off with a Surface.

[recommend]Buy if yous want, just can't beget, a Surface Pro iv.[/recommend]