I agree with this. Every review I've seen, even with it having been 1 month+, is just the i7 variant. Usually, these people tend to review the more expensive models that most of us wouldn't truly consider paying for, since they're so expensive...
Thank you so much for this! I've been pining over whether to go with i5 vs i7 and how much storage to go with, this was as helpful as anything could be!
Thanks for the video. Do you think that the performance difference between I5 and I7 would not be substantial for Surface Pro 9? Also, what about the difference between Pro 9 I5 model vs Pro 8 I7 model?
If you're only using your device for consumption (internet, Netflix, etc.) and production (office work, studying), the i5/8GB/256GB is more than enough. That's even more than enough for editing audio and light video clips (up to 1080p).
@@JonJon-vg2nv Of course it is. I run a business on the Surface Pro 6 with an i7/8gb/256gb. Real world use handling 50m+ files with hundreds of comments and notes. All while displaying on an external monitor, accessing external SSDs, holding Zoom conferences or steaming video or music in the background. I also record and edit video content and a podcast on the SP6. My atx tower has become a foot rest. The SP8 with that CPU and 8gb is more real-world power than the majority of users will ever need.
@@JonJon-vg2nv Ok course it is. Even a two or three year old chip set is powerful enough. This is why people keep their laptops/desktop for 5 to 7 years. You think businesses replace their laptops/desktops every year to get the lastest chip set...lol
@@TheDigitalDigest Microsoft started it way back then, I’m not sure if the Surface has ever come with the pen or keyboard Though, past Surface devices have been cheaper
@@dl5fse990 the first 3 Surface pros came with the pen. They dropped the pen on the 4th iteration. Personally seeing as they don’t change the body shape and the accessories seem to be compatible cross generation. I can see the logic behind it. Say when upgrading from a 3 to 6 you can get away with just buying the tablet and the accessories you already have.
Good advice, with TB4 there is less reason for upgradeability with internal storage, either at the front end (purchase) or during ownership. Just get the 256GB and buy a fast external drive for all your needs and that can be upgraded if need be and can also be used on other devices and new purchases. It will save money in the long run and preserve the life of your internal drive and keep it running at max performance. Of course, if you are loaded then spend what you like. I think that is why MS made the Surface Studio with no upgradeability, they understand that when you go TB4 you change the game. The Surface Pro is different as their main customers are Enterprise and business and end of life compliance with Data Protection Laws mean that just removing the SSD rather than getting an IT specialist to wipe the device (a third party means further audits), can be more cost-effective and simpler. Ass for i5 -v- i7, the former should be the sweet spot for businesses and students unless they are using more complex programs.
HI, I'm trying to change Into a surface pro 8, mainly for portability, but I also work a lot using photoshop and premiere pro, question is the i7 decent enough to work without any problem?
I'm a researcher and I've considered a Surface Pro for Office and other productivity apps, as well as downloading, reading, marking research papers, taking notes, maybe some teleconference meetings, etc. Probably the i5 would be all I need. But you still recommend 16 GB vs 8 GB?
It is, that's what I've been using. It's the minimum I was willing to go, and it's performing much better than I expected. I'm no gamer, just engineering and productivity use but it's not skipping a beat. i7 on SP7 was needed due to active cooling (i5 kept throttling down, big mistake) but the i5 on the Pro8 is just fine and has active cooling (MS learned from the SP7 mistake). It does get warm, not not.
It's not 22% performance. It's up to 7.5% performance CPU. Only in GPU do you have a 24.5% performance boost, but for the price hike you're paying, you can buy an entire eGPU.
@@gabrielgon3408 that's an overall score that's supposed to be a mix of the two. If you look closely its divided into gpu and cpu. For cpu (not graphics) it's just a 7% increase in performance.
I plan on usong this laptop for solidworks and am having issues deciding between the i5 and i7. Do you thinl it would make a significant difference between the two for solidworks?
Are there any problems concerning i5 and 16GB of RAM for example that the i5 core could be kind of overwhelmed with 16 GB. I'm not a big pro in such computer topics so i say sorry if it's an unlogical question, but i'd like to buy one and i'm still unsure which model.
16gb of RAM is the biggest change you'll probably see out of i5 vs i7 and 8gb vs 16gb. The possessor does not bottle neck the the RAM at all. The i5 with 16gb of RAM is probably the best sweet spot comparing all the models! :)
You say the battery life is the same? I would expect the i5 to last longer. Could you confirm that, say any numbers, testing conditions etc? Also interesting to know would be battery life between 60Hz and 120Hz.
how's the fan noise on the i7? When do they kick in? Are they loud when they come on? Are they too loud to record music with? Would use the SP8 for music recording with condenser/dynamic mics for vocals and guitar, but I am concerned about the fan noise.
Is the fan noise an issue? I cannot stand the fan noise when I connect my i7 SP to MS Dock2. When it is not connected to the Dock, fan noise seems to be ok.
i7 is worth the investment... better CPU speed, better GPU power, higher clock speed... important factors when it comes to video editing, content creating, and getting things done with less lag. Fan noise, it doesn't sound like a lawn mower or a propeller, so its fine.
I got the i5 with 16gb of RAM and use it for drawing and animating. It’s more than adequate. I’m using Clipstudio for drawing and TVpaint for animating. I’m doing some contribution to anthologies with clip studio and it’s working without a hitch.
You can't get an i5 with 16GB with 512GB or 1TB of storage. You get forced into an i7 which is expensive without much corresponding performance improvement.
It might be the case that the cheapest option would be to get the i5 with 16GB and then replace the hard drive yourself. Or use an external HDD or SSD.
I was all set to pick up the i7 model but now you've given me pause for thought. Do you happen to have cinebench and geekbench numbers for both models too? I'd also be really interested to see a real world test like a handbrake encoding race or something similar
Hi, I use adobe apps and was really confuse about i5 and i7.I use lightoom and photoshop. I finally bought i5 but worried if it will be any good ? it yet to be delieverd.I bought 16GB
I'm actually kind of sad to see them go away from a fanless option. I know that this is natural progression for performance, but my Surface Pro 7 i5 is fanless and I love it. Battery life is much better and it's silent. It was also about half the cost of the current i5 Surface Pro 8.
@@alsteensma I'm watching this because mine is now separating after three years and this is a warrantee replacement after the previous one lasted just two years. VERY glad to hear there's a fan now!
@@alsteensma Mine didn't. Pro 6 here. That said, the 8's fan is mostly inaudible in normal circumstances, only gets pushed hard when running at full tilt.
Hi. Did you test the transfer speed of these external ssds witam SP8? I'm asking because I have SP8 and Samsung T7 1 TB but the real transfers are around 400 - 600 MB/s. The speed in benchmarks is proper (1000/800-900 read/write) but for some reason in the real world I don't get these results even if the ssd is cold. Any idea what's wrong?
@@TheDigitalDigestThanks, I didn't know about it. The transfer speed has increased to 620-650 MB/s but it still should be faster. Could you please check your transfer rates? With power cord max is sometimes 700 MB/s but I saw that people with other devices are getting 900 MB/s or more.
How well does each handle PDF textbooks that are 300 to 600 pages with text, pictures and diagrams? is the scrolling smooth for that if I scrolled a bunch of pages quickly? In the older models, there was some lag or it took a moment to catch up.
Excellent little video. Well done. ANd it mirrored my own thoughts. If you are not doing architectual rendering I dont think an i7 really has any use in the office.
Since you have Surface Pro 8 i5 version: Can you please make me a favor to double check by right click on "This PC" and properties. What do they write on the CPU row? 2.4Ghz and 2.42 GHz? Or did you get any other information instead of this one? I just need to know cause I suspect I might got scammed on the CPU part :( Thank you so much in advance!
Interesting, when you push the brightness up buttons, on the i5 it shows the brightness icon under the bar on the screen, on the i7 it didn’t show the icon.
Get an external drive because you can get something like a 1tb external ssd for the $200 dollars instead of going from 256 to 512, plus it's more secure and private
I say external drives are defeating the point of a 2 in 1 because then the surface book pro 8 isn't nearly as portable. I'd only use an external drive in the case that it was connected to a dock. It's possible there are better M.2 storage alternatives than buying from MS but using a cable to plug into just an external drive is defeating the purpose of an ultrabook in my opinion as you won't want to move it around as much. External drive connected to a dock makes sense to me for best of both worlds (portability + workstation mode at work / home etc).
@@AdamLogan313 fair point, it's true that external drives do add bulk, I just like it for the privacy aspect and being less susceptible to losing data if someone hacks you or if someone stole your computer. But I think that if you had most of the data on the external and just moved what ever you needed to the computer and leave the drive at home, it would still make sense for the external. You could also get the internal ssd upgrade but that's more expensive depending on what budget you have bc they made it a proprietary connection for this surface pro and you could still lose that data bc it's connected into the device. I like the idea of the dock tho, and you could use more devices with that if you're already tagging along the extra bulk.
There is a core i3 model that may be fanless but only available in commercial channel. But so far reviews say fan noise isn't an issue including in this comparison.
@@luc7976 The real problem is, after about 2 years' usage the fan in surface devices will be very inefficient due to the uncleanable dust in it. My Surface Pro 3 i5 gets heavy CPU throttle just about 2 minutes after its start up, but never happens on my fanless Surface Pro 5 i5
If you're going to use encrypted file system, not sure if it is enabled by default in Windows 11, having i7 is more beneficial. Also I suppose on battery i7 performs better than i5 due to higher base clock speed.
Im trying to figure out if I should get the i5 8gb ($1199) or the i7 16gb ($1549). Both come with a 256gb SSD, keyboard, and pen. I am an engineering student at university so it would be primarily used for note taking, maybe some modeling or somethin down the road, not really sure.
Excellent comparison. I have a question. Is the responsiveness and snappiness for basic tasks with touch screen (like finger scrolling and opening up web browsers and apps) about the same as the ipad pro? And is the writing experience about the same too? I have a galaxy s7 plus and it is on par (even ground) with my 2nd gen ipad pro when it comes to finger scrolling and opening apps and writing. The 11th gen i5 is more powerful than the snapdragon 865. So im curious.
Excellent question. I also have the S7+ and its speed and ease of use has discouraged my thinking of upgrading to Surface Pro 8. I'd like to know the answer to that as well.
Do you find the spen on S7+ quieter than Surface Pen and Apple Pencil? The SPen on my Note 20 is completely silent, but a different form factor. I find the original Surface Pen makes a small noise in the nib with each stroke and the Apple Pencil is very noisy in comparison.
You really miss a point here. You compare the processors, but do not forget the rest - you mention video editing. i7 all the way. Because-... you can get it with 2tb ssd and 32gb RAM, which DOES make a difference, even if the processor does not. Look at the whole setup. You mention an external NVME drive - yes, nice, UNLESS YOU USE IT A LOT. You basically destroy the tablet form factor with that. So, really depends on the use case. For a professional the price difference is a joke, write it off over 3 years and the difference turns (leasing) extremely low.
I just bought the i5 with 8gb from costco for 1199 with the mouse and keyboard included, and im concerned the ram limitations are gonna be an issue. The device is working fantastic for me as well, but as an engineering student I dont know if it will be able to keep up with everything I ask of it down the road. Keep in mind I do have a desktop for my actual serious work.
@@CaptainCandycorn update: I was maxing out the ram just browsing the web so I returned and got the i5 surface laptop studio and it's working a lot better
Does anyone use the i5 8GB just for writing on programmes like Microsoft Word without any overheating? I already have a powerful desktop but all I want is for the surface to be reliable when watching Netflix or UA-cam and writing.
I just bought the i5 8GB from best buy yesterday since it was on sale. I very much enjoy it! It works very well. I bought it to study easier, business/stocks research, and to seemlessly make notes by writing on the screen. It does those tasks very well. I don't use office though. I use open office. It's pretty much the same thing, but free. The speakers on these things blew me away. I did not expect such a loud, full sound from them.
I'm totally happy with my SP7 with i5 and 126gb, I just regret that I just got 8gb RAM, sometimes it not enough and sometimes it get really hot and I dont know why.
Your reviews are REALLY AWESOME. can you please do a comparison between 7320 detachable vs surface pro 8 as both have very similar specs. On that note, what would be the performance difference between i7 1180G (dell 7320 detachable) vs i7 1185G (surface pro 8)
What's the best for watching movies ? I wanna watch movies, but i don't wanna sit, i just wanna lie around while watching movies, i know it's unhealthy for eyes, but let's just assume that i don't care about it, especially after working from 9 to 5. I need: 100 sRGB, no keyboard, with computer OS not smartphone based OS, with unlockable screen rotation
If that’s literally all your going to do then the cheapest surface pro 8 option. 128GB SSD and 8GB Ram and i5 processor. Dang go with the older Surface Pro 7+ it’s right around 100sRGB and on super sale.
I would really like to know if the i7 is worthy of the extra £200 and to be fair I don't think it's a lot of money difference - or is it just a battery drainer....
Costco right now has the i7 with 16gb ram for 350 more than the i5 8gb. In this case I believe its worth the jump. The i7 shouldnt drain the battery any more than the i5, they have gotten pretty good about being efficient these days.
Could we make a video of direct comparing start up times, application opening, multi tabs testing. Rendering time in video editing etc. Just want to see the performance between the two in real world. Don't care much about gaming as it more comes down the the GPU at the end of day.
@@simonapederseneToro There's limits to what they can do because of thermals. So it could be that putting in a more powerful i7 would have hurt overall stability and performance. I'd say only get the i7 if you absolutely are deadset on using the Surface Pro to do video editing and content creation. The 8%-12% performance boost would matter there. Then,
@@yamamancha okay, maybe I just upgrade my surface pro 3 to 8 i5 version. For me rather satisfied with the performance of that old device, and it even run Windows 11 🤣 guess only upgrade due to screen and the fact my keyboard and pen broke
@@simonapederseneToro If you're satisfied with the performance of the Pro 3, you should seriously consider getting a refurbished Pro 6. It holds up well against current machines and you could get one for 1/3 the price.
I got the ROG M16 i7 2021 11th gen for $1049+140 (32GB RAM upgrade, 40GB RAM tot). It has an 8000 3DMark Timespy score. I've been on Surface Pro since gen 1 and I just gave up after Pro 7.
@@h1a8 most likely refurbished lol, any surface product is wayyyyyyyy too expensive for what you get and dont get for the price such as the surface pro with the pen and keyboard not included in the box and price. i get it that its attractive and its portable but honestly youre better of getting the surface pro 7 as that is on sale for $699 for basically the same feature set, but thats just my opinion.
@@h1a8Surface Pro 7 was haunted with problems. USB-C charging made the touchpad jittery until windows 11 install. Couldn't perform usable tasks when battery dipped below 30% no matter the power mode.... So many lockscreen and windows hello issues (had to turn it all off)... Pen support got worse and worse. Onenote from went from great in SP5 to complete trash on SP7. So many many things.... Bestbuy had the M16 for that price one weekend. $400/450 off basically. Unbelievable machine for a $1000.
@@baandoptager I did have some Windows Hello issues when I operated the SP7 weeks without turning it off on a dock once. But for everything else, can't confirm.
you cant compare them lul, the ROG M16 is used more for gaming while the Surface Pro is dedicated to ppl who want a portable Laptop/Tablet with a good Touchscreen (that you wont have on a gaming laptop). If you want performance for sure a gaming laptop is always better in price but the use of those 2 devices are not the same so dont compare them like that....
Get surface pro 6 , better battery than 7 + replaceable screen quite cheap if it bashes , purchase cost way cheaper to do grab all accessories , powerful device, win win
Why do you have this weird viewing angle, it looks like we are looking down at the pc's, how about moving the camera to show the products facing forward, I don't want to look at a video with the camera pointed down, this is just plain weird, I've never seen any other youtuber point the camera down while talking about a product.
THANK YOU. NO ONE has shown a comparison, just seems like all of the tech nerds got the i7 and pretend the i5 doesn’t even exist
Yes but it's only been out 3 minutes! Give them a chance!
I agree with this. Every review I've seen, even with it having been 1 month+, is just the i7 variant. Usually, these people tend to review the more expensive models that most of us wouldn't truly consider paying for, since they're so expensive...
+1 to Josh’s comment. Thank you so much for this comparison
Seconded! You just saved me quite a bit of money that will go toward a nice 4K screen to plug it into. Thank you!
Wonderful content on the SP8! Please post more comparisons of i5 VS i7 variants running specific programs, photo editing or gaming
Thank you so much for this! I've been pining over whether to go with i5 vs i7 and how much storage to go with, this was as helpful as anything could be!
Just ordered an i5. Perfect for my needs 99% of the time :)
Thank you so much for this review! No one ever talks about the difference (or lack thereof) between these chips
Thanks for the video. Do you think that the performance difference between I5 and I7 would not be substantial for Surface Pro 9? Also, what about the difference between Pro 9 I5 model vs Pro 8 I7 model?
If you're only using your device for consumption (internet, Netflix, etc.) and production (office work, studying), the i5/8GB/256GB is more than enough. That's even more than enough for editing audio and light video clips (up to 1080p).
I beg to differ. That configuration isn't enough for such tasks.
@@JonJon-vg2nv Of course it is. I run a business on the Surface Pro 6 with an i7/8gb/256gb.
Real world use handling 50m+ files with hundreds of comments and notes. All while displaying on an external monitor, accessing external SSDs, holding Zoom conferences or steaming video or music in the background.
I also record and edit video content and a podcast on the SP6.
My atx tower has become a foot rest.
The SP8 with that CPU and 8gb is more real-world power than the majority of users will ever need.
@@JonJon-vg2nv Ok course it is. Even a two or three year old chip set is powerful enough. This is why people keep their laptops/desktop for 5 to 7 years. You think businesses replace their laptops/desktops every year to get the lastest chip set...lol
Keep them coming....good stuff....exactly what I was looking for....thanks
It's criminal that the keyboard and pen don't come with them at this price.
I agree...Apple has really defined the landscape in that regard.
@@TheDigitalDigest Microsoft started it way back then, I’m not sure if the Surface has ever come with the pen or keyboard
Though, past Surface devices have been cheaper
@@dl5fse990 the first 3 Surface pros came with the pen. They dropped the pen on the 4th iteration.
Personally seeing as they don’t change the body shape and the accessories seem to be compatible cross generation. I can see the logic behind it. Say when upgrading from a 3 to 6 you can get away with just buying the tablet and the accessories you already have.
Good advice, with TB4 there is less reason for upgradeability with internal storage, either at the front end (purchase) or during ownership. Just get the 256GB and buy a fast external drive for all your needs and that can be upgraded if need be and can also be used on other devices and new purchases. It will save money in the long run and preserve the life of your internal drive and keep it running at max performance. Of course, if you are loaded then spend what you like. I think that is why MS made the Surface Studio with no upgradeability, they understand that when you go TB4 you change the game. The Surface Pro is different as their main customers are Enterprise and business and end of life compliance with Data Protection Laws mean that just removing the SSD rather than getting an IT specialist to wipe the device (a third party means further audits), can be more cost-effective and simpler.
Ass for i5 -v- i7, the former should be the sweet spot for businesses and students unless they are using more complex programs.
What does TB4 mean ??
@@VV-gx6sl ThunderBolt 4!
@@andyH_England o yea thanks
Thank you for your comparision and comment! Super helpful. I am going to receive my SP8 core i5 next week. Can't wait for this.
8g or 16g ram?
@@jayshee-ah3052 I just got an 8g.
HI, I'm trying to change Into a surface pro 8, mainly for portability, but I also work a lot using photoshop and premiere pro, question is the i7 decent enough to work without any problem?
Nice video, my SP 8 with i5/16GB/256 GB gets 1493 points, 1328 graphics and 5091 cpu
Thank you very much for this video. I was really set on the i7 but now thinking about it, I might as well save some money.
Thanks for watching
Great Video! and straight to the point, love it. Kept me interested and watching to the end on why :)
Awesome review. I was indecisive on which to get and you helped me decide. Thank you
I'm a researcher and I've considered a Surface Pro for Office and other productivity apps, as well as downloading, reading, marking research papers, taking notes, maybe some teleconference meetings, etc. Probably the i5 would be all I need. But you still recommend 16 GB vs 8 GB?
I think 16GB is the way to go.
I feel like the Intel Core i5 version with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage sounds like a great option.
It is, that's what I've been using. It's the minimum I was willing to go, and it's performing much better than I expected. I'm no gamer, just engineering and productivity use but it's not skipping a beat. i7 on SP7 was needed due to active cooling (i5 kept throttling down, big mistake) but the i5 on the Pro8 is just fine and has active cooling (MS learned from the SP7 mistake). It does get warm, not not.
That’s what I got. I use it for drawing and animating, and it’s performing better than my now aging Mobile studio Pro.
@@NomadicBristolview How's your battery life please?
@@Mart1n002 Not great actually, never made a full workday yet.
@@NomadicBristolview Ah, I see, can you please specify it in hours? Thank You
Thanks for the review.
Thanks for watching
Awesome! Please also do the highest end surface go 3 with an i3 vs the i5 pro 8.
22% performance difference is actually pretty big. Well worth the money for me
It's not 22% performance. It's up to 7.5% performance CPU. Only in GPU do you have a 24.5% performance boost, but for the price hike you're paying, you can buy an entire eGPU.
@@homanh I just devided one number by the other
@@gabrielgon3408 that's an overall score that's supposed to be a mix of the two. If you look closely its divided into gpu and cpu. For cpu (not graphics) it's just a 7% increase in performance.
@@homanh good comment, I decided to buy i5
@@homanh show me where you get an eGPU for ~180€... xD
I plan on usong this laptop for solidworks and am having issues deciding between the i5 and i7. Do you thinl it would make a significant difference between the two for solidworks?
Are there any problems concerning i5 and 16GB of RAM for example that the i5 core could be kind of overwhelmed with 16 GB. I'm not a big pro in such computer topics so i say sorry if it's an unlogical question, but i'd like to buy one and i'm still unsure which model.
16gb of RAM is the biggest change you'll probably see out of i5 vs i7 and 8gb vs 16gb. The possessor does not bottle neck the the RAM at all. The i5 with 16gb of RAM is probably the best sweet spot comparing all the models! :)
@@thefatsnail Thanks, i luckily bought the model with the i5 an 16gb already. Good to hear it was the best choice.
Thank you for this.
You say the battery life is the same? I would expect the i5 to last longer. Could you confirm that, say any numbers, testing conditions etc? Also interesting to know would be battery life between 60Hz and 120Hz.
Apparently there's no difference between 120hz and 60hz
@@BenedictVo I saw some testers claiming 40% less battery life on 120Hz compared to 60. Another channel said only 1h difference.
@@TheHulkNorris The 1h I think is the official figures from Microsoft.
Thanks for the useful comparison
Is this basically the same outcome with the pro 9 version?
how's the fan noise on the i7? When do they kick in? Are they loud when they come on? Are they too loud to record music with? Would use the SP8 for music recording with condenser/dynamic mics for vocals and guitar, but I am concerned about the fan noise.
Is the fan noise an issue? I cannot stand the fan noise when I connect my i7 SP to MS Dock2. When it is not connected to the Dock, fan noise seems to be ok.
I have the i7/16gb/256gb model.. The fan is really quiet. It doesn't bother me and sometimes it is off when need be.
@@mrsmilescam1550 does the fan noise become louder when video or audio editing (if you've tried it) and does it get hot at all?
i7 is worth the investment... better CPU speed, better GPU power, higher clock speed... important factors when it comes to video editing, content creating, and getting things done with less lag. Fan noise, it doesn't sound like a lawn mower or a propeller, so its fine.
Hi thank you, which one is better for editing a children book with photoshop and illustrator ? i5 or I7 and 8 or 16 Go ? thanks !
I got the i5 with 16gb of RAM and use it for drawing and animating. It’s more than adequate. I’m using Clipstudio for drawing and TVpaint for animating. I’m doing some contribution to anthologies with clip studio and it’s working without a hitch.
@@sloppynyuszi thanks for your answer, I've bought this one too, it's great!
I just got an 8g i5. Is that good for coding and input? I was hoping to take classes on that so I want to make sure that it is right for the job.
You can't get an i5 with 16GB with 512GB or 1TB of storage. You get forced into an i7 which is expensive without much corresponding performance improvement.
It might be the case that the cheapest option would be to get the i5 with 16GB and then replace the hard drive yourself. Or use an external HDD or SSD.
I was all set to pick up the i7 model but now you've given me pause for thought. Do you happen to have cinebench and geekbench numbers for both models too? I'd also be really interested to see a real world test like a handbrake encoding race or something similar
more updates coming
@@TheDigitalDigest Im waiting for them
Thanks for this!
Seems I'm getting the i5 and saving come cash for accessories...
Hi, I use adobe apps and was really confuse about i5 and i7.I use lightoom and photoshop. I finally bought i5 but worried if it will be any good ? it yet to be delieverd.I bought 16GB
I'm actually kind of sad to see them go away from a fanless option. I know that this is natural progression for performance, but my Surface Pro 7 i5 is fanless and I love it. Battery life is much better and it's silent. It was also about half the cost of the current i5 Surface Pro 8.
Take it from a person who had 2 surfaces.
Without the fan the screens start popping out after a while ....
@@alsteensma I'm watching this because mine is now separating after three years and this is a warrantee replacement after the previous one lasted just two years. VERY glad to hear there's a fan now!
@@alsteensma Mine didn't. Pro 6 here. That said, the 8's fan is mostly inaudible in normal circumstances, only gets pushed hard when running at full tilt.
From what I have seen the i7 is 10 percent more powerful but throttles more than the i5
Awesome vid, you really put things in perspective to me when it came to these two devices.👍
How does 3d modelling comparison between these devices?
What about the i5 8gb vs the i7 16gb pro 8?
I am curious in fan noise comparison between the 2 processors. Is the i7 noisier?
Hi. Did you test the transfer speed of these external ssds witam SP8? I'm asking because I have SP8 and Samsung T7 1 TB but the real transfers are around 400 - 600 MB/s. The speed in benchmarks is proper (1000/800-900 read/write) but for some reason in the real world I don't get these results even if the ssd is cold. Any idea what's wrong?
did you enable write caching?
@@TheDigitalDigestThanks, I didn't know about it. The transfer speed has increased to 620-650 MB/s but it still should be faster. Could you please check your transfer rates? With power cord max is sometimes 700 MB/s but I saw that people with other devices are getting 900 MB/s or more.
Neat, thanks for the advice.
How well does each handle PDF textbooks that are 300 to 600 pages with text, pictures and diagrams? is the scrolling smooth for that if I scrolled a bunch of pages quickly? In the older models, there was some lag or it took a moment to catch up.
Not true at all...
Excellent little video. Well done. ANd it mirrored my own thoughts. If you are not doing architectual rendering I dont think an i7 really has any use in the office.
asus z flow😶
I am wondering the difference between the 8gb core i5 and the 16gb core i7 with them only being 100 price difference between them at the moment
Since you have Surface Pro 8 i5 version: Can you please make me a favor to double check by right click on "This PC" and properties. What do they write on the CPU row?
2.4Ghz and 2.42 GHz? Or did you get any other information instead of this one? I just need to know cause I suspect I might got scammed on the CPU part :(
Thank you so much in advance!
Kann das i5, 8gm 256 ssd Spiele bewältigen sims4?
Interesting, when you push the brightness up buttons, on the i5 it shows the brightness icon under the bar on the screen, on the i7 it didn’t show the icon.
Internal storage vs external drive which one would you prefer
Get an external drive because you can get something like a 1tb external ssd for the $200 dollars instead of going from 256 to 512, plus it's more secure and private
@@grulple5863 that makes perfect sense and I can still use the drive for other devices. Thanks!!!
I say external drives are defeating the point of a 2 in 1 because then the surface book pro 8 isn't nearly as portable. I'd only use an external drive in the case that it was connected to a dock. It's possible there are better M.2 storage alternatives than buying from MS but using a cable to plug into just an external drive is defeating the purpose of an ultrabook in my opinion as you won't want to move it around as much. External drive connected to a dock makes sense to me for best of both worlds (portability + workstation mode at work / home etc).
@@AdamLogan313 fair point, it's true that external drives do add bulk, I just like it for the privacy aspect and being less susceptible to losing data if someone hacks you or if someone stole your computer. But I think that if you had most of the data on the external and just moved what ever you needed to the computer and leave the drive at home, it would still make sense for the external. You could also get the internal ssd upgrade but that's more expensive depending on what budget you have bc they made it a proprietary connection for this surface pro and you could still lose that data bc it's connected into the device. I like the idea of the dock tho, and you could use more devices with that if you're already tagging along the extra bulk.
@@grulple5863 how much does windows 11 takes up on 256gb version?
Is there a fanless model in the Surface Pro 8 line up?
I thought i5 were fanless. Just go for i7
There is a core i3 model that may be fanless but only available in commercial channel. But so far reviews say fan noise isn't an issue including in this comparison.
@@pCJjXXWFuGCciKMw33M8 the i5 this year is not fanless.
@@luc7976 The real problem is, after about 2 years' usage the fan in surface devices will be very inefficient due to the uncleanable dust in it. My Surface Pro 3 i5 gets heavy CPU throttle just about 2 minutes after its start up, but never happens on my fanless Surface Pro 5 i5
@@TellurdogIsayhi yeah I will go for the i7 for higher performance
If you're going to use encrypted file system, not sure if it is enabled by default in Windows 11, having i7 is more beneficial. Also I suppose on battery i7 performs better than i5 due to higher base clock speed.
Im trying to figure out if I should get the i5 8gb ($1199) or the i7 16gb ($1549). Both come with a 256gb SSD, keyboard, and pen. I am an engineering student at university so it would be primarily used for note taking, maybe some modeling or somethin down the road, not really sure.
I would go for the i7
You said you recommend the i5 with 16 GB of RAM but if I'm already spending an extra $300 for the RAM, isn't the i7 worth it for $200 more?
yes'nt
Excellent comparison.
I have a question. Is the responsiveness and snappiness for basic tasks with touch screen (like finger scrolling and opening up web browsers and apps) about the same as the ipad pro? And is the writing experience about the same too?
I have a galaxy s7 plus and it is on par (even ground) with my 2nd gen ipad pro when it comes to finger scrolling and opening apps and writing. The 11th gen i5 is more powerful than the snapdragon 865. So im curious.
Excellent question. I also have the S7+ and its speed and ease of use has discouraged my thinking of upgrading to Surface Pro 8.
I'd like to know the answer to that as well.
Do you find the spen on S7+ quieter than Surface Pen and Apple Pencil? The SPen on my Note 20 is completely silent, but a different form factor. I find the original Surface Pen makes a small noise in the nib with each stroke and the Apple Pencil is very noisy in comparison.
@@NoProb4Rob Not noise but smoothness (less gitter). I don't care about noise or not
Yes, both have 120 hertz. Which means the scrolling and touch screen in general in both devices give the same amount of smoothness
@@smchp2007 That's on paper. Have you played with both?
I also noticed that the animation for brightness level was different on the i7, when you adjusted the brightness on the video 4:26
something strange was going on post update. I reinstalled windows 11 to resolve it. The bug is gone.
@@TheDigitalDigest is the brightness between the two equal now?
I was under the impression that the iGPU difference between the i5 and i7 was larger in actual use?
I'll be posting another update today
You really miss a point here. You compare the processors, but do not forget the rest - you mention video editing. i7 all the way. Because-... you can get it with 2tb ssd and 32gb RAM, which DOES make a difference, even if the processor does not. Look at the whole setup. You mention an external NVME drive - yes, nice, UNLESS YOU USE IT A LOT. You basically destroy the tablet form factor with that. So, really depends on the use case. For a professional the price difference is a joke, write it off over 3 years and the difference turns (leasing) extremely low.
You can upgrade the hard drive on your own for under $200, and the only version with 32GB of RAM is $2500 without keyboard or pen.
Thanks for trying but this was not helpful at all. We need to see things like app load, web page rendering, games etc
You should provide a link for the external drives!
just added one to the description
@@TheDigitalDigest Thanks!
Does the i7 have a cooling fan ?
Which Thunderbolt do you recommend? I am looking to buy this to replace my desktop and tablet.
dedicated accessory video coming soon...
Can you switch the language in OS without reinstall it?
any heating or throttling issues?
The i5 with 16gb RAM is sold out :(
Does the Surface Dock (the one before last. With USB-A size ports) work with Surface Pro 8?
don't have it to confirm
The i5 and 8gb of ram has surprisingly been really good for me
I just bought the i5 with 8gb from costco for 1199 with the mouse and keyboard included, and im concerned the ram limitations are gonna be an issue. The device is working fantastic for me as well, but as an engineering student I dont know if it will be able to keep up with everything I ask of it down the road. Keep in mind I do have a desktop for my actual serious work.
@@CaptainCandycorn so what option did you go with in the end?
@@CaptainCandycorn update: I was maxing out the ram just browsing the web so I returned and got the i5 surface laptop studio and it's working a lot better
@@CaptainCandycorn I now could be an asshole, but I dont want to ruin your mood...
Does anyone use the i5 8GB just for writing on programmes like Microsoft Word without any overheating? I already have a powerful desktop but all I want is for the surface to be reliable when watching Netflix or UA-cam and writing.
I just bought the i5 8GB from best buy yesterday since it was on sale. I very much enjoy it! It works very well. I bought it to study easier, business/stocks research, and to seemlessly make notes by writing on the screen. It does those tasks very well. I don't use office though. I use open office. It's pretty much the same thing, but free. The speakers on these things blew me away. I did not expect such a loud, full sound from them.
@@mr_skillshow has the i5 8gb ram been for you the past few months?
I Heard the i7 is color calibrated at the factory
is there a major difference between the i5 with 8gb ram and the i5 with 16gb ram???
yes, I would alway recomend 16gb for things like light gaming, or any kind of video or audio editing.
I'm totally happy with my SP7 with i5 and 126gb, I just regret that I just got 8gb RAM, sometimes it not enough and sometimes it get really hot and I dont know why.
Your reviews are REALLY AWESOME. can you please do a comparison between 7320 detachable vs surface pro 8 as both have very similar specs. On that note, what would be the performance difference between i7 1180G (dell 7320 detachable) vs i7 1185G (surface pro 8)
Is the keyboard ice blue or platinum? TIA
Platinum.
Please do i5 vs i7 gaming fps differences
Is the fever serious? I experienced the pro8 of the i5 processor offline and found that the fever was very serious
fever?
@@TheDigitalDigest After using for a period of time, is there serious heat on the back; whether there is a problem with heat dissipation
Can we run cracked software on surface pro
16GB is SO MUCH MORE expensive, UGHHHH WHYYUY
Yeah I feel you on that one....
translation: i can't afford it, UGHHHH WHYUY
@@RK-um9tu yea
Is there a fan on the i5 model?
Yes
you could also upgrade the ssd with the extra money
What's the best for watching movies ?
I wanna watch movies, but i don't wanna sit, i just wanna lie around while watching movies, i know it's unhealthy for eyes, but let's just assume that i don't care about it, especially after working from 9 to 5.
I need: 100 sRGB, no keyboard, with computer OS not smartphone based OS, with unlockable screen rotation
If that’s literally all your going to do then the cheapest surface pro 8 option. 128GB SSD and 8GB Ram and i5 processor. Dang go with the older Surface Pro 7+ it’s right around 100sRGB and on super sale.
Think what these would be like with a 12 gen intel cpu in them
How did you get an i5 16gb in platinum?? I thought it was only available in graphite?
, in my country, you can only get i5 16gb - in platinum, sadly. I want it in graphite.
hi guys, who can tell me how and where to order pro 8 in russia?
16Gb or 8GB? Not doing any video editing or photo editing. Use RDS.
8 should be fine but for future proofing purposes I would go with 16
THANKS!
I would really like to know if the i7 is worthy of the extra £200 and to be fair I don't think it's a lot of money difference - or is it just a battery drainer....
Costco right now has the i7 with 16gb ram for 350 more than the i5 8gb. In this case I believe its worth the jump. The i7 shouldnt drain the battery any more than the i5, they have gotten pretty good about being efficient these days.
No 16gb i5 Australian model.. :(
Same here, only i7 has 16gb
Could we make a video of direct comparing start up times, application opening, multi tabs testing.
Rendering time in video editing etc.
Just want to see the performance between the two in real world.
Don't care much about gaming as it more comes down the the GPU at the end of day.
The real-world difference is likely so minimal that you may have a hard time finding a YTer who finds it worthwhile.
@@yamamancha so basically just get i5 is what you are telling me, because i7 should not exist unless you are greedy of money as a manufacturer.
@@simonapederseneToro There's limits to what they can do because of thermals. So it could be that putting in a more powerful i7 would have hurt overall stability and performance.
I'd say only get the i7 if you absolutely are deadset on using the Surface Pro to do video editing and content creation.
The 8%-12% performance boost would matter there.
Then,
@@yamamancha okay, maybe I just upgrade my surface pro 3 to 8 i5 version.
For me rather satisfied with the performance of that old device, and it even run Windows 11 🤣 guess only upgrade due to screen and the fact my keyboard and pen broke
@@simonapederseneToro If you're satisfied with the performance of the Pro 3, you should seriously consider getting a refurbished Pro 6.
It holds up well against current machines and you could get one for 1/3 the price.
I got the ROG M16 i7 2021 11th gen for $1049+140 (32GB RAM upgrade, 40GB RAM tot). It has an 8000 3DMark Timespy score.
I've been on Surface Pro since gen 1 and I just gave up after Pro 7.
What was the problem of the surface pro that you gave up? Where did you buy the ROG for that price?
@@h1a8 most likely refurbished lol, any surface product is wayyyyyyyy too expensive for what you get and dont get for the price such as the surface pro with the pen and keyboard not included in the box and price. i get it that its attractive and its portable but honestly youre better of getting the surface pro 7 as that is on sale for $699 for basically the same feature set, but thats just my opinion.
@@h1a8Surface Pro 7 was haunted with problems. USB-C charging made the touchpad jittery until windows 11 install. Couldn't perform usable tasks when battery dipped below 30% no matter the power mode.... So many lockscreen and windows hello issues (had to turn it all off)... Pen support got worse and worse. Onenote from went from great in SP5 to complete trash on SP7. So many many things....
Bestbuy had the M16 for that price one weekend. $400/450 off basically. Unbelievable machine for a $1000.
@@baandoptager I did have some Windows Hello issues when I operated the SP7 weeks without turning it off on a dock once. But for everything else, can't confirm.
you cant compare them lul, the ROG M16 is used more for gaming while the Surface Pro is dedicated to ppl who want a portable Laptop/Tablet with a good Touchscreen (that you wont have on a gaming laptop).
If you want performance for sure a gaming laptop is always better in price but the use of those 2 devices are not the same so dont compare them like that....
I just wish the i5 whas whit out fan 😔😔
You can see the brightness on the i5 that you mentioned in the video.
Battery life comparison between i5 and i7
I am interested in real life battery numbers.
@@arabinow I'm too. My Pro 7 battery life is abismal. Even when new, I couldn't get mora than 5 hour of very light use
@@robertocalvo934 I hated the pro 7, especially the battery life. The pro 8 is a noticeable difference. I feel like the battery holds a bit better.
@@mrsmilescam1550 wait, you already have the pro 8?
@@robertocalvo934 yes I have one. Such an improvement.
Ok review the pro 8 i5 16gb of Ram vs the pro 8 i7 32gb of Ram
I won't be getting the 32gb model
32gb is very expensive it’s like 700 more not worth it for the price
tbh, i own a galaxy tab s7+ and the s pen experience is far worse than surface
Im going with the i7 hopefully the battery will be good enough lol
Same fps??? That’s what matter
lenovo duet 7 is better than surface pro
Get surface pro 6 , better battery than 7 + replaceable screen quite cheap if it bashes , purchase cost way cheaper to do grab all accessories , powerful device, win win
You do you.
True if you don't need TB4. But also not widely in stock because so many people started telecommuting.
The SP6's battery is not bettery than the SP7 Plus because it is much smaller. The SP6's battery is better than the SP7...
No USB-C port on the 6. That’s a deal killer.
Why do you have this weird viewing angle, it looks like we are looking down at the pc's, how about moving the camera to show the products facing forward, I don't want to look at a video with the camera pointed down, this is just plain weird, I've never seen any other youtuber point the camera down while talking about a product.
Lol, tons of youtubers do it. You can see the full display, who cares?