Surface Pro 7 vs Surface Pro X Best 2 in 1 Laptop in 2024

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 and the Surface Pro X were officially announced earlier this month and are now available for purchase. While both are 2 in 1 laptops, there are some key differences here that make each model appealing to a specific demographic. This is why we are comparing both 2 in 1 laptops hardware to understand the differences between them better, the changes, and price difference, justification. We will have a closer look at the hardware of both devices, while the software really shouldn’t make a difference, given that they both run Windows 10 Home.

Surface Pro 7 vs. Surface Pro X Best 2 in 1 Laptop in 2024

 

 

Surface Pro 7

Display and Design

The Surface Pro 7 is the mid-tier level laptop in the 2019 Surface lineup announced not too long ago. It has a design in line with the predecessors consisting of a 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen display with a resolution of 2736 x 1824 and a pixel density of 267 PPI (pixels per inch). It also comes with the iconic Surface kickstand, which makes it ideal for watching media or attaching a keyboard of your choice.

Processor and RAM

The Surface Pro 7 is available in Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 models consisting of dual-core and quad-core models, providing plenty of processing power regardless of the variant you choose. All processors are Intel’s 10th gen models, offering the best performance possible for a laptop. The Core i3 variants come with Intel UHD Graphics while the i5 and i7 models feature Intel Iris Plus Graphics for enhanced performance. In terms of RAM capacity, the Surface Pro 7 is available in 4, 8, and 16GB variants.

Battery

On average, it is claimed that the Surface Pro 7 can offer up to 10.5 hours of battery life, which is reasonably decent or a laptop this powerful and capable. Microsoft has also included fast charging features into the laptop, which allows the device to charge from 0 to 80% in just over 60 minutes. So it’s clear that Microsoft wanted this to include tablet-like features while also offering the versatility of a laptop.

Other Features

One of the most significant benefits of getting a Surface device is the number of Surface accessories you can get access to. One of these is the Type Cover, which is sold separately by Microsoft. This can completely transform your Surface Pro 7 and turn it into a full-blown laptop.

The tablet comes with a USB C 3.1 port and a USB A port for good measure. This allows you to connect both older and newer devices to the laptop efficiently. You can also choose to pair it with the Surface Dock to add more attachments in addition to what’s provided. The company also provides connectors on the tablet for all compatible accessories.

Surprisingly, Microsoft also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack with this device, which is a feature that modern-day tablets and smartphones are leaving out. There’s also a microSDXC card reader, which can let you transfer media from your phone to clear up some storage space. Microsoft provides its Windows Hello facial authentication system with enterprise-grade protection to let you unlock the Surface Pro 7 or authenticate apps.

Since this is also expected to be a communication medium, Microsoft has included a 5MP camera on the front. This can offer high-definition video calls on native apps like Skype, while you can also choose from a wide range of third-party apps via Windows Apps on the Microsoft Store. The back panel has an 8MP camera, which can perform pretty decently on its own. Both cameras are capable of 1080p video, which is slightly disappointing as most modern-day tablets offer 4K video recording.

The Surface Pro 7 runs Windows 10 Home by default and will receive constant updates directly from Microsoft. Customers of the Surface Pro 7 are also entitled to receive a 30-day free trial to Office 365, which is an excellent service that unifies all of Microsoft’s best office tools into one package. The tablet supports Microsoft Cortana voice assistant, with the company using dual far-field studio microphones for this purpose. Lastly, the Surface Pro 7 is packing 1.6W stereo speakers with Dolby Audio Premium that can offer excellent sound. The tablet supports Bluetooth 5.0 to connect peripherals like keyboards or mice wirelessly.

Availability

The Surface Pro 7 can be purchased from Microsoft’s official retail channels, including its online store as well as third-party retailers like Amazon. It is worth mentioning that you can currently get the Surface Pro 7 with the Type Cover on Amazon at a pretty reasonable price. This variant comes with the Core i5 processor and offers 8GB of RAM with 128GB of onboard storage. Surface Pro 7 comes with a decent 30-day return policy, 90 days of free technical phone support, and 12 months in-store support and technical assistance. This is in addition to the 1-year standard warranty offered by Microsoft.

 

Surface Pro X

Display and Design

The Surface Pro X is a significantly larger laptop, although it’s hard to tell thanks to the edge-to-edge display with minimal bezels. It comes with a 13-inch PixelSense touchscreen display with a resolution of 2880 x 1920 and a pixel density of 267 PPI, which is pretty much the same as the Surface Pro 7. The design consists of anodized aluminum with carbon composite fanless thermal cooling to dissipate heat more evenly through this powerful laptop. It’s also worth mentioning that this is Microsoft’s thinnest 2-in-1 laptop at just 7.3mm.

Processor and RAM

This tablet/laptop runs the custom Microsoft SQ1 octa-core chip with a reported clock-speed of 3.0 GHz, offering desktop-level CPU performance. This processor was developed in collaboration with Qualcomm, which is one of the biggest names in the CPU industry today. This processor is accompanied by the Microsoft SQ1 Adreno 685 GPU, offering the best graphics performance imaginable from a device of this caliber.

The company only offers two RAM variants of the Surface Pro X – 8GB and 16GB.

Battery

Since the Surface Pro X is sporting a bigger display, the company also had to provide a bigger battery. This allows the device to run for up to 13 hours on a single battery charge, which is unprecedented for a 2-in-1 laptop in this range. Just like the smaller Surface Pro 7, the Surface Pro X comes with fast charging features built-in, which means it can charge from 0 to 80% within over an hour. Remarkably, Microsoft has managed to keep this feature unchanged despite packing a bigger battery.

Other Features

One of the key highlights of the Surface Pro X is the presence of a nano-SIM card slot. This allows you to add any compatible SIM card with a data plan to use it on the go with your tablet. Thanks to the CPU used on this device, it also supports LTE Advanced Pro for snappy data performance. Unfortunately, Microsoft is offering two USB C ports so that you won’t find the legacy USB A port here. However, the addition of the second USB C port allows you to attach a wide range of accessories, such as USB C hubs.

Naturally, all the accessories we talked about above are compatible with the Surface Pro X as well, albeit designed differently to accommodate the bigger display panel. Customers can also choose to add the Surface Slim Pen which unlocks a whole new world of drawing and sketching abilities. These are additionally sold accessories and not included with the Surface X.

In the storage department, Microsoft offers removable solid-state drives in 128, 256, and 512GB capacities. Further, the company is using 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Audio Premium, which is a slight upgrade over the Surface Pro 7. In the camera department, the Surface Pro X packs a better 10MP rear camera while retaining the same 5MP front camera. Just like the Surface Pro 7, this laptop uses the Windows Hello face authentication camera, which also comes with enterprise-grade protection to meet the rigorous security demands of the modern-day individual.

Availability

The Surface Pro X can also be purchased from the same outlets as the Surface Pro 7, including Amazon. The retailer is currently offering the 8GB/128GB version of the tablet (without the Surface Pro X Keyboard). Microsoft offers the Surface Pro X in a solitary Matte Black version. The tablet includes the company’s 1-year limited warranty as well as 1-year of in-store support and technical assistance.

Conclusion

As you can probably tell, the Surface Pro X is naturally the more powerful of the two. If you’re looking for Microsoft’s best tablet/laptop hybrid, it’s hard to look over the Surface Pro X. It is also worth considering that both tablets are priced in the same range depending on the variant you choose. While neither tablets are necessarily cheap, we feel the Surface Pro X offers immense value in comparison to any other 2-in-1 laptop out there.

But if you’re looking for more connectivity options like a microSDXC port or a USB A port, the Surface Pro 7 is an excellent alternative. The two devices are indistinguishable in terms of software since they run on the same Windows 10 Home operating system with all of the same perks included. Keeping this in mind, the only determination you have to make is with regards to which hardware do you like better.