Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3" 1Y2-00001 2021, Core i5-1135G7, 16GB, 256GB SSD, Platinum

The Surface Pro 7+ is a featherweight 2-in-1 with a sharp 12.3-inch touchscreen and 16GB of RAM, priced at $446 USD refurbished. It's the 99th percentile for compactness, which is its biggest selling point. The Core i5-1135G7 is dated and the 256GB SSD is tight, but for everyday productivity and note-taking, it's hard to beat at this price. If you want a Windows tablet that can be a laptop, this is a solid pick. If you need real performance or gaming, keep looking.

Let's talk about what these numbers actually mean. The Core i5-1135G7 is a 4-core, 8-thread chip that boosts up to 4.2GHz. In our database, it lands in the 23rd percentile for CPU performance among all products of this type. That's not a typo. It's a mid-range chip from 2020, and it shows when you push it hard. For everyday tasks like web browsing, document editing, and video calls, it's completely fine. But if you're compiling code, editing 4K video, or running heavy spreadsheets, you'll feel the age. The 16GB of RAM helps smooth things over, but it's LPDDR4X, not the newer LPDDR5, and it sits at the 37th percentile for RAM. Not bad, not great.

The Iris Xe graphics are the bright spot in an otherwise modest performance picture. They land at the 49th percentile for GPU, which is about average for integrated graphics. You can do light photo editing, play older games at low settings, and drive external displays without much trouble. But the gaming score of 6.8 out of 100 tells the real story. This is not a gaming machine, and it's not pretending to be. The 256GB SSD is on the smaller side, sitting at the 16th percentile for storage. You'll want to lean on cloud storage or an external drive if you keep a lot of files locally. The screen, on the other hand, is a genuine highlight at the 85th percentile. That 2736x1824 resolution on a 12.3-inch panel means text is crisp and colors look good, which matters more than you'd think for a device you'll stare at all day.

The most obvious competitor is the Apple MacBook Air M4. That machine is faster, has better battery life, and a more modern design. But it's also a traditional laptop with no touchscreen and no detachable keyboard. If you want to use a stylus or hold your computer like a tablet, the Surface Pro 7+ wins by default. The MacBook Air is the better laptop, but it's not a tablet at all. And the price difference is substantial, even for a refurbished MacBook.

The ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA-U9321TB and HP OmniBook X Flip 14-fm0023dx are closer in concept. The OmniBook X Flip is a 2-in-1 with a 360-degree hinge, which gives you tablet mode without detaching anything. It's heavier and pricier, but it has newer internals and likely better battery life. The Zenbook is a more traditional ultrabook with a great screen and strong performance, but again, no detachable form factor. The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 is the budget business option, with a better keyboard and more ports, but it's bulkier and lacks the Surface's touch-first design. The MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 is aimed at creators, with a stronger GPU and more storage, but it's a completely different form factor. If you need a tablet that can be a laptop, the Surface Pro 7+ is the only one in this group that truly delivers.

At $446 USD, this Surface Pro 7+ is priced to move. For context, the Apple MacBook Air M4 and ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA-U9321TB are both significantly more expensive, and while they're faster and more modern, they don't offer the same detachable tablet flexibility. The MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 and Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 are closer in spirit, but they're traditional clamshells. If you want a Windows tablet that can be a laptop, this is one of the cheapest ways to get there without buying something ancient.

The trade-off is that you're buying a refurbished unit with a CPU that's a few generations behind. The Core i5-1135G7 was fine in 2020, but in 2025 it's a budget chip. The 256GB SSD is also tight, and you'll probably want to budget for a microSD card or external drive. But if your workload is mostly browser-based, office apps, and note-taking, the performance gap won't matter much. And the 16GB of RAM means you won't be constantly closing tabs to keep things running. For the price, it's a compelling package if portability and flexibility are your top priorities.

The Surface Pro 7+ is one of those devices that quietly does a lot of things right, especially if you're looking for something light enough to forget it's in your bag. This particular config pairs an Intel Core i5-1135G7 with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which is a solid middle ground for a detachable 2-in-1. It's a refurbished unit, so the price tag lands at $446 USD, which changes the math on whether this thing makes sense for you. At that price, you're getting a lot of the Surface experience without the new-device sticker shock.

Who's this for? Honestly, it's for people who want a Windows tablet that can also be a real laptop when you need it. The 12.3-inch 2736x1824 touchscreen is sharp and bright, and the whole package weighs just 0.77kg. That's lighter than most ultrabooks, let alone 2-in-1s. Students, business travelers, and anyone who lives in OneNote or needs to mark up PDFs will feel right at home. The detachable keyboard design means you can go from typing to tablet mode in seconds, which is still a trick most laptops can't pull off.

What makes this interesting is the combination of that compact form factor and the fact that it's running Windows 10 Pro out of the box, with a free upgrade path to Windows 11 Pro. The Core i5-1135G7 is a few generations old now, but it's still plenty capable for everyday work. And the Iris Xe integrated graphics are a step up from older Intel integrated GPUs, even if they're not going to impress anyone who wants to game. The real story here is portability and flexibility at a refurbished price that's hard to ignore.

If you need real processing power, skip this. The Core i5-1135G7 is a 2020 chip, and it shows in heavy workloads like video editing, 3D rendering, or large data analysis. You'd be better off with a newer ultrabook like the ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA-U9321TB or a MacBook Air M4, both of which will run circles around this Surface in CPU-bound tasks. The 256GB SSD is also a dealbreaker if you keep a lot of files locally. And if you want to play games, even casually, this is not the machine for you. Look at something with a dedicated GPU or at least a newer processor with better integrated graphics.

Also skip this if you need a lot of ports. With just one USB-C and one USB-A, you'll be reaching for dongles constantly. The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 has a much better port selection and a more comfortable keyboard, though it's heavier and lacks the detachable form factor. If you're someone who docks at a desk with multiple monitors and peripherals, the Surface Pro 7+ will feel limiting without a hub.

If you're a student or business traveler who wants the lightest possible Windows machine with a real touchscreen and stylus support, this Surface Pro 7+ is a great buy at $446 USD. The 16GB of RAM and sharp display make it a pleasure for note-taking, reading, and light productivity. The detachable keyboard is the killer feature, and nothing else in this price range offers that flexibility. Just don't expect it to replace a desktop workstation.

For anyone who needs serious CPU performance, more storage, or any kind of gaming capability, this is not the machine for you. The Core i5-1135G7 is fine for everyday tasks, but it will struggle with heavy workloads. The 256GB SSD fills up fast, and the port selection is minimal. If you can live with those compromises, the Surface Pro 7+ is a fantastic portable companion. If you can't, look at a traditional ultrabook or a newer 2-in-1 with a more modern processor.