Consumer Reports is no longer recommending the Microsoft Surface as a worthy purchase. This is because, according to existing owners, the Microsoft Surface has a high failure rate. Microsoft is of course questioning the validity of Consumer Reports' findings, but this is bound to affect consumer confidence regardless.

The Surface line is Microsoft's brand of laptops and tablets. This is premium hardware aimed at people who would ordinarily buy a Mac. The Surface has been generally well-received, and Microsoft's foray into the hardware market is being viewed as a success. However, Consumer Reports thinks there's a problem with the Surface.

Consumer Reports Estimates a 25% Failure Rate

Consumer Reports has previously recommended the Microsoft Surface Laptop and Microsoft Surface Book. However, regardless of how well these machines did in laboratory testing, the hardware is now mature enough for Consumer Reports to survey actual users. And the results suggest that "25 percent of Microsoft laptops and tablets will present their owners with problems by the end of the second year of ownership." Which, suffice to say, isn't great.

Microsoft defended the reliability of the Surface line, issuing a statement saying:

"Microsoft’s real-world return and support rates for past models differ significantly from Consumer Reports’ breakage predictability. We don’t believe these findings accurately reflect Surface owners’ true experiences or capture the performance and reliability improvements made with every Surface generation."

It should be noted that Consumer Reports' quoted 25% figure is just a guesstimate. However, it's based on data from "90,741 tablets and laptops that subscribers bought new between 2014 and the beginning of 2017." Which means that a fair few of the Surface devices bought by Consumer Reports' subscribers over the last few years have broken in some way.

The Truth Is Out There!

Consumer Reports feels that Microsoft's hardware leaves a lot to be desired. And if that's the case it's right to remove the "Recommended" status from the Surface line. Microsoft, on the other hand, has its own data related to breakdowns and returns, and that clearly disagrees with Consumer Reports' findings. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

As always we'd be interested to hear your real-world experiences...

Do you own a Microsoft Surface device? If so, which one? And how long have you owned it for? Have you had any issues with it yet? If so, what sort of issues? Or is it still working as perfectly now as the day you bought it? Please let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Norio Nakayama via Flickr