Microsoft - Surface Pro 8 – 13” Touch Screen – Intel Evo platform Core i7 – 16GB Memory – 256GB SSD – Device Only - Graphite

This is by far the best tablet computer you can get for the price range if not just in general. It's super fast with the i7 and 16gb ram under the hood. I bought the small storage with the intention of self-upgrading. I bought this one open box, excellent condition and was not disappointed. The body of the tablet had a tiny scuff/scratch on the corner that most wouldn't notice, but as a perfectionist I did. The functionality is perfect and the screen was flawless. I switched from a Samsung Galaxy tab s7 and really wanted a non arm based windows tablet and this device fulfilled every last requirement I had for my device. The only thing that would make it better is a dedicated GPU. It has thunderbolt 4 and e-GPU support and also plays good game titles on lower settings, so that makes up for it. I will buy again when this one is obsolete, in 10 years with battery replacements.

I've been thinking about getting a Surface Pro for several years, but was always conflicted on just how I would use it. Is it a laptop replacement? Is it a tablet? Can it be both? The Surface lineup fills an interesting niche in the Windows PC market -- one that takes the most important elements from the laptop and tablet experiences and combines them into a slim, portable, and powerful device. The Surface Pro 8 is the result of several years of refinements by Microsoft and appears to be the best Surface Pro device yet. === DESIGN & CONNECTIVITY === - Microsoft has based the Surface Pro 8 design on the Surface Pro X. Compared to the Surface Pro 7, the Pro 8 is almost identical in size but has a 13-inch display (compared to the previous 12.3-inch panel). The bezels around the Pro 8's display are much slimmer, allowing for a larger screen without increasing the overall dimensions of the device. The bezels on the left and right sides of the display (in landscape mode) are quite slim, but those on the top and bottom are quite thick compared to high-end tablets. - The Surface Pro 8 now comes in a new graphite (black) color. It looks great and pairs nicely with the black keyboard (sold separately), but it is definitely a fingerprint and smudge magnet. I imagine the platinum (silver) color would not show as many fingerprints or smudges. - If you've never used a Surface Pro device, the kickstand takes some time to get familiar with. Having exclusively used standard laptops and iPad Pros with Magic Keyboards for the past several years, I often find myself forgetting to open the kickstand before I flip up the Surface Pro from the keyboard. Of course, if you forget to open the kickstand, the devices falls straight back onto your table. The kickstand also makes the Surface Pro a bit of a pain to use as a true laptop. You can use it on your lap if you're in just the right position, but this device is really meant to be used on a flat surface/desk. - There are only three ports on the Surface Pro 8: two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and the proprietary Surface Connect port, all on the right side of the device. The volume buttons and headphone jack are on the left side. While I wish there were one or two more USB-C ports, it hasn't yet been an issue in the couple of weeks I've used the Surface Pro 8. However, some users will certainly miss the microSD card reader that was present on the Pro 7. So, you might have to carry some adapters with you and make sure to pair as many accessories as you can via Bluetooth to keep the USB-C ports free. - The Surface Pro 8 comes with a charging brick that connects via the proprietary Surface Connect port. The Surface Pro 8 can also be charged via one of the USB-C ports with a charger capable of delivering at least 65W. The proprietary charging brick isn't too large, but it's just one more thing to carry around. I prefer to charge via USB-C since I always have a capable USB-C charger with me, but the downside is that this takes up one of the two precious USB-C ports. - Build quality is excellent, with minimal flex and no squeaking. I do worry that the graphite finish might easily scratch or chip if not property protected. Otherwise, this is a very solid and lightweight design. === DISPLAY & SPEAKERS === - New to the Pro 8 is a screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, though Windows 11's default refresh rate out of the box is 60 Hz. To change this, you'll need to navigate into the system's advanced display settings. This was likely done to conserve battery life out of the box, but it also means that you'll have to constantly change this refresh rate setting manually if you want to take advantage of the feature while maximizing battery life. Unlike other high-end tablets, the refresh rate is not adaptive -- you either always have 60 Hz, or always have 120 Hz. The benefits to 120 Hz are immediately noticeable once it's enabled, which much smoother scrolling and fluid animations. - The display has a resolution of 2880 x 1920 and supports Dolby Vision. According to Microsoft, it can achieve a brightness of about 450 nits. In my experience, the display gets plenty bright in both bright and dimly-lit rooms. - The display also features a technology called Adaptive Color, which adjusts the display's color tone to the ambient light around you. It works quite well and can be easily disabled as needed via the display settings menu. - Unlike other high-end devices, this display does not support the full DCI-P3 color gamut, which may be a turn-off for content creators. However, to my eyes, the display looks great. Colors are vivid and contrast is very good with excellent black levels. - The speakers of the Surface Pro 8 are hidden behind the top bezel of the device. Overall, the speakers are pretty good, but not great. Most content at medium volumes sounds clear with no distortion, but the speakers really suffer at higher volumes with noticeable distortion. The speakers are just fine for casual listening, but audiophiles will want to use headphones or an external set of speakers. === PERFORMANCE & BATTERY LIFE === - My particular configuration of the Surface Pro 8 is equipped with a quad-core Intel Core i7-1185G7, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage. For the vast majority of users, this configuration of the Pro 8 offers ample performance for almost any task. I've used the Pro 8 for two weeks for a variety of tasks including photo editing in Photoshop, intense web browsing with dozens of open tabs, and word processing/spreadsheet creation with dual 1440p monitors via the Thunderbolt 4 ports. The Surface Pro 8 has not missed a beat and has powered through all of these tasks with no issues. - Since I'm a nerd, I ran the Geekbench 5 benchmark on the Pro 8, where it achieved a single-core score of 1,308 and a multi-core score of 5,405. These scores are right in line with (and in some cases, higher than) most high-end 13-inch Windows laptops from the likes of Dell and HP. Long story short: the Surface Pro 8 is no slouch and will provide great performance for quite some time. Gamers and video editors may want to look elsewhere. - The 256 GB SSD in this model is fast enough, but it is certainly not the fastest SSD I've used. A benchmark from CrystalDiskMark shows sequential read speeds of about 2200 MB/s and sequential write speeds of about 1000 MB/s. Certainly fast, but most mid-level M.2 SSDs achieve speeds at least 20-30% faster than this. - With the screen brightness set to about 50% and the refresh rate at 60 Hz, I was able to squeeze about 8.5 hours of battery life out of the Surface Pro 8 during my testing. That's decent, but pales in comparison to a dedicated tablet like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Battery life will suffer a bit more with 120 Hz enabled. - The Surface Pro 8 gets pretty warm on the back under heavy loads, especially towards the top of the device (above the kickstand). It's probably a good idea to keep the device propped up with the kickstand during intense tasks. === SOFTWARE AND OTHER THOUGHTS === - The front-facing webcam shoots 1080p video and doubles as a Windows Hello (facial recognition) camera. The camera is perfectly fine for basic video calls, but it does tend to wash out colors (at least to my eye). The Windows Hello feature works very well, and Windows almost instantly recognizes my face at the log-in screen. The rear camera seems a bit better, but I don't see myself using the rear camera very often. - The device ships with Windows 11 installed. It is very similar to Windows 10, except for the start menu. I use an app called Start11 to change the start menu back to the Windows 10 style. - Out of the box, my particular unit installed a ton of Windows and firmware updates. Be sure to set aside at least a half hour after you first turn on the device to get all of the initial updates installed. - The SSD is user-accessible and upgradable, but it is a rather obscure size (M.2 2230) and may be challenging to find an upgraded SSD that will fit. - Windows just isn't designed as a "tablet first" operating system. A keyboard and mouse are almost a necessity to fully utilize the Surface Pro 8, yet Microsoft does not include its Signature Keyboard with the Surface Pro 8 - it is a $180 accessory. I would not recommend the Surface Pro to those looking for a tablet as their primary experience. The Surface Pro is stuck somewhere between a laptop and tablet -- but the limitations of Windows mean that the best experience will always be had with a keyboard and mouse/trackpad. === OVERALL === The Surface Pro 8 is an excellent device and sits in its own category of Windows PCs. It has the performance paired with an excellent display to replace a traditional laptop. Its thin, lightweight design and kickstand make it arguably the most versatile Windows device on the market. However, I still struggle to see the appeal of a Surface Pro as tablet-only device. In my mind, the Surface Pro 8 (when paired with the optional keyboard) is a very capable and versatile Windows laptop with some tablet features that are nice to have when you need them. Maybe you'll detach the keyboard once in a while to watch videos, write notes, or draw something. But the fact remains that this device is severely neutered without the addition of the Signature Keyboard, and for this price, it should have been included. Microsoft has priced the Surface Pro 8 as if it were a full-fledged laptop, but then failed to include the most vital accessories (keyboard + trackpad) in the box. Regardless, if you can stomach the cost of the Pro 8 and the keyboard, you will be rewarded with a 2-in-1 device that doesn't sacrifice on design or performance.

I’ve had quite a few 2-in-1 Windows computers over the years (none of which were an MS Surface) and they’ve always left me wanting. They worked fine as laptops but “tablet mode” in Windows 10 never impressed me as it felt disjointed, like I was using a completely different computer. With the advent of Windows 11 I decided to try a Surface Pro 8 and experience Microsoft’s direct take on what the Windows “tablet” experience should be. It’s not perfect, there are plenty of “Windows” apps and experiences that don’t intuitively translate to a touch/pen interface IMHO. However, with the combo of Windows 11 and this Surface Pro 8 I can confidently say that this is the first time I’ve felt a Windows computer could be productive without a physical keyboard, though add the keyboard/pen case and you get the best of all worlds. An obvious comparison, as I was asked repeatedly while using this out and about, is how does it compare to an iPad Pro. To me, the main difference is that an iPad Pro is a tablet trying very hard to convince you it can be a computer, while the Surface Pro 8 is a full computer doing its best to convince you it can be a tablet. Tastes will vary, having used both side-by-side I much prefer the Surface Pro 8. The Surface Pro 8: Right to the point, where the Surface Pro 8 excels is in portability. It’s so thin and light I can slip it into a secondary backpack compartment without hardly any thought at all about space or weight. Battery life is respectable enough to get me through a day of on-again/off-again campus computing -- I’d take this to a day of college classes and it got me through everything fine so long as I stuck to note taking, web, documents, and some light personal use between classes. I’d be down to 30-40% when the school day was done -- it packed enough juice that I never felt like I needed to carry the power adapter and stay near an outlet to get through my day. This is my first MS Surface computer so I came into it with no specific expectations save that I expected Microsoft to “get it right” when it came to hardware and design for their own OS. The Surface Pro 8 didn’t disappoint, right out of the box it came across as a clean and clever device and I repeatedly found myself liking each aspect of it “more than I expected”. The display is suitably high-res @ 2880x1920 and up to 120Hz, though it’ll be 60Hz out of the box so if you want that extra bit of smoothness (at the cost of some battery life) you’ll want to go into the display settings and bump it up. The internal display also supports HDR / Dolby Vision video, though this is the one aspect that actually fell short of my expectations in practice. I also got and recommend the Surface Pro Keyboard + Slim Pen. Though I found the Surface Pro 8 was pretty usable without a keyboard, for most activities, these round out the experience for full on document writing. When not using the keyboard, Windows 11 provides a decent onscreen keyboard and/or handwriting recognition mode -- both slower than a physical keyboard but they’ll get the job done for light writing. As a tablet, this is probably as big as I’d want to go. I’ve had 15” and even 17” 2-in-1 PCs before and that’s just too big to use as a “tablet”, but at 13” and a 3:2 ratio the Surface Pro toes that line quite nicely. Or, kick out the backstand and flip the keyboard to the front to go into “laptop” mode which worked much better on my actual lap than I expected, and on a desk or table it’s downright comfy, the Surface Pro 8 physical keyboard is frankly pretty outstanding. For video the Iris Xe graphics are remarkably adequate for light gaming. I’d not recommend anyone get a Surface Pro 8 FOR gaming, but at low to medium settings the Surface Pro 8 can pull it off in a pinch if it’s what you have on hand. Audio -- I’ll just say that the internal mic and speakers blew me away for this form factor. The built-in speakers are surprisingly rich and full, possibly better than even on any full-size laptop I’ve ever owned. Though you’re not going to “shake the walls”, sitting right in front of it in a normal viewing position for movies or music it sounds… remarkably good. And for when you can’t use speakers the Surface Pro 8 still pays respect to the tried-and-true 3.5mm jack, or plug in a pair of USB-C headphones or go Bluetooth if you’d rather. For recording audio, the internal mics pick up lectures and ambient sound quite well. Technically the mics are stereo, at least that’s how they show up in Audacity, but in practice I think they are recording mono as there was no hint of actual stereo recording when I walked circles around it while recording myself practicing a lesson presentation. But the audio the mics picked up sounded great, capturing clear and accurate audio of me and the people and spaces around me. Windows 11: On a related note, I found Windows 11 itself to be intuitive and quick to pick up on coming from Windows 10. I never liked “tablet mode” in Windows 10 anyway and Windows 11 doesn’t even have it as an option, which I consider a good thing. Otherwise Windows 11 seems very much to me like Windows 10 tidied up and better organized. Well played Microsoft, well played. Summary: It’s a bit expensive, at almost $2000 for the full package with the keyboiard/pen combo, but if you want/need an outstanding full-PC ultraportable this is hands down the best device in that category I’ve seen or used.

Beautiful computer very happy with how light it is

Love everything but the battery life. Fast, great screen, great build quality, 120hz is very noticable, surprisingly thin for the specs, great pen input, but I'm lucky to get 4-5hrs of constant use before it dies, which is 1000% ok for my use case but could be an issue for others. USB-C charging makes it much less of an issue, my car charger works fine& I'll probably just buy a power bank if I want to take it on a flight

Top specs at its best! Compact, powerful and convient.

Powerful, Portable and Sleek Machine Definitely recommend!

## Design In previous generations of the Surface line, the popular opinion seemed to be that people liked the design of the Surface Pro X, but wanted the beefier processor of the Intel version such as the Surface Pro 7. Well, thankfully, the Surface Pro 8 features the best of both worlds: the slim, sleek design of the “X” with the power of an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor. The Surface Pro 8 features an aluminum exterior available in a new graphite color of which I’m a big fan. The kickstand is still located on the back and works great when using the Surface Pro 8 on a desk, but it’s less ideal for using on your lap since you need to keep your legs in the proper position to support the stand. ## Performance The power of the Intel Core i7 processor in the particular model I’m reviewing is definitely noticeable. Applications and web pages open in a flash and even ad-heavy websites don’t seem to bog down Edge or Chrome. The 16GB of RAM included in this model handles multiple browser tabs and applications with ease. Microsoft Word only takes about 1 second to load! The built-in 256GB SSD should be sufficient for most people, but note that it only had about 190GB of space available out of the box. The display on the Surface Pro 8 is simply gorgeous. It has a 2880 x 1920 resolution with vivid colors and even features a 120Hz refresh rate, which can be reduced to 60Hz to prolong battery life. So while the display is not quite 4K, movies and videos still look great on this screen. You’ll likely want to get the keyboard for the unit, so figure on adding a couple extra hundred dollars to the cost of the unit. The Surface Pro Keyboard with Slim Pen 2 is comfortable to type on, although it feels somewhat delicate due to its thinness, so if you need to write an angry email, don’t take it out on this keyboard. The built-in trackpad is responsive and works well for pointing, scrolling, and tapping. The keyboard also includes a space to store the Slim Pen 2 in the section that normally faces up against the tablet, so you can be sure the pen doesn’t fall out. The Slim Pen 2 works well for doodling or marking up a PDF, and there is an adjustable tactile engine for the pen that can make it “feel” like you’re writing on paper (although, I had to adjust the tactile feedback to the max of 100 to really notice it). Even the webcam and microphone perform much better than your typical Windows laptop, which is important in this day and age of the hybrid work environment. Webcam images look sharp (and support Windows Hello for fast logins) and the microphones pick up my voice well while doing a decent job of filtering out background sounds. ## Windows 11 The Surface Pro 8 includes Windows 11 out of the box… sort of. It seems there is an early release version installed on the tablet as the initial setup process requires a long download and installation to finalize Windows 11. Therefore, be aware that you’ll need a good internet connection to initially set up the device. I like the fact that Windows 11 appears to be more a cosmetic change than a complete overhaul of the operating system like Windows XP was. I haven’t noticed any major issues with any of my applications or drivers. While I primarily use macOS as my daily driver, having the icons centered in the taskbar helps me feel more at home on Windows. The windows have rounded corners and translucency is used throughout the operating system, not like Windows Vista, but more subtly. I like having widgets and was somewhat sad when Vista’s “gadgets” were discontinued, but widgets are back in Windows 11 with a dedicated spot on the taskbar that is separate from the Start menu. However, the selection of widgets seems to be limited to those made by Microsoft at this time. Also, I wish the widget could “live” on the desktop instead of inside a dedicated taskbar icon. I could see a common use case where, when you’re closing all of your windows at the end of the day, it would be nice to see the traffic widget on your desktop so you know what your evening commute will be like. ## Battery Life While Microsoft states you can get up to 16 hours of battery life, that might be a bit of a stretch. After about an hour of general web browsing and document editing, the battery dropped about 10%, so I would say you’re more likely to get 8-10 hours before you need to charge. This is still impressive and likely enough to get you through most of your workday, although meetings and video calls will presumably drain the battery faster. I was happy to find the inclusion of two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the side of the unit, allowing me to connect the tablet to my Belkin USB-C hub to use my keyboard, mouse, and ultra-widescreen monitor while charging the Surface Pro 8, all with just one cord. Windows 11 seems to handle docking and undocking with ease and doesn’t completely make a mess of all of my open windows. ## Summary The Surface Pro 8 tablet features fast performance and a beautiful 13” display in a thin and sleek design. Two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports give you flexibility for docking with an external monitor and charging. Battery life should get you through most of your day. While the keyboard is comfortable to type on, be sure to factor in the extra cost as it is sold separately.