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The Pro X boasts the slimmer, rounder edges and thinner bezels that you might expect out of a contemporary top-tier Surface Pro device. This was made more obvious by the emergence of the Surface Pro X, originally revealed alongside the Pro 7. By 2021's standards, the design is looking a bit dated, especially the thick screen bezels. The Surface Pro 7 still looks slick, but the problem is becoming the context, and it's an issue, at least in part, created by Microsoft itself.
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The bezels are still pretty thick, a fact that's becoming more obvious as virtually every slim laptop opts for razor-thin ones. On its own, the Pro 7's platinum-colored industrial look hasn't aged badly, even though I did grow fond of the Pro 6's black paint job. For comparison, the XPS 13 2-in-1 comes in at 0.51 by 11.7 by 8.2 inches and 2.9 pounds, and shows itself as a laptop first. It measures 0.33 by 11.5 by 7.9 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.7 pounds-a very portable machine no matter how you slice it. The magnesium-alloy design feels high quality, and it's a relatively compact and sleek device. The inclusion of the USB-C port ultimately gives this one away, but they're otherwise near-interchangeable. You could set the Surface Pro 7 alongside the previous versions and, aside from color variations (our Surface Pro 6 model was the first to come in all black), not be able to tell them apart at a glance. Mostly the Same SurfaceĪfter years of tweaks and alterations across the first few models, the Surface Pro's design has stayed more or less the same over the last four iterations. If you're looking for a less expensive 2-in-1 to use when working in what passes for mobile fashion these days, shuttling from room to room instead of airport to airport, the Pro 7 is the go-to in its category for a reason.
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(A model with updated components, the Surface Pro 7+, is also now available more about that in a bit.) The physical design is showing its age somewhat-we anticipate a new-look version next time around-but it still has strong tablet chops. But the Surface Pro design is still our favorite among pure detachables. A handful of competitors have come for the crown (full support for its Surface stablemate, the Surface Pro X, never quite materialized), and bending, non-detaching 2-in-1 convertible laptops are worthy alternatives. Almost a year and a half later, here in 2021, it remains the alpha dog among 2-in-1 detachables. The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (starts at $749 $1,358.99 as tested) did not reinvent its Windows-tablet predecessors when it launched in 2019, but instead iterated on a time-tested design by delivering better performance and adding a USB Type-C port.
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