That's a good thing because the screens are bright, vivid and detailed.

We'll need to get the Pro 9 in our labs for a true test of how similar they are, but Microsoft isn't touting any significant upgrades. The Surface Pro 9 and Surface Pro 8 both have 13-inch, 2880 x 1920-pixel touchscreen displays with a 120Hz refresh rate. Winner: Surface Pro 9 (Strictly for the extra colors) Surface Pro 9 vs. They're both slim, lightweight magnesium tablets with a flexible kickstand and a connection for the optional Type Cover keyboard attachment. Those are the only exterior differences between the Surface Pro 9 and Pro 8. That's compared to just Platinum and Graphite on the Pro 8. Speaking of those new colors you now have: Platinum, Graphite, Sapphire, and Forest.

For example, a Surface Pro 8 with 16GB of RAM and the i7 processor is currently $460 off at Amazon (opens in new tab) as part of the Amazon October Prime Day sales. If you want more than just the base model you can save even more. That means that even all in with the Type Cover and Slim Pen 2 you should come out right around the cost of the Surface Pro 9 alone. At the time of this writing, you can find a base model for under $900. Having been on the market for more than a year, the Surface Pro 8 is regularly on sale for hundreds less.

We're still waiting on confirmation of the price for the Surface Pro 9, but even assuming that it matches the $1,099 starting price for the Surface Pro 8 it will almost certainly lose this battle. The only notable change is the addition of some new color options for the Surface Pro 9 that I'll address in a later section. We loved the move to the slightly larger 13-inch 3:2 display last year, so it's good to see Microsoft stick with it. That means you have the same anodized aluminum body with a full-friction multi-position hinge to 165 degrees. The designs of these tablets are identical right down to the exact measurements at 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches and 1.94 pounds.

Surface 8 pro specs