The total price of a Surface Pro is always more than you initially think. Remember – the Type Cover is still sold separately, and starts at The Pro 7+’s upgrades are valuable, but not valuable enough to justify spending four figures on a Windows tablet. Pro 7 (from £799/US$749), while for the price of the model on test here you could buy the more business-focused Even entry-level models cost significantly more than the regular I can’t recommend anyone opts for the latter, as it doesn’t represent good value, but it’s there if you really do need those specs. The mid-spec, 4G-enabled i5 version I tested comes in at £1,479/US$1,499.99, while you’ll pay as much £2,759/US$2,799.99 for the most expensive model. That entry-level model gets you an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, but prices climb steeply from there. US$899.99, and is available to buy via the Surface for Business website. If (like me) your power source is to the left of where you’re sitting, this means the cable can easily get in your way. The port is located on the bottom-right of the device in this mode, a highly unusual position by traditional laptop standards.

However, Microsoft’s persistence with the proprietary Surface Connect cable can make it slightly awkward to use with a keyboard while charging. The Pro 7+ reached 37% in 30 minutes from empty, giving you at least a couple of hours’ of use if you forgot to charge it overnight and plugged it in quickly while you eat breakfast. It’s a similarly impressive story when it comes to charging, although don’t expect smartphone-level speeds. That’s with the brightness set to relatively dim 120 nits, and so not necessarily reflective of real-world usage, but it’s now a device that can comfortably make it through a full 8-hour working day without the safety net of a mains socket. I recorded just over 13 hours when playing a 720p video on loop, an above-average result compared to most laptops.

Surface pro 7 plus i3