Photographers are especially intrigued by the Microsoft Surface line of computers, which offer a full-fledged operating system coupled with touchscreen input. Of course, that’s all for naught if the devices don’t have good longevity, which Consumer Reports now says is the case, with one in four devices expected to fail within two years.

The news came out that Consumer Reports removed its “recommendation” badge from four Microsoft Surface laptops after noting that the devices had a statistically significantly worse “predicted reliability” rate than competitors (25 percent). This rate was determined from results of a reader survey and defined failure as any event that interrupts the owner’s ability to use the device as expected. There are some things to keep in mind, though:

• The survey covered a little over 90,000 respondents, but included 9 separate brands, and the publication did not provide a breakdown of that data.
• The survey did not include 2017 models. Nonetheless, Consumer Reports did say they would not give their recommendation for these models. The four models for which the designation was actually pulled were the 128 GB and 256 GB Surface Laptop and 128 GB and 512 GB Surface Book.

Microsoft did comment that they disagreed with the findings and stood by the product line’s reliability, also saying their own statistics showed the Surface’s longevity to be in line with competitor’s products. Nonetheless, it’s an important piece of information to keep in mind if you’re considering purchasing a Surface product. 

[via USA Today and CNET]