16 TECH ADVISOR • MAY 2020
REVIEW
actual tablet, and holding it by its edges. Still, the large,
chunky bezels give it a rather dated look.
The built-in, glossy 2,736x1,824 display remains
unchanged from previous models, slightly less than
the true 3,000x2,000 resolution of, say, the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Tablet (3rd Gen). Microsoft hasn’t moved
to OLED technology yet, unfortunately. The 396 nits of
brightness that the display puts out is in line with that of
previous Surface tablets, and not too far out of line with
rival notebooks and tablets. It’s still not bright enough
for working in full sunlight, though, especially as the
glossy display is very reflective. Inside my somewhat
dim basement office, though, the Surface Pro 7 was a
pleasure to work upon.
By the way, while Microsoft claims that users may
beabletoopentheSurfaceLaptop3 andupgrade
theSSD, the Surface Pro 7 is decidedly sealed.
A solid keyboard and typing experience
As always, if you do buy the Surface Pro 7, be sure and
budget for a Surface Pro Signature Type Cover, £
from fave.co/37pPrge. Unofficially, you have cheaper
alternatives: if you can track down the Surface Type
Cover for the Surface Pro 3 (with a pen loop) or the
Surface 3 Type Cover, they’d both work – I attached
each in turn to the Surface Pro 7 and wrote a couple
of paragraphs in this review. They rattle a bit, and
the layout is slightly different compared to the more
modern Signature Type Covers that begin with the
Surface Pro 4. But they cost a lot less.
The older Type Covers feature larger keys, though
with less key travel and resistance. In some ways,
