Surface Pro 7+ i5 vs i7 is the extra £540 worth it?

In this video we look at the performance differences between the fan-less i5 and the fan-assisted i7 editions of Microsoft's new Surface Pro 7 plus with tiger lake cpu. The i5 8gb/128gb cost £849 whereas the i7 16gb/256gb cost us £1390, how much extra performance does the extra £540 really get us?

Timestamps: -
0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:28 - Comparison of specs
0:01:38 - Cinebench R20
0:04:56 - DaVinci Resolve real world test
0:06:54 - Geekbench 5
0:07:23 - Geekbench OpenCL
0:07:45 - Timespy
0:08:13 - Unigen Valley
0:09:23 - Performance on battery in different Windows power profiles
0:10:28 - Battery life - i5 vs i7
0:11:20 - Conclusions - which CPU edition is right for you

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[richardhughes]

This was super helpful, thank you! I'm in the middle of deciding between these two right now.

[malfarol]

These comparison videos on my favorite. The review videos are great and informative, but you don’t really understand how good a laptop is until you look at it next to another one. You also do a really good job focusing in on the features that matter. Another solid video.

[disco]

I know this video is 2 years old, but just wanted to say Many Thanks! I have a work laptop, and when I travel for work, I didn't want my own personal laptop to take up that much more room! I do need a windows i5 or higher for some of my apps/programs, so the Surface form factor is perfect for me. And even though it's a little dated, the 7+ i5 will suit my needs and I especially appreciate the usb c charging, while still retaining and usb a and micro SD!!! So for me it's perfect while not breaking the bank! Thanks again for your video answering many of my questions, Cheers!

[Rei_n]

Excellent comparison and very helpful in formulating my choice between versions

[soubhikmukherjee]

The background looks a lot nicer today!

[mahfah]

For a mix, also included Surface pro 4 results would have been very interested as I am sure just like me there are lot of people who still have Pro 4 which is still good for light surfing or work

[efficaciousuave]

very helpful review, especially the da vinci comparison which showcased realworld performance...and yes, love the accent too 😊

[patrickb]

How does it compare with running game emulators. Ex. Snes, ps1, ps2, gamecube.

I'm looking for a tablet that I can watch Netflix and one with gaming emulators.

Need something for my slow night shifts when there is nothing happening.

Would these suffice? Would the i7 be better?

[rodeva]

I'm currently in need of upgrading my SP3 and the i7 is the only logical one simply because I do quite high load work. I do run a 2nd laptop that has nvidia graphics and that typically handles well but as the difference is only ~500 it might be worth the upgrade (taking into account versatility and portability also considering I use it more out of habit). I'll wait for that Lightroom video as that'll help me decide as well. That i5 version is not the LTE version correct?

[MissCharly]

Hi! I used to have a surface pro 4 as my main work laptop when I worked for MS. We all chose the i5 on purpose because for that model it simply performed better. Now I am looking for a replacement of my old personal laptop. I plan to use it for photo editing and some occasional gaming.
You think the i7 is necessary for the image processing software, or should the i5 be oke enough? With 8gig ram..?
Thanks for the great video!

[anthonyramos]

Thanks for the video. What's your take on the i5 for zoom meetings and maybe simultaneously presenting on chrome or PowerPoint via screen share. From what you said it seems like 8gb ram will be sufficient.

[BoppinBunnyBops]

I plan on buying the surface pro 7 this year as my main pc for art. So, I'll be using programs like clip studio, photoshop, and illustrator pretty heavily. Should I just spend the extra cash and get the i7?

[hovavmor]

do you have tested the LTE version of the surface 7 pro Plus, and does it can be also upgrate (the LTE) vertion above the 256GB of storage by your self

[robdogg]

Is the i5 model powerful enough for 4k video playback without stuttering? Im looking for a tablet that I can connect to my UHD tv and watch movies. Can’t find any recommendations anywhere. Many thanks

[santafejboy]

Great videos! Thanks for the hard work :)

[universalenergybeing]

Nice compare! 👍🏻
Could you pls compare Surface Pro and iPad as to which is a better device for taking handwritten notes?
Thanks!

[sendashish]

I think this is the only video which is doing such a comparison between i5 and i7 in pro 7+. Thank you so much for sharing it. I have one concern. So far I used i7 with 8GB RAM (HP Spectre) for 3 years, and it worked wonderfully well but bit loud at times. I could able to run R studio, matlab, and other office stuff and programming together. Now I wanted to buy surface pro 7+ and thinking of i5, 8GB, 128GB option. My usage is lightweight illustrator/XD, office, and once in a while video editing. Mostly I do programming websites on nodejs and JS. I am wondering if the chosen configuration is good enough for this task. Because i7 version is $820 expensive than i5 which is huge. I wish they had i7, 16GB with less SSD in the spectrum. Please guide.

[johnnyvvlog]

It seems the trend continues. If you need those 16GB of ram the i7 is the logical choice since the price difference with the i5 is so slim.

[manmeetkaur]

Hello! I was wondering deciding between the two, just going to start university and i work from home as well. So for both of these things i just want one device. Do you think the i5 is good enough or upgrade to i7?

[AnthonyChopra]

i think even now in 2021 I'm thinking of getting this to replace my old Lenovo miix520 mainly because the battery I got seems to make my tablet cut out of power at like 10/15%. and second, i kinda want to use my Lenovo for the tv now on mains power.

anyway, great clear video u made. now i can be sure to prob buy the one with the fan. thanks