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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Display
- Interface
- Connectivity
- Configuration
- Performance
- Additional Features And Software
- Comments
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021) vs Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021)
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021)
Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Aug 14, 2024 02:30 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Feb 16, 2024 05:04 PM
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Amazon.com
Size13"
Operating SystemWindows 11
Size10.5"
Operating SystemWindows 11
Variants
- Surface Pro 8 (8PT-00017) (Graphite - i5/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00017) (Graphite - i5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00017) (Graphite - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00017) (Graphite - i7/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00017) (Graphite - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PN-00001) (Platinum - i5/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00001) (Platinum - i5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00001) (Platinum - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (EEB-00001) (Platinum - i7/16GB/1TB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00001) (Platinum - i7/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00001) (Platinum - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Pro 8 (EFH-00001) (Platinum - i7/32GB/1TB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VA-00016) (Matte Black - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VC-00016) (Matte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VH-00015) (Matte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8V6-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/4GB/64GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VA-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VC-00001) (Platinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 3 (8VH-00001) (Platinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB)
Our Verdict
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021)
Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021)
The Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021) and the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021) are both Windows tablets with detachable keyboards. The Surface Pro is better overall; it has a sharper, brighter, more color-accurate display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a better-spaced keyboard and larger touchpad, and two USB-C ports that both support Thunderbolt 4. Also, the Surface Pro is available with more powerful Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs, and it has a user-replaceable SSD. The Surface Go is lighter and more compact, so it's easy to bring around, but its screen flickers below 100% brightness, which can cause eye strain and headaches in people who are sensitive to strobing.
Check Price
Graphite - i5/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PT-00017)
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Finding storeMatte Black - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VA-00016)
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Finding storeGraphite - i5/8GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00017)
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Finding storeMatte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VC-00016)
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Finding storeGraphite - i5/8GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00017)
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Finding storeMatte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VH-00015)
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Finding storeGraphite - i7/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00017)
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Finding storePlatinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/4GB/64GB
Surface Go 3 (8V6-00001)
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Finding storeGraphite - i7/16GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00017)
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Finding storePlatinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VA-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/128GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PN-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VC-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VH-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/1TB
Surface Pro 8 (EEB-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00001)
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Surface Pro 8 (EFH-00001)
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Finding storeNotice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our laptops test methodology.
Main Differences for
Threshold
School
7.7
7.3
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.1
4.5
Portability
8.9
9.6
Ports
5.5
2.5
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Tablet
Tablet
Build Quality
8.5
8.0
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
6.9
6.9
Hinge Photo
Range
170°
170°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
No
No
Portability
8.9
9.6
Dimensions Photo
Size
13"
10.5"
Thickness
0.7" (1.8 cm)
0.5" (1.3 cm)
Width
11.5" (29.1 cm)
9.8" (25.0 cm)
Depth
8.5" (21.7 cm)
7.2" (18.2 cm)
Volume
67.4 in³ (1,105.1 cm³)
36.1 in³ (591.5 cm³)
Weight
2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
1.7 lbs (0.8 kg)
Charger Size
6.9 in³ (112.5 cm³)
5.3 in³ (87.0 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.6 lbs (0.3 kg)
0.3 lbs (0.1 kg)
Serviceability
1.5
0.0
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
0
0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
0
Replaceable Battery
No
No
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
2880 x 1920
1920 x 1280
Aspect Ratio
3:2
3:2
Pixel Density
266 PPI
220 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
Yes
Yes
Screen-To-Body Ratio
80%
76%
Refresh Rate
8.7
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
120 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
Dynamic Refresh Rate
No
Contrast
7.4
7.4
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,375 : 1
1,388 : 1
Brightness
8.3
7.6
Maximum Brightness
432 cd/m²
349 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
2 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
7.3
7.1
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
4.31%
4.54%
Indirect Reflections
0.69%
0.59%
Calculated Direct Reflections
3.62%
3.96%
Black Uniformity
7.7
9.5
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.933%
0.551%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.4
6.5
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
25°
24°
Color Washout From Right
26°
27°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
28°
28°
Color Shift From Right
35°
35°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
26°
27°
Brightness Loss From Right
27°
29°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
24°
26°
Gamma Shift From Right
26°
28°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.4
7.2
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
26°
25°
Color Washout From Above
27°
29°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
30°
45°
Color Shift From Above
36°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
28°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
29°
32°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
22°
25°
Gamma Shift From Above
25°
30°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
7.6
7.2
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
3.06
3.85
Avg. Gamma
2.09
2.22
Avg. Color dE
2.87
2.64
Avg. Color Temperature
6,150 K
6,328 K
Color Gamut
8.8
8.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.89%
99.84%
sRGB uv
99.62%
99.66%
Adobe RGB xy
80.08%
75.53%
Adobe RGB uv
88.07%
86.08%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
84.95%
76.78%
DCI P3 uv
88.99%
83.31%
Rec. 2020 xy
60.96%
55.1%
Rec. 2020 uv
64.85%
60.76%
Flicker
10
4.5
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
200Hz
Flicker Active Below
N/A
99%
Interface
Keyboard
8.2
7.7
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.0
7.5
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
65 gf
68 gf
Actuation Force
38 gf
49 gf
Pre-Travel
1.05 mm
0.90 mm
Total Travel
1.56 mm
1.22 mm
Touchpad
7.6
7.0
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
8.0
7.5
Size
10.1 in² (65.0 cm²)
8.4 in² (54.4 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.5
7.4
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
72 dB SPL
69 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.8 dB
4.8 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
2.3
1.0
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
143 Hz
233 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
20 kHz
11 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.7 dB
0.8 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
9.0
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
Yes
Connectivity
Ports
5.5
2.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
2
1
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
No
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
MicroSD UHS 2
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
Surface Connect
Surface Connect
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.1
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Intel
Model
Core i7-1185G7
Core i3-10100Y
Core Count
4
2
Thread Count
8
4
GPU
Brand
Intel
Intel
Model
Iris Xe Graphics G7
UHD Graphics 615
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
16 GB
8 GB
Modules
8 (Soldered)
2 (Soldered)
Type
LP-DDR4X
LP-DDR3
Speed
4,267 MHz
1,866 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
256 GB
128 GB
Usable Capacity
208 GB
86 GB
Drive 1
SK Hynix HFM256GD3GX013N
KBG40ZPZ128G TOSHIBA MEMORY
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.1
4.5
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,317 points
876 points
CPU Multi-Thread
5,089 points
1,448 points
GPU Compute
19,125 points
3,799 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.2
3.9
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,243 points
650 points
Multi-Thread
5,213 points
1,249 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
5.8
0.0
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
7.8 min
28.9 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
5.4
1.6
Basemark Image
Overall Score
19,134
3,522
Storage Drive Performance
9.2
8.3
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,195.4 MB/s
497.8 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,262.0 MB/s
1,335.0 MB/s
Random Write Speed
76.9 MB/s
41.4 MB/s
Random Read Speed
56.5 MB/s
34.0 MB/s
Battery
6.3
5.8
Capacity
50 Wh
27 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
7.3 hrs
7.2 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
5.7 hrs
3.6 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.4 hrs
1.8 hrs
Charge Time
2.5 hrs
2.3 hrs
Borderlands 3
1.9
0.0
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
12 fps
N/A
1% Low
6 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
2 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
94 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
341 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Very Low
25 fps
5 fps
Civilization VI
4.8
0.4
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
24 fps
3 fps
1% Low
17 fps
2 fps
0.1% Low
16 fps
2 fps
1% Low Delta
18 ms
134 ms
0.1% Low Delta
21 ms
198 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
93 fps
14 fps
Avg. Turn Time
8.31 s
28.34 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
7.7
2.1
Avg. FPS
93 fps
13 fps
1% Low
51 fps
3 fps
0.1% Low
42 fps
1 fps
1% Low Delta
9 ms
246 ms
0.1% Low Delta
13 ms
941 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
161 fps
23 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
3.4
0.0
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
22 fps
N/A
1% Low
12 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
4 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
41 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
180 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Lowest
40 fps
N/A
Thermals And Noise
9.5
9.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
32 °C (90 °F)
29 °C (83 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
32 °C (90 °F)
29 °C (83 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
25.0 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
7.9
7.4
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
63 °C
68 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
10% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
61 °C
64 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
2% loss
17% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
Windows 11
Additional Software
None
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Face Recognition
Face Recognition
Check Price
Graphite - i5/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PT-00017)
Searching
Finding storeMatte Black - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VA-00016)
Searching
Finding storeGraphite - i5/8GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00017)
Searching
Finding storeMatte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VC-00016)
Searching
Finding storeGraphite - i5/8GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00017)
Searching
Finding storeMatte Black - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VH-00015)
Searching
Finding storeGraphite - i7/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00017)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/4GB/64GB
Surface Go 3 (8V6-00001)
Searching
Finding storeGraphite - i7/16GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00017)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - Pentium Gold 6500Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VA-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/128GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PN-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VC-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PQ-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i3-10100Y/8GB/128GB
Surface Go 3 (8VH-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i5/8GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (EBP-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/1TB
Surface Pro 8 (EEB-00001)
Searching
Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/256GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PV-00001)
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Finding storePlatinum - i7/16GB/512GB
Surface Pro 8 (8PX-00001)
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Finding storePlatinum - i7/32GB/1TB
Surface Pro 8 (EFH-00001)
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Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021)
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Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021) vs Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021): Main Discussion
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