Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Review
Verdict
The Microsoft Surface Pro eight isn't a huge step frontwards for Microsoft's tablet line, but it'south a definite move in the right direction. The device fixes a number of niggling flaws in by Surface Pro'due south designs and offers key performance upgrades thanks to the inclusion of Thunderbolt connectivity, an Intel 11th Gen CPU and 120Hz refresh charge per unit screen. This makes information technology a better choice for buyers that want a laptop first and tablet second, if you invest in the optional keyboard cover. But information technology'south desktop-focussed Windows eleven software makes it a poor pick for anyone that just wants a tablet first and foremost.
Pros
- Solid performance
- Great screen for work and play
- Reliable battery life, especially in 60Hz
- Well-congenital boot stand
Cons
- Signature Cover and Slim Pen two not included
- Express port option
Availability
- UK RRP: £1499
- United states RRP: $1099
Key Features
- Fast refresh rate screen The 13-inch screen can run at 60 or 120Hz, making it better for gaming than past Surfaces
- Windows 11 software The Surface Pro 8 runs using the latest version of Microsoft's Windows operating system
- Does not transport with keyboard or stylus You have to pay actress for the Signature Encompass keyboard and Slim Pen 2
Introduction
The Microsoft Surface Pro viii is Microsoft'south latest convertible tablet-come up-laptop, letting buyers use information technology as a Windows tablet or portable laptop/sketch station when paired with the optional Signature Encompass case and Slim Pen two.
This puts it in direct competition with Apple'due south iPad Pro line of tablets. Microsoft has refined its blueprint and added upgrades like more than powerful components and a 120Hz screen. But trivial bug with its software make it feel a niggling difficult to use as a standalone tablet.
Only the flipside, when paired with a Type Embrace, and the Slim Pen 2 its Windows 11 software lets it function much better every bit a full fat laptop replacement than its Apple rival, making information technology better for role apply.
Design
- The design is a refinement rather than rethink
- The Type Cover and Slim Pen two are sold separately
- Features Thunderbolt connectivity
Surface devices traditionally accept adequately commonsensical designs, with Microsoft tending to brand modest refinements, rather than outright changes yr-on-year. With this in mind, it's no surprise that the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 looks very similar to the Surface Pro 7 I tested dorsum in 2019.
The black tablet section is all but identical to its predecessor at first glance, being a simple slate with slightly round edges and a flat back. Information technology also comes with a built-in kickstand, which tin can exist used to prop the tablet up at varying angles, including an artist's easel. The only big visible difference is that the new Surface Pro 8 has a smaller, just withal noticeable, bezel around its screen.
The smaller bezel is welcome, and similar past Surfaces, there is plenty to similar nearly the blueprint. The tablet's metal frame feels well built and offers adjacent to no flex when pressed. The matte finish looks overnice, despite being prone to picking up fingerprint marks and scratches a little also hands, and the tablet is light enough to carry and employ on the get without breaking your back.
Ane of the Surface Pro 8's side-facing USB-C connections is a Thunderbolt 4 port. The lack of a Thunderbolt connector has been an ongoing gripe of mine with Surface devices, so it'due south great to encounter Microsoft finally embrace the technology. Thunderbolt 4 brings a number of key benefits including faster information transfer speeds and the ability to connect to multiple 4K displays via the USB C port.
It can too exist used for charging, though Microsoft has opted to load the Surface Pro eight with a proprietary cablevision for this. The cable works fine, information technology'south but a faff having to remember to pack it every time you take the device out and most. USB-C charging is infinitely more convenient.
But even with Thunderbolt, the port offering feels a little low-cal. The only other connectors you become are a headphone jack on the brusque left side. At that place's no SD or Micro SD card slot here, but at that place is a swappable SSD within.
The Surface's rear camera has as well been given a spruce, with Microsoft loading it with the aforementioned 10MP sensor seen on the Surface Pro X. Up front it has the same 5-megapixel front-facing camera seen on its predecessor.
I wouldn't recommend using the 10MP rear photographic camera to have stills as your phone will almost certainly capture better images. But the ability to capture video in 4K with the rear photographic camera is useful, especially if you're recording a presentation for piece of work.
The front photographic camera told a similar story. Information technology was able to capture great 1080p footage for work Zoom calls, with the image looking well-baked and articulate to people on the other end. The two far-field studio microphones also never had any outcome picking upwards my voice.
The biggest, and almost positive, changes relate to the Surface Pro 8's Signature Keyboard and Slim Pen 2 active stylus. The keys are moderately more comfortable to blazon on than their iPad rivals and have reliable rails pads, but in the past they've had a tendency to flex when met with even moderate force. Past Surface's take as well offered no fashion to easily dock their optional active styluses.
Thankfully these ii issues have been, for the almost part, fixed with the new Signature keyboard and Slim Pen ii. The new keyboard has a carbon fibre layer, which makes it feel a lot sturdier to blazon on, removing the flex I experienced using past Type Covers. As an added perk, the keyboard too has a dock for the Slim Pen. This sits on its top long side and has a clever magnetic mechanism that charges and hides the pen when the tablet section is attached.
The pen is slightly different to the older Surface Pen seen on past Pro tablets. Information technology's plastic, has flat sides and features a new built-in haptic motor that aims to replicate the feeling of drawing or writing on paper when interacting with the Pro viii's screen. The feature works well enough, though information technology's not quite as authentic every bit the experience I accept using one of Remarkable'south tablets. But the apartment sides did take some getting used to. For the first few days I felt the pen's shape wasn't quite every bit ergonomic, and occasionally I experienced paw cramps when using it for prolonged digital painting sessions.
The upgrades are very welcome and make the Surface Pro eight feel similar a much more competent laptop replacement than most competing convertibles, including the iPad Pro. My simply quibble is that Microsoft's however charging an arm and a leg to get them. The keyboard alone costs an extra £159.99. Considering the fact you actually need this to make the almost out of the device, I can't help but think the keyboard should come bundled with the Surface Pro by default.
Screen
- The screen features a 120Hz refresh rate
- Uses LCD technology and has same resolution as older model
- Colours aren't quite accurate plenty for professionals
One of the biggest updates Microsoft has made to the Surface Pro 8 relates to its screen. Information technology hasn't updated the panel to use Mini LED tech, like the stuff seen on the new iPad Pro. It hasn't even made the spring to OLED.
The thirteen-inch LCD screen has the same 3:2 aspect ratio, 2880 x 1920 resolution as the Surface Pro 7. The difference is that Microsoft has increased the screen'due south max refresh rate to 120Hz.
This increases the maximum number of images per 2nd the screen can display from 60 to 120. A higher refresh rate brings with it a number of benefits. The about noticeable is smoother scrolling and navigation, as in that location'due south less of a gap between each prototype in an blitheness.
It can also help gamers for the same reason, reducing the gap between a command being input and it playing out on screen. That said, the Surface Pro 8 is non powerful plenty for native AAA gaming, and the only deject streaming service that supports a 120Hz refresh rate is the premium plan of GeForce At present which costs a whopping £89.89 every six months.
The downside to a college refresh rate is that the increased pressure level to push out more images per second puts a much bigger bleed on a device'south battery. You besides have to manually become into the Surface Pro 8'southward settings and set the display to run in either 60Hz or 120Hz, although downloading an Intel commuter volition make the process automatic.
Elsewhere, the screen feels very like to past Surfaces. This ways the screen is great for productivity and basic things similar Netflix binging, but not appropriate for hardcore creative work.
To the naked center the screen looks vibrant. Netflix movies have prissy deep blacks, despite the screen being LCD, and max brightness levels let content and text remain legible in everything just direct, bright sunlight. Content on Netflix looks great, despite the lack of formal HDR back up and all in all I had no issues using the screen day-to-day during testing.
Cracking out a colorimeter, our exam results backed upwards my real world findings. The device recorded a 0.36 nit blackness level, which is very good for a non OLED screen and above average 460.99 nit max brightness. The end effect gives the screen a reliable 1279:1 dissimilarity ratio. As a rule of thumb anything over 1000:i on a laptop is skillful.
The only bug occurred after I started checking colour gamut coverage. Gamuts are ranges that inform how many colours a screen tin can accurately return. The higher the coverage the more accurate the colours are. The Surface Pro 8 covers 99.iv% of the bog-standard sRGB gamut, which makes information technology a solid performer for day-to-twenty-four hours action.
But it but covers 73.4% of the Adobe RGB and 75.vii% of the DCI P3 gamuts favoured by creatives that piece of work in physical media. As a rule I'd desire a device being marketed for creatives to cover at least eighty% of these gamuts out of the box.
Performance
- The device runs using an Intel 11th Gen CPU
- It works for most creative work, but it'southward not for gaming
- Windows 11 isn't suited to tablet mode
Under the hood, the Microsoft Surface Pro eight is powered past 1 of Intel'south 11th Gen CPUs. The exact CPU and RAM configuration can be customised in the Microsoft Store. The version I tested features an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 CPU and 16GB of RAM.
The Surface Pro 8 is more than powerful enough for everyday use. Using it as my work laptop, I never had any problems, even when running a quite frankly ridiculous number of tabs in Chrome and doing some basic image retouch work in GIMP.
Intel's integrated XE graphics aren't a replacement for a dGPU, but the setup works well. True AAA gaming is beyond it, but during testing I was able to become popular games including Minecraft and Noon Legends to run at playable frame rates, admitting with their graphical settings lowered.
It also ran creative workloads okay. I've been able to digitally paint in Krita and exercise basic 3D modelling in Blender on the Surface Pro 8 without whatever real fuss. Though more hardcore workloads like large scale vector projects and video editing will give it pause.
I was also impressed how cool the tablet ran. The fan system works well and ensured the device ran cool and quietly in about instances. The only time I noticed any warming or noise was when running demanding processes for prolonged periods, just even then the dissonance and heat didn't become real issues.
Putting the Surface Pro 8 through our standard suite of synthetic benchmarks, the figures matched my real globe findings. You can encounter a breakup of its scores and how they compare to competing devices in the table beneath.
| Surface Pro viii | Dell XPS 13 OLED | Surface Laptop 4 | MacBook Air M1 | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1185G7 | Intel Core i7-1185G7 | Intel Core i5-1135G7 | Apple M1 |
| Geekbench 5 single-core | 1120 | 1465 | 1307 | 1731 |
| Geekbench 5 multi-core | 5071 | 5424 | 4844 | 7308 |
| PCMark 10 | 4474 | 5042 | 4088 | NA |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 1796 | 1459 | 1493 | NA |
The just real performance issues I suffered occurred when I tried to use the device equally a tablet. Windows 11 is a great step forward for Microsoft, featuring a number of UI changes that make it feel significantly more user friendly than Windows 10, plus some crawly backend security, stability and functioning improvements. But the fact is, no matter what Microsoft says, information technology's not properly optimised for pure touch inputs.
You can navigate through Windows xi using the on-screen keyboard and touchscreen, but compared to iPad OS the experience feels very cumbersome. The desktop view is also fiddly to navigate with even basic things, similar irresolute display settings not feeling as quick and easy to do in a few clicks every bit it is on Android and iPad OS. This is why I would draw the Surface Pro equally a hybrid that's designed to be a laptop first and tablet 2d, despite the fact it doesn't come with a keyboard.
Bombardment Life
- 16 hour regular use claim is a little optimistic
- But the tablet will last a full 24-hour interval's use in the office
Microsoft quotes the Surface Pro 8 as offering 16 hours battery life, and during testing I found that it is possible to get that much use out of the device under certain weather condition.
How long the battery volition final is dependant on a variety of factors, chief of which is what processes you lot are running and what screen settings you're using. I just got 16 hours when I completely shut downwardly all superfluous settings and lowered the screen brightness to levels most people wouldn't discover comfortable using.
With the screen locked to 60Hz and regular effulgence (effectually 150 nits) the Surface Pro 8 easily lasted a full piece of work day's use withal. Logging on at 8.30am, running web apps and making and taking more Zoom calls than I care to admit, with a quick Game Pass session during lunch, the device still had around x% of its accuse come clocking off time at 5pm.
However, ramp the settings up and throw a few more demanding workloads at the Surface Pro 8 and it'll drain its charge a lot faster. Playing graphically-intensive tasks, like 3D modelling in Blender, I managed to drain the bombardment in less than 3 hours. The 120Hz screen setting also sheds around 2-3 hours off the device's life, even if you lot're just doing basic function work and web browsing.
My real globe findings rang true when I ran PCMark ten's synthetic battery test. This is a benchmark that simulates every day office workloads, similar video calling, spider web browsing and certificate editing, on a loop until the battery is completely drained.
Running the test the Surface Pro lasted 8 hours 44 minutes when docked to a Signature Keyboard encompass, and 9 hours 52 when undocked. These figures aren't groundbreaking past either tablet or laptop standards.
Thankfully the device is reasonably quick to charge. Using the included proprietary charger the Surface Pro took an average of 30-40 minutes to go from 0-100%.
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Should you lot purchase it?
If you lot desire a hybrid for work first and play 2d:
If you're on the hunt for a device that can function equally a solid, highly portable laptop for office work that tin double every bit a dwelling house entertainment station, then the Surface Pro 8 is one of the best options currently bachelor.
If you merely desire a tablet:
Windows tablets in general aren't a not bad buy if y'all only want to watch Netflix or engage in the odd bit of digital creative work. Without a keyboard the software simply isn't as well optimised equally Apple's competing iPad OS. This remains the instance with the Surface Pro viii.
Final Thoughts
The Surface Pro viii isn't a huge shift for Microsoft's hybrid line of laptops-come up-tablets. But it makes enough moves in the correct direction to become a compelling option for any buyer on the market for an ultra-portable laptop that tin can double as a basic tablet. The only serious downside is that Microsoft'due south all the same charging extra for the Signature Keyboard encompass and Slim Pen 2 active stylus, which are essential items you'll need to go the nearly out of the device.
How we exam
Every laptop or convertible we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge central things including build quality, performance, screen quality and bombardment life.
Used as our main laptop for the review period
Tested for at least a calendar week
Used consistent benchmarks for fair comparisons with other laptops
Reviewed using respected industry benchmarks and real earth use
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FAQs
Does the Surface Pro 8 come with a keyboard cover?
The Surface Signature keyboards are not bundled with the tablet, you lot have to buy them equally optional extras.
Does the Surface Pro 8 have a variable refresh charge per unit?
The Surface Pro 8'south screen does not have a variable refresh rate. It can be manually gear up to run at either 60Hz or 120Hz.
Is at that place a 5G version of the Surface Pro 8?
Microsoft does not offer a 5G version of the Surface Pro 8.
Trusted Reviews test information
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PCMark ten
Geekbench 5 unmarried core
Geekbench 5 multi core
3DMark Time Spy
CrystalDiskMark Read speed
CrystalMarkDisk Write Speed
Brightness
Black level
Contrast
White Visual Color Temperature
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
PCMark Bombardment (part)
Battery Life
Battery recharge time
›
Full specs
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UK RRP
U.s.a. RRP
CPU
Manufacturer
Screen Size
Storage Capacity
Front Photographic camera
Battery
Bombardment Hours
Size (Dimensions)
Weight
ASIN
Release Engagement
First Reviewed Date
Resolution
HDR
Refresh Rate
Ports
Sound (Power output)
GPU
RAM
Connectivity
Colours
Brandish Technology
Screen Engineering
Touch on Screen
Convertible?
›
Jargon buster
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt is a port technology that enables faster information transfer speeds than standard USB-C ports, while too allowing for multiple other functions such as outputting images to external monitors, power commitment and connecting to an Ethernet network.
USB-C
The modern USB connector you'll find on most Android phones, new laptops, cameras and games consoles. It'southward reversible and used for charging along with data-transfer.
Refresh Rate
The number of times the screen refreshes itself per 2d.
Nits
The brightness level of a display. 300 nits is regarded as the minimum target for high-end screens.
Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/microsoft-surface-pro-8
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