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Fast Charge: The iPad’s great, but where’s the next gen Surface we’ve been waiting for?

It’s no secret, 2020’s been a great year for Apple fans. Over the last 11 months the firm has released the iPhone 12 plus a wealth of much-needed refreshes to its iconic iPad line of tablets.

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Highlights include the stellar iPad Air 4 and affordable iPad 8, the former being one of a select few tablets to score 5/5 in our in-depth review.

But, for me as a Windows and Android user, the devices have been a double-edged sword. While they’re great for Apple fans, they’ve left me, and many others, green with envy.

This isn’t anything new. Since Google gave up on the Nexus 7 line Android tablets have been in a pretty poor state. The only ray of hope has constantly been Microsoft’s Surface Line, which remains in my opinion the best option for power users that need to run full-fat desktop apps.

But this year I can’t help but feel Microsoft’s dropped the ball. In 2019, the firm came out swinging, unveiling a wealth of new Surface devices that looked set to revolutionise the computing and tablet market. The most interesting of these for me was the Surface Neo.

Related: Best tablets

For those that missed it, the Surface Neo is a nifty hybrid device Microsoft unveiled last year. It’s a cool laptop that replaces the traditional keyboard with a second 9-inch screen.

Though it looks a little weird for me the twin screen design oozes potential and could be a perfect choice for creatives and power users. How cool would it be to have two screens to sketch on!?

Which is why I was outright salivating at the prospect of getting it in for review.

Sadly, Microsoft decided 2020 wasn’t the year to push the envelope and chose to delay the device’s release until 2021, at the earliest.

The move makes sense. Microsoft did it to focus on core services to help companies and people stay connected during the Coronavirus pandemic, but it has left a gaping hole in the market for people that want a top-notch tablet/convertible that’s not an iPad.

Here’s hoping it’s worth the wait when it finally hits the market.

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