48 PCWorld MARCH 2020REVIEWS MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO^7
slightly less than the true 3000x2000
resolution of, say, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1
Tablet (3rd Gen; go.pcworld.com/x1ta).
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 be able to open the Surface Laptop
3 and upgrade the SSD (go.pcworld.com/0pen), the Surface Pro 7 is decidedly
sealed (go.pcworld.com/seal).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, $160 from Microsoft (go.
pcworld.com/prsg). (We’ve also seen
discounted prices from Amazon [go.pcworld.
com/cvsg].) 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 $50 Surface 3 Type Cover (go.
pcworld.com/3tcv), 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- But they cost a
lot less.
The older Type
Covers feature larger
keys, though with
less key travel and
resistance. In some
ways, I prefer the
After a decade or so, the Surface Pro’s kickstand might be taken for granted.
Don’t—it’s still a key part of the Surface Pro 7’s value. The power button and
volume rocker are on the top of the tablet.