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What's new for Surface Hub 3

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Surface Hub 3

Scope

Note

This article applies to new Surface Hub 3 devices, Surface Hub 2S devices upgraded with the Surface Hub 3 Compute Cartridge and Surface Hub 2S devices software-migrated to the Teams Rooms on Windows platform.

Introduction

Surface Hub 3, available in 50-inch and 85-inch models, delivers an inclusive hybrid collaboration experience through the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows platform. Designed end-to-end by Microsoft, Surface Hub 3 is the premier all-in-one hybrid meeting and collaboration device built for modern work. It brings advanced features and AI-powered interactive experiences to elevate collaboration and create an engaging, efficient environment, empowering hybrid teams to be more productive together than ever.

Hybrid meetings that include everyone

Dissolve boundaries for hybrid teams with a device designed to make meetings more inclusive. Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows provides a premium, AI-powered experience certified for Microsoft Teams. Users can seamlessly join meetings across different platforms like Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Google Meet (anticipated October 2024).

  • Surface Hub Smart Camera offers remote participants the best possible view of the room.
    • Ultra-wide 136-degree field of view with high-quality glass optics and a low-light sensor.
    • Surface Hub Smart Camera integrates with IntelliFrame to keep participants in view as they move or interact with content, ensuring a dynamic and inclusive meeting experience.1
  • One-touch join: Join Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Webex meetings with a single tap on the home screen.
  • Facial expressions and body language are vividly rendered on the 4K touchscreen display, delivering a more natural and inclusive experience for remote and in-room participants.

AI-powered Speaker Recognition

Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows introduces AI-powered Speaker Recognition, enhancing the meeting experience by identifying individual voices in the room (for participants who have opted in through voice enrollment). With clear consent and privacy in mind, this feature ensures that meeting contributions are accurately attributed to each speaker, supporting better follow-up and collaboration. Background noise is suppressed, creating a clearer, more focused environment for all participants.

  • Speaker Recognition: Identifies participants' voices in the room by analyzing vocal characteristics, ensuring individual contributions are tracked.

    • Voice enrollment: End users can easily create a voice profile via aka.ms/voiceprofile, allowing their voice to be recognized in meetings.
    • IT administration: Admins can manage voice and face enrollment for specific users, groups of users, or an entire organization, ensuring secure and accurate identification. To learn more, see Overview of voice and face enrollment.

  • Facilitator integration: Powered by Speaker Recognition, Facilitator1 (targeted for public preview in Q1 2025) takes meeting notes in real time, tracks decisions, and automatically creates follow-up tasks, helping teams focus on discussions instead of manual follow-ups.

  • Biometric privacy and security are a top priority. Microsoft encrypts voice and face data at rest and in transit, adhering to strict privacy guidelines and regulatory requirements for data protection. Users can unenroll their voice profiles at any time, and profiles are automatically deleted if unused for one year.

To learn more, see the following resources:

Intuitive in-room controls

QR Code Join simplifies how users wireless cast content, connect to meetings, and remotely manage meeting controls. Scan the QR code displayed on Surface Hub to join or control meetings directly from your mobile device using Proximity Join. Once in the companion mode, use your mobile device to manage common meeting functions such as camera on/off, mute, and layout adjustments directly from your device, without leaving your seat.

Center-of-table console support

Microsoft announced at Ignite 2024 that Surface Hub 3 will bring support for third-party center-of-table consoles in 2025, providing an additional option for controlling meetings. This new ecosystem of Teams Rooms Certified Universal Consoles, starting with hardware from MAXHUB, will allow consoles to be separately purchased and deployed with touch board Teams Rooms on Windows devices, starting with Surface Hub. This will enable users to manage meetings in a familiar way from the touchpad while seated at the conference room table. Not only will console support simplify meeting operations, including joining meetings, but it will also provide an entry point for wired content sharing from individuals’ PCs.2 Console support will make it easier to deploy Surface Hub 3 in a greater variety of meeting spaces, including front-of-room positions, and drive consistency across all Teams Rooms in your buildings. Universal Console support is targeted for general availability in Q2 of 2025.

Manage remotely and stay secure anywhere

Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows empowers IT admins with enterprise-grade tools to manage devices and maintain security from anywhere.

Make any place a teamwork space

Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows offers unmatched versatility with modular and adaptable components that evolve with your space needs. Whether your teams meet in large conference rooms or smaller breakout areas, Surface Hub delivers the right fit.

  • Two size options: The 85-inch model is perfect for large rooms, while the 50-inch model suits smaller spaces. The 50-inch model supports Smart Rotation for effortless collaboration in landscape or portrait mode.
  • Mobile adaptability: Easily move your Surface Hub using mobile stands from Designed for Surface partners,3 including Salamander Designs and Steelcase. For added flexibility, take it further with the APC Charge Mobile Battery,3 offering portability without needing a constant power supply.
  • Modular design: Interchangeable components, such as the Surface Hub 3 Compute Cartridge,4 help ensure your device is future-proof, adapting to both technology advancements and changing room configurations.

Seamlessly share and cocreate together

Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows enables real-time collaboration and cocreation, no matter where participants are located.

  • Microsoft Whiteboard: Empower everyone to contribute during brainstorms with active dual-pen inking, which delivers a natural "pen-to-paper" experience. Fast, fluid responsiveness makes inking intuitive, and participants can collaborate from their PCs, phones, or tablets.
  • Teams Cast: Share content wirelessly from a PC with Teams Cast, making it easier for everyone to stay engaged during meetings. To learn more, see Cast content from your desktop to a Microsoft Teams Room.
  • AI-powered experiences: Introduces powerful AI-driven features to enhance collaboration, helping ensure participants' contributions are recognized and actionable.

Next steps

Ready to unlock the full potential of Surface Hub? Get started with Surface Hub running Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows to set up your devices today.

Explore the different ways to get the new Surface Hub experience:

Surface Hub platform differences

For customers with Surface Hub 2S (or Surface Hub v1) devices that have used the legacy Windows 10 Team edition experience previously in their organization, we understand that transitioning operating systems to the new Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows platform introduces change management considerations. Many customers ask about the differences between the legacy Windows 10 Team edition on Surface Hub 2S and the new Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows platform. This new platform provides Surface Hub with a modern, secure, integrated, and consistent Teams Rooms experience designed for hybrid collaboration. It powers new Surface Hub 3 devices, Surface Hub 2S devices upgraded with the Surface Hub 3 Compute Cartridge, and Surface Hub 2S devices that have been software-migrated from the legacy OS, to the new platform.

Overview of key differences

Feature Surface Hub 2S running Windows 10 Team Edition Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows
Center-of-table console support Not available. Support is coming for Teams Rooms Certified Universal Consoles for controlling meetings and wired content sharing.2 This feature will help facilitate deployments in front-of-room setups and provide a familiar experience across meeting spaces. Targeted for general availability in Q2 of next calendar year (2025). Learn more here.
Facilitator AI Assistant Not available. Facilitator uses AI to take real-time notes, track decisions, and create follow-up tasks during meetings, powered by Speaker Recognition. Targeted for public preview in Q1 of next calendar year (2025). Learn more here.
Plug and play third-party peripheral support Limited to seven specific items. Supports all Teams Rooms Certified peripherals. For more information, see the list of certified peripherals.
One-Touch Direct Guest Join Requires launching Microsoft Edge from Teams, leading to a web experience. Direct integration within the Teams Rooms application, providing seamless guest join functionality with consistency to other Teams Rooms on Windows devices.
Front Row layout Not available. Available and consistent with other Teams Rooms on Windows devices, offering a more immersive meeting experience.
Persistent chat Displays as fleeting chat bubbles with text previews. Includes a persistent chat pane, consistent with other Teams Rooms on Windows devices, allowing for ongoing conversations throughout meetings.
Rotation and Portrait Not supported. Now available for flexible use cases such as 1:1 video chats and easel-style whiteboarding on 50-inch models (Surface Hub 3 and Surface Hub 3 Compute Cartridge only).
Teams Admin Center and Pro Management Portal integration Experience and capabilities are inconsistent with other Teams Rooms devices. Fully integrated into the Microsoft Teams Admin Center and Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, providing a consistent management experience with other Teams Rooms on Windows devices, enabling IT admins to remotely monitor, manage, and configure devices in real time.
Digital Signage Not supported. Now available, digital signage is supported on Surface Hub consistent with other Teams Rooms on Windows devices. Digital signage allows Teams Rooms devices to display custom content for signage purposes when not in active use. To learn more, see the following resources:

- Digital signage in Teams Rooms brings your messages to your meeting spaces
- Configure digital signage on Teams Rooms
Access to all new Teams Rooms on Windows features Limited updates and features tied to the Windows 10 Team OS, which reaches end of support on October 14, 2025. Surface Hub running Teams Rooms on Windows provides access to the latest Teams Rooms features and updates, including AI-powered capabilities and Speaker Recognition for enhanced hybrid collaboration. Any new hardware-dependent features will also be supported as applicable.
Low-touch deployment Standard deployment processes. Windows Autopilot enables low-touch deployment for Surface Hub, allowing rapid configuration and integration into your environment with minimal IT overhead. This feature is exclusive to Teams Rooms on Windows.
Security Supports automatic password rotation for the device account (resource account). Supports Conditional Access. We recommend setting the password for the resource account to never expire and implementing Conditional Access and Intune compliance for Microsoft Teams Rooms to control sign-in processes in shared spaces, ensuring compliance and protection.
Microsoft Store, Edge browser & native apps Supports a range of applications outside of Teams, including Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft Edge, and third-party apps from the Microsoft Store. The Teams Rooms on Windows platform focuses on streamlining the meeting experience. While it doesn't support additional apps such as Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft Edge, or third-party apps directly on the device, users can easily share content from these apps running on their personal devices using Teams Cast or Desktop Sharing during meetings. For more app experiences, migrating to Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise enables full access to apps.
Access to personal files & login Users can log in to the Windows OS itself to access their personal meetings and files and create a personalized experience. The Teams Rooms on Windows platform prioritizes shared use in meeting spaces. Users can easily share content from these apps running on their personal devices using Teams Cast or Desktop Sharing during meetings. For users needing constant access to personal content on Surface Hubs, migrating to Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise enables full access to personal content within perpetually signed-in app experiences.
Whiteboard sign-in Requires sign-in to access the Whiteboard, and all content is tied to the signed-in account. The Teams Rooms on Windows platform simplifies Whiteboard access—no sign-in is required. Whiteboards are automatically saved to OneDrive when a user with a Work or School account from the same organization joins the meeting. This approach enhances collaboration while maintaining security, as Surface Hub doesn't retain access after the meeting ends. Whiteboards can also be preattached to the meeting or switched by non-Hub users during meetings for added flexibility.
Escalate ad-hoc whiteboard to meeting and retain in meeting stage Separate from the Teams meeting, requires sharing a link, or sharing from within the Whiteboard app for collaborators on Teams to open in a separate window. Ad-hoc whiteboards are seamlessly retained in the Teams meeting stage after escalating to a meeting and adding remote participants. This ensures that context is preserved and provides a streamlined, more seamless collaboration experience.
HDMI Ingest HDMI Ingest allows users to project their device screens into the dedicated Connect application via an HDMI cable. Support is coming in 2025 for connecting Teams Rooms Certified Universal Consoles to Surface Hub, which will thereby enable wired content sharing to the Surface Hub.2 Learn more here.

Although direct HDMI Ingest to the Teams Rooms experience isn't supported on the Surface Hub itself, users can still easily switch Surface Hub into HDMI or USB-C bypass mode using the onboard ports. Bypass mode allows Surface Hub to function as a standalone display when connected to an external device, bypassing the Teams Rooms interface.

Customers can also use Teams Cast or Desktop Sharing during meetings to wirelessly share screen content to Surface Hub running the Teams Rooms experience.
Wireless screen sharing Supports wireless screen sharing into the dedicated Connect application via Miracast for quick content projection. Supports wireless screen sharing via Teams Cast, available for seamless content sharing even when a scheduled meeting is not in session. Desktop Sharing also provides an easy way to share content from personal devices during a scheduled or ad-hoc meeting. These options facilitate a more consistent, unified sharing experience within Teams or improvised collaboration.
DisplayPort video out Provides DisplayPort video out for connecting to external displays. DisplayPort video out (extend or duplicate) isn't supported natively in the Teams Rooms environment on Surface Hub. However, users who require this functionality can migrate to Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise, enabling access to DisplayPort for presentations and extended display needs.

Surface Hub 2S on Windows 10 Team edition

Windows 10 Team edition, the legacy OS that was the default on Surface Hub 2S, remains supported until October 14, 2025, allowing time for customers to transition their Surface Hub 2S devices to the Teams Rooms on Windows platform. Customers can choose to upgrade their Surface Hub 2S devices with the Surface Hub 3 Compute Cartridge, which effectively turns their Hub devices into a Surface Hub 3. Or customers can use the software migration option to transition to Teams Rooms on Windows, although without access to capabilities like Smart Rotation, Portrait, Intelligent Audio1, and faster performance (which all require Surface Hub 3 hardware). To learn more, see Migrate Surface Hub 2S to Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows.

Important

You can software-migrate your Surface Hub 2S device for free using the seamless software-migration option at any time before the end of support on October 14, 2025. Unlike the standard versions of Windows 10, there's no extended support option for Windows 10 Team edition when support ends.

Learn more

References

  1. Software license required. Sold separately.
  2. Wired content ingest support on Universal Consoles may vary by individual device capabilities. Consult with your console manufacturer for more.
  3. Sold separately.
  4. Formerly Surface Hub 3 Pack.