Microsoft Surface Pro 8 review: Surface perfection comes at a high price

Note: This review was first published on 22 February 2022.

Surface Pro perfected?

There’s no question that Microsoft’s Surface Pro is the premier detachable notebook. However, Microsoft has been curiously tardy with the last four generations since the design hasn’t really changed. Sure, they dropped the Surface Pro X in 2019 which had a sleek new design. But that was a completely different kind of device that ran an Arm processor which limited its capabilites. What people really wanted was a new x86-based Surface Pro that had the looks of the Surface Pro X. Guess what, that’s exactly what Microsoft has given us.

Design, features, and specs

It might have taken a while but the Surface Pro 8 is finally available here. Why Microsoft has to take this long to release products locally will forever remain a mystery, but better late than never right?

The big change is obviously the design, which closely resembles the Surface Pro X. The Surface Pro 8 features a larger display with slimmer bezels on the sides. The top and bottom bezels are still quite large but they are necessary as they give users something to hold on to when the device is detached and used as a tablet. The body also has more rounded edges that make it look less blocky. Overall, it looks more contemporary and I’m confident most readers will like it. 

The screen is now a PixelSense Flow display that's 13 inches large (up from 12.3 inches). Fortunately, the 3:2 aspect ratio remains which is something longtime Surface Pro owners love. Resolution is now up to 2880 x 1920 pixels so the pixel density is unchanged at 267 pixels per inch. The colours look fantastic, as you’d expect. There’s also an Adaptive Colour feature that automatically adjusts the colour profile depending on your environment. By all accounts, this is a nice display but it's not quite a match for the OLED displays you find on new ultraportables like the HP Spectre x360 14 and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Carbon, which look more vivid and life-like.

The other big improvement to the display is the refresh rate. It now goes up to 120Hz which makes a huge difference because everything just looks smoother. Scrolling through web pages and emails feel more responsive and your cursor now floats around the screen more fluidly. The only downside is that battery life takes a hit. But this can be mitigated using the Dynamic Refresh Rate option that automatically toggles the display between 60Hz and 120Hz to conserve battery.

The web cameras on notebooks are often abysmal and not worth mentioning, but that’s not the case here because the Surface Pro 8 has a fairly high-resolution 5-megapixel camera. It’s capable of Windows Hello face authentication as well as Full-HD 1080p videos, and it’s one of the sharper and better web cameras I’ve experienced on a notebook. Crucially, it produces pleasant images even in challenging lighting conditions – an important consideration for users who spend a lot of time on Zoom calls. It’s definitely a step or two up from most typical 720p web cameras you see on most notebooks. There’s also a 10-megapixel rear-facing camera, which is decent enough for a quick photo.

Like any contemporary ultra-thin and light device, the Surface Pro 8 only comes with USB-C ports. There are two of them and both support USB4 and Thunderbolt 4. One thing to note is that one of the ports is located close to the power button, and when removing devices, it’s easy to inadvertently hit the power button and put the system to sleep.

There’s also a Surface Connect port but that can only be used with accessories that support it like the Surface Dock 2. Sadly, there’s no memory card reader of any sort. The port situation is not ideal but at least both support USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 so at least owners can take solace in the fact that they’ll play well with any kind of accessory.

The Surface Pro 8 is powered by Intel’s 11th generation “Tiger Lake” Core processors. Readers who follow processor developments closely will know that these are not Intel’s latest. Unfortunately, that’s the problem with Microsoft bringing these products to our market late. Things do get outdated quickly.

At any rate, these processors are no slouch and customers will be able to order their systems with either a Core i5-1135G7 or a Core i7-1185G7 processor. This will be paired with either 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB of memory, and up to 1TB of SSD storage. Microsoft offers 8 different configurations so readers should be able to find something that suits their needs and budgets. The unit I’m testing comes with the Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.

Interestingly, the Surface Pro 8 features upgradeable storage. Using a paper clip or SIM card ejector, you can remove a cover behind the device and access the internal SSD and swap it yourself. The only problem is that while it uses an M.2 connector, it comes in the rather uncommon M.2 2230 form factor, which is going to be a little harder to procure. 

Keyboard & trackpad

Like previous Surface Pros, the keyboard and pen are sold separately. They are pricey. The Surface Pro Signature Keyboard alone is S$289 while the Surface Slim Pen 2 is S$179. If you think you need both, it makes sense to get the bundle which includes the Surface Pro Signature Keyboard and Slim Pen 2 for S$399.

The Signature Keyboard connects magnetically to the Surface Pro and uses physical connectors so there’s no need to pair them. It has backlights that get quite bright and makes typing in the dark easy. It’s also covered in Alcantara. Though Alcantara feels nice and expensive, I suspect it will age poorly with wear.

New to this generation of keyboards is a handy storage tray for the Surface Slim Pen 2. The tray is hidden when you use the keyboard in the angled position so not only do you not see the pen, it’s also safely hidden away and there’s little chance of it falling out and getting lost. To access the pen, simply pull the keyboard flat and the pen starts working the moment you lift it from its tray.

The design of the pen is quite unusual because it's fairly flat – no doubt a requirement to get it to fit into the secret tray in the keyboard. Still, it feels nice and natural to hold and it works well with the Surface Pro 8 especially when the screen is in its 120Hz mode because it makes using the pen feel more responsive.

As far as detachable keyboards go, this is one of the better ones. To start, the keys are full-sized so it doesn’t feel cramped. Key feel is positive and there’s a surprising amount of key travel. And although the trackpad is a little small, it doesn’t feel too compromised and it’s wonderfully smooth and responsive. My only complaint is that it still feels a little flimsy even though it supposedly has a sturdier carbon fibre core. It’s not really an issue if you use it on a solid surface but it’s awkward if you are typing on your lap. But maybe that’s because I type with heavy strokes. 

Performance analysis

The unit I’m testing is powered by the Core i7-1185G7, one of the most powerful mobile processors in its class. It has 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and Intel Iris Xe graphics. Older Surface Pros were susceptible to heat soak and throttling and Microsoft sought to rectify this in the Surface Pro 8 by giving it a beefier cooling system. It uses a vapour chamber paired with three heat pipes that dissipates heat to three graphite heat spreaders. Let’s see if this new system works. Naturally, I’ll be comparing its performance against other ultraportable notebooks in its class like the recently reviewed HP Spectre x360 14, ASUS ZenBook 14X OLED, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon, and more.

Here’s how it stacks up against its rivals:

The Surface Pro 8’s performance was decent. On CPU intensive benchmarks like Geekbench and Cinebench, its multi-core scores were above average. Graphics performance, which used to be the Achilles’ heel of older Surface Pros, was also quite positive. Though the frame rates achieved on Tomb Raider were actually average, it resisted throttling well even after multiple runs, which suggests that Microsoft’s new cooling system works. Take a look at this old review to see how bad throttling can be in older models. Furthermore, the Surface Pro 8 remains surprisingly quiet even under heavy loads. 

The only point of concern is its poor storage score on PCMark 10. Here, it managed just 535 points and its average speed during the test was just 84.53 MB/s – well less than its rivals. Consequently, its PCMark 10 scores were negatively impacted. I investigated the issue further by copying files to and from the drive and found that performance in the real world was acceptable. Using a Thunderbolt external SSD, I could write to the Surface Pro 8’s SSD at speeds of up to 1GB/s. Crucially, in normal use, I never felt that the drive was limiting the device’s ability to perform. 

Battery life

Note: Battery tests were conducted using PCMark 10's battery benchmark with display set to 100% brightness.

Battery life is definitely one of the Surface Pro 8’s strong suits. Despite having the smallest battery (by a small margin), it managed to run for just over 9 hours on the Modern Office benchmark which consists of tasks like emails, spreadsheets, video conferencing, and light gaming. Gaming battery life was also quite good seeing that it lasted over two hours. And if we take into account its dimensions and weight, it’s clear that it scores highly on our Portability Index. Bear in mind that these numbers account for the additional heft of the Signature Keyboard. All in all, the Surface Pro 8 is clearly a good performer insofar as battery life is concerned.

The caveat, however, is that the battery tests were done with the screen set to its 60Hz refresh rate. I repeated the Modern Office benchmark with the screen’s refresh rate locked at 120Hz and found that it lasted around 7 hours and 20 minutes, which is a reduction of around 20%. That’s still a decent showing, especially when you remember that these tests were all done at maximum brightness. 

How deep are your pockets?

There’s no question that the Surface Pro 8 is the best Surface Pro yet and therefore also the best detachable notebook you can buy today. 

The redesign has given it a more modern look; it’s fantastically thin and light; the display, though not OLED, is great; and performance and battery life are both exemplary. The fact that it detaches to become a proper tablet gives it a versatility that is unmatched by its rivals. Sure, there are convertible notebooks but none of them can match the Surface Pro 8 as a tablet.

The only major downside to Surface Pro 8 is the price. Just look at the table above. Furthermore, accessories are sold separately and easily cost a few hundred more. Prices start at S$1,649, but that unit has little memory and storage. The cheapest configuration with 16GB of memory is S$2,099 but that only has 256GB of storage. Though with cloud storage so affordable these days, I think most people can get by with that. If you want a unit with 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD, prepare to cough up S$2,859. If it’s any consolation that configuration comes with the Core i7-1185G7 processor. 

As tested, my system with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of storage is S$2,399. However, the keyboard and pen is an additional S$399. This brings the complete system price to S$2,798. No matter how you look at it, the Surface Pro 8 is considerably dearer than its rivals.

All in all, it seems like Microsoft has finally perfected the template for a high-end Windows detachable notebook. And really, price is really the only major thing holding me back from giving the Surface Pro 8 a hearty recommendation. If you are willing to splash the cash, this is one of the best ultraportable Windows devices you can buy.

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