 Microsoft has been really chasing the creative market in recent years, in many ways tackling Apple head-on with their Surface line of products. One of their most impressive, and most disappointing devices, was the Surface Studio. Its incredible touchscreen was leaps and bounds ahead of other desktops, but it was already rocking dated hardware when it was released almost two years ago, and hasn't been refreshed since then. That is until now. So has a refresh of the internals of the Surface Studio 2, then, taken it from really cool to something you should actually buy? That depends on who you are. With GlassWire you can instantly see your current and past network activity, you can detect malware, and you can block badly behaving apps on your PC or Android device. Use offer code LINUS to get 25% off at the link below. At risk of sounding like a broken record, the build quality and design of the Surface Studio 2 are among the finest on the market. You'll find the thin, well-constructed screen here above, an astonishingly small computer right down here. Like, this thing is incredible! All the processing, graphics, storage, even the power supply are crammed in there. And then moving back up, the hinge, well, it's incredible too. It swings all the way from fully vertical down to 20 degrees, exactly the same angle as a drafting table, and it does it basically effortlessly. It feels awesome to move up and down, and has basically no wobble while you're drawing on it, because yes, as before, it's a massive touchscreen, and it's just incredible. Even as a normal display, it's very good, with excellent colors and multiple pre-calibrated display modes, including DCI-P3 and sRGB, along with a vivid profile for the Best Buy TV enthusiasts. There are a couple of uniformity issues that we noticed. On the left and right sides, there's a noticeable decrease in brightness at around 50% backlight, but this mostly goes away when the screen is at full or low brightness. It just merits mentioning, because 50% is right where we found the display brightness most comfortable. This is something that could perhaps be improved by a reader or a low blue light mode, so things like Microsoft Word would be slightly less eyeball-searing. So there's a pro tip free of charge, Microsoft. As for using the touch, well, basically, all that I could say about it was that it was freaking huge and pretty darn cool, but I felt like we should probably go a step further than that and consult our resident graphic designer before passing that along to you. So he did say that the screen was too glossy, but he also said that he found the pen very accurate and thought the pressure sensitivity was very good, and the slight grippiness of the pen made writing that extra little bit better. The eraser functionality does have accuracy issues, but really the biggest endorsement was that when he finished using the Surface Studio 2, the first thing out of his mouth was, So are we keeping it? Because I want it. And remember, this is coming from a Mac guy. A notable omission, though, this time around is the much-hyped Surface Dial, which I guess didn't gain as much traction in the last model as Microsoft was hoping. But Windows Hello facial recognition has and remains a very nice touch alongside the above-average webcam. Moving around the back is a fairly basic assortment of I.O. with a much-appreciated addition, USB Type-C. And although a couple more ports would have been nice, my biggest problem is actually access. Two USB ports and a headphone jack on the front would make a huge difference when I want to plug in a USB drive or whatever without performing the reach around on this thing. And I'm disappointed that there is no Thunderbolt 3 or at least an option for 10 gigabit network. Even the Mac Mini has a 10 gigabit option. The included keyboard and mouse, though, are, well, they're a mixed bag. I wasn't a huge fan of the mouse. The way it slopes makes it hard to grip, and the maximum tracking speed is abysmally low, so I swapped it out almost immediately. But the keyboard is surprisingly good. Like, sure, it's not quite at the same level as a full mechanical keyboard, but for anyone that's only used rubber domes, they're going to think this is pure sex for their fingers. I mean, really, when it comes to packed-in peripherals, anything that isn't immediately aimed for the bin, I consider success, and I could even see professional writers not bothering to swap out this keyboard. So then everything has been mostly positive so far. But that doesn't mean that this is a perfect machine. Far from it. Below 60% volume, the speakers sound great, but above that, sound quality suffers a lot. And that's before we get into the- Congratulations, Linus! You've been selected to play the new game show, Cash or Castration, where a million dollars and your balls are on the line. Uh, what do I do? There's a skill testing question, Linus. Are you ready? I guess. Today's question is... If you are building a desktop computer in 2018, do you choose... Wait, I know. Is it C? Is it C? No, it's C. It's C, right? Is it C? You are correct, Linus! No, no way! Congratulations, you've done it! Or at least that's the way Microsoft wishes it was. Unfortunately, the quad-core Core i7-7820HQ in the Surface Studio 2 isn't going to be able to deliver the kind of performance that we expect in 2018. Now, I am pleased to report that we saw no throttling and clocks above base, even when we hit it with a full synthetic load, but in a desktop aimed at professionals, a Cinebench score of under 700 just isn't acceptable when thin laptops like the Razer Blade or MacBook Pro are breaking through the four-digit mark. And adding insult to injury, don't expect to be able to upgrade anything with a soldered CPU, GPU, and RAM, only the storage can be replaced, and only after a rather tricky disassembly. Like, sure, our model is still very quick in single-threaded tasks, and the GTX 1070 makes it a shockingly competent gaming machine, if you don't mind bumping the resolution down from default a little bit for AAA titles. But using hardware that is already last-gen at best makes this a hard sell, especially when there is no way at all to connect another computer to this display once what's in here becomes too slow. While I'm complaining, I also wish that there were more pro-oriented build-outs for it. Like, it's almost impossible to recommend for engineers and other professionals without the inclusion of a Quadro option. And a higher Core Xeon option would also take this machine to a whole other level. This is made worse by the fact that the iMac Pro is available with pretty similar specs, except an 8-core Xeon and ECC RAM at a similar price. Which reminds me, our model would cost you $4,200 US dollars, and that isn't even the most expensive config. Like, you do get 32 gigs of RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD for your money, but still, do you know what $4,200 can buy you in a regular desktop? We weren't quite sure off the top of our heads either, so we did the math. Keeping similar specs but swapping to a Ryzen processor with double the cores and two 4K HDR displays from LG make this machine much better for video or 3D graphics editors, especially because of the additional screen real estate, not to mention, of course, the power and the upgradeability. And you can build tons of other configs with Quadros, even more CPU power, more RAM, a lot more storage. I mean, it's kind of up to you when you have that kind of money to throw around. But there's one thing you will be giving up, and that's touch. Fun fact, it turns out touchscreens are really freaking expensive. A 24-inch 4K touch display and pen from Wacom is $2,500. Now, this display does have slightly better tilt and pressure sensitivity than the Surface Studio, but it also puts the $4,200 asking price of the Surface Studio 2 into context, while almost annoying me more. I mean, here's the thing. Microsoft is making people choose if they want what is possibly the best touch display on the market or a computer that's powerful enough to back it up. Like, come on, guys. Can I just get the display with its excellent colors, touch capabilities, and hinge without a computer inside? Like, given the cost of Wacom screens, $1,500 or even $2,000 would be a killer price, making either the Surface Studio 2 or the hypothetical Surface Monitor the absolute go-to for creative professionals who draw. As it is, we can only recommend it for creative professionals who only draw. The Elgato Stream Deck Mini allows you to concentrate on your game stream instead of trying to memorize keyboard shortcuts. You can create one-touch operations that allow you to start your stream, announce that you're live, play animations, and more without having to take your eyes off the action. It allows you to graphically change the icons on each button. It's got a total of six LCD screens that can be customized for any action, and the crazy thing about it is that it's not just for streamers. So our editor Taron actually has two Stream Decks at his desk since he loves his macros for Adobe Premiere. The Stream Deck is available for Mac or Windows and is less than $100 US dollars for the mini version. Check it out on Amazon and Newegg at the links in the video description. So thanks for watching guys. If you disliked this video, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description. Also down there is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one, and our community forum, which you should totally join.