Surface Pro 8 review: the best of both worlds

The Surface Pro 8 is the Surface device we’ve been waiting for. It’s a well-made, modern Windows convertible powered by Intel’s 11th-Gen Core processors. It starts at $1,099, a price that doesn’t include the keyboard or stylus. But its high price doesn’t make it a bad device—just one that’s perfect for a fairly specific audience.

[santiagomedranotorres]

Thanks for the transparency about the pricing of the model YOU are reviewing

[alexf]

It has always seemed absurd to me selling the keyboard separately. I can’t imagine anyone using it purely as a tablet. Like I understand selling the pen separately (and keyboard for iPads) as not everyone will be using one and seems more of an optional extra, but keyboard seems like a necessity for surface pro.

[parminderjaura]

The pricing is absurd, especially for a keyboard that isn't included.

[jbnelson]

$1879 for a device with 256GB is absolutely insane in 2021

You can literally get a M1 13” MacBook Pro with 16GB of ram and 1TB of storage for $20 more from Apple. And it’s not like their storage or ram upgrades come cheap in the first place.

Also, the M1 easily outpaces the i7-1185G7 in Geekbench.

M1
Single Core: 1705
Multi Core: 7381

i7-1185G7
Single Core: 1417
Multi Core: 4854

And if you prefer 120Hz/Tablet form factor, 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 512GB, M1, MiniLED, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard is $2 cheaper than their review unit.

And to anyone saying that you have to buy both to get all those features, no you don’t. You either primarily use Surface Pro as a laptop or a tablet, picking either an iPad or a MacBook doesn’t significantly handicap you. I agree Apple is constraining iPadOS and they should provide a touchscreen option for MacBook’s (though I doubt I would ever want to use it). But while the Surface Pro is a jack of all trades master of none, iPad and MacBook are each best in their class.

[mitchrob]

Great review, I'm tempted to upgrade from my surface pro 5. The firm factor is perfect for reading sheet music off of.

[PaulHo]

I'm blown away. I guess I haven't looked at laptop pricing in so long that I didn't realize they rocketed to outer orbit. I'm only eyeing the Lenovo Duet 5 right now, but just had a flashback to scoring a Broshiba Satellite 15.6 with an i5 in college for $500, and the crucial 10-key. Modern computing is so foreign now.

[soumyadeepbasak]

The screen has improved greatly this time but the price is still unreasonable.

[yamamancha]

Of course cheaper would be nicer, but the price is reasonable considering there's no other device offering the same specs/performance.
I might consider upgrading from my SP6 once I'm sure Windows 11 is a good user experience. Despite the overheating, my SP3 still works as a sub-office computer. Considering the lack of repairability of these devices, Surface Pro has been a reliable business solution.

[DixonLu]

No mention by Verge or MS how well Win11/SP8 work with Adobe creative suite, the biggest use case for the pen. Until tested, difficult to say whether $2k is worth it.

[UsnRoberts]

Great detailed and clean review. thank you.

[扇風機-cf]

The price is honestly worth it for me, since you can take handwritten notes + type/use computer-only software on the same device. That saves physical room in my bag compared to using a tablet and laptop, and also saves me a lot of paper in the long run.

[BeardoPNW]

I really appreciate Monica's breakdown of everything here. It's the kind of review that I'd share with a relative if they asked about buying the surface pro, and I wouldn't have to worry about explaining anything else. I love it!

[ankitjain]

Surface can handle heat well when I was pushing through pretty intensive loads ( watching Deiter videos on youtube 🤣)

[Jayy]

Can't wait to upgrade my Pro 5 to this. The form factor update and other improvements are too good to ignore

[MarkJones-bcvx]

Well done review. It would be nice to see you do more hardware reviews in the future. Great job covering all the important details for anyone who would consider this device.

[raresmacovei]

Mostly happy with the SP8. Still disappointed there's no AMD Zen3 option.

[bharat]

Finally MS has got the right balance b/w form and function!

[Niko-opoz]

I cant tell if the person in this video is the person I watch in class all the time from Crash Course Kids or like a science kids thing.
She uses “that is” a lot and it makes her words make more sense.
If that really is you, I am legit so happy to see you here. You make things fun and entertaining.

[romanluu]

I've been using the 2018 iPad Pro as a full-time laptop replacement for just over two years now. I am looking to upgrade next year and the Surface Pro 9 or perhaps a refreshed Surface Pro X are on my list too since I might want to switch to Windows.

However, the steep price is really off-putting. Matching Apple's prices is not the way Microsoft can take some of the iPad market share, it needs to undercut it by at least a $100 or so. At least for me.

[marcodavanzo]

This time around I'm really thinking of upgrading, it's just that my surface pro 3 is still a fine piece of computer...