When it came out in 2019, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 didn’t change the way Windows tablets worked. Instead, it improved on an old design by making it faster and adding a USB Type-C port. Even in 2021, almost a year and a half later, it is still the best 2-in-1 detachable.
There are a few other contenders for the crown (full support for its Surface stablemate, the Surface Pro X, never quite came to pass), and 2-in-1 convertible laptops that can be bent but don’t come apart are good alternatives. But among pure detachables, the Surface Pro design is still our favorite. (The Surface Pro 7+, which has updated parts, is also now available. More on that in a bit.) The way it looks is starting to show its age, so we expect a new version next time, but it still works well as a tablet.
If you want a cheaper 2-in-1 to use for what passes for mobile work these days, like going from room to room instead of airport to airport, the Pro 7 is the best in its category for a reason.
Specifications
- Processor: Intel Core i5-1035G4
- Processor Speed: 1.1 GHz
- RAM: 8 GB
- Boot Drive Type: SSD
- Boot Drive Capacity: 256 GB
- Screen Size: 12.3 inches
- Native Display Resolution: 2736 by 1824
Where to get Microsoft Surface Pro 7 laptop?
This is mostly a good thing. The magnesium alloy feels like a high-quality material, and the device is small and sleek. It is 0.33 inches tall, 11.5 inches wide, and weighs 1.7 pounds. No matter how you look at it, this is a very portable machine. The XPS 13 2-in-1, on the other hand, is 0.51 by 11.70 by 8.20 inches and weighs 2.9 pounds. It looks like a laptop first.
The platinum-colored industrial look of the Pro 7 hasn’t changed much over time, but I’ve grown to like the black paint job on the Pro 6. The bezels are still pretty thick, which is becoming more obvious as almost every thin laptop goes for bezels that are razor thin.
Even though the Surface Pro 7 still looks good, the context is becoming a problem, and Microsoft is at least partly to blame. By the standards of 2021, the design looks a little bit old, especially the thick screen bezels. This became clearer when the Surface Pro X came out. It was first shown off with the Pro 7.
You might expect a modern top-tier Surface Pro device to have slimmer, rounder edges and thinner bezels, which is what the Pro X has. When you put them side by side, the Pro X looks much more modern. It’s a beautiful system that brings back that feeling of tech envy that has been missing from the main line for a while.