Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3" 7+ 2020, Core i3-1115G4, 8GB, 128GB SSD, Platinum

The Surface Pro 7+ is incredibly light at 0.77kg and has a great 2736x1824 display, but the Core i3-1115G4 CPU ranks in the 9th percentile and the 128GB SSD is in the 8th percentile. At $799 USD without the keyboard, it's a premium price for bottom-tier performance. Buy it for the portability, not the power.

Let's be blunt: the Core i3-1115G4 is not a performer. Two cores, 3.0GHz base clock, and integrated Intel UHD Graphics that rank in the 36th percentile for GPU performance. That's below average for a 2-in-1, and it shows. Basic productivity tasks like email, web browsing, and Office apps will run fine. But throw anything heavier at it, like photo editing or multiple virtual desktops with video calls, and you'll feel the ceiling quickly. The 8GB of RAM doesn't help. It's soldered LPDDR4X, so there's no upgrading later, and 8GB in 2024 is the bare minimum for Windows 10 Pro to feel responsive.

The 128GB SSD is another bottleneck. It ranks in the 8th percentile for storage among 2-in-1s, which means you'll be managing disk space from day one. Windows 10 Pro alone eats a good chunk of that, and once you add a few apps and some local files, you're looking at external storage or cloud reliance. The one bright spot is the display. The 2736x1824 panel is sharp, bright, and supports 10-point multi-touch, which makes it great for inking and tablet use. But a great screen doesn't compensate for a CPU that's near the bottom of our charts.

Stacked against the competition, the Surface Pro 7+ occupies a weird niche. The Apple MacBook Pro M5 absolutely crushes it in CPU and GPU performance, but it's also heavier and more expensive. The Lenovo Legion 5i and ASUS ROG Zephyrus are gaming machines with dedicated GPUs that make the Surface's integrated graphics look like a toy, but they're also twice the weight and not detachable. The Acer Predator Helios Neo and MSI Creator A13V are similarly in a different performance class entirely. What the Surface Pro 7+ offers that none of those do is a 0.77kg detachable design with a 99th percentile compactness score. If you need a true tablet that can also run Windows 10 Pro, this is one of the few options. But if you don't need the detachable screen, every competitor on this list offers dramatically better performance per dollar.

At $799 USD, the Surface Pro 7+ is a tough sell on specs alone. You're paying a premium for the form factor, the display, and the Surface brand. The compactness is genuinely best-in-class, and the screen is a standout. But the CPU, RAM, and storage are all in the bottom 15% of our database. For the same money, you could get a traditional laptop with double the RAM, four times the storage, and a much faster processor. The value here depends entirely on how much you need the detachable tablet form factor. If portability is your top priority and you're willing to live with the performance ceiling, it's defensible. If you need any real computing power, it's not.

The Surface Pro 7+ in this config is a study in trade-offs. You get a 12.3-inch 2736x1824 display that lands in the 85th percentile for screen quality among 2-in-1s, and the whole thing weighs just 0.77kg, which puts it in the 99th percentile for compactness. That's genuinely impressive for a Windows machine with a detachable keyboard design. But the internals tell a different story. The Intel Core i3-1115G4 sits in the 9th percentile for CPU performance in our database, and the 128GB SSD lands in the 8th percentile for storage. This is a device built for portability first, and everything else comes second.

At $799 USD, you're paying for the form factor and the display, not the horsepower. The 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM ranks in the 14th percentile, which means multitasking beyond a handful of browser tabs and a document or two will get tight. Windows 10 Pro is a nice touch for business users, and the removable SSD is genuinely useful for IT departments that care about data security. But for individual buyers, the value proposition gets murky fast once you start comparing specs to price.

Skip this if you need any real computing power. The Core i3-1115G4 ranks in the 9th percentile for CPU performance, the 8GB of RAM is in the 14th percentile, and the 128GB SSD is in the 8th percentile. That's a triple threat of bottom-tier specs. If you edit photos, run virtual machines, do any coding beyond light scripting, or just like having 20 browser tabs open, this machine will frustrate you daily. Also skip it if you're on a tight budget, because the $799 USD price doesn't include the Type Cover, which is sold separately and essential for laptop-style use. And if you're a student, the 48.4 out of 100 student score tells the story: there are better options for the money.

The Surface Pro 7+ with the Core i3 is a niche product for a specific buyer. If you're a business user who needs an ultra-light Windows tablet with a removable SSD for security compliance, and your workload is limited to Office, email, and web apps, it works. The 99th percentile compactness and 85th percentile display are genuinely impressive. But the 9th percentile CPU and 8th percentile storage mean this config will frustrate anyone who needs real performance. At $799 USD before you even add the Type Cover, which is sold separately, the value proposition is weak. We'd recommend looking at a traditional ultrabook with better internals unless the detachable form factor is non-negotiable.