Microsoft refutes Consumer Reports, says 'We stand behind Surface'

While Consumer Reports has removed its “recommended” badge from Microsoft’s entire lineup of Surface PCs, the Redmond based company has refuted the findings saying, "We stand behind Surface."

"While we respect Consumer Reports, we disagree with their findings...In the Surface team, we track quality constantly, using metrics that include failure and return rates – both our predicted 1-2-year failure and actual return rates for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are significantly lower than 25 percent," said  Panos Panay, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Devices.

Consumer Reports recently conducted a survey of nearly 91,000 people who bought new laptops and tablets between 2014 and 2017. The study estimated that about 25 percent of Microsoft Surface devices will have problems by the end of the second year of owning the product. These problems could include a laptop randomly shutting down.

"If you are very concerned about how long your products are going to last, it might be better for you to go with a brand that has a higher predicted reliability," Jerry Beilinson, electronics editor at the consumer goods testing publication, said in an interview.

Microsoft, on its part, said, "We don’t believe these findings accurately reflect Surface owners' true experiences or capture the performance and reliability improvements made with every Surface generation."

Apple was found to have the most reliable computers in the annual survey, though it too had its own run in with Consumer Reports last year. The magazine briefly removed its "recommended" tag from new MacBook Pro laptops on account of unreliable battery life.

Microsoft launched its first Surface tablet in 2012. Most recently, the company unveiled the Surface Laptop, a portable option for students, and updated the Surface Pro, a laptop with a touchscreen.