Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Review, Price, Specs, Deals, Battery
Best Business Laptop. Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is The Best Laptop Right Now
Pros
- Faster processors
- Bigger display
- Gorgeous new design
- Thunderbolt 4
- Superior 1080p webcam
Cons
- Higher price
- More expensive
- Type Cover still sold separately
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Review
The Surface Pro 8 is the biggest change to the Surface Pro lineup in the past few years, bringing some design improvements we've been begging for along with much better performance. It's still very recognizable as part of Microsoft's core line of Windows tablets, but it feels like a new generation — in time for Windows 11's launch.
Microsoft took the old design of its tablet and completely modernized it, with thinner bezels, rounded edges, and some of the fastest hardware ever found in a Windows tablet. Ports have changed as well, and while we're mourning the loss of some legacy ports, it's time Microsoft finally got it, including Thunderbolt 4.
But while it's the best Surface Pro in years, it's also the most expensive. This time around, it starts at $1,099 / £999 / AU$1,649, which is much more expensive than before, with the Surface Pro 7 launching in 2019 for $749 / £799 / AU$1,249. This price increase comes with much-needed improvements, but it makes the tablet a tough sell, especially considering that the Surface Pro 8 still doesn't come with a Type Cover in the box.
So, it's complicated, but it's also the first time Microsoft has been a true competitor to the iPad Pro since Apple's flagship tablet got its major redesign.
| Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Specification | |
|---|---|
| Price | Starting at $1,099.99 |
| Laptop Class | Detachable 2-in-1 |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1185G7 |
| Processor Speed | 3 GHz |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity | 256 GB |
| Screen Size | 13 inches |
| Native Display Resolution | 2880 by 1920 |
| Touch Screen | Yes |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 120 Hz |
| Graphics Processor | Intel Iris Xe |
| Wireless Networking | Bluetooth, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) |
| Weight | 1.96 lbs |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Battery Life (Hours: Minutes) | 12:34 |
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Price and availability
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Price Starting at $1,099.99
| Image | Product | Feature | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Top Pick  | Surface Pro 8 | Microsoft Surface Pro 8 | 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor, Windows 11, and up to 32GB1 RAM | Check On Amazon |
 | Microsoft Surface Pro 8 | Surface Pro 8 | 8GB, 16GB, 32GB (LPDDR4x RAM) | Check On Amazon |
 | Microsoft Surface Pro LTE | Microsoft Surface Pro LTE (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) Newest Version | Check On Amazon |
 | Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio | Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel Core i5 - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Platinum | Check On Amazon |
 | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go | Microsoft Surface Laptop Go - 12.4" Touchscreen - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD - Platinum | Check On Amazon |
The Surface Pro 8 is available today starting at $1,099 (£999, $1,649). In this, you will get an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD.
This is a huge competition from the Surface Pro 7, which launched at just $749/£799/AU$1,249. However, this was only for a configuration with a Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. But the Pro 7 configuration with Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD launch for just $899/£899/AU$1,499, which is a full $200 cheaper in the US. This is a huge price difference.
Of course, if you want the more powerful Surface Pro 8, you can pay to upgrade. You can upgrade the Surface Pro 8 to an Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, which will set you back $2,599 in the US.
In the UK and Australia, the Surface Pro 8 tops out at 16GB of RAM, but with the same specs otherwise, and that top-end spec will set you back £2,059 / AU$3,299.
That makes the Surface Pro 8 roughly the same price as the 12-9-inch iPad Pro to start, and we're not sure that compares to Microsoft, at least when it comes to performance. In our testing, the Apple M1, which is in both the iPad Pro and some Macs, completely wiped the floor with 11th-generation Intel U-series processors. Microsoft has some pretty tough competition with its oldest rival.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Design
The Surface Pro lineup kind of started to stagnate for the last few iterations. Both the Surface Pro 6 and Surface Pro 7 were only exclusive updates to the Surface Pro 2017. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because four years ago, the Surface Pro was a very fresh device. But now it needs a fair bit of redesign, especially in the face of the new iPad Pro, which Microsoft has pretty much left alone since its introduction.
The Surface Pro 8, luckily, brings some much-needed design improvements to the table. The easiest to notice is the new graphite color, which looks incredible. While it seems like Microsoft has been focusing on lighter colors for its devices in recent years, the darker colors look incredible with this year's lineup.
The chassis has also been refined, with more rounded edges that feel more comfortable to hold for long periods, rather than the flat sides with sharp corners.
The bezels are also smaller than ever, and that's the last thing that makes the Surface Pro 8 look like a brand new device rather than a relic of the early 2010s. This makes the screen so much bigger and makes the device look more premium than ever - which is good because it's also more expensive than ever.
The smaller bezels do more than just look good, though: they allow for an 11% larger display. The Surface Pro 8 now sports a 13-inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,920. It's fine between 1440p and 4K, but for a 13-inch display, it's gorgeous. What makes this display even better is that along with the larger size, it also has a 120Hz refresh rate. It's not a gaming device, but take it from us – once you get used to a high-refresh display, even for everyday computing, you won't want to go back.
The display is configured at 60Hz out of the box, mainly in the interest of prolonging battery life, but you can enable it at any time by going into your display settings.
On The Surface Pro 8, the display hits 103% of the sRGB spectrum and has a peak brightness of 467 nits, making it an incredibly gorgeous display. Everything we've seen on this thing, whether it's Bob's Burgers in bed or the green text on the black background of our Command Prompt, looks incredible.
This is doubly important for a device like the Surface Pro 8, as this lineup is particularly popular with artists who will need color accuracy to get their job done. It's kind of a bonus that even the consuming ingredients look great.
The sound quality isn't as good as the Surface Pro 8 offers visually, but it's far from the worst sound we've heard on a laptop. Listening to the 'Comfort in the Grave' by Vision video, the highs are clear, but the baseline sort of gets lost in the background.
There's not a lot of real estates available for the speakers though, so they're honestly better than we expected. However, you'll still be better off with a pair of headphones.
Normally, Microsoft associates the launch of the new Surface Pro with a whole new lineup of Surface accessories, such as a new pen and Type Cover. This time, however, Microsoft is sticking with the same Type Cover that launched with the Surface Pro X, and which has been incredibly popular. This means you may not need to buy a new Type of Cover if you upgrade, which is good because Microsoft still isn't including it in the box.
Microsoft has finally changed the ports as well. For years the Redmond company has refused to use Thunderbolt, citing security concerns. However, it may have found a way around them, as the Surface Pro 8 has full support for Thunderbolt 4. This means that a whole new world of accessories and peripherals is finally open to the Surface Pro 8, including external GPUs, which are a huge boon for creative professionals who are most likely to buy a Surface Pro in the first place. keep.
The Surface Pro 4 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Surface Connect port. It loses the USB 3.0 Type-A port that the Surface Pro 7 had, but we're fine with that—it's a tablet, after all.
However, not everything is pink here. Microsoft still insists on selling the Type Cover and Surface Pen separately, which is absurd given the higher price tag this time around. We get that the Surface Pen is optional, but we can't imagine ever buying this tablet or getting the Type Cover.
The Type Cover itself is still pretty cool, as it's what Microsoft debuted with the Surface Pro X, which means it has a handy little wireless charging area for the Surface Pen — but, again, it's not worth it. is sold separately.
Key travel is surprisingly deep for how thin the keyboard is, and the wide spacing on the keys means you're always typing comfortably. The only place the Type Cover differs is its touchpad, which is mediocre. But considering that this device is great as a touch device, it's not a big deal.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Performance
With a device meant to be portable like the Surface Pro 8, performance is always a tough balance to strike. You want it to be fast, but you don't want to push it so hard that battery life goes down the toilet and it gets too hot to handle.
Microsoft has put a lot of effort into re-engineering the Surface Pro 8's internals, and this has allowed the company to configure processors with a higher TDP than previous versions of the tablet – up to 23W instead of the Surface's 15W. is extended. Pro 7 processor.
It's not going to be a night and day difference, but combine that with Tiger Lake's speed compared to the lower-powered Ice Lake chips in previous laptops and Microsoft is claiming a 2x performance increase. It's a pretty bold assumption, and unfortunately, the Surface Pro 8 falls short of that mark.
That doesn't mean it isn't faster, in fact in the Cinebench R15 - a test we've retired and replaced with the Cinebench R23 - the Surface Pro 8 is about 50% faster than the Surface Pro 7, which That's an incredibly generational increase. . There isn't that much of a difference in Geekbench 4, but it's still pretty fast.
What's more impressive, however, is how the Surface Pro 8 stacks up against its bigger brother, the Surface Laptop Studio. The tablet is just 12% slower than Microsoft's so-called Creative Workstation in Cinebench, and just 5% slower in Geekbench. That's all even though the Surface Pro 8 laptop is half as thick as the Studio and almost half the weight.
The Surface Pro 8 can't compete when it comes to graphics, as it's using integrated XE graphics instead of the dedicated Nvidia RTX A2000, but still. If all you need is CPU performance, there's no reason to go for the Surface Laptop Studio over the Surface Go 8.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Battery life
The Surface Pro 7's biggest shortcoming was its battery life, which lasted 3 hours and 12 minutes in the PCMark 8 battery test. We've entered PCMark 10 since then, but the Surface Pro 8 knocks that number out of the park with 8 hours and 15 minutes, making it a device you can use all day without needing a charger. canto work.
This is probably mainly due to Microsoft's decision to follow the Intel Evo program and limit the display's refresh rate to 60Hz by default. With how portable the Surface Pro 8 is, it's good to know that it's not going to run out of battery within a few hours, as the charger can add extra bulk.
The numbers are a little less impressed with our video playback test, where the Surface Pro 8 lasted just 6 hours 32 minutes, but it's still a pretty decent Netflix binge.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Webcam and microphone
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably realized that video conferencing is now more important than ever, and a laptop (or tablet) with a good webcam is a godsend, as we all want to be seen. Good in our morning meetings. And luckily, the Surface Pro 8 has one of the best webcams we've ever used in a mobile computing device.
In all the calls we've made in our time with the device, both for work and chats with friends and loved ones, we've come through perfectly without any distractions or problems with focus. And, the front-facing camera is also Windows Hello compatible, so you can use it to log in.
But of course, because it's a tablet, it also has a rear-facing camera. And, it's, well, okay. It's not as cool as it's likely to be on your phone, but it's perfectly fine to take a quick snap of a pet if you don't have your phone.
The microphone is also great, especially considering the form factor. Our voices come out nice and clear with no distortion, and the tablet does a great job filtering out background noise, so we don't even need to use headphones in calls.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Software and features
One of the best things about getting any Surface device, including the Surface Pro 8, is that you're getting a pure install of Windows 11 without any bloatware. Microsoft installs a pure version of the operating system, and as a result, you don't get any annoying pop-ups or useless programs open for no reason - unless you install them yourself.
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