To test the Surface Pro is also to test its accessories. On the other hand, even after using the Pro 8 for a few days, I still find the kickstand awkward to pull out the narrow divots make it tough to grab onto. Even the “snap” it makes when you pop it into place somehow sounds premium. The weighty aluminum helps the Pro 8 feel like the high-end device it is. The kickstand in this year’s model is at once gorgeous and slightly annoying. The built-in kickstand also suggests Microsoft knows people are going to spend more time docking the device than holding it. Users have been requesting this for a while, and it means that people can now plug in high-speed drives, multiple 4K displays and eGPUs. Meanwhile, the two USB-C ports now support Thunderbolt 4. It has a thin railroad track of vents along the top and sides, a necessity given the Core i5/i7 processor inside. It looks and acts like a laptop, even if the keyboard folio isn’t included.

Everything elseīesides - and I can’t emphasize this enough - the Surface Pro 8 isn’t a mobile device. It’s worth noting, however, you’re unlikely to notice much of a difference in movie playback, as Microsoft did some software work specifically to lower the refresh rate for that use case. I noticed the difference immediately, even with the sort of mundane tasks I do hundreds of times a day: launching apps and minimizing windows. So, here’s me repeating a tired cliche: You will likely be happy with the 60Hz mode that’s enabled by default, but once you switch to 120Hz in the settings, you won’t want to revert back. Even so, it’s already something of a meme for reviewers like us to say something like “you don’t know what you’re missing until you experience it.” I’m annoyed to say that is 100 percent true. This is a relatively new addition to the world of notebooks. Most important is the 120Hz refresh rate. On a roof deck, however, the 450-nit screen didn’t feel quite bright enough at max settings - something to keep in mind if you intend to use this on the go. In short, it’s bright, colorful and I never struggled with the viewing angles, regardless of where I was sitting in the house or how much sun was streaming in from outside.

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Surface pro 8 ports