The basic concept of Microsoft’s Surface has been solid for years and Microsoft has not deviated from that with the Surface Pro 8. This Surface is also equipped with a metal housing (in this case aluminum) with a fold-out standard incorporated. Was there anything that could be improved? We investigated that for this Microsoft Surface Pro 8 review.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8
Price € 1579 (from € 1179)
Processor Core i5-1145G7
RAM 16 GB (from 8 GB)
Storage 256 GB SSD (from 128 GB)
Screen 13″ (2880×1920)
OS Windows 11 Pro (or Home)
Connections 2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 3.5mm headset jack, Surface Connect charging port
webcam 5 megapixel Windows Hello camera, 10 megapixel rear camera
wireless Wi-Fi 6, bluetooth 5.1
Dimensions 287 x 208 x 9.30mm
Weight 891 grams
Battery 51.5 Wh
Website www.microsoft.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Beautiful housing
- 2x Thunderbolt 4
- Excellent screen
- Handy with stylus (optional)
- Excellent camera
- Negatives
- Keyboard cover optional
- High price
Looks like this one Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with its rounded corners more like the Surface Pro X than its direct predecessor, the Surface Pro 7. A positive improvement, because it makes the Surface Pro feel modern again. Especially because compared to the Surface Pro 7, the USB-a connection has disappeared.
In addition to the Surface Connect connection that is used by the supplied charger (and optional docking station), you will now find two USB-C connections. They both support Thunderbolt 4 and you can also use them to charge the Surface Pro 8 in addition to image output. Handy, because you can easily use more universal USB-C docking stations. The build quality of the housing is fine and the foot is stable.
Hardware
The Surface 8 Pro is available from 1179 euros and contains a Core i5-1135G7 processor in combination with 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD. That is a hefty price for these specifications, especially because you still have to buy the almost mandatory keyboard cover separately. In any case, we do not recommend a Windows device with only 128 GB of storage, which means that the Surface Pro 8 has a slightly higher starting price in our opinion.
We received a test model from Microsoft business execution with Windows 11 Pro in which slightly faster processors are used, in this case a Core i5-1145G7 in combination with 16 GB RAM and a 256 GB ssd for which Microsoft asks 1579 euros. There are also more expensive configurations with larger SSDs, more RAM and a Core i7 processor.
It is interesting that the M.2 SSD is accessible via a hatch that you can open yourself, so you can upgrade the device in terms of storage, although you will have to look for an SSD in the somewhat different, smaller M.2-2230 format. .
Handy place for the stylus
Of course, a Surface is not complete without a keyboard cover and that is again available separately. Following on from the Surface Pro X, Microsoft has made an interesting improvement for pen users in the form of a pen compartment. The stylus is charged directly in this, so that it is always ready for use. The stylus itself works well.
It Signature Keyboard with this pen pocket (179.99 euros) is also for sale in combination with the corresponding stylus for 279.99 euros. The Smart Pen 2 can also be purchased separately for 129.99, but it makes more sense to purchase it directly in combination with the keyboard cover.
If you don’t need a stylus at all, there is also one keyboard cover without stylus pocket for 149.99 euros.
Screen
The housing of the Surface 8 Pro is slightly smaller than its predecessor, but it does have a significantly larger screen of 13 inches compared to the 12.3 inches in its predecessor. The device therefore has much slimmer screen edges, especially on the sides and is comparable to the previously released Surface Pro X, which also has a 13-inch screen. Microsoft keeps the screen at the 3:2 aspect ratio that we almost expect from Surface devices and has increased the resolution to 2880 x 1920 pixels.
What’s new is that this screen supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which makes the Surface feel just a bit smoother. This higher refresh rate is not enabled by default, because it results in higher energy consumption. In addition, in addition to automatically adjusting brightness, the screen now also supports adaptive color, which automatically changes the color temperature based on the environment. Similar to Apple’s True Tone technology.
This generally works well, but sometimes this change is a bit too obvious if the lighting conditions in the area are not stable. Fortunately, you can easily switch off the function, just like the automatic brightness. The image quality of the screen is excellent, but logically the touch screen mirrors a lot. That can be difficult in some lighting conditions.
Above the screen is a webcam that can be described as excellent. The images are sharp and the camera handles different lighting conditions well. The camera supports Windows Hello, so you can unlock the tablet with facial recognition. There is an even better camera on the back, but its usefulness is limited in our opinion.
Performance
The test model is equipped with a Core i5-1145G7 and is in practice a nice PC to work on. In PCMark 10, the Surface scores 4244 points and 4034 points in PCMark 10 Extended. That is a considerably higher score than the Surface Pro 7 with 3211 points, but lower than expected. There are devices in which the same processor scores better. On the other hand, the fan in the Surface Pro 8 usually remains silent during use.
The Surface Pro 8 is equipped with a battery with 51.5 Wh capacity that according to Microsoft lasts 16 hours. That’s a bit exaggerated, but getting through a whole working day is certainly possible. In the Modern office PCMark battery life test that simulates office use, the Surface 8 Pro clocks in at 11 hours 39 minutes when the screen refresh is set to 60 Hz. At 120 Hz it takes about two hours.
In our review model, the SSD is a copy of SK Hynix. The maximum read speed is 3429.20 MB/s while writing goes at a maximum of 1639.52 MB/s. In the Quick System Drive Benchmark of PCMark 10, the SSD has a bandwidth of 162.47 MB/s. It is certainly not the fastest SSD on the market, but more than fast enough in daily practice.
Conclusion
With the Surface Pro 8, Microsoft has made a lot of improvements to the Surface Pro, making it a much more modern device. The build quality is excellent and with two Thunderbolt connections there is little to be desired if you are not attached to usb-a. It is also a pleasure to work on thanks to the larger screen and the storage compartment for the stylus has been found handy.
An excellent product, which unfortunately is priced a lot higher than its direct predecessor, which makes it an extra shame that the handy keyboard cover with stylus has to be purchased separately.
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