I bet you missed yesterday's Surface Hub 3 announcement

Surface Hub 3 rotation
(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft announced the Surface Hub 3 this week.
  • The all-in-one device is designed for hybrid meetings.
  • The Surface Hub 3 features a Microsoft Teams Rooms experience, which is better than the experience that shipped with the Surface Hub 2S in several ways.

I wouldn't blame you if you missed Microsoft announcing the Surface Hub 3 this week. Not only did the company not live stream its Surface and AI event, the new business-focused Surface Hub 3 never appeared on stage. Instead, Microsoft snuck out the announcement of the Surface Hub 3 in a Tech Community post and through a YouTube video. The tech giant took a similar approach with the Surface Go 4, which is also aimed at business users rather than general consumers.

The Surface Hub 3 will be available in two models, a 50-inch model that can rotate into portrait mode and a massive 85-inch model. The 50-inch model works with wall mounts and can also be wheeled around. It even supports an APC Charge Mobile Battery that can last up to two hours.

The Surface Hub 3 runs Microsoft Teams on Windows, which promises a "consistent experience across all meeting spaces," according to the company. The experience is designed to transition seamlessly between rooms. As you'd expect from a newly announced Microsoft product, the Surface Hub 3 will also support AI tools through Copilot.

Microsoft highlighted the capabilities of the Surface Hub 3:

  • Smart Rotation and Portrait: physically rotate Surface Hub 3 50” between Portrait or Landscape at any time to adapt the screen layout to suit your needs, whether for a natural Whiteboarding session or a more personable one-on-one call.
  • Mobility and Versatility: The Surface Hub 3 50” is fully mobile on a Steelcase Roam Stand, offering flexibility in deployment. Choose from a variety of stands and wall-mounting solutions from Steelcase and our Designed for Surface partners.  With the APCTM Charge Mobile Battery, the Surface Hub 3 50” can be taken virtually anywhere in the building.
  • Premium  Design: Surface Hub 3 prioritizes inclusive meetings with clear audio and visuals. The high-resolution, 4K PixelSense display with an anti-glare coating makes content visible in any lighting condition.
  • Intelligent Audio: The Surface Hub 3 50” features two microphone arrays and speaker pairings. Smart AV optimizes audio based on device orientation, delivering the best stereo experience whether in Portrait or Landscape.
  • Seamless Integration: Surface Hub 3 pairs with Microsoft Teams Rooms certified peripherals in larger conference rooms, thanks to the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows platform. This creates a world of possibilities for different meeting spaces, from traditional setups to large classrooms, with external microphones, speakers, cameras, and more.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Surface Hub 3 supports active inking with up to two Surface Hub Pens or Surface Slim pens, providing 20 points of multitouch for immersive on-device collaboration. Built-in palm rejection ensures a natural interaction experience.
  • Faster Performance: with a 60% CPU performance increase, and a 160% GPU graphics performance increase gen-on-gen, Surface Hub 3 customers will enjoy a more powerful system that is also primed to capitalize on future software innovation. With these capabilities and more, Surface Hub 3 revolutionizes meetings, offering a versatile and inclusive solution for modern workspaces.

There are a few options to get the latest Surface Hub experience. If you purchase a new Surface Hub 3, it will ship with the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience, including smart rotation on the 50-inch model. You can also get the experience by upgrading a Surface Hub 3 Pack and placing it in a Surface Hub 2S. Microsoft is also working on a software migration path for Surface Hub 2S device to get the new Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows as well, but it won't ship until some point in the future.

Windows 10 Team Edition will continue to be supported until October 2025.

Microsoft did not share pricing for the Surface Hub 3, but it's a business-oriented device, so you should expect a high price tag. The Surface Hub 2S had a starting price of about $9,000 when it started shipping.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.