These apps supplement or replace operating system tools, in that they can be used to update firmware, drivers, or other utilities without Windows getting in the way. Two of them shipped with their own vendor-developed system utilities. All of them were refreshingly free of the “bloatware” cheaper PCs come saddled with. You may not care about what sort of applications are bundled with these tablets, but we do.

Tablets and laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips inside them tend to have long battery life, and the HP Elite Folio certainly does…just not as long as some older Snapdragon-powered devices.

Any detached Bluetooth keyboard, of course, will work just fine.ĭell informed us that while the company provided us with a pen and a tablet for our review, the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable Travel Keyboard costs an additional $199.99, and its Latitude 7320 Detachable Active Pen also sells separately, for $69.99. This also means that you won’t be able to use older Surface detachable keyboards (say, from a Surface Pro 4) with the Surface Pro 8. The Surface Pro 8 is designed for use with the $129.99 Surface Slim Pen 2 and a $179.99 Surface Pro Signature Keyboard, which accommodates the rechargeable Slim Pen 2 in a special keyboard cubby. Lenovo charges extra for a pen ( $51.98 on Amazon) with 4,096 levels of pressure, and Microsoft suggests you buy its Surface Pro Signature Type Cover ( $139 on Amazon) and Surface Pen ( $89 on Amazon) for optimum functionality. Only the HP Elite Folio actually includes both accessories as part of the purchase price, however. Once kitted out with a keyboard and optional pen, each tablet is roughly similar in price, though your preferred configuration can alter that price significantly.

Surface pro 8 battery test