But it only covers 73.4% of the Adobe RGB and 75.7% of the DCI P3 gamuts favoured by creatives that work in physical media. I’d want a device being marketed for creatives to cover at least 80% of these gamuts out of the box. Performance The 11th generation octa-core Core i7-1185G7 processor in our review model gives the Surface Pro 8 a useful turn of speed. In our 4K media benchmark, it scored 134 points, almost double the score of the 10th generation Core i7-powered Surface Pro 7, which scored 68 points. Battery life varies significantly based on usage, network and feature configuration, signal strength, settings and other factors. See aka.ms/SurfaceBatteryPerformance for details.

This is one of the best 2-in-1 laptops for those who plan to use it in each form equally, it switches between laptop and tablet without any fuss. If you don’t intend to use it much as a laptop, this is one of the most powerful tablets you can buy. It’ll be great for note-taking and drawing too. The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 improves on what came before it in a few big ways whilst maintaining the essence of the Surface Pro series.The pen is slightly different to the older Surface Pen seen on past Pro tablets. It’s plastic, has flat sides and features a new built-in haptic motor that aims to replicate the feeling of drawing or writing on paper when interacting with the Pro 8’s screen. The feature works well enough, though it’s not quite as authentic as the experience I have using one of Remarkable’s tablets. But the flat sides did take some getting used to. For the first few days I felt the pen’s shape wasn’t quite as ergonomic, and occasionally I experienced hand cramps when using it for prolonged digital painting sessions. Surface devices traditionally have fairly utilitarian designs, with Microsoft tending to make minor refinements, rather than outright changes year-on-year. This changed with the Surface Pro 8 and its contemporary design boost, but the new Surface Pro 9 reverts to type with no visual differences, sans a new Forest green colour option. Comparison of viewable content on Surface devices with 3:2 aspect ratio v. laptops with 16:10 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

Colours available on selected models only. Available colours, sizes, finishes and processors may vary by store, market and configuration. I was also impressed by how cool the tablet ran. The fan system works well and ensured the device ran cool and quiet in most instances. The only time I noticed any warming or noise was when running demanding processes for prolonged periods, but even then the noise and heat didn’t become real issues. Maximum brightness is good rather than great at 335cd/m² (the Pro 7’s panel was 400cd/m²) but it is handily colourful with a total colour volume that’s 106.9% of the sRGB gamut. But the flipside, when paired with a Type Cover, and the Slim Pen 2 its Windows 11 software lets it function much better as a full fat laptop replacement than its Apple rival, making it better for office use. Design Following on from the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, the 8th generation has had a few significant upgrades. The most obvious change is the display which has increased in size from 12.3-inches to 13-inches, without too much of an impact on the dimensions of the whole device. It’s also a slightly higher resolution this time around with a brand new 120Hz refresh rate as well as the usual option for 60Hz.

It also ran creative workloads okay. I’ve been able to digitally paint in Krita and do basic 3D modelling in Blender on the Surface Pro 8 without any real fuss. Though more hardcore workloads like large-scale vector projects and video editing will give it pause. Microsoft’s Surface machines have always had good webcams and the 1080p affair in the Pro 8 is no exception. It delivers a crisp, colourful video feed even in low light and supports Windows Hello facial recognition log-in. There’s also a 10MP camera at the rear, which doesn’t do a bad job, but that doesn’t make it any less irrelevant. The USB-C ports now not only support Thunderbolt 4 but also the latest USB 4.0 specification, with maximum potential data transfer speeds of 40Gbits/sec. The Pro 7’s USB-A port has been consigned to the rubbish heap. Wireless communications are handled by the ubiquitous Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 card and, of course, you also get Bluetooth 5.1.

Some older devices will be limited to support for 1,024 levels of pressure due to limitations of earlier MPP protocols, but for the most part, all these devices will support the Surface Pen. It's also worth noting that the Surface Laptop lineup, as well as the Surface Pro 3, do not support magnetic attachment for the pen. All the others let you store the pen on the side in some way. And battery life isn’t all that impressive, either. The Surface Pro 8 ran for 7hrs 16mins in our video rundown battery test, four minutes shy of the Surface Pro 7, which kept going for 7hrs 20mins. That’s despite the Surface Pro 8 having a bigger battery (51.5Wh versus 43.2Wh). That’s enough to see you through a full day of work, but the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, not to mention countless regular laptops, can do much better.Not everything about it is perfect, the battery life could use a boost and it’s a shame there’s no MicroSD card slot. But when it comes down to it the only reasons I would say not to buy this is if you already own the Surface Pro 7 or if you’re only planning to use it as a laptop because you can get more power for your money elsewhere and the design of the keyboard means it’s not going to be quite comfortable enough to use on the go. Microsoft Surface Pro 8 review: also consider Aside from magnetic attachment, third-party pens also support all of these features, so they're a great choice too if you don't think you need to store the pen magnetically on your device. The Surface Laptop Go doesn't support active pens

Elsewhere, the screen feels very similar to past Surfaces. This means the screen is great for productivity and basic things like Netflix binging, but not appropriate for hardcore creative work.Tactile signals with Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 can be experienced on some applications on Surface Pro 8 running Windows 11. Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 sold separately. The model I tested out uses the 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It’s certainly powerful enough for most tasks, I never had any problems with long loading times or opening up software. As a tablet, it’s seriously powerful. As a laptop, it’s not quite as impressive but it’ll still do more than enough for most. The Surface Pro 8 is Microsoft’s flagship convertible tablet-come-laptop from 2021, letting buyers use it as a Windows tablet or portable laptop/sketch station when paired with the optional Signature Cover case and Slim Pen 2.