Microsoft Surface Pro 7 review – a laptop that is a tablet and vice versa

A laptop, a 2-in-1, or a tablet? You decide how you call it. Microsoft Surface Pro 7 offers you a full-blown Windows experience, enhanced by the latest Ice Lake processors, provided by Intel. It comes with a 12.3-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and 2736 x 1824 pixels resolution. It also has a Surface Pen support and can track 10 points of touch at the same time.

One petty thing is that this device comes without a keyboard. If you need (or want) one, you have to buy it, unless you encounter a good bundle deal. It uses a dedicated magnet connector on the bottom, that helps the keyboard communicate with the device, itself. Another good addition to this laptop is the stand. Somehow, Microsoft managed to design it in a way, that it stays in place at every possible position you stretch it at.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/microsoft-surface-pro-7/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 - 仕様

  • LG LP123WQ112604
  • 色の精度  2.7  1.1
  • HDD/SSD
  • まで 1000GB SSD
  • ラム
  • up to 16GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro
  • バッテリー
  • 43.2Wh
  • 本体材質
  • Aluminum
  • 寸法
  • 292 x 201 x 8.5 mm (11.50" x 7.91" x 0.33")
  • 重量
  • 0.78 kg (1.7 lbs)
  • ポートと接続性
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • カードリーダー
  • MicroSD ,SDXC
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • ブルートゥース
  • 5.0
  • オーディオジャック
  • 3.5 mm combo
  • 特徴
  • 指紋リーダー
  • optional
  • 対戦相手
  • Full HD
  • バックライト付きキーボード
  • optional
  • メモリタイプ
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • スピーカー
  • 2x 1.6W, Dolby Audio
  • 光学ドライブ
  • セキュリティロックスロット

All Microsoft Surface Pro 7 コンフィグレーション

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Similarly to the Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7 comes in a small white box. Inside, you are going to find the notebook, as well as a 65W power adapter with a proprietory magnet connector.


Design and construction

Okay, we have been calling this device a laptop, but it is truly a convertible, that works and feels more like a tablet. Its made out of glass and magnesium. This totals at 775 grams, which makes the convertible super portable and easy to carry. Although it is a perfectly working notebook by itself, we strongly recommend buying the keyboard attachment, as it will certainly protect your screen of scratches.

Since it doesn’t open up as a conventional laptop, we are going to talk about the hinges. There are two cut-outs on the sides, that makes dropping the stand a lot easier. Although the mechanism is a little though, it is good that it stays in place no matter what angle you adjust it at. On the screen-side, you are going to find a Full HD camera, surrounded by IR blasters, that give it Windows Hello support.

Sadly, we were not able to get the Surface Pro 7 with its dedicated keyboard. However, we find the display very well balanced and easy to use. The touch-sensitivity is good, and the Surface Pen support makes it worthy of the “Pro” moniker.

If you take a look at the sides of the lap… tabl… of the device, you can see the speaker cutouts in the top portion of each side.

Ports

On the left side, there is a headphone jack. On the top, you will find the Power On/Off button and the Volume rocker. Then, on the right, you can see a USB Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, and the charging plug.


Display quality

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is equipped with a touchscreen Full HD IPS panel, model number LG LP123WQ112604. Its diagonal is 12.3-inch (31.2 cm), and the resolution – 2736 x 1824p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 3:2, the pixel density – 267 ppi, their pitch – 0.095 х 0.095 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 33 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

The maximum measured brightness is 408 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 406 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 6%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6590K – slightly colder than the 6500K temperature for sRGB. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 6650K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 60% Brightness (White level = 140 cd/m2, Black level = 0.11 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is excellent – 1290:1 (1170:1 after profiling).

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Microsoft Surface Pro 7’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 90% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, providing a punchy and vibrant image.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Microsoft Surface Pro 7 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 30 ms.


Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7’s display uses PWM to adjust its brightness up until 104 nits. Not only that but below 110 nits, the pulsations have a very high frequency, undetectable for most users. This makes the display comfortable for continuous work.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Conclusion

Microsoft Surface Pro 7’s touchscreen display has an IPS panel with comfortable viewing angles, pretty high maximum brightness, good contrast levels, and adequate default settings. In addition to that, its backlight doesn’t use aggressive PWM for brightness adjustment. However, one of the biggest advantages it has is the wide color coverage and color accuracy. It is especially improved by our Gaming and Web design profile. Web designers and content creators will love it.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Microsoft Surface Pro 7 configurations with 12.3″ LG LP123WQ112604 (FHD, 2736 × 1824) IPS panel.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

ここでは、すべてのCPUに搭載されているCPUの価格/性能差を確認することができます。

オフィスワーク

オフィスワークは、ほとんどの時間をテキストや表を見たり、ただネットサーフィンをしたりしているユーザーが使用するべきです。このプロファイルは、フラットなガンマカーブ(2.20)、ネイティブな色温度、知覚的に正確な色を維持することで、より鮮明で明瞭な色を提供することを目指しています。

デザインとゲーム

このプロファイルは、色を専門的に扱うデザイナーに向けたもので、ゲームや映画でも使用されています。Design and Gamingは、ディスプレイパネルを限界まで引き出し、WebやHDTV用のsRGB IEC61966-2-1規格の白点D65で可能な限り正確な色を実現しています。

ヘルスガード

ヘルスガードは、有害なパルス幅変調(PWM)を除去し、私たちの目や体に影響を与えるネガティブブルーライトを低減します。それはすべてのパネルのためにカスタマイズされているので、それは知覚的に正確な色を維持するために管理します。ヘルスガードは紙をシミュレートするので、目への圧力が大幅に軽減されます。

3 つのプロファイルすべてを 33% 割引で入手


Sound

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 produces loud and clear crisp. Its low, mid and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

You can download all of the drivers and utilities for the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100419

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This device is equipped with a 43.2Wh battery pack.

During Web browsing, we got 10 minutes shy of 9 hours of battery use, while in video playback, the time that took to drain the battery was shorter – 7 hours and 20 minutes.


CPU options

This device comes with processors that come from the Ice Lake family of ULV CPUs from Intel. You can purchase it with the dual-core Core i3-1005G1, or the quad-core Core i5-1035G4 and Core i7-1065G7.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 CPUのバリエーション

ここでは、市場に出回っている [シリーズ] モデルで見つけることができる CPU 間のおおよその比較を見ることができます。 このようにして、どの [シリーズ] モデルが費用対効果が最も高いかを自分で決めることができます。

注:この表は最も安い異なるCPUの構成を示すので、ノートパソコンの名前/CPUをクリックして、これらのノートパソコンの他の仕様が何であるかを確認する必要があります。


GPU options

GPU-wise there is the Intel UHD Graphics, or the Iris Plus Graphics G4 and G7, depending on the processor you pick.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 GPU バリアント

ここでは、市場に出回っている [シリーズ] モデルで見つけることができる GPU 間のおおよその比較を確認できます。 このようにして、どの [シリーズ] モデルが費用対効果が最も高いかを自分で決めることができます。

注:この表は最も安い異なるGPU構成を表示しているので、ノートパソコンの名前/GPUをクリックして、これらのノートパソコンの他の仕様が何であるかを確認する必要があります。


Gaming tests

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Iris Plus Graphics G476 fps41 fps30 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Intel Core i5-1035G4 (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Microsoft Surface Pro 73.07 GHz (B+188%) @ 88°C2.10 GHz (B+91%) @ 76°C1.62 GHz (B+47%) @ 67°C
Lenovo Yoga C940 (14)2.46 GHz (B+124%) @ 94°C2.29 GHz (B+108%) @ 94°C2.15 GHz (B+95%) @ 92°C
Lenovo Yoga S740 (14)2.64 GHz (B+140%) @ 100°C1.89 GHz (B+72%) @ 83°C1.66 GHz (B+51%) @ 69°C

We were very impressed by the passive cooling solution on this notebook. Not only did it manage to sustain a decent frequency, but it kept the temperatures within a comfortable level.

Comfort during full load

Obviously, the machine is completely silent, in terms of noise. However, the entire surface of the device heats up even when there is no load present.


Verdict

This is no ordinary 2-in-1, everybody. It is closer to a tablet than it is to a notebook, as you might have figured out, already. One of the biggest challenges that Microsoft had to deal with, was how to remove all moving parts from this device. With the exclusion of HDDs, the only thing that’s spinning is the fans. Well, the manufacturer was clear, so they ditched the fans and had to make a good-enough cooling solution, in order to accommodate the Ice Lake processors. While 15W of TDP is not a lot, in many cases, the CPU uses more, so it can provide higher performance.

So with a series of heat pipes, Microsoft has managed to cram ULV processor inside of this body, instead of their impotent Y-series chips. This makes a huge impact on the benchmark figures, thus making this beast the fastest tablet we’ve seen yet. However, the most important feature of this device isn’t its performance – it is the screen.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7’s touchscreen display has an IPS panel with comfortable viewing angles, pretty high maximum brightness, good contrast levels, and adequate default settings. In addition to that, its backlight doesn’t use aggressive PWM for brightness adjustment. However, one of the biggest advantages it has is the wide color coverage and color accuracy. It is especially improved by our Gaming and Web design profile. Web designers and content creators will love it.

Thanks to the high resolution, the battery life does suffer a bit. We got around 9 hours of Web browsing and around 7 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. For sure, if you want to perform a high-workload scenario, you shouldn’t expect much from it, but otherwise, the battery life is actually decent.

Lastly, some quick recommendations. If you are going to use this piece of technology, as a professional tool, you should consider getting the keyboard accessory, as well as the Surface Pen with it. As a tablet, this device should be a better option over the iPad Pro, because of its more complex and capable OS, as well as the wider I/O selection. However, like a laptop, the latter is a little limited to our taste, and you should definitely check the ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481.

Pros

  • LPDDR4X memory working at 3733 MHz
  • Ice Lake CPUs
  • Good speakers
  • Decent battery life
  • Covers 90% sRGB (Sharp LQ135P1JX51 (SHP 14B3))
  • Average dE value of 1.1 with our Gaming and Web design profile (Sharp LQ135P1JX51 (SHP 14B3))
  • Doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust screen brightness (Sharp LQ135P1JX51 (SHP 14B3))
  • Work-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio and a touchscreen usability
  • Completely silent


Cons

  • No SD card reader
  • Memory is soldered
  • Premium price tag
  • Limited I/O (for a laptop)
  • Basically unupgradable

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/microsoft-surface-pro-7/

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