The panel doesn’t have the fastest-reacting pixels, which you need to make the most of a high refresh rate.

It’s a 120Hz panel too, but we’d suggest using it at 60Hz almost all of the time. Play a widescreen video here and you’ll be left with big black bars on the top and bottom, but the sense of having a good space to work with versus the actual size of the tablet is impressive. Microsoft calls it a PixelSense screen, and it’s one made more for apps than media. This resolution gives the Surface Pro 8 a 3:2 aspect ratio, seen in older generations of the series. The Surface Pro 8’s resolution is high too, at 2736 x 1828 pixels, making pixellation a non-issue until you get uncomfortably close to the screen surface. But we think the ability to deal with outdoors use is more important here than getting close to the punch of an OLED TV image in a dark, dark room. Maximum brightness of 450 nits - bang on Microsoft’s claim - is bright enough to let you work comfortably outside on a bright day, which we did try, even though the Surface Pro 8 has a glossy glass display surface.Ĭontrast is typical for an IPS LCD, at around 1000:1, making blacks look a little raised if you play a game at night. The panel has well-saturated, well-calibrated colour, but doesn’t dive into the kind of next-generation mini LED tech seen in the priciest iPad Pros. It is a reminder that while this is a lifestyle gadget par excellence, it can also be a work PC if that’s what you need. The actual display panel has squared-off corners, not the cutesy rounded ones of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7. Screenĭisplay size aside, the Surface Pro 8 screen seems familiar. This thing is the size it is for a specific reason, to provide incredible portability while still being just about large enough to let the keyboard accessory have well-spaced full-size keys. It doesn’t bump the Surface Pro 8 into a new category, but that’s the whole point. The last generation Surface Pro 7 had a 12in screen, this one has a 12.3in screen.

It’s not a dramatic change, but Microsoft has also got on board with the screen bezel improvements seen in “normal” laptops, to squeeze in a larger display. The sides are a little curvier this time, though, softening out the screen surround contours. This keeps the weight at a fairly low 890g while delivering good strength and an expensive feel. Microsoft uses, as ever, a magnesium-aluminium alloy for the Surface Pro 8’s casing.

Surface pro 8 ports