The new Surface Go 2 tablet from Microsoft received a solid review from TechRadar; we described it as “an excellent affordable Windows 10 tablet that features a premium design found in the company’s more expensive devices”.
However, if you want something even more affordable, you should check out the Pipo W11, which retails for about half the price of Microsoft’s diminutive tablet.
Pipo is not a household name, but we’ve known about the company since 2014 when it unveiled the Pipo W2 tablet. The W11 follows in the footsteps of that 6-year old device, which back in the day ran on a little-known OS called Windows 8.1.
The W11 also comes with a keyboard cover and stylus, all for the princely sum of $269.99 (£212.40/AU$383.51). For comparison, the cheapest Surface Go 2 configuration with pen and keyboard cover retails for $568.97 – more than twice the price.
The W11 wins out when it comes to performance, with its Celeron N4100 CPU trouncing the Surface Go 2’s Pentium 4425Y, according to CPUBenchmark. It’s also superior when it comes to storage (Pipo’s candidate has 64GB eMMC plus a dedicated 180GB SSD) and connectivity (the W11 has three more ports than its rival).
On the other hand, the Surface Go 2 has a smaller screen with a higher resolution, which produces sharper pictures, plus a bigger battery capacity and a longer battery life, higher resolution cameras, faster Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and is far lighter.
Businesses looking for a cheap business tablet are also likely to side with Microsoft’s device because of the return policy, the free technical support and in-store assistance.