Review: Microsoft Surface Pro 7+
Price: £1,629 (inc VAT) from fave.co/30xqejb
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
By naming this Windows tablet the Surface Pro 7+, Microsoft mistakenly implies that it’s some sort of minor upgrade from the Surface Pro 7. Nothing could be further from the truth: we rarely see such massive upgrades in CPU and GPU horsepower, as well as battery life. It also offers an LTE option and an absolutely dead-silent, fanless chassis.
Sure, a few decisions made us scratch our heads. Why do we have to choose between an integrated microSD slot or the LTE option? Thunderbolt still isn’t here, either. But even these flaws really can’t mar an exciting leap in
performance. This is the best Surface Pro of several generations, and for the moment the best Windows tablet on the market, too.
SPECS AND FEATURES
As we look at the Surface Pro 7+ specs, note that at press time, the only retail source we could find was Microsoft’s own online store. Incidentally, spelling the name as either ‘Surface Pro 7+’ or ‘Surface Pro 7 Plus’ works, but the full name is Surface Pro 7+ for Business. It ships with Windows 10 Pro, which offers more management and security features than the Home version.
Unlike with past Surface Pro devices, where the base model was often inadequate, every Surface Pro 7+ configuration available is solid. While the £909 Core i3/8GB/128GB version is a bit tight on storage space, at least it doesn’t skimp on RAM.
Display: 12.3in (2,736x1,824; 267ppi) PixelSense Display Processor: Intel Core i3-1115G4/Core i5-1135G7 (as tested)/Core I7-1165G7 Graphics: Core i3, UHD; Core i5/i7, as tested, Iris XE Memory: Wi-Fi, LTE, as tested 8GB/16GB LPDDR4x; Wi-Fi, 32GB LPDDR4x
Storage: (Wi-Fi, LTE, 128GB/256GB; Wi-Fi, 512GB/1TB
Ports: 1 1x USB-C, 1x full-size USB-A, 3.5mm headphone jack, 1x Surface Connect port, Surface Type Cover port, microSDXC card reader (Wi-Fi), 1x nano SIM (4G)
Security: Camera (Windows Hello)
Camera: 5Mp/1080p (user-facing), 8MP (rear-facing)
Battery: 50.4Wh (claimed), 48.9Wh actual
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax; Bluetooth 5.0
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions: 292x201x8.5mm
Weight: Core i3/i5 w/Wi-Fi, 770g; Core
i5, LTE, 796g; Core i7, 784g Colour: Platinum, Matte Black Optional accessories: Surface Pro Signature Type Cover, Surface Pen
DESIGN
Microsoft’s Surface Pro line-up of Windows tablets has remained largely unchanged since the Surface Pro 3. It’s a 12in Windows tablet with a sturdy kickstand that reclines almost flat. Microsoft has always taken pride in the design of the Surface Pro’s hinge, and it’s justified – it enables triple-duty as a tablet, drawing pad, and something close to a traditional clamshell laptop.
Microsoft manufactured the Surface Pro 7+ out of what it calls a “unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting”. The unibody construction gives the tablet structural strength, while the magnesium serves as a passive heat pipe to the outside world, bolstered by the tiny vents cut into the periphery of the chassis. Both the Core i3 and Core i5 models are entirely fanless designs, which absolutely depend on these passive heat distribution methods. As our performance tests reveal, such superb improvements without the distraction of a fan are truly worth applauding.
The Surface Pro 7+ display is as bright and beautiful as ever, offering both ‘Enhanced’ and sRGB colour modes. Microsoft continues the Surface tradition of carving out rather substantial bezels around the display – about 1.5 centimetres to the sides in landscape mode, and about 1.2cm at top and bottom. Aesthetically, they grow uglier each year as laptop display bezels continue to shrink. But they’re still handy when the Surface Pro 7+ is actually used as a tablet, so you can grasp it without accidentally triggering something.
Every time I test a Surface tablet I realize once again just how convenient it can be to tote a tablet, clicking out the kickstand to watch a video on a bedspread, lap, or side table. If I weren’t so worried about gunking up the display, I might have even brought it into the kitchen.
Microsoft representatives told me the display was made thinner to accommodate a larger, 50.4 Watt hour battery. (Windows reported that the battery was somewhat smaller than Microsoft’s claims, at 48.9Wh.) Microsoft rates the display at 400 nits, according to a company representative.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has stuck fast to its rapidly aging port choices. The integrated USB-A can be used with a keyboard or wired mouse. Microsoft still uses the legacy Surface Connector as either a charging port or as a connection to the Surface Dock 2.
The Surface Connector was once far ahead of its time, but it now lags somewhat behind. The USB-C port accommodates the vast ecosystem of USB-C hubs, but it isn’t Thunderbolt-capable, as more
laptops include these days. Any monitor output must route through the Surface Connector to the Surface Dock 2 – which, like a Thunderbolt 3 dock, drives two 4K displays at 60Hz apiece. Still, it’s a proprietary solution that locks you into the Surface ecosystem.
Behind the kickstand, there are two changes. The LTE options ship with a small cubby to insert a Nano-SIM, and that appears to be at the exclusion of the microSDXC slot, which is reserved for Wi-Fi-only models. (You can eject the Nano-SIM cubby using a SIM ejector tool, though you have to insert it deeper than you might expect before it unlatches.) That’s a change from past Surface Pro tablets. In the Surface Pro (2017), Microsoft placed the LTE MicroSIM slot alongside the microSDXC slot, allowing you to have both.
On the brighter side, the Surface Pro 7+ ships with a removable SSD, a first for the Surface Pro series. While Microsoft intends this feature as a convenience for enterprise IT management, the company does provide general guidelines and device-specific instructions for removing the SSD. Like the Nano-SIM cubby, you can access the SSD compartment with a SIM ejector tool, which is partially affixed by a strong
magnet. The SSD looks like it can be unscrewed with a correctly-sized Torx screwdriver. We would have preferred the hybrid SIM/SSD cubby found within the Surface Pro X, itself a sort of Batman Beyond vision of the Surface Pro series.
Unfortunately, the Surface Pro 7+ isn’t a 5G-capable device, but you do get the option of using the device’s embedded eSIM, or inserting a physical SIM into the tray. We used the latter method to test the LTE around town, performing a speed test and streaming a 4K video from YouTube at selected locations. The wireless performance was adequate – just above 20Mb/s downstream unless I was in sight of the tower, when performance soared to 158Mb/s. Video streamed without a hitch.
KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD
Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets always ship with a hidden cost: the Surface Pro Type Cover. Though you can use Windows’ built-in, on-screen keyboard, a good hardware keyboard is an almost but-not-absolute requirement for the Surface Pro for maximum productivity.
Microsoft supplies two: the Surface Pro Type Cover (£125) as well as the Surface Pro Signature Type Cover (£150), which magnetically connect to the tablets and protect the screen when not in use. (You’re free to use your own USB or Bluetooth keyboard, too.) They’re otherwise identical, save for the fact that the Signature Type cover includes Alcantara fabric and a variety of colours – currently Platinum, Ice Blue and Poppy Red. Microsoft’s vanilla Type Cover ships in a neutral black.
While typing on a Type Cover doesn’t offer the same comfort or stability as a laptop’s keyboard, they come surprisingly close. Microsoft’s Surface Pro hinge angles the keyboard slightly, connected via a second Surface Connector that powers the keyboard’s backlight and provides a wired I/O connection. (There are three backlighting levels with a minuscule amount of light bleed.) Microsoft’s Surface Book series offers the most keyboard travel, now at 1.55mm; but the slightly more flattish Type Cover’s spacious keys still function well for long-term work. The trackpad on all options is small, but functional.
None of the Surface Pro tablets, however, have quite solved the ‘lap-ability’ problem of typing in your lap. The double hinge connecting the keyboard to the Surface Pro 7+ tablet still can’t quite always hold the tablet if it flips forward over your knees. The thin, metal kickstand still digs into your thighs. Because the tablet is designed to recline, it simply can’t work as well on a airplane tray table as a similarly-sized clamshell, or a smaller tablet like the Surface Go 2.
Surface Pro tablets offer a creative outlet with their pen compatibility. For that, you’ll need one of Microsoft’s £100 Surface Pens as well as the almost-forgotten Surface Dial. Using a Surface Pen and other styluses in house, we experienced consistent responsiveness compared to other, recent Surface tablets.
AUDIO AND WEBCAM
The Surface Pro 7 and 7+ both include a pair of stereo speakers rated at 1.6 watts; the Surface Pro 7+ includes Dolby Atmos audio controls. Perhaps because of that internal redesign that increased
the battery size, to my ears, the speakers sound flatter and softer, even after fiddling with the Atmos settings.
Long before the pandemic hit, the Surface line-up emphasized great webcams, though they still lack a privacy shutter. The Surface Pro 7+ includes a great 1080p, user-facing webcam, but also a surprisingly high-resolution rear-mounted webcam. The latter was designed for business-related tasks such as taking snapshots of whiteboards or scanning documents. You can also make ‘professional’ adjustments such as manual white balance and exposure, and even manual focus. You may not care, but it’s extremely rare for a laptop or tablet maker to offer these options.
PERFORMANCE
Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro 7+ benefits from the new 11th-gen Core chip inside of it, a member of the potent new Tiger Lake family. We’ve already compared the Surface Pro 7 to the
Surface Pro 7+ in benchmarks (see page 33), showing that Microsoft increased the CPU performance of the Surface Pro 7+ by about 22 per cent. That’s good, but check out the GPU performance, which has improved massively – up to 91 per cent – thanks to the new Xe core built into the Tiger Lake architecture.
In part, that’s because dialling up the Windows power performance slider actually makes a difference. Microsoft shipped our review unit set to ‘best battery’ by default, even while plugged in. In previous Surfaces, adjusting the slider to ‘best performance’ didn’t alter the results meaningfully, but with the Surface Pro 7+, we saw a boost of another 10 per cent. We’ve highlighted those ‘maximum performance’ scores by outlining them in black in our performance charts.
The most impressive part, however, is that the Surface Pro 7+ does all this without a fan – at least in the Core i3 and Core i5 models – and we didn’t notice any evidence of slowdown during prolonged gaming sessions due to thermal throttling. (“[The] Core i7 [model] is designed to minimize fan speed and noise to only the most intensive workloads,” according to Microsoft.)
We rarely see such a significant generation-to-generation improvement as we do between the Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro 7+. Not only would we recommend the Surface Pro 7+ for everyday office work, but the upgraded GPU makes it a serious contender for light gaming – without drastically dialled-down visual settings, either. Don’t expect you’ll be able to play graphically intensive games like Microsoft’s Flight Simulator at comfortable resolutions and frame rates. But a racing game like Forza Horizon 4? Yes, absolutely.
If our comparison set seems heavily Microsoft, you’re right – the vast majority of Windows tablets sold currently are manufactured by Microsoft. We’re expecting Tiger Lake-based corporate Windows tablets from Lenovo (the ThinkPad X12) and Dell (the Latitude 7320), but they aren’t available yet. So we’ve included gen-over-gen comparisons alongside with some older third-party tablets and Microsoft’s Surface Laptops for comparison.
Our first benchmark is UL’s older PCMark 8 Creative, a synthetic test encompassing photo and video editing, light gaming, and other mainstream tasks. Here, the Surface Pro 7+ leads in both default and performance modes.
We’re shifting to the more modern PCMark 10 suite, which offers an enormous variety of tests, from web browsing, video conferencing, spreadsheet work, photo editing, and
3D rendering. Note that we weren’t able to test some devices using both benchmarks. In any case, the Surface Pro 7+ again posts leading scores in the comparison.
Maxon’s Cinebench test asks each CPU core and thread to render a 3D image as quickly as possible. It’s a short sprint for the CPU in the R15 release of the benchmark. The Surface Pro 7+ posts a mid range score in default mode, but it vaults to the top in performance mode.
We’re moving from the aging Cinebench R15 to the current R23 release, which (among other changes) imposes longer test run that creates more of a thermal load. While we don’t have enough data from other products to create a chart, we can say that the fanless, Core i5 Surface Pro 7+ we’ve
reviewed decreases performance by about 20 per cent. We’ve tested this performance drop on powerful gaming notebooks, which prioritize cooling, and found the difference there is narrower, about 10 per cent.
Our primary CPU stress test uses the free HandBrake utility to transcode a Hollywood movie for an Android tablet. Because the test can take anywhere from 30 minutes to more than an hour, it can cause thermal throttling, especially in thinner Windows PCs. The older HandBrake version we use isn’t optimized for the modern features of the Tiger Lake platform, but we stuck with it so we could compare it to older platforms. No surprise, the Surface Pro 7+ was again among the top players.
To test the new Iris Xe GPU within Surface Pro 7+’s CPU, we turn to 3DMark and the older Sky Diver test. This is where we see the Surface Pro 7+ really shine: The graphics performance is nearly double that of the Surface Pro 7!
We also compared the Surface Pro 7+ to some similar Iris Xe-based laptops using the more modern Time Spy benchmark.
Can you play games with the Surface Pro 7+? Absolutely. We played a pair of real-world games: Microsoft’s own Forza Horizon 4, a visually rich, fastpaced racing game; and Troy: A Total War Saga, which takes a bird’s-eye view of a battle simulator, with hundreds of individual characters. Both games stress the CPU and GPU alike.
In the case of Forza Horizon 4, I eked out 30 frames per second (fps) at Low settings at 1,920x1,200, which accommodates the tablet’s 3:2 screen ratio. (Unlike some games, Forza recommends 30fps, versus 60fps, as a satisfactory frame rate. In my experience, it runs just fine at that setting. At Medium settings, the frame rate was about 23fps to 25fps.)
We used the ‘battle’ benchmark within the Troy simulator, and again generated a satisfactory 30fps at
1,280x1,024 at Medium settings – albeit with some odd stutters. While we wouldn’t suggest that this could take the place of a dedicated gaming laptop, clearly the Surface Pro 7+ has acquired some respectable gaming chops. And remember, this is all being done without a fan.
Finally, we tested the Surface Pro 7+ battery life by setting the display to a fixed luminance, then repeatedly looping a video until the battery expired. Battery life improves about 12 per cent over the Surface Pro 7+, thanks to the thinner display and larger battery Microsoft added. (The battery in the Surface Pro 7 was 43.2Wh; the Surface Pro 7+ comes in at 48.9Wh.)
In all, battery life has improved slightly over previous Surfaces, and that’s good news: Just over 10 hours is excellent. But be careful! Battery life dropped by nearly three hours with performance
set to maximum. We also were surprised to see what happened when we accidentally left the Dolby Atmos for headphones setting switched on: battery life dropped about two hours.
VERDICT
We still don’t know why this tablet wasn’t called the Surface Pro 8. That’s how much the Surface Pro 7+ has improved over the Surface Pro 7. Because the new Tiger Lake CPU appears to have played a major role in this upgrade, we’ll be interested to see how the Surface Pro 7+ compares to other Tiger Lake-based tablets coming down the pike. If you’d like to wait to shop the alternatives, we understand.
If you’re deciding whether to upgrade from an older Surface Pro, the Surface Pro 7+ performance justifies an unequivocal yes. If you’re debating between the Surface Pro 7+ and a more traditional clamshell, though, we’d be more cautious: Surface Pro tablets come with a price premium attached, and this is no exception. You’re going to see similar benefits from notebook PCs that transition from Intel’s 10th-gen to 11th-gen products, such as the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 9310, as well as the Asus ZenBook Flip 13, and they’re priced similarly as our review unit.
Still – a massive increase in GPU power, a good bump in CPU power, an LTE option, more battery... and no fan? Those are all compelling reasons to consider the Surface Pro 7+. The best Windows tablet just got much, much better.
SPECIFICATIONS
• 12.3in (2,736x1,824; 267ppi) PixelSense Display
• Windows 10 Pro
• Quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 Processor
• Intel Iris Xe Graphics GPU
• 16GB LPDDR4x RAM
• 256GB SSD
• Windows Hello face authentication camera
• 5Mp front-facing camera with 1080p full HD video
• 8Mp rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
• Dual far-field Studio Mics
• 1.6-watt stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos
• 1x USB-C
• 1x full-size USB-A
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 1x Surface Connect port
• Surface Type Cover port12
• MicroSDXC card reader (Wi-Fi)
• 1x nano SIM (4G)
• Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax
• Bluetooth 5.0
• 50.4Wh battery
• 292x201x8.5mm
• 796g