Microsoft Surface Pro 7 review: This or a convertible notebook?

Note: This article was first published on 5 Feb 2020.

Still the king of detachable notebooks?

For the past few years, if you wanted a detachable notebook, you’ll go out and buy a Surface Pro. End of story. There have been challengers and pretenders but none close to matching the Surface Pro’s level of usability and refinement. So dominant is the Surface Pro that now most brands don’t even bother trying to come up with a credible rival.

The latest Surface Pro is called the Surface Pro 7 and it features Intel’s latest processors and some other subtle tweaks. Does it still rule the roost as the king of detachable notebooks? And should you get it over a convertible notebook? Read on to find out.

If you're keen to check out its pricing and configuration options, head over here to get your fix.

What’s new

There are only three notable updates to the Surface Pro 7 and they are the processor, ports, and connectivity options. Let’s start with the processor.

The Surface Pro 7 gets Intel’s newest 10th generation Ice Lake processor. This is a “true” 10th generation part built on Intel’s newest 10nm process. As usual, users will get a choice of Core i5 or Core i7 processors paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. The full list of configurations are below:

The next big update is the inclusion of a USB-C port in place of the outdated Mini-DisplayPort. This was something that many people have been clamouring for and it’s good to see Microsoft respond positively. Unfortunately, it isn’t a Thunderbolt 3 port so you don’t get the ultra high 40Gbps bandwidth. Instead, it supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 so you get a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 10Gbps. This is going to be good enough for most people. You can use it with USB-C docks and hubs to output to multiple displays and connect peripherals. It also supports charging so you can use it with an aftermarket USB-C power charger if you wish. Its only downside is that it won’t work with Thunderbolt devices. So external GPUs and super-quick Thunderbolt SSDs are out of bounds.

USB-C aside, you still a single good old USB-A port, 3.5mm headphone jack, a hidden microSD card reader, and a single Surface Connect port. The Surface Connect port lets you charge with the bundled power adapter (this keeps your USB-C port free) and also lets you connect to the Surface Dock.

The last big update is support for Wi-Fi 6 or 802.11ax. Wi-Fi 6 is the next big standard in wireless networking. It offers higher transfer speeds, but more importantly, improves support for the number connected devices by leveraging on LTE technology. Seeing that we have so many Wi-Fi-enabled devices, this is the biggest reason why you might want to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6.

What's not new?

Basically everything else. The form factor, dimensions, weight, and display are all identical to the Surface Pro 6, the Surface Pro (5), and even the Surface Pro 4. It means the Surface Pro 7 is still highly compact and very portable but it also means the design hasn’t changed since 2015 and it is starting to look very dated. The thick bezels, especially, are quite an eyesore especially when there are much sleeker-looking tablets like the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S6 around.

Also unchanged is the fact that accessories are sold separately and are really pricey. The Type Cover keyboard, which I would argue is essential to the Surface Pro, is a whopping S$249. And if you want to doodle or take notes, be prepared to shell out S$149 for the Surface Pen. This is something to take note of as it adds a sizable amount to the overall cost of the device.

Performance

To evaluate the Surface Pro 7, we will be pitting it against other comparable ultraportable notebooks such as the recently reviewed ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434, the Acer Swift 5, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, and the HP Spectre x360.

The Dell and HP are arguably the Surface Pro 7’s closest rivals as they feature top-notch build and convertible form factors that enable them to be used as tablets. Here are their configurations and how they stack up.

Benchmark results

The Surface Pro 7 was a strong performer. Its numbers on PCMark 10, WebXPRT 3, and Cinebench R20 were all very commendable. And although it couldn’t run 3DMark for unknown reasons, its numbers on Tomb Raider was decent considering its form factor. But perhaps more importantly, it exhibited very little performance throttling – an issue that plagued older models. Overall, it performed very admirably against its two closest rvials – the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and HP Spectre x360.

Battery life

The latest Surface Pro 7 has a battery capacity of just 43.2Wh – the smallest of all the notebooks here. Despite that, it lasted just over 5 hours in the Modern Office workload and was just five minutes shy of two hours in the intensive Gaming workload. Diving deeper and looking at the power consumption figures reveal that it is more efficient than its rivals. Overall, battery life and portability can be said to be very good.

Still the best detachable notebook, but…

If you are reading this review, I'm assuming you are in the market for a device that can work as a tablet and as a regular notebook. The first question to ask yourself is if you really prefer a detachable notebook over a convertible one?

If the answer is yes, the Surface Pro 7 is your best option. Admittedly, there’s a lack of credible competitors but the Surface Pro 7 itself is a decent device with class-leading build quality, a fantastic display, decent all-round performance, and a fantastically portable form factor.

The Surface Pro 7’s key downsides are its aged design and its price. The unit we tested (Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) comes in at S$2,688 and that’s excluding accessories. The Surface Type Cover is S$249 and the Surface Pen is another S$148. Add them all up and you are looking at S$3,085, which means the Surface Pro 7 costs about S$180 than the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and HP Spectre x360. The Surface Pro 7 is a pricey device.

However, if you are not set on a detachable notebook, it would be foolish not to at least check out convertible notebooks like the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and HP Spectre x360. Granted, their tablet modes are compromised, but their built-in keyboards offer a better typing experience. If you type a lot, this is something to bear in mind. Moreover, the current crop of convertible notebooks is much more comfortable to be used as tablets, because they have never been this compact or light.

To end, the Surface Pro 7 is still the detachable notebook to get, but its aged design and high price mean it’s harder to recommend it outright especially when there is no shortage of options.

If you're set on getting the Surface Pro 7, head over here to start your purchase journey!

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