Port-wise you get two USB-C thunderbolt ports, the proprietary Surface Connect bladed port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, all mounted along the edges.

You are going to feel some heat in heavy use, but it never reached a level that was uncomfortable. The usual mix of heat pipes and graphite radiators are in the chassis, as well as a fan to help air flow. There has been thought put in to this to keep it as functional but as discrete as possible. So the top half of the case has recessed vents along it, which stylistically matches up with the recessed edge of the kick stand. Performance means heat, and heat means cooling. We’re still running an Intel Core processor in here wihich offers a lot of performance. While the Surface Pro 8 is thinner than the Pro 7, featuring curved edges instead of the sharp lines of the previous models, it’s still not as thin as the Pro X. Dual microphones are also present to get the best possible sound for your conference calls, and while the speakers are in a small space they feel tuned to offer as much clarity to the spoken word as well as solid performance for music and video playback. The top bezel also holds a 10 megapixel main camera, and a 5 megapixel webcam, capturing video up to 1080p for the likes fo Zoom and Microsoft Teams (it also pulls double duty as the Windows Hello facial recognition camera). It’s worth noting that the bottom bezel is covered up by the detachable keyboard when in action, which makes a big visual difference. Instead you have to choose manually at a global scale… faster screen needing more power, or slower screen needing less power.

The display can run at 60 Hz or 120 Hz and having this intelligently change on an app-by-app basis would have helped preserve battery life by dropping down the rate on specific apps but still offering the faster refresh when needed. I would have liked to see the Pro 8 offer adaptive refresh rates.

In the same was as the smaller bezels, the faster refreshing screen helps the Pro 8 feel as modern as possible. Including it on a touch based device means more responsive feedback on highlighting and moving elements, more accurate and timely inking when using a stylus, and much smoother scrolling. The Surface Pro 8 screen offers a 120 Hz refresh rate, a feature prevalent on smartphones and popular on gaming laptops.

Surface pro 8 pen review