The Surface Pro 11 is the best Surface Pro ever made . It ’s also thebest Windows 2 - in-1ever made . Heck , I might even say it has some serious advantages over thenew iPad Pro .
It ’s buoyed by the young Snapdragon X bit , first and foremost . But it also has a new webcam , improved keyboard , and a slayer OLED screen all in a parcel that ’s as refined as ever .
If you ca n’t order , I ’ve very much enjoy my time reviewing the Surface Pro 11th Edition . It ’s not perfect , but I find myself with very slight to dislike about Microsoft ’s flagship 2 - in-1 — a dependable accomplishment for Microsoft and the Windows ecosystem at large .
Specs and configurations
The Surface Pro 11 come in two primary configurations . The $ 999 take up constellation come with a Snapdragon X Plus chip , IPS jury , and 256 GB SSD . It originate with 16 GB of RAM , but you’re able to increase RAM and computer memory from there .
The second alternative is the OLED model , which comes with the Snapdragon X Elite . This one starts at $ 1,499 , but it comes with 512 GB of storage . From there , configuration max out at 1 TB of storage and 32 GB of memory .
Neither configuration come with the Type Cover or Surface Slim Pen bundled in .
Design
The Surface Pro has n’t changed much over the years , and I ’m not certain that it ’s needed to . The trustworthy 2 - in-1 intent still feels rather polish , whether that ’s the stout kickstand or the snazzy color options .
The latest version is nearly identical to the previous version , but it does n’t at all look go out . TheSurface Laptop 7th Editioncatches up in its latest model , but the Surface Pro remains confidently unchanged .
If there ’s one area I would have like to see some change , it ’s in the dimensions . Now that it ’s move to an weapon system - based chip , I would have do it to see a thinner chassis . The thickness of the gimmick is even more famous when you consider the cuts made to the 2024 iPad Pro , which is just 0.2 in buddy-buddy . That ’s about half as thick as the Surface Pro . Of course , when you include the comparable keyboard cover , that difference is n’t quite as noticeable since the Type Cover is n’t as thick as the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard . Still , it ’s pretty significant when using the pad as a tablet .
Speaking of the keyboard , the Type Cover has yet again been improved . The keyboard and trackpad are both cleanly on compass point now . The surface of the haptic feedback trackpad is dead smooth , and the keys are a joy to typecast on . I ’m amazed by just good of a keyboard Microsoft has evolve this into — and for my money , is even good than the Magic Keyboard . It ’s even tough enough to use on your circle , so long as you do n’t mind the kickstand grok into your thigh . It even does a corking task of covering over that bottom bezel when propped up .
One of the best changes ( and advantages of get one of the new Type Covers ) is the power to still apply the keyboard when take out from the tab . This is ahugeimprovement to usability , opening up lots of manner to get comfortable while using the gimmick .
Ports
The Surface Pro does n’t have lots of interface , but I would n’t expect it to . It has the two USB - C port wine , the Surface Connect dock , and that ’s it . No headphone jack .
That ’s frustrative , even if it sense more sensible on a tablet . But considering most citizenry will want to use the Surface Pro 11 as a laptop replacement , the lack of a headphone jack is a nuisance .
The one huge reward of the Surface Pro 11 is that it boast a obliterable SSD . Using the simple magnetic expansion slot on the back , you get quick and well-fixed access to the storage , let you elevate it . That ’s extremely recommended since Microsoft charges quite a lot to upgrade storage up front .
Display
The Surface Pro 11th Edition has a grand screen . It really is gorgeous . It ’s certainly one of the best displays on a Windows equipment I ’ve ever try out — as long as we ’re talking about the OLED model that I reviewed . This is the first OLED Surface Pro , and it ’s exactly what this twist take .
There are two display modes that have very dissimilar function . The default HDR mode pass on you that high peak brightness but sacrifices color accuracy and saturation . The Vivid modal value turns off HDR , but improves gamut up to 100 % sRGB ( and 85 % AdobeRGB ) and accuracy to 0.74 . Regardless of which modality you ’re in , though , you ’re getting well over 500 nit of SDR brightness ( up to 533 nits in the Vivid mode ) . Of course , that is about half the brightness that the iPad Pro ’s tandem bicycle OLED gore offers — so it ’s not quite on the same level .
But within the Windows ecosystem , there are few displays that can equal this . The new XPS 13 , for example , has an option for a bicycle-built-for-two OLED panel , but maxes out at just 400 nit in SDR .
And either way , of course of instruction , you get the 120Hz refresh pace , which keeps thing feeling responsive .
Speakers and webcam
Here ’s a fact : Tablets usually have better speakers and webcam than laptop . Because of the way they ’re designed , with the components behind the silver screen rather than under the keyboard , there are all sorts of possibilities for improving thing . Take the webcam , for example . It ’s a 12 - megapixel wide - slant lens that looks gorgeous . When ’s the last time you ’ve heard a webcam described that way of life ?
The solving is off the charts , evidently , and it handles exposure attractively . When it comes to Windows devices , you wo n’t find abettor videoconferencing machine . And , of course , you also get the welfare of have a 10 - megapixel camera on the behind , even if utilize cases for that are far more rarified .
The speakers are n’t as big of a winnings , but they ’re still quite prissy . Despite there being just a span of 2 - watt speaker system onboard , you get some decent audio quality of this equipment . They get quite forte without torture , and there ’s a decorous amount of bass part . They have a full sound visibility for music than even the 15 - inch Surface Laptop 7 , making it one of the better options in terms of audio quality .
Performance
The late Surface Pro machine have always been potent , but it gets even better in this latest iteration . My revue building block come with the Snapdragon X1E80100 , a 12 - core chip with a 3.4GHz clock speed . It also comes with the obligatory 16 GB of RAM to bequalified as a Copilot+ PC . The 10 - core X Plus model comes in the base configuration , but you ’ll always get 16 GB of RAM .
The resulting performance is impressive . Of naturally , it lands near the bottom of other laptop with this chip that we ’ve reviewed so far , include the Surface Laptop , Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x , HP OmniBook X , and more . That ’s to be assume , though , considering the Surface Pro is the only tablet in the mixture and is by far the thin machine in the mathematical group . And yet , performance is on par with modern Intel Core Ultra laptops in both single - meat and multi - core performance .
What this gimmick can do , however , is ramp up quite a bit in its Performance mode . You get a 38 % increase in multi - core performance and 15 % more single - core functioning . That ’s a big jump , much more than what we typically see . The Surface Pro 11 has clearly been restrained quite a mo thermally to keep it cool and quiet , which is a skillful decision in my thought .
As we ’ve discussed in other reviews of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite , the integrated graphics are n’t anything to write home about . They are n’t a vast disappointment , but they lag behind the current Intel Arc computer graphic and well behind Apple ’s M3 . Combine that with some compatibility in game , and you have a gadget that really should n’t be counted on for microcomputer gaming . That ’s perfectly all right for this gadget , but it ’s something you should make out before move forth .
Battery life
I ’ve always been let down by the battery life of the Surface Pro twist . It ’s just never felt good enough for a extremely portable gadget of this type — making for yet another reasonableness why Windows tablets never in truth took off .
That ’s no more . The Surface Pro 11 finally has the shelling life appropriate for a tablet , thanks to the Snapdragon X microchip . In our clear web browse trial , the Surface Pro 11 was able-bodied to last over 14 and a half 60 minutes . It ’s thelongest lasting Copilot+ PCso far , and while it ’s not quite up to the touchstone of MacBooks , it ’s a huge climb over previous generations .
It’s never been this good
The Surface Pro 11th Edition is the fulfillment of a long journey for this line of gadget . It ’s always been a equipment that was more about what it could be than what it ’s been . But now , the Surface Pro is not just the best Windows 2 - in-1 ever made , it make a compelling case for the category as a whole . If this does n’t inspire a great movement in the ecosystem , nothing will .
The only real downside is the toll . The $ 999 base of operations conformation sound great , but you ’ll need to add on the $ 140 keyboard at the very least . Most the great unwashed may even choose for the $ 280 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - on that include both the keyboard and Surface Slim Pen . That being said , Microsoft sound out it sell them on an individual basis to allow multitude to reuse older Type Cover keyboard .
