Microsoft Surface Pro 7 – 12.3" Touch-Screen - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD(Latest Model) – Platinum (PUV-00001)

4.0 out of 5 stars

By Honest Reviewer - Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2019

The Pros, Cons and Oks for the Surface Pro 7 (HR).

Pros: • USB-C, Finally! As a past Surface Pro user, this was never a feature. With a USB-C, like any computer, you can do so much more with this device now. From headphones to connecting external 4k monitors, to charging this and other devices (USB-C chargers are 10x cheaper to get), to even connecting an Ethernet adaptor. About time Microsoft. • It’s a very sold machine. I go no flex issues, the frame feels sturdy, and overall I felt that I can throw this in a bag and not worry. • It’s light. Not IPad light, but enough that you won’t feel worried that you’re not going to bend it. • The microphone set up on the Pro is a big upgrade. Skype calls from my parents came crisp and clear in an indoor, TV on, volume. The web video is what it is, but the microphone setup is a thumbs up. • Cortana listens to you pretty well. I’m learning Spanish so translating even simple questions, from English to Spanish, Cortana does a lot better than either using Alexa or Google Assistant. Also questions about directions, weather, and others were spot on. • Excellent display. The screen is bright, outstanding saturation/color balance, and also offers ambient light sensing when it gets dark. When you go to settings you can modify it for a specific time, or it will automatically adjust when the sun goes down in your location. • Microsoft mastered the kickstand on this. Numerous ranges of all angels, and is even quite steady when it’s placed on my lap. • microSD reader (for upgraded memory option) • Headphone Jack. I find this feature a must if you’re planning to edit videos on this. • Solid State Drive (SDD) on a tablet size is one of the best things. If you have to choose, always an SSD, regardless of memory size. Faster, cooler, and • Charging on this is very fast. From 0 to 50% it took around 45-50 minutes. Note that I was using the charging cords that it came with. Don’t expect the same results when using an off-brand. • A lot of horsepower for a tablet. Inside is an Ice Lake processor. To summarize, it features smaller transistors that makes multi-tasking an non-issue. Trying out for the first time with around 10 apps running (Madden, Netflix, Live Maps, Grand Trims Mo, etc.), the machine had no lag or hiccups. Largely the effects of this chip will be appreciated in the next 2 years from when you get this tablet. • The processor allows Wi-Fi 6 to be enforced on this tablet. This area is still new but within the next year, this tablet will already be up to date with the hardware. Meaning stronger upload and download rates. • The speakers shoot sound directly to my face. Turning on Spotify, I got a decent quality in sound. With rock and country, I got a very balanced, and a lot of power in the volume. For the average listener it’s quite good. Not IPad level but still good to make the list. • I can see the 3:2 screen a benefit for those who want to read, show notes, and display documents at work. Not many tablets can provide this without losing some quality. For me, I saw no waste in this Surface. Cons and Oks: • The chunky bezel. Stick to the times Microsoft, this can’t be ignored in 2019. It’s very thick and with competitors providing bezel-less frames, or close to it, this is a major turn off (Not to mention that Microsoft itself has a Surface Pro X with a design that is significantly less in the bezel. (Why not this one?). • With the bezel issue, the screen size makes the tablet look 2 years older than what it is. • Last year's model and this one are 99% the same in design. Remove the USB-C connector and it’ll be 100% the same. A very outdated design as I think Microsoft invested all their money on the internals and just forgot about the redesigning. • The battery life isn’t great. I’m getting around 8 hours of power. That’s having Wi-Fi always on, web surfing, daily YouTube playing, and a couple of hours with Netflix (plus a couple of smaller apps). It can last a whole day if you control your power and your screen display, but it’s nowhere near what Microsoft is saying. • Don’t take it outside on a sunny day. That sun glare is too powerful for this display brightness. • Keyboard and Surface Pen are sold separately. I didn’t test these as you only get the tablet. • Even though USB-C is a great thing to have, we’re already in the USB 3.1 world. With also no Thunderbolt 3 (quick file transfer) I wish that Microsoft put more effort into the outside design as much as they put in there hardware on this machine. • I found no issue playing Overwatch on this but trying to play Call of Duty forget it. This isn’t for deep gaming and playing Overwatch killed a decent chunk of the battery. Bottom Line: If you’re going to buy this, you need to at least invest in there keyboard cover. It’s disappointing that to fully experience your Pro, you need to put down money on its keyboard and pen. Without a keyboard, from my experience, you’re pretty limited. I used a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but the portably is limited if you can’t attach them to the Surface Pro. Also we're in the age of laptops, tablets, and phones trying to reach the goal to be bezel-less. I have the previous model on hand and I can’t tell them apart in any way. Thanks to these 2019 new laptops/tablets, the bezels on this device make it feel like this tablet is from 2017. I’m also irritated that Microsoft didn’t at least try to improve the design. But if you can deal with the design (and the battery) issues, you’ll know that Microsoft put all their money on what’s inside the system. From the new core processors, this tablet is a beast. I found it very fast, reliable, and it will stand its ground for 2+ years. For me that’s the beauty of a Surface Pro: a PC in the size of a tablet. I’m always a PC fan and this performs as if I had a laptop on my lap, something an IPad can’t do. If you can deal with the generic bezel look, and put money down for their keyboard, you’re getting a beast of a computer fitting in a tablet. Overall: An outdated design that packs a lot of power for those who want more than just a generic tablet on the go. Hope I was a help to you. Love, Honest Reviewer

2.0 out of 5 stars

By DJ - Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2019

XPS 13 vs Yoga C940 vs Surface Pro 7 2-in-1's

Comparing Dell XPS 13, Lenovo Yoga C940 14 and Surface Pro 7 2-in-1's all with i7-1065G7 CPU/GPU. [SP7 PROS:] -Best 3:2 aspect ratio is better for productivity (but screen is uncomfortably small) > XPS 16:10 > Yoga 16:9 -IR camera for Windows Hello face sign-in, though not useful when docked or when screen is not at the correct angle -Least weight 2.4 lbs > 3 lbs for others -Quietest fan > Yoga > XPS (loudest) [SP7 CONS:] -Worst battery life (even worse than SP6) -Smallest 12.3" display with thick bezels -No 4K UHD option (but I recommend FHD with any brand/model for battery life, you can always dock to a larger monitor) -No Thunderbolt 3 with PD/DP (no eGPU) -Keyboard and pen sold separately [XPS PROS:] -Up to 32GB RAM > 16GB on others -Slimmest -Fingerprint reader on power button > Yoga on palmrest > SP7 on non-included $160 Type Cover with Fingerprint ID [XPS CONS:] -No USB-A (deal breaker for me) -No black exterior option. The white interior option keyboard is hard to see with the white backlighting -No far field microphones for Alexa or other assistants -Included charger is only 45W (less than 65W with Yoga/SP7) [YOGA PROS:] -Best screen-to-body ratio (89%) > XPS 84.9% > SP7 76.76%; although the hinge factors into this -Largest screen 14" > XPS 13.4" > SP7 12.3" -Deepest key travel, most comfortable keyboard > XPS > SP7 -Better Arrow Keys + Home/End/Pg Up/Pg Down layout -INCLUDED garaged pen with internal charging > magnetically attached and not included with purchase on others -Best in class speakers. Rotating soundbar with Dolby Atmos sounds amazing! Gets loud! -Built-in camera shutter -Coolest under heavy load > SP7 gets warm > XPS hottest -Fastest Rapid charge (2 hours in 15 minutes) -Largest 65 WHr battery > XPS 51 WHr > SP7 45 WHr [YOGA CONS:] -Shortest 16:9 aspect ratio with large "chin" bezel at bottom of screen face -No MicroSD slot compared to others -Anti-glare customizable option no longer available [CONS OF ALL:] -No HDMI -No dedicated GPU option, though Thunderbolt 3 on XPS and Yoga allows external GPUs for gaming. Not available on SP7. eGPU great for gaming, allows modular upgradability of graphics cards in the future, although they lose ~20% FPS compared to PCIe. [PRICING:] For i7, 16GB, 512GB with Windows 10 Home: YOGA 4K $1785 > XPS 4K + pen $1900 > SP7 FHD + type cover + pen $2160 [CONCLUSION:] The SP7 was the most expensive when you add the keyboard and pen. The XPS FHD with 32GB RAM came in at $1730. I would like to see a 32GB 4K 512GB option since I don't need that much on-device storage. All have performance improvements over their predecessors thanks to the new 10th gen Intel i7 processors, LPDDR4x RAM and WiFi 6. The Surface Book 2 is too dated to compare here and is clunkier. It's a toss up between the XPS for its 32GB RAM with taller screen, or the Yoga with its USB-A port, better keyboard, and garaged pen, among other things. The extra RAM comes in useful since the integrated graphics will use some of that. The 16GB models easily ran up to 80% CPU, RAM and GPU when driving 2 external monitors and simultaneously running Chrome with tabs, Office apps, iTunes and light gaming. It often sits at 8GB RAM under normal use. Some may appreciate all the ports being on one side as with the Yoga, or having ports on either side as with the XPS. The dedicated volume rockers on the SP7 comes in handy. The lighter weight of the SP7 made it the first to be grabbed on the go for content consumption or note taking, but I prefer the Yoga for content creation with it's larger screen and comfy keyboard. If you're docking all day and only occasionally need to be on the go then I recommend the XPS for its 32GB RAM. The perfect laptop is not quite here yet.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Michael - Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2019

The Surface Pro 7 is a worthy and underrated follow-up to the Pro 6

I'm seeing complaints about how this isn't a major redesign of the Pro 6. That may be true, but the internals are where it's at. I mean, I love this thing. It's like having a decently powerful desktop PC in the form factor of a tablet, which can quickly become a laptop. For instance, I installed an Xbox Game Pass game (Ori and the Blind Forest) and it ran amazingly smooth; I had no idea a 12 inch tablet could run a game with Xbox One-quality graphics even in 2019. Sure, it's not gonna run Gears 5 in 4K, but how many tablets can say they can run even a game like Ori at decent settings? People keep saying "it's just like the Pro 6 but with a USB-C connector!" But it's been confirmed by multiple sources that the Pro 7's i5 processor is better than the Pro 6's i7 processor. And yeah, having a USB-C connector is pretty nice. Yes, the bezels are slightly thicker than most 2019 phones and tablets, but it's a non-issue for me. I use the Surface in tablet mode and it would be incredibly annoying to accidentally touch things on the screen because there's nowhere to put my hands for the sake of A E S T H E T I C S. It's a silly complaint, in my opinion. I'm a grad student, so I need to be able to plop down anywhere -- the library, a cafe, my mom's house, a friend's house, wherever -- and get work done in a way that my phone simply isn't right for. But I also want to be able to stream movies, edit videos, play videogames, and so on. So far, the Surface Pro 7 has done everything I want and more. Literally the only bummer is that Microsoft STILL isn't bundling the type cover in with the tablet. Springing an extra $150 for something that feels like an essential part of the package is a huge bummer. I wish they could figure out a way to include the type cover, even if they have to make some compromises.