Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Core i5 Review: More Like a Surface Pro 6.5

[YoTram]

Many comparison benchmarks only account for Surface products while omitting potential competitors like iPad Pro, Tab S6, and traditional convertibles. One one hand not many other manufacturers find it a practical form factor for running Windows 10. On the other hand in real world usage competitor deliver fuller experience rather than a little of everything like SP7.
While XPS 13 2 in 1 only receives 86% score, compared to SP7 it has better built quality, brighter/less reflective screen, Thunderbolt 3, larger trackpad, more comfortable laptop experience, better performance, less thermal throttling.
Those running dedicated tablet OS like iPad Pro and Samsung Tab S6 may not look as professional but they are better suited for everyday use.
All in all, the Surface Pro line used to boast a bright future when RT was launched in 2012. However since then they have kept making marginal upgrades and omitting major flaws of this form factor.

If you want a laptop, take a Surface Laptop. If you take a Surface Pro, it is to benefit of the tablet experience; an XPS 13 is twice the weight and twice the thickness.
If for you, it does not matter, you maybe one of the few people that does not see the difference between an iPad and a budget thick sub 100$ tablet.
But the difference is MASSIVE. So yes, this is one, if not THE, finest most powerful tablet out there, full stop.
An iPad is all fine but can I calibrate the screen with an external probe? Is there program allowing me to apply a LUT to a video shoot in a flat profile like S-Log (which is really the basic of a video editing workflow)? Can I do something remotely close to Capture One Pro in term of photo editing?

Oh, and sorry but no, the Dell clearly does NOT have a better built quality than the magnesium chassis of the Surface. It can be seen that you did not own a Dell laptop and a Surface like me because I can tell you that there is not question about it.

You are speaking of major flaws but what are they? If you prefer thin laptop, or powerful thicker laptop with dedicated GPU, Microsoft offers that also.
But the Surface Pro, with its kickstand, is unique and the most powerful and verstatile premium device out there. That is for sure.

[S.Yu]

Many comparison benchmarks only account for Surface products while omitting potential competitors like iPad Pro, Tab S6, and traditional convertibles. One one hand not many other manufacturers find it a practical form factor for running Windows 10. On the other hand in real world usage competitor deliver fuller experience rather than a little of everything like SP7.
While XPS 13 2 in 1 only receives 86% score, compared to SP7 it has better built quality, brighter/less reflective screen, Thunderbolt 3, larger trackpad, more comfortable laptop experience, better performance, less thermal throttling.
Those running dedicated tablet OS like iPad Pro and Samsung Tab S6 may not look as professional but they are better suited for everyday use.
All in all, the Surface Pro line used to boast a bright future when RT was launched in 2012. However since then they have kept making marginal upgrades and omitting major flaws of this form factor.

If you want a laptop, take a Surface Laptop. If you take a Surface Pro, it is to benefit of the tablet experience; an XPS 13 is twice the weight and twice the thickness.
If for you, it does not matter, you maybe one of the few people that does not see the difference between an iPad and a budget thick sub 100$ tablet.
But the difference is MASSIVE. So yes, this is one, if not THE, finest most powerful tablet out there, full stop.
An iPad is all fine but can I calibrate the screen with an external probe? Is there program allowing me to apply a LUT to a video shoot in a flat profile like S-Log (which is really the basic of a video editing workflow)? Can I do something remotely close to Capture One Pro in term of photo editing?

Oh, and sorry but no, the Dell clearly does NOT have a better built quality than the magnesium chassis of the Surface. It can be seen that you did not own a Dell laptop and a Surface like me because I can tell you that there is not question about it.

You are speaking of major flaws but what are they? If you prefer thin laptop, or powerful thicker laptop with dedicated GPU, Microsoft offers that also.
But the Surface Pro, with its kickstand, is unique and the most powerful and verstatile premium device out there. That is for sure.

Very interesting you should mention professional video editing involving LUTs on a tablet with an integrated GPU, one that seems far weaker than Apple's, at that. Apple's on the verge of moving most Mac models to ARM too so you should soon see cross-compatibility between Mac software like FCP and iPadOS, which considering the performance of the A series would all but leave SP in the dust.
I also don't agree that the SP is about the tablet experience, it's more like the digitizer is better used with a kickstand as opposed to a non-360° hinge, or even a 360° hinge because of better stability at lower angles. OTOH, having a detachable keyboard would further improve upon that experience, because the shortcut keys would be better used if to the side of the digitizer, instead of the front, but the stupid SP keyboard only works attached, so I'd say VAIO's discontinued Z Canvas was a dedicated tablet experience, while SP is a halfway compromise that's not light with the keyboard included and inconvenient without it.
Oh, and it's significantly overpriced compared to other hybrid devices of similar specs.

[msp2020]

With YouTube on continuous play (50% brightness, no other apps open), I get around 7.5 hours of battery life.  Also, my SP 7 (i5, 8 ram, 128 ssd) was not new, it was an open-box excellent condition purchase from Best Buy.  Anyway, here are some of the things I did to increase my SP's battery life:

1. All background apps are always turned off.

2. Use Microsoft Edge Canary browser (Google Chrome is a big drain on the battery).

3. Unless I am using it, the Edge Canary browser is always closed.

4. Screen brightness kept at around 50%-60%.

5. Battery saver mode is always activated when the SP 7 is unplugged.

6. Applied tips from this webpage, "Ultimate Tips to Max Out Microsoft Surface Battery Life"

7. Instilled this update,  SurfacePro7_Win10_17763_20.020.2886.0.msi

8. Uninstalled this update, SurfacePro7_Win10_18362_ 20.014.39957.0.msi, from my SP 7. 

For whatever reason, #8 increased my battery's life by around 1.5 hours. Hope these things work as well for you as they did for me...

[RennaLorie]

With the release of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 I have been thinking about getting one with the intention of making it y primary drawing device.
Now I own both a XP-Pen Artist 24 Pro 24" drawing tablet monitor  and a Surface Pro 7. They are very different experiences, but neither are bad.
Surface Pro :  Much smaller size, which is a plus for portability,  I can Artist 24 Pro : draw on the couch or in bed, whereas the Artist 24 Pro  has me tied to a desk. The Surface I have is so crisp and nice and the colours are extremely vivid.
- Much better pen pressure detection and more pressure levels ; Bigger screen size and physical programmable buttons;
;  Only as strong as the computer it's plugged into.

[lalatina97]

As a new university student in nursing, I will take ALOT of notes on my tablet. I already have a surface go (which I am going to change for a new device) and a macbook air (that I use for most of my heavy school work). Do you recommend for me to buy a surface pro 7 i5 or i7? I do watch movies or youtube videos sometimes, i'm not a big gamer but I might play a little for time to time. This device is going to be mainly for note taking. I'm not too sure that I like apple ecosystem as I am a samsung fan myself and I am kinda already used to windows.

[Erfan Siavoshy]

The USB-C is useful more than you can imagine. Thanks to USB-C the Surface Pro 7 is the first Surface Pro ever to feature two simultaneous USB ports without any external USB Hubs. Also Surface Pro 7 thanks to this very important USB-C, is the first Surface Pro ever that you can left its exclusive Surface-only charger at home and charge it via most of the modern smartphone's USB-C chargers.
The USB-C is the "COMPATIBLITY" more than you can think about dear writer.
Compatibility with the vast world of USB-C accessories (Mainly USB-C hubs) is the next super important feature that was absent on older Surface Pro devices.

So go back in time and do the review again but this time with wide open eyes!

Obviously you yourself are not a Surface Pro user so you can't understand the importance of those 3 advantages that I mentioned above. I am a "USER" of Surface Pro 2/4/5/7/8 and I tell you that adding USB-C to Surface Pro 7 is enough to call the device Surface Pro 10 practically at that time not Surface Pro 6.5.