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Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: What should you buy?

Surface Pro viii vs Surface Laptop Studio: What should y'all purchase?

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio facing off against each other
(Image credit: Future)

Choosing between the Surface Pro 8 vs. Surface Laptop Studio? This guide is hither to help. Microsoft has just released both devices, and we've reviewed them, and both are impressive enough to contend with the field in our rankings for the best best 2-in-ane laptops y'all can purchase.

Now that both of the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio are here (alongside Windows 11), it's time to figure out which one fits your needs best. Each is designed to double as a great digital canvas, and they're the merely two devices which currently support the advanced haptic feedback features of the new Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus.

  • Windows 11 — six means information technology beats macOS
  • How to install Windows eleven — a stride-by-step guide
  • Plus: Catch up on all the big Surface news in our Microsoft Surface event 2021 recap

And then if you're having trouble deciding which to purchase, read on for a thorough breakup of the Surface Pro viii vs Surface Laptop Studio.

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Toll and availability

Both Surface devices are currently available to order, after their October 4th release date. The Surface Pro 8 has a starting cost of $one,099. Yous tin can pay an extra $179 for the detachable Surface Pro Signature Keyboard (which lets the tablet double as a decent laptop) and $129 for the new Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus.

That's a scrap more affordable than the Surface Laptop Studio, which has a starting price of $1,599. It besides has a few optional accessories yous can shell out for. That includes the $129 Surface Slim Pen 2 with its new haptic motor that provides tactile feedback when you apply it on devices which support the characteristic — which, for at present, is merely the Pro 8 and the Laptop Studio.

Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with detachable keyboard, stylus, and other accessories

The Surface Pro viii is a sleek tablet, simply yous take to pay extra for the detachable keyboard, stylus, and other accessories (Image credit: Microsoft)

And so you should expect to pay more for the Laptop Studio, just you also get more too: the entry-level Laptop Studio costs $500 more the base of operations Pro eight, just information technology has a slightly bigger screen and double the RAM and storage space. And if yous're willing to pay up to $2,099 for the Laptop Studio, you can get a model configured with a Core i7 CPU and a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU. That's enough power to serve as a decent gaming laptop, which is something the Surface Pro 8 can't do.

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Specs

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Pro Studio specs
Surface Pro viii Surface Pro Studio
Toll from $ane,099 from $1,599
Display 13-inch lx - 120 Hz touchscreen (2880 x 1920 pixels) 14.4-inch 120Hz touchscreen (two,400 x ane,600 pixels)
CPU 11th Gen Intel Core i5-i7 11th Gen Intel Core i5-i7
Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics Iris Xe (i5 model), GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (i7 model)
RAM 8-32 GB 16-32 GB
Storage 128-256 GB (LTE), 128 GB - 1TB (Wi-fi but) 256 GB-ii TB SSD
Ports ii x Thunderbolt 4/USB iv, Surface Connect port, 3.5mm headphone jack, Surface Blazon Embrace port 2 ten USB 4/Thunderbolt four, 3.5mm headphone jack, Surface Connect port
Size 11.three x viii.2 x 0.37 inches 12.7 x 9.0 10 0.seven inches
Weight 1.96 pounds three.83 lbs (i5 model), 4 lbs (i7 model)

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Design

Both the Surface Pro 8 and the Surface Laptop Studio tin function as both a Windows xi tablet and laptop, but only the Surface Laptop Studio tin do that out of the box. To use the Pro viii every bit a laptop, you've got to pay nearly $200 more for the detachable keyboard — and when you attach it it's a little unwieldy to use, if our time with the Surface Pro vii's keyboard is whatever indicator.

That said, Microsoft appears to have updated the pattern of the Surface Pro eight in small but meaningful ways. Information technology's about the same size and a bit heavier than the Pro 7, with a xiii-inch display — a minor but welcome comeback over the 12.three-inch screen in the Pro seven. The Pro eight also sports a pair of Thunderbolt four/USB-C Type iv that will let you lot claw up multiple external monitors, even 4K models.

Surface Pro 8 vs. Surface Laptop Studio

The new Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has an intriguing hinge design that lets you lot prepare it upward in an angled position, similar an easel (Image credit: Microsoft)

The Surface Laptop Studio is a fleck larger and heavier than the Pro viii, only information technology likewise has a larger screen, and its intriguing sliding swivel blueprint means you can slide the screen down over the keyboard to plough it into a (thick) Windows eleven tablet. Plus, if you similar the idea of using your tablet like an easel, you tin slide the screen about halfway downwards (into what Microsoft calls "stage mode") then that it sits over the keyboard at roughly a 45-degree angle, which could be a more comfy manner to use the screen as a digital canvas.

In terms of ports, the Laptop Studio'due south blueprint is fiddling different from the Pro 8, equally information technology besides offers merely a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Type-C ports for hooking upwardly external devices. Both Surface devices also accept headphone jacks and Surface Connect ports, which are used for charging.

At 11.iii x viii.2 10 0.four inches and 1.96 pounds, the Surface Pro 8 is thinner and lighter than the 12.7 x 9.0 ten 0.vii-inch, 3.83-pound Surface Laptop Studio, but when 1 is a tablet and the other a full-fledged 2-in-1 PC, those differences are to be expected. You tin either get the portability of the Surface Pro eight or the multi-functionality and consummate calculating experience of the Surface Laptop Studio.

Winner: Draw

Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with a few of its not-many ports visible

You won't notice a surfeit of ports on the Surface Pro eight — merely a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Type-C ports (Paradigm credit: Microsoft)

If you lot just need a great Windows xi tablet, the Surface Pro eight'southward pattern offers everything you demand for about $500 less than the Laptop Studio. Simply if you want your tablet to double equally a laptop, you'll have to pay $179 to equip the Pro 8 with its detachable keyboard, and at that point you lot're getting close to the cost of a Studio. Plus, the Studio has a larger screen and that cool sliding hinge design that we can't await to exam out for ourselves.

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Display

When it comes to displays, the Pro viii is no slouch. It offers a 13-inch touchscreen display with a three:2 aspect ratio and a nearly 3K resolution (2880 x 1920 pixels) that delivers 267 pixels per inch.  You lot also switch the Pro 8'due south screen between either 60Hz or 120Hz in Windows 11. While lx Hz is more expert plenty for day-to-day tasks, bumping it up to 120Hz should make the experience of using a stylus (similar Microsoft's new Surface Slim Pen 2) a niggling smoother and more than enjoyable, since the screen can only answer to input as fast equally information technology can display a new image.

Surface Pro 8 with Surface Slim Pen 2 writing on it

Both the Surface Pro eight (pictured) and the Surface Laptop Studio take displays that can reach 120Hz, which should make for a smoother drawing experience (Image credit: Microsoft)

But while the Surface Pro eight's display maxes out at 452.8 nits of brightness, the Surface Laptop Studio gets even brighter at 487.ii nits. You lot may not be able to run across that slight a difference for yourself. Even more slight is the divergence between their color outputs. The Surface Pro 8'south screen produces 103.7% of the sRGB gamut, which is beaten ever-so-slightly by the Surface Laptop Studio'due south 105.six% panel.

The Surface Laptop Studio has a larger xiv.four-inch touchscreen display with a 3:ii attribute ratio but a lower resolution (2400 x 1600 pixels) with just 201 pixels-per-inch. It also has the capacity to office at either lx or 120Hz, and presumably if you're using information technology with a stylus you'll want to keep it at 120Hz. That higher refresh rate is a chip more meaningful on the Studio, as it has the muscle to run some games at framerates college than 60fps if you configure it with a detached Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU — and with a 120Hz display, those lx-plus framerates should wait real nice.

Then while the Laptop Studio has a larger display than the Pro viii, it has a lower resolution and won't deliver quite the same allegiance as the Pro 8 and its 267ppi pixel density. However, while both devices can exercise 120Hz, that might be more valuable on the Laptop Studio if you configure it to double every bit a decent gaming laptop.

Winner: Depict

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Performance

In terms of potential performance, the Surface Laptop Studio outshines the Surface Pro 8 — if you're willing to pay for the best components. We tested a high-end Laptop Studio with an 11th Gen H-serial Intel Core i7-11370H CPU, 32GB of RAM, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU and the Surface Pro 8 with an 11th Gen U-series Intel Core i7-1185G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and Intel Iris Xe Graphics.

But while the specs may make y'all call back the Laptop Studio would run away with this in a articulate victory, non all of its wins are that cleanly divers.  On the Geekbench 5 general performance criterion's multi-cadre test, the Surface Laptop Studio'south Pro 5,820 beat the Surface Pro 8'southward 5,347 score. And that'south the closest the Surface Pro 8 came to its pricier counterpart.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio with the Xbox app open with someone playing an X-Box controller in front of it

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Our in-house file copy exam showed that the 1TB SSD in the Surface Laptop Studio is far faster, with a transfer rate of 1,051MBps. That's more than double the Surface Pro 8 256GB SSD'south 415MBps rate.

Similarly, the 3D Marker Fire Strike graphics benchmark gave the Surface Laptop Studio a mammoth x,356 compared to the Surface Pro 8'due south 4,851. This was to be expected, considering that the Pro eight has integrated graphics and the Surface Laptop Studio nosotros tested has discrete graphics.

Winner: Surface Laptop Studio

Surface Pro viii vs Surface Laptop Studio: Cameras

Camera-wise, the Pro 8 offers a pair of cameras on the forepart and rear, as you might expect from a tablet. The Surface Laptop Studio offers a more traditional laptop camera setup, with a single 1080p webcam mounted in the display.

The Surface Pro 8 sports a 5MP front-facing camera with the capacity to capture video in upward to 1080p. It as well supports Windows Hullo, meaning y'all can log into Windows 11 with your face. Mounted on the back is a more impressive 10MP camera that tin capture 1080p or 4K videos.

Surface Pro 8 cameras

The Surface Pro 8 has both a front- and rear-facing camera, while the Laptop Studio has merely a more traditional forepart-facing webcam (Image credit: Microsoft)

In comparison, the Surface Laptop Studio looks a scrap weak. It has just the 1080p webcam upwardly front, and while that's great for a laptop (far too many however ship with 720p cameras these days, despite the rise of Zoom) it's not quite every bit good as the Surface Pro viii's 5MP selfie camera. However, the Laptop Studio's webcam does as well have IR sensors, and then yous can use information technology for facial authentication/login via Windows Hi.

And then if camera quality's important to y'all, the Surface Pro 8 is definitely the ameliorate device. Notwithstanding, the 1080p webcam on the Surface Laptop Studio should be more than than plenty for your needs if all y'all plan to use information technology for are video calls and the occasional selfie.

In our testing, both sets of cameras provided clear video and practiced photos, only it's besides clear which Surface has the amend cameras.

Winner: Microsoft Surface Pro viii

Surface Pro viii vs Surface Laptop Studio: Battery life

Both the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio delivery pretty good battery life, but one beats the other past a pretty decent amount. We tested them both out on the Tom's Guide battery test (spider web-surfing over Wi-Fi, at 150 nits of brightness), and found that the Surface Laptop Studio (ten:42) had more endurance, lasting i hour and 35 minutes longer than the Surface Pro 8 (9:07).

The Surface Laptop Studio in tablet mode with the Surface Slim Pen 2 writing on it

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio (pictured) is rated to concluding a scrap longer on a single charge than the Surface Pro viii (Image credit: Microsoft)

Just note that Microsoft claims that the Core i5 CPU model volition last longer than the Core i7 model (past two hours in its testing).

So if every minute matters, you lot've got another reason to consider spending more for the Surface Laptop Studio.

Winner: Surface Laptop Studio.

Surface Pro 8 vs Surface Laptop Studio: Scorecard and verdict

Surface Pro eight Surface Laptop Studio
Design (fifteen points) xiii 13
Display (25 points) 22 22
Performance (30 points) 26 29
Cameras (10 points) 9 half dozen
Bombardment life (20 points) 16 nineteen
Total 86 89

Going by our scorecard, the Surface Laptop Studio has a slight edge on the Surface Pro 8, merely that's non establish everywhere. And while the question of which new Surface device also factors in how much yous're willing to spend, and what you lot plan to apply your new estimator for is peradventure the more important question.

The Surface Pro 8 is a premium Windows 11 tablet that'southward got practiced (simply non groovy) performance and endurance, simply its internal cameras are phenomenal. And since the Surface Pro viii is cheaper and less powerful than the Surface Laptop Studio, anyone with slightly-less enervating needs on performance could stand up to shave off some of their bottom line with that model.

If yous desire a more than traditional Windows eleven laptop that tin transform into a (weighty) tablet, and you can afford the actress cost, the Surface Laptop Studio is a worthy investment. Its cameras may non be the best, just its speed and bombardment life are superior, though both depend on how yous kit it out. With a Core i7 CPU, 32 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU has enough torque to peradventure be considered as one of the most unique gaming laptops (if not one of the best gaming laptops) today.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of feel covering both for outlets like Game Programmer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/surface-pro-8-vs-surface-laptop-studio-what-should-you-buy

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