Table of Contents
At a peep
Educated’s Rating
Execs
- Superior display cloak: increased, higher-res, higher refresh rate
- Inking is a pleasure
- Right audio, with louder audio system
- Unusual non-compulsory Form Quilt integrates pen successfully
Cons
- Webcam would possibly per chance perchance need some tweaking
- Pen and keyboard mute payment additional
- Still dear
Our Verdict
The Surface Reliable 8 provides an supreme upgrade to Microsoft’s pill lineup, with superior performance, inking, and audio, with appropriate payment for the money.
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Microsoft’s Surface Reliable 8 pill arrives as Home windows 11 goes out the door. Microsoft has already shipped one pill this twelve months, the Surface Reliable 7+, which rose to the tip of our roundup of the most efficient Home windows pills of 2021. Can the Surface Reliable 8 increase upon it?
Sure. The Surface Reliable 8 boldly strides forward with a increased, higher decision, faster display cloak, a revamped inking trip spearheaded by the non-compulsory Surface Slim Pen 2, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports that supplement the legacy Surface Join charger. It’s a dramatic remodeling of the iconic Surface Reliable pill line, and that’s ample to get your attention.
Editor’s Mask: Our long-established review illustrious some placing variation in some benchmarks, and performance in some benchmarks that looked out of line with others. We notified Microsoft about these inconsistencies sooner than publishing our long-established review, and so that they equipped no explanation by press time. After our review revealed, they asked us to update our review unit as soon as more and re-check our benchmarks. The rankings improved, drastically in locations. We’ve up to this point our benchmark charts, the review textual notify material, and our receive to contemplate this. Our long-established review wants to be archived here.
Our long-established review theorized that some interaction between the brand new Surface Reliable 8 hardware, the brand new Home windows 11 running machine, and the firmware/drivers compulsory to feature the 2 brought on the inconsistent habits. We’d extremely lend a hand customers to make sure their Surface Reliable 8 is up to this point by process of Home windows Update sooner than extensively utilizing this intention.
Microsoft Surface Reliable 8 specifications
For now, there’s one crucial switch in configuration between the Surface Reliable 7+ for Change and the most up-to-date Surface Reliable 8: The Surface Reliable 8 lacks a realistic Core i3 probability, and thus its wicked build is $100 higher, at $1,099. The appropriate files is that every of the Surface Reliable 8 alternatives Microsoft is promoting must mute offer ample computational energy and reminiscence for any purchaser. Our review unit additionally lacked mobile capabilities, so we didn’t take a look at these.
Microsoft continues to promote the Surface’s associate keyboard and the pen individually, even though there’s an order keyboard/pen bundle that Microsoft will promote for another $279.99. The Surface Reliable 8 has been designed with the brand new Surface Slim Pen 2 in suggestions, nonetheless, and Microsoft says you’ll trip reduced e-ink latency/saunter while you use it.
- Heed: 13-lumber PixelSense Waft (2880×1920, 267 PPI)
- Processor: Particular person: (Core i5-1135G7, Core i7-1185G7) Commercial: (Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1145G7, Core i7-1185G7)
- Graphics: UHD (Core i3), Iris Xe (Core i5, i7)
- Memory: 8/16/32GB LPDDR4x RAM (16GB as examined)
- Storage: 128GB/256GB removable SSD; 512GB/1TB SSD (256GB as examined)
- Ports: 2 USB-C (USB 4.0/Thunderbolt 4), 1 Surface Join port, Surface Form Quilt Port, 3.5mm jack
- Security: Digicam (Home windows Hello)
- Digicam: 5MP/1080p (user-facing), 10MP (rear-facing)
- Battery: 50.2Wh (originate), 51.3Wh (stout payment)
- Wireless: WiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1; non-compulsory LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66
- Running machine: Particular person: Home windows 11 Home; Change: Home windows 10 Reliable or Home windows 11 Reliable
- Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37in.
- Weight: 1.96lb (as specified)
- Colour: Platinum, Graphite
- Heed: Starting up at $1,099.99, $1,599.99 as reviewed
- Non-compulsory tools: Surface Slim Pen 2: $129.99, Surface Slim Pen Charger: $34.99, Surface Reliable Signature Keyboard w/ Slim Pen 2 Bundle: $279.99, Surface Reliable Signature Keyboard: $179.99 (Alcantara Ice Blue, Poppy Red, Platinum, Black), Surface Reliable Keyboard: $139.99
Microsoft Surface Reliable 8 prices
- Core i5/8GB RAM/128 GB SSD: $1,099.99 (Platinum)
- Core i5/8/256: $1,199.99 (Platinum, Graphite)
- Core i5/8/512: $1,399.99 (Platinum, Graphite)
- Core i5/16/256 – $1,399.99 (Platinum, Graphite)
- Core i7/16/256 – $1,599.99 (Platinum, Graphite)
- Core i7/16/512 – $1,899.99 (Platinum, Graphite)
- Core i7/16/1TB – $2,199.99 (Platinum)
- Core i7/32/1TB – $2,599.99 (Platinum)
Two years ago, the Surface Reliable X showcased the long flee of Microsoft’s Surface Reliable pill lineup. This day’s Surface Reliable 8 has been redesigned in its portray, with a pair of Thunderbolt ports and an built-in charging cubby for the Surface Slim Pen 2. That typically is a diminutive bit disconcerting for long-term Surface owners, as Microsoft has moved issues around. The energy button is now on the aspect of the pill, to illustrate.
Even though the Surface Reliable 8 is now a diminutive heavier and chunkier than its predecessors, you’ll wish to evaluation them aspect by aspect to peep. In every other case, the Surface Reliable 8 looks to be just like the a similar as it emerges from the sphere. Expectantly you’ve already purchased the Surface Reliable Signature Keyboard to cast off stout advantage.
Love various Surface Reliable devices relationship back to the Surface Reliable 3, the pill reclines to almost horizontal. The Surface Reliable’s Signature magnetic keyboard, even though, clasps it firmly. If that matters to you, capture a Surface Reliable 8. Rival pills don’t invest ample within the magnetic connection, and a pill in your lap already risks flipping backwards over your knees.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Microsoft ships the Surface Reliable 8, as it ships most of its Surface devices, dialed down to minimal performance ranges. Even though you quit a diminutive bit by manner of performance, this additionally manner that the Surface Reliable 8 rarely ever engages its cooling fan, and it supreme does so very quietly when critical. (You would possibly per chance perchance perchance adjust the performance all the procedure in which through the Home windows 11 Settings menu, namely Design > Energy & battery.) Narrow grillwork runs along every aspect of the pill, providing cooling. On the entire, Surface pills get warm to sizzling along the upper rear panel, and the SP8 will not be any exception.
Heed Hachman / IDG
With the Surface Reliable 8, Microsoft is introducing a rather increased 13-lumber (2,880x 1,920) multitouch “PixelSense Waft” reveal that preserves the three:2 display cloak ratio, versus the 12.3-lumber (2736×1824) shows we’ve historically received as piece of the Surface Reliable lineup. Before the complete lot, Microsoft told us that the PixelSense Waft reveal would dynamically shift backward and forward between the normal 60Hz refresh rate and a new 120Hz refresh rate, a characteristic identified as Dynamic Refresh Rate. Better refresh charges are more straightforward on the eyes and would additionally increase inking, because the pen’s ink would “drift” extra without problems onto the display cloak.
Microsoft’s Dynamic Refresh Rate characteristic didn’t fabricate it to the Surface Reliable 8, sadly. As an alternate, Microsoft locked the refresh rate at 60Hz, even though you would possibly per chance perchance also manually adjust it by process of the Settings menu (Design > Heed > Developed Heed) to the upper 120 Hz surroundings. Doing so would imply that your battery lifestyles would decrease, but we didn’t trip that. We’ll negate extra about this for the interval of our performance assessments, namely the battery lifestyles piece.
Heed Hachman / IDG
With the Surface Reliable 8, the Surface Reliable line makes a serious transition to Thunderbolt, an enhanced I/O skill that has existed on rival notebooks and pills for a whereas. The Surface Reliable 8 contains a pair of Thunderbolt ports on one aspect, and has completed away with the older USB Form-A port fully. (Now not just like the Surface Reliable X, Microsoft has fortunately incorporated a headphone jack, as successfully.) This permits the Surface Reliable 8 to connect with a microscopic but growing ecosystem of Thunderbolt docks, and payment from them too—equipped that they’re powered. That provides SP8 traders the probability to both payment straight from the incorporated 65W Surface charger, or faucet into a Thunderbolt dock.
The sacrifice? Microsoft has completed away with the microSD slot for this period, a tacit push for people to add their photos straight to the Microsoft OneDrive cloud. Whenever you would love a bodily microSD port, that you just would be able to earn a number of enormous USB-C dongles to resolve between.
Audio
We didn’t hear any substantive qualitative differences between the Surface Reliable 8 and earlier Surface pills, but the audio system are certainly louder: they’re now 2W audio system, versus the 1.6W audio system inclined by the Surface Reliable 7+. Love the sooner model, they additionally use Dolby Atmos, which is in-built and no longer indubitably adjustable by the user out of doors of the normal audio settings. Our Surface Reliable 7+ review illustrious that the audio system sounded a diminutive bit flatter and softer, and it looks that Microsoft has rectified this within the Surface Reliable 8.
In frequent, the audio is indubitably among the many higher alternatives for pills, and sounds as appropriate or higher than some laptops. You received’t need headphones to trip music on the Surface Reliable 8.
Typing trip and keyboard
Microsoft’s Surface Reliable Signature Keyboard, sold individually, doesn’t appear to be the relaxation various than what Microsoft has equipped along with past Surface Reliable pills. As illustrious above, the magnetic hinge clasps the keyboard tightly to the pill, freeing you of the dread of working in your lap. On a desktop, the Surface Reliable 8’s keyboard feels joyful, build simply, with a ample quantity of key shuttle and resilience. You wants as a procedure to the use the keyboard conveniently for a entire day without any extra stress in your wrists or fingers.
Heed Hachman / IDG
The touchpad additionally looks to earn remained unchanged. It’s indubitably clickable for nearly the complete lot of the trackpad, even though you’ll earn to exert an unreasonable quantity for power at the tip of the trackpad for the clicks to register. Even though a diminutive bit plasticky, the trackpad is joyful to use.
What’s new for the Surface pill line is that the Surface Reliable 8’s new Signature Keyboard contains a pen cubby for the Slim Pen 2, which looks to be the long flee of Microsoft’s pens. As we illustrious in our most efficient pill roundup, no longer every pill keyboard that contains these new pens has a accurate magnetic connection. The keyboard folds up, too, maintaining the pen securely whereas charging it. It’s a large originate and fully eliminates the probability of losing a pen whereas the Surface Reliable 8 is kept internal your get or backpack.
Inking
Love the Surface Laptop pc Studio, inking is a precedence on the Surface Reliable 8. The Surface Reliable 8 makes use of the Microsoft Pen Protocol along with the Surface Slim Pen 2. Whereas I’m no longer a respectable illustrator, my influence is that utilizing Microsoft’s two-button Surface Slim Pen 2 is extra correct on the Surface Reliable 8, perchance in piece since the display cloak provides extra pixel density than the Surface Laptop pc Studio. Pairing the Slim Pen 2 is a plug, so mighty that it looked love the pen paired as rapidly as I connected the keyboard. You would possibly per chance perchance perchance beginning apps by pressing a button, and “erase” shiny by rubbing the tip of the pen against the display cloak.
The Slim Pen 2 additionally contains haptic suggestions, so that you just’ll “feel” interactions with shapes on Microsoft Whiteboard, to illustrate. This would per chance also the truth is be an assistive expertise dressed up as a new client characteristic, but I wouldn’t capture a Slim Pen 2 for this.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Don’t minimize build the rechargeable pen, both, or its cubby! The times of making an strive to hunt down a AAAA battery in your Surface Pen are over. (Microsoft says that earlier Surface Pens will mute work, but that you just received’t peek the a similar reduced latency as you can whereas utilizing the Surface Slim Pen 2.
I manually adjusted the reveal refresh rate to 120 Hz to see the improved inking advantages, something that Microsoft had at the muse pledged that it will stop dynamically. After all, I didn’t peek any line offsets, where ink flows from a determined blueprint from where the pen touches, even with the pen at an perspective. There would possibly per chance be mute a diminutive little bit of ink latency as you pass referring to the web page, but, to me, it wasn’t essential. It additionally looks that the the pen jitter—where the pen’s traces ripple backward and forward—is lower than the Surface Laptop pc Studio or earlier Surface Reliable pills. Whereas we didn’t evaluation the inking skill to a dedicated Wacom pill, it’s shiny to notify that the Slim Pen 2 provides an outstanding inking trip.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Digicam
Because the firm within the back of the Teams videoconferencing application, Microsoft intrinsically understands that folk wish to see appropriate on camera for the interval of conferences or shiny speaking to pals. Even though the Surface Reliable 8’s user-facing camera mute shoots shiny 1080p video, Microsoft has added ambient shade and lighting fixtures sensors, too. The latter sensor does a closer job of highlighting your portray utilizing the appropriate publicity, whereas the shade sensor will routinely adjust the shade of your display cloak to make amends for the ambient light.
Sadly, if the shade sensor’s job is to reveal the webcam’s enviornment in primarily the most efficient light, it wants some work because the image beneath signifies.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Microsoft additionally enhanced its rear-facing camera, too, collectively with a 10Mpixel camera sensor, up from 8MP. We’re no longer the kind that takes photos with a pill, but the added decision indubitably can’t harm.
We had been hoping that the Home windows Hello 2.0 characteristic that Microsoft disclosed to us will be enabled on these machines. Home windows Hello 2.0 supposedly can elaborate your face even with a beard, glasses, or an N95 conceal on. We examined the latter and…no dice. Home windows couldn’t put up a new face profile with a conceal on, and couldn’t look me with one on, both.
Efficiency
Our long-established checking out confirmed surprisingly inconsistent habits when working our identical earlier suite of benchmarks, which we’ve illustrious within the introduction. After e-newsletter, Microsoft requested that we re-flee our benchmarks to double-check the anomalies. We as soon as more up to this point the Surface Reliable 8 to the most up-to-date Microsoft drivers and re-ran the benchmarks. This time, we received consistent results.
Microsoft additionally requested that we add performance benchmarks for the Surface Reliable 8 at its maximum performance settings. Microsoft typically ships its review fashions with performance dialed down to a minimum to cast off fan noise. The competition typically makes use of both “balanced” settings or dials them up to maximum, too. We’ve added these revised Surface Reliable 8 numbers with earlier opinions, so we did so as soon as more. In the charts beneath, the utmost performance settings are outlined in sunless.
It’s rate noting that the retests resulted in essential differences within the Cinebench benchmark; our prolonged performance take a look at, Handbrake; and, to a lesser extent, in PCMark 10. Our assessments of 3D graphics performance remained unchanged. Battery lifestyles increased a diminutive.
From a usability standpoint, the Surface Reliable 8 performs successfully. Our 4K streaming take a look at video rendered dropped shiny 8 frames out of 10,000 or so, which manner that video will circulation jitter free even at excessive resolutions. With the a similar GPU because the Surface Reliable 7+, you need to mute search files from comparable gameplay while you resolve to head that route—concept on taking half in games at 1080p settings on High. Right here’s a switch and inking pill, even though, first and essential.
We’ve when put next the Microsoft Surface Reliable 8 to the Surface Reliable 7+ and Surface Reliable 7, take into accout that, as well to a couple of utterly different pills in our most up-to-date pill roundup. The important thing good points of comparability are the Dell Latitude 7320 Removable and the Lenovo ThinkPad Removable Gen 1, which straight compete against the Surface Reliable 8. We’ve highlighted these pills with a lighter shade of blue within the charts on this piece. Technically, the Surface Lunge 2 is additionally a smaller pill competitor. We’ve additionally added notebooks love the Microsoft Surface Laptop pc 3 and Surface Laptop pc 4 as extra good points of comparability
We use the PCMark take a look at to measure how the pill will fare beneath frequent computing workloads. The take a look at measures videoconferencing, discover processing, some light gaming, CAD work, application startup, and additional. Right here, the Surface Reliable 8 performs up to expectations, with increased gen-over-gen performance.
Heed Hachman / IDG
The Cinebench R15 benchmark measures synthesized CPU performance, with the implication that performance will scale on the CPU-dependent capabilities that we can’t namely take a look at. In our first batch of results, performance was as soon as in every single place the intention — some results had been 50 p.c of the others. After our re-flee, the benchmark rankings various by shiny a few p.c. We’ve averaged them collectively to supply a composite receive.
Cinebench measures the performance of all of the CPU cores and threads working collectively in concert, which is reflected here. The SP8’s single-core result was as soon as 188, which is additionally supreme.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Cinebench R23, a extra evolved model of the benchmark, provides a manner to ascertain whether thermal points would possibly per chance perchance per chance even be at play: flee a single take a look at, then loop the take a look at repeatedly for ten minutes and evaluation the outcomes. Our rankings had been comparable—2,895 versus 2,867—which led me to doubt that the Surface Reliable 8 has any thermal points where the CPU is anxious.
We at the muse noticed extra anomalies within the Handbrake take a look at, which makes use of a free tool to transcode video into a format formatted for an Android pill. It’s an actual-world application, even though much less so in a world where Netflix movies would possibly per chance perchance per chance even be saved to a pc. We measure the time Handbrake takes to entire the duty as a manner to resolve every the performance of the pill as well to its skill to lend a hand frigid over a protracted interval of time. In our retesting, nonetheless, these anomalies disappeared, and we story what we earn about to be the pill’s correct performance in our chart beneath.
Heed Hachman / IDG
In graphics, even though, the Surface Reliable 8 delivered consistent results. Right here, we inclined the 3DMark Time Bag out about take a look at, and the Iris Xe GPU performed excellently.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Lastly, we examined battery lifestyles. Battery lifestyles is turning into an increasing number of tough to take a look at, as extra pc producers add sensors that detect the ambient brightness of the display cloak and adjust the output accordingly. (Smartphones stop this repeatedly.) The wrinkles that the Surface Reliable 8 adds to this are threefold. Microsoft and Home windows will adjust the “notify material” of video being played back, to use battery lifestyles; adjusting the reveal refresh rate can earn an affect on battery lifestyles, too. Lastly, our Surface Reliable 8 review unit determined after a few days to implement “trim charging,” a new characteristic that stops the battery from being charged past 80 p.c. We had been notified by Microsoft that the Surface app would possibly per chance perchance per chance even be inclined to disclose this characteristic off while you’d love your battery to payment to its maximum doable.
All this means that there are just too many variables to point out you with a entire portray of how long the Surface Reliable 8’s battery will last. We typically flee down a pc battery by looping a 4K video repeatedly except it expires, and we did that here. We re-ran rundown assessments where we disabled the lighting fixtures sensor (even though no longer the notify material adjustment) to give a repeatable even though worst-case scenario. (We did no longer take a look at with performance put to maximum.)
At 9 hours 23 minutes you need to mute get a stout workday’s use out of the Surface Reliable 8. Dialing up the refresh rate to 120Hz didn’t appear to indubitably decrease the battery lifestyles at all, because the pill expired after 628 minutes.
Heed Hachman / IDG
Turning off every the lighting fixtures and notify material adjustment capabilities on the Surface Reliable 8 delivered an awful battery lifetime of 375 minutes, or 6 hours 15 minutes. That’s at a 60Hz refresh rate, too. That’s no longer the default configuration, nonetheless, and also you would want to adjust the pill’s settings all the procedure in which through the Settings menu to supply that receive. (This result was as soon as additionally piece of our long-established put of checking out results, too.)
With our 2d flee of checking out, we now feel joyful in declaring that the Surface Reliable 8 delivers performance that exceeds its competition, or no longer lower than suits it in most circumstances.
Conclusion
All of this provides a query: How successfully stop we know the Surface Reliable 8? From a hardware standpoint, relatively successfully: We can indubitably peek the associated payment of the increased, superior reveal, and the pill’s audio sounds enormous, too. Determined, the webcam looks to desire a diminutive bit work, but that’s a tweak it wants as a procedure to implement rapidly.
Fortunately, after our retesting with new updates we now know mighty extra about how the Surface Reliable 8 performs, as successfully, and we’re left with a mighty extra sure influence. In actuality, your pill selections boil down to the supreme Dell Latitude 7320 Removable and the very appropriate Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Removable Gen 1 pill, too. A key distinction here is build: our Lenovo review pill is priced at $1,331, whereas the Dell charges $2,189. Our Surface Reliable 8 review unit charges $1,599. Sure, paying $1,500 for a pill is mute loads to question, but the Surface Reliable 8 simply provides so mighty bigger than its modern competition.
We’re no longer joyful with how Microsoft pushed this pill into our fingers, and our preliminary detrimental response is mute justified. That was as soon as then, nonetheless. Microsoft’s Surface Reliable 8 now provides contemporary performance at a competitive build, plus a top-notch display cloak and inking trip. We earn that the Surface Reliable 8 is barely primarily the most efficient Home windows pill within the marketplace shiny now.
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As PCWorld’s senior editor, Heed specializes in Microsoft files and chip expertise, among various beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.