Microsoft unveils its thin, sleek and cheap Surface Go tablet

Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off of its new Surface Go two-in-one tablet, touting the device as 'the most portable and affordable surface yet'.

Microsoft has designed its new two-in-one device with a basis of balancing versatility, performance, form and function at a price point that won't the bank as much as some of the company's other surface products.

The Surface Go looks to strike the sweet spot between work and play, creating a device that can fulfil a vast range of use cases for both businesses and consumers.

In a blog post on the company's website, Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay says, "As you pursue your passions, connect with friends and family, and work with your team, the products you're able to take on the go with you are the ones that can keep up with the huge range of things you want to accomplish.

"That's the idea behind the design of Surface Go - our smallest, lightest, and most affordable Surface yet. When we designed this device, we had to ask ourselves what people want and need from a 10" Surface," Panay says.

"The answers seem obvious – lightweight, productive, and accessible to more people.

The Surface Go sports a 10-inch screen, weighs in at about 1.15 pounds (about 0.52 KGs) and is only 8.3 mm thick.

Microsoft says it represents a new entry point for the Surface family while keeping the premium qualities that have come to define it.

Surface Go offers a custom built, high-resolution PixelSense Display that supports the company's Surface Pen, which features 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, low pen parallax, low latency, and high-precision for accurate note taking, drawing, and computer-aided design.

The custom calibrated 3:2 display is designed to be soft on your eyes while you're working, and high-contrast when you want to watch videos, create art, or edit photos.

In portrait mode, the screen has been designed to render the page to the scale of most school textbooks, and in landscape mode it can render pages side by side, mimicking the experience of holding a paperback book in hand.

This feature-set plays into Microsoft's vision for the tablet to be particularly versatile and something that can play the role of multiple devices, both in a set physical environment and on the move.

Microsoft describes the Surface Go as both small and mighty, offering a performance level that will foster productivity.

The device is powered by the 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y, features a fanless design and offers up to 9 hours of battery.

Microsoft says it worked closely with Intel to optimise power, performance, and battery for the most critical tasks people perform every day.

The company says being able to effectively run Office apps on this device - with its portability - was a critical box to tick in the design process.

The device also ships with an updated, custom-made type cover featuring ergonomic key pitch and key travel as well as a Windows Precision Trackpad that supports 5 point multi-finger gestures.

Surface Go also has a healthy range of ports including Surface Connect for charging and docking; USB-C 3.1 for data, video, and charging; a headphone jack; and a MicroSDXC card reader for storage expansion.

Surface Go with Wi-Fi will hit Aussie and Kiwi shelves on the 28th of August, with an LTE model arriving later in the year.

It's will retail at NZD $699 in New Zealand and AUD $599 in Australia, with pre-orders available from tomorrow (Wednesday the 11th of June).