Review of Microsoft Surface Pro 8 for Business

Over the past few years here on ZDNet, I’ve been writing about how I spend a lot of time working on my iPad Pro. It’s my ideal workstation for writing, inbox handling, and switching between Slack or Discord.

But even though the iPad has been a staple of my workflow for the past 10 years, I’m starting to get tired of using too much hardware with software that hasn’t reached its full potential. And while the initial experience of Stage Manager in combination with an external display was promising, since then, Apple has removed key features – such as external monitor support – due to bugs and issues. on performance. I’m still confused about the future of the iPad.

Earlier this year, I embarked on trying out different devices, mostly Windows laptops, in an effort to find something to replace my iPad Pro. The Studio Surface Laptop It’s fast, powerful, and enjoyable to use, but it lacks LTE and is clunky compared to the iPad Pro. I used a Surface Pro X Continuity since release and form factor is ideal, but the lack of full support for Microsoft’s slow transition to ARM by third party apps results in slow performance.

As part of my journey, I tested a Surface Pro 8 with LTE. While you won’t find it listed on Microsoft’s main Surface store, the company actually made an LTE version of the Surface Pro 8. To find it, however, you’ll need to look at the version. Microsoft Store business. In fact, it’s even called Surface Pro 8 for Business. You can order the Business Model from one of the retailers Microsoft lists on this pageconsists of Verizon Wirelessor directly from Microsoft Enterprise.

A new interface surface…kind

When Microsoft Announce Surface Pro 8 in September 2021, it unveiled a brand new design for the Surface Pro lineup. Well, it’s not entirely new; it’s actually the same overall design of Surface Pro X. Putting the Pro X next to the Pro 8, the only noticeable difference is that the Pro 8 is thicker than the Pro X. Otherwise, they look exactly the same.

The Pro 8’s PixelSense display has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, responds to touch, and can be used with the Surface Pen.

The built-in kickstand has the same ability as a traditional Surface to change the viewing angle of the Pro 8’s screen, including placing it almost flat on a table – an ideal position for drawing or writing with 2 . thin pen.

On the right side of the Pro 8’s case are a Surface Connect port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports for connecting an external display, hard drive, or using any USB-C accessory. Just above the only two ports on the Pro 8 is the power button. The left edge of the case has a 3.5mm headphone jack and volume up/down buttons.

Above the display you’ll find a 5-megapixel camera along with all the hardware needed for facial recognition to use Windows Hello to unlock the Pro 8 or sign in to apps.

When you open the kickstand, you’ll find a small door in the bottom left corner of the Pro 8’s case. You’ll need to use a SIM card tool or a paper clip to push in the small hole to push the cover out. Beneath it is the Pro 8’s SSD storage – which you can swap and replace yourself – along with a SIM card slot.

You don’t have to use a physical SIM card thanks to the Pro 8’s eSIM support, but since I often switch between the Pro X and the iPad Pro, I’ve got a dedicated SIM card with a data-only plan attached to it.

Also: eSIM vs SIM: What’s the difference?

Included in the box is the Pro 8 and a charger that uses the Surface Connect port. If you don’t want to carry the included charger, you can use the USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port to charge the tablet.

What you won’t find in the box is any stylus or keyboard. Instead, you will need to purchase them individually. If you’re a longtime Surface user, I have some bad news: previous Surface keyboards won’t work on the Pro 8.

You have three different options for equipping your new tablet’s keyboard, converting it into a 2-in-1 keyboard. You can choose $179 Surface Pro Signature Keyboardthe $199 Surface Pro Signature Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader (currently on sale for $169) or get the $279 combo set of one Surface Pro Signature Keyboard with 2 . Slim Pen.

I already have a combiner, so that’s what I used during my testing.

Regardless of which keyboard you choose, they all have a Surface Slim Pen 2 slot above the keyboard. When folded, the pen rests against the bottom bezel of the Pro 8. It wirelessly charges the pen, so it’s always ready to go.

Overall, I love the design of the Pro 8. I actually find myself using it more like a tablet than the iPad Pro simply because the kickstand is built into the case. There is no cover or other instance that I have to manage. Awesome.

But can it replace the iPad Pro?

Inside the Surface Pro 8 that I tested is an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. It is running Windows 11 Pro.

LTE options range from $1,349 for an Intel Core i5, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of storage to the version I tested, which normally retails for $1,849 but is currently on sale with price 1,599 dollars. Again, those prices don’t include the keyboard.

The rest of the specs include Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth 5.1, and up to 14 hours of battery life, down from 16 hours for the Wi-Fi-only model.

One of the first things I did after setting up the Pro 8 was to enable the 120Hz refresh rate, bumping it up from the standard 60Hz. I can notice a difference while scrolling or playing some casual games, but overall, I’m not sure it’s absolutely necessary on the Pro 8. Yes, it’s useful, but it also comes at a cost. use battery.

I still haven’t gotten anywhere near the 14-hour estimate, even when just using the Pro 8 on Wi-Fi. However, the Pro 8’s battery lasted about as long as my iPad Pro’s, typically 8 hours during a workday, give or take an hour.

One thing that surprised me after using the Pro X and iPad Pro and switching to the Pro 8 is the fact that the Pro 8 still has a fan in it. I guess the Pro 8 is much thicker than the Pro X to make room for the cooling system. The fan isn’t too loud, but it does run a lot, especially when I connect the Pro 8 to an external monitor.

Speaking of which, I connected the Pro 8 to a monitor for most of my testing. Thanks to the addition of Thunderbolt 4 support, I was able to use any of the Thunderbolt 4 ports I had on hand – including Belkin’s Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dockthere are enough ports for me to use.

The ability to hook up the tablet to an external display and get it to actually work the way it did was supposed to be a huge boost to my productivity. I can open apps like Slack and iCloud email on the Pro 8’s screen, while writing with iA Writer on the larger external display with multiple Edge tabs open.

When working on my iPad Pro connected to the display, everything on the iPad’s screen is mirrored on the larger screen. There are some apps that use Apple’s rudimentary API for external displays, but it’s not great.

Also, I have a lot of workarounds to get certain tasks done on my iPad. For example, to publish content on ZDNet, I often have to remotely access my MacBook Pro and use Chrome to add images to stories, or the content management system crashes. To be fair, it’s an issue of Safari that also exists on the Mac. However, I can use the actual version of Chrome on the Mac, but not the full version of the WebKit rendering engine that Apple forces developers to use on iPhones and iPads. That means Edge, Chrome, Brave and the like are basically just versions of the interface of Safari.

I noticed that the Pro 8 is running the full-fledged operating system in Windows 11, while the iPad Pro is running the mobile-first operating system in iPadOS, but the devices are relatively similar in size and aim for the same. a user type. Even prices close enough for comparison are warranted.

The total cost of Surface Pro 8 with LTE, plus Signature Keyboard Case with Slim Pen is $2,128. iPad Pro with 5G, 16GB memory, 1TB storage, Apple’s Magic Keyboard with trackpad and Apple Pencil is $2,449.

There are still many things iPad Pro does better

I admit, up until this point, I’ve written a love letter to the Surface Pro 8. But that’s because it really deserves it. It’s a great 2-in-1 that I’ve enjoyed using, but there are some areas where the iPad Pro is just a better device for me.

I prefer to use Apple’s Mail app with iCloud + my personal domain instead of using Thunderbird or the iCloud website to access my email. me too love and cherish write on the iPad because there are a lot less distractions with an app open and visible. I need to experiment more with using Windows apps in full screen mode and with Focus support to recreate the same experience on Windows. It’s also a better tablet thanks to the touch-first interface.

One thing I like about my iPad Pro is that its performance is reliable and consistent. When using Pro 8 with multiple apps open, there will be a slight delay or pause before an app appears after being minimized sometimes. It is not specific to any application; I regularly experience it with Thunderbird, Discord, and Slack.

Key point

After a few months of Surface Pro 8 on the shelves, I’ve gone back to using it as my primary device. Once again I prefer to use multiple windows for multitasking, don’t have to worry about any alternatives and I still have complete and total portability.

So, iPad or Surface Pro 8? With so much uncertainty about the future of iPadOS, I’m not as confident as I used to be about the future of Apple’s premium tablets. That said, Apple continues to make the best tablet-specific devices you can buy.

If you’re wondering whether to go with the Surface Pro 8 or the iPad Pro, I’ll say this: you can’t go wrong with either device, as long as you know what you’re getting into. The iPad Pro can do a lot of things, but only a few are really good. While the Surface Pro 8 can do a lot of things really well, it also has the majority of glitches and bugs.

At the end of the day, though, you’ll get a full computer in the Surface Pro 8, and currently, 80% of one in the iPad Pro.