Surface Duo review: A dual-screen phone of tomorrow ... that's not quite ready today
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PotentialSurface Duo review: A dual-screen phone of tomorrow ... that's not quite ready today
Can dual-screens be better than one? The reply is yes, but Microsoft has some work to exercise before Surface Duo is set for the masses.
Update, Dec 2022: Surface Duo, 3 months later
To advise Microsoft's Surface Duo is adventurous would be an understatement. The costly $ane,400 device delivers a new vision in mobile computing, now six years in the making. It is as much scientific experiment every bit scientific discipline fiction — a radical rethinking of what phones could be in a technophilic world focused on data instead of vox calls.
This first-gen release is an important milestone for Microsoft, and the theory behind Surface Duo is mostly solid; that's the good news. But most people should also hold off on getting 1 until its software can mature.
What is Surface Duo skilful for, and why should anyone consider this form factor? There are some answers here that get clearer after spending a few weeks unfolding the time to come. Our Surface Duo review has all the details.
Exercise more with Duo
Surface Duo
Lesser line: Microsoft's Surface Duo delivers a unique dual-screen experience with Android that holds up (at least conceptually). With ground-breaking hardware design and the correct apps, it's game-changing. But some early jankiness with the OS, performance issues, and the lack of mod hardware holds it dorsum.
Pros
- Hardware design is fantastic
- Hinge is flawless
- Meliorate than expected battery
- Dual screens increment productivity (and fun)
Cons
- OS is buggy
- RAM and CPU may be slowing downward the feel
- Expensive
- Lacks Qi, NFC, more cameras, water resistance
Years of engineering (and it shows)
Surface Duo review: Hardware is nearly everything
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key
In this Surface Duo review, evaluating the hardware was the like shooting fish in a barrel part. Surface Duo is a screen and hinges that also happen to be a handheld computer.
Putting aside the notable hardware omissions (more than on that below), Surface Duo is a technological marvel. The outrageously sparse 4.8mm chassis (unfolded), Gorilla Glass v internal and external panels, and the dual hinges fine-tuned with NASA-level precision impart awe.
Each 5.half-dozen-inch AMOLED brandish has an 1800 10 1350 resolution giving a pleasing 401 pixel-per-inch (PPI) density. Each brandish's attribute is four:3, just that changes when you combine the two screens, resulting in a iii:ii aspect found on all Microsoft Surface devices. The screens support wide-color gamut (WCG) with 100 pct sRGB and 100 pct DCI-P3, making them highly accurate for editing and viewing content.
Surface Duo FAQ: Everything you need to know about Microsoft'due south first dual-screen Surface
Display brightness is below that of Samsung's flagship Milky way phones, simply good enough to be used outdoors, fifty-fifty in the dominicus. The text is sharp, clear, and overall pleasing. On occasion, Surface Duo's display ramps to extreme effulgence when powered on, only to slowly conform down. It is one of the many bugs that are office of Duo's early on days.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| OS | Android x |
| Display | Single: 5.half-dozen inch (1800x1350), 401 PPI, 4:3 attribute ratio Opened: 8.1 inch (2700x1800), 401 ppi, iii:2 aspect ratio Type: AMOLED |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 |
| Network | WiFi-5 802.11ac (two.iv/5GHz) Bluetooth 5.0 LTE: 4x4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL |
| SIM | Nano SIM + eSIM (no eSIM on AT&T model) |
| Network bands | FDD-LTE: one,2,3,iv,5,seven,viii,12,13,14,19 twenty,25,26,28,29,30,66 TD-LTE: 38,39,40,41,46 WCDMA: 1,2,5,8 GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900 |
| Retentivity | 6GB RAM |
| Storage | 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.0 |
| Expandable storage | None |
| Camera | 11MP, ƒ/two.0 1.0um, PDAF, 84.0° diagonal FOV |
| Sound | Mono speaker |
| Security | Fingerprint |
| Ports | 1x USB-C 3.i |
| Battery | 3,577mAh Fast Charging using 18W in-box power supply |
| Pen | Surface Pen (non included) |
| Dimensions | Open: 145.2mm (H) x 186.9mm (W) x four.8mm (T) Closed: 145.2mm (H) x 93.3mm (W) x 9.9mm (T at hinge) |
| Weight | 250 grams |
Bear upon sensitivity is on the low-end, with some reports from other reviewers of typing errors and general inaccuracies. Some of this may necktie into software, simply it could also be a tradeoff with the digitizer and Microsoft'southward insistence on being thin. I had no bug typing, however.
In that location is a lot of angst regarding the bezels of Surface Duo. Behind them is where all the antennas and sensor logic lay, and then it is not squandered infinite. Such bezels are necessary for rotating Surface Duo between its many positions without touching the display itself. While Microsoft could make these bezels a hair thinner, their functionality is apparent later on spending a few minutes with the device.
Between using Gorilla Glass 5 on the exterior and going with a white chassis, Surface Duo is practiced at hiding whatsoever scratches or marring. For those worried about breaking the glass in a drib, Microsoft reportedly will accept a program for fixing a cracked Surface Duo, though at the user's expense. You could, of course, purchase ane of our picks for the best Surface Duo cases, every bit well.
To help avoid such damage, Microsoft includes a bumper instance in the box. It attaches via tape due to the device's unique folding blueprint and is not meant to be removed and reused. The bumper is excellent, non interfering with folding, and it adds some security and grip. Notwithstanding, for most of this review, I did not bother with the bumper because I found Surface Duo pocketable and easy to handle without it. The bumper safety is a scrap tacky, making information technology harder to pull out of your pocket while also picking upwardly dust and lint.
Surface Duo is as much scientific experiment as science fiction.
While the displays and chassis are covered in glass, the swivel is polished metal. It seems resilient, although it could option up minor scuffs. The hinge is terrific for opening and closing with consistency at every degree. Information technology is essentially perfect, letting you open up the displays with ease, only it also holds its place wherever you stop. At that place is no wobble, and because Surface Duo is so well balanced, information technology feels great to concord, specially in book mode.
Surface Duo'south edges are a composite textile meant to allow the cellular and Wi-Fi reception to pass through. That design also ways there are no visible antenna lines. The composite is fair and precisely cut for each Surface Duo, but information technology can also larn unsightly discoloration, peculiarly nearly the power and volume buttons. Using the bumper volition prevent this, only this is one area where Microsoft can improve.
The power button and book rockers are placed on the correct side of the display and have an enjoyable click. Below them is the fingerprint reader, which is superb. I had no misreads during my usage, and it blows abroad the i Samsung uses in the similarly priced Galaxy Z Flip. The fingerprint reader is inactive when both displays are airtight, but when left in "phone mode" or with the screens exposed, users tin can impact the reader to wake the device upwards and log in with ease.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
On the bottom is a Type-C connector for charging. Here is where you lot can capeesh how thin Surface Duo is; if it were whatever skinnier, Microsoft could non fifty-fifty apply a Blazon-C port. Included is an 18-watt fast charger with folding prongs. Of form, any Type-C charger, including college wattage ones, tin can exist used.
Surface Duo weighs 250 grams, nearly 25 grams heavier than an iPhone 11 Pro Max (226 grams). Merely considering of Duo's pattern, most people remember information technology is lighter. It's a subtle illusion created by having broad just thin displays.
The dual hinges are finely-tuned with NASA-level precision.
Regarding pocket-ability, I wrote a whole article on that question. Surface Duo is a smidge wider than a standard U.S. Passport, a bit taller and thicker. Compared to an iPhone 11, Surface Duo is wider, but also a lot shorter. Carrying Surface Duo in a front jeans pocket, rear pocket, or even inner blazer pocket is very achievable. Even female fashion, which is notoriously skimpy on pocket space, is acceptable.
There are enough of articulate drawbacks to the hardware. Surface Duo lacks Qi wireless charging, NFC, IP-resistance for h2o, a headphone jack, and back up for dual SIM (though it has eSIM and nano-SIM, simply non simultaneously). It misses the 5G hype train. At least for the lack of NFC for payments, if you have a Fitbit, y'all're good to go, or mayhap it is an fantabulous opportunity to choice up a Galaxy Lookout, every bit these wearables support tap-to-pay.
While Surface Duo is missing many of the loftier-end features ordinarily found in smartphones today, the company was light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-focused on dual-screen functionality. Even adding NFC would be tricky on this course-factor. Putting the sensor on the back of Surface Duo seems obvious, but then your displays are closed. That means you may demand a sensor on the front display too to work when rotated around. These are the challenges that Microsoft needs to solve.
So-so power
Surface Duo review: Performance and battery
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Microsoft uses the 2022-era Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 – a flagship CPU of its time, now usurped by the Snapdragon 865 and 865+. The Snapdragon 855, nevertheless, is comparable in many means to the 865 minus the mandatory support for 5G. That's a good affair every bit 5G right at present is a lot of hype, with not a clear advantage for smartphones. 5G back up drives upwardly costs of the hardware while often reducing the battery life – both of which Surface Duo tin can't beget.
Using Geekbench v.0, Surface Duo hit 737 on a single-core score and two,815 for multi-core. The single-core score is like to other phones, such as Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+, while the multi-cadre does even better, chirapsia out the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra with Exynos 990 (2,695 on Geekbench).
Surface Duo's 3,577 mAh batteries give all-day power despite dual AMOLED screens.
Benchmarks are 1 thing, and real globe-usage, particularly when powering ii displays, is some other. Surface Duo is, at best, OK for performance. When combined with the so-then 6GB of RAM, no one will accuse Surface Duo of being fast. Instead, it is acceptable, and some would charge me of being likewise generous there. Sometimes, Surface Duo is slow to wake upwardly; other times, Microsoft Edge tin take up to seven seconds to resume. Minimizing window animation can exist janky every bit well.
Information technology is non uncommon with 6GB of RAM to have merely 700MB left to spare subsequently a few hours of usage. When devices like Samsung's Note 20 Ultra are shipping with 12GB of RAM, you have to wonder if Surface Duo would take fewer operation slowdowns with a like configuration. It is too unclear if the lack of software optimization may be a culprit or a philharmonic of both.
In specific scenarios like heavy spider web browsing or video streaming, the back of Surface Duo could get noticeably warm to the impact, but never hot.
Surface Duo battery life is an unexpected bright spot. While many have written off the comparatively minor iii,577mAh battery — especially when powering dual displays — it's practiced enough. The everyman I ever achieved for the remaining battery life is 25 pct. Most days, I was closer to 45 percent. While you need to charge Surface Duo every dark for most people, it should last the whole solar day with moderate usage. Screen-on time was close to five hours. Standby bombardment is as well excellent as Surface Duo barely uses any juice when its displays are closed.
Better than expected
Surface Duo review: Camera and images
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Prospects were low for Surface Duo's meager 11MP forepart-facing camera. Back in January, we tempered expectations, knowing that Microsoft's focus was more most productivity than pixel-peeping.
Our Surface Duo review proved the states correct and wrong. The f2.0 lens and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) pale compared to whatever 2022 or 2022 flagship telephone from Google, Samsung, or Apple. Because many of those phones have multiple lenses for ultra-wide and telephoto and larger sensors and advanced software, it seemed unlikely Microsoft could compete.
This camera is ... not smashing, only it is respectable.
Just Surface Duo'due south camera is, dare I say, competent. In outdoor and even indoor scenes with adequate lighting, it'southward decent for social media. I've been quietly sharing photos on Twitter, and no one said a thing. Microsoft'south color science, contrast, and overall residue are quite pleasing. While 11MP limits details, it seems doubtful you lot will be embarrassed sharing your weekend vistas to Instagram or Facebook. Images are a little soft and washed out, but those are easy mail-fixes too. Upping saturation and calculation some sharpening is easy compared to the alternative.
Depression-light shots, particularly at night, are but foul. At that place is no "night mode" sadly, then results are muddied with lack of detail and high levels of dissonance. There is a flash to assistance, which is non awful, simply flashes on phones these days are more nearly being a flashlight than to assistance in photos.
Every bit far as front-facing images, these as well are satisfactory and even quite good. Microsoft tuned the software for either world-facing or self-facing scenarios, and information technology gets the chore done for use with Microsoft Teams. The camera overall seems on par with Samsung's front-facing photographic camera in the Note 20 Ultra.
The software to handle the camera is curious. When Surface Duo is opened and the camera launches, information technology defaults to a front-facing orientation on the correct display. Going into "phone style," with the left screen folded backside the correct and rotating, information technology switches the photographic camera to a rear-mode with camera controls on the left screen. It'due south all awkward.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
I recently reviewed Samsung Galaxy Annotation twenty Ultra and have an iPhone eleven, so I'm thoroughly familiar with the best-of-the-best, merely Surface Duo has been proficient enough for what I need. Of course, cameras tin always be improve, and hopefully Microsoft can continue to refine things.
VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling
Surface Duo as a phone
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Surface Duo call audio quality is fantastic. In 1 instance, the person I was speaking with thought I sounded like I was using Wi-Fi calling – "You audio like y'all're next to me," is what I was told. While Surface Duo does support Wi-Fi calling natively, I was not using information technology at the time. The earpiece is crisp and loud.
Answering calls is likewise effortless. When one comes in, you open Surface Duo to see who it is with onscreen buttons for hanging up or answering. Instead of pressing a button, withal, y'all tin just rotate the display back onto itself, a.thousand.a "telephone mode," which automatically picks up the telephone call. Closing Surface Duo hangs upward the telephone call.
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is likewise natively supported, as are nano and eSIM profiles (though not simultaneously, so it is non genuinely dual SIM). The unlocked model supports T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, plus world bands for GSM and LTE. All those U.S. carriers were tested for this review, and all worked without a hitch. Sprint users demand to pick upwards a T-Mobile SIM due to the merger.
For AT&T users, things get tricky. If you want VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling, and other carrier-specific functions like native visual voicemail, you need to go the AT&T model. AT&T has stricter rules virtually such things.
Holding Surface Duo upward to your head during a phone call is weird, but nothing besides strange if yous have used a Lumia 1520 in the by. It never bothered me.
A bit green
Surface Duo review: Software experience
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Microsoft is aircraft Surface Duo with Android ten, and it has the September 5 Google security update every bit I write this review on September six. The Note xx Ultra is all the same on Baronial's update by comparison. With three years of committed Android updates, including Android eleven as soon as information technology is gear up, there is a lot of room for Microsoft to improve the experience. That's terrific as this device needs information technology.
Surface Duo will likely get monthly updates. And it really needs them.
Microsoft is working with Google on all the changes and modifications to make Duo happen. The uptick to that partnership is monthly security, and fixes should be very timely as there are extraordinarily petty "forked" Bone modifications here. That differs from Samsung, who notoriously bends Android to its volition with customizations and overlays, often resulting in delayed updates. The downside, all the same, is Surface Duo is barren right now with merely core functions and features.
Considering this is nearly a vanilla version of Android ten, things like Android Machine work but fine. The same applies with casting and other Google features.
Stability for Surface Duo is a moving target. More half of this review was conducted with build 2022.723.130, merely Microsoft pushed out 2022.812.86 on September 4 as a day-one update. That update improves "device stability, the stability, performance and epitome quality of the camera, calling features and stability, and in awarding gestures- especially when dismissing or moving apps to full screen."
These updates make a large deviation, but there are still lingering issues. One is the delay for Edge to resume and the overall slow responsiveness of the OS. The version of SwiftKey that ships cannot move the cursor via the spacebar (the beta version has this). Peek mode (whereby yous can view the time and date by groovy open the brandish slight) does not show notifications. There is no double-tap-to-wake or e'er-on-brandish (which would be astonishing to utilise Surface Duo in tent mode as an alarm clock and calendar). You cannot change icons with Microsoft Launcher, and there is no Timeline back up or advanced abilities like blurring the background.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
To be off-white, this initial release'due south focus is to become the cadre experience of dual screen functionality right. For the nigh part, Microsoft has succeeded. But the company seems to be enlightened that Surface Duo needs some time to grow and evolve. Microsoft'southward Primary Product Officer Panos Panay in a recent interview said the following regarding Surface Duo:
We have our roadmap in forepart of us, we can see information technology. We run into where the product goes over time. We know that what we have in hand now is right for now. We know that. I believe that others will follow accommodate. These products have time for adoption.
Some of the work done past Microsoft is very creative. When Surface Duo has both screens on, and an app is opened on the right side, the keyboard shifts to the right, letting you lot type (or swipe) with your right thumb. The same happens on the left side. Going into "etch mode," where the telephone resembles a laptop, users can put SwiftKey into thumb-layout, letting you type apace. Switching apps betwixt screens or spanning them across both works very well.
Microsoft's Swiftkey keyboard adapts to your mitt position for more comfy one-handed typing (or swiping). Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Microsoft apps included with Surface Duo
- Microsoft Part: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office Lens, PDF reader, and More
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft OneNote
- Microsoft To Do
- Microsoft News
- Microsoft Authenticator
- Microsoft Bing Search
- Intune Visitor Portal
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection
- Surface Sound
- Microsoft SwiftKey
Google apps preinstalled on Surface Duo
- Google Search
- Google Assistant
- Google Calendar
- Google Drive
- Google Duo
- Google Photos
- Google Play Movies & Tv
- Google Play Store
- Google Maps
- Chrome
- Gmail
- YouTube
- YouTube Music
- Contacts
- Letters
- Phone
- Files
- Clock
- Calculator
- Audio recorder
I recall many of these initial concerns are expected with a new course gene and an early Surface Duo review — this is firmly in the early on-adopter territory. Refinement is something that can have months and years. None of these bugs completely ruin the experience, in that location were no Os crashes or loss of information, and the 2022.812.86 update does a lot to make the ride smoother.
The adept news is while Surface Duo is buggier than I would like, the solution is software tweaks and optimizations — non a fundamental issue with the device itself. That said, information technology may exist best to permit Surface Duo broil a bit before taking a bite.
Multimedia time
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Microsoft did non send a Surface Pen for reviewers, although my Slim Pen with Surface Pro X worked fine and it's one of the best Surface Duo accessories available right now. Whatever in-marketplace Surface Pen works, but permit'southward just say inking support is barely here right now.
Inking and notation-taking
Microsoft Surface Slim Pen
Inking on the become
With a focus on pocketable productivity, the Surface Duo (soft of) embraces digital inking. The form factor mirrors a notepad, making information technology ideal for quick note-taking, annotations, and sketches. The device supports virtually Surface-branded pens, but the newest Surface Slim Pen fits best with an ultra-portable design.
The Microsoft Surface Slim Pen trims the fat of its alternatives, measuring 136.8mm long, and xi.3mm by 6.3mm thick. It's also the only rechargeable Surface Pen, using an included wireless cradle to acme up the 15-hour battery life. When eyeing a new stylus, this is the one to buy.
Since Microsoft is working within the Android arrangement, there are no advanced Samsung S Pen-like enhancements. The Surface Pen simply works wherever app developers have put it, like Microsoft OneNote, Mucilaginous Notes, Office, Adobe Acrobat … and probably non much else.
In that location is no need to pair Surface Pen with Surface Duo equally the summit button has no function, and there is no optimization or features enabled. Inking is OK, but far behind Samsung and its Note 20 series. Nonetheless, Surface Duo's form cistron and screen size make information technology more enjoyable to write with due to space considerations.
Surface Duo is perfect for getting lost in your favorite book.
Microsoft'due south Your Telephone is hither instead of any type of Samsung DeX-like big-screen experience. Your Phone is a wireless connection that works on whatever Windows 10 PC, letting yous receive and respond to text messages, take calls through your computer, manage telephone notifications, and even mirror your Android phone's display. But Your Phone hither is behind where Samsung's high-end phones are currently, with no support yet for the new "Apps" feature — instead, it is mirroring via "Phone screen."
Gaming on Surface Duo is fun. Yous tin can run games on either display or even two at a time, kind of. Cloud gaming via Microsoft'south Projection xCloud, or GeForce At present, Project Stadia, all work every bit expected. But pair up an Xbox controller via Bluetooth, and you are skillful to go. Playing Destiny ii as part of my Surface Duo review, via streaming over Wi-Fi, was an impressive experience. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not implemented whatever onscreen controller support teased in the original Surface Duo sizzler. Seeing as Duo is not being positioned as a gaming machine, that seems rational, admitting still disappointing.
Video and television, such every bit YouTube Television, are good likewise. The brandish aspect leads to some odd blackness bars, just considering y'all tin can position Surface Duo in tent style or compose mode, it makes up for that experience. While you tin span a video across both displays, most will disfavor the gap.
"Peek" reveals the fourth dimension and date when you barely open up Surface Duo, merely shows picayune else. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key
At that place is no headphone jack, so make sure y'all have a pair of Bluetooth headphones. Surface Earbuds paired with no fuss and worked as well every bit y'all would hope.
If y'all desire to utilise a speaker, there is simply one on the left display well-nigh the top. Surface Duo is a far cry from the dual-speaker setups with Dolby enhancements of modernistic high-finish phones, only the speaker and audio are better than expected. It's not great for music, merely information technology works well for spoken words, making it best for video meetings and vocalisation collaborations.
Just how IS IT?
Surface Duo and the theory of dual displays
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
At the crux of Surface Duo is the question of dual displays and their efficacy. These are early on days for Microsoft's vision, so many of these dual-screen experiences are limited to Microsoft'southward inbox apps like Outlook, To Do, Office, Microsoft News, and some third party ones like Adobe, Spotify, Amazon Kindle, and Mylio (photo editor). Of course, even without dual-screen optimization, any Android app can run on Surface Duo.
App experiences similar Microsoft News, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Acrobat, and Outlook do light up Microsoft's "spanning" vision on Surface Duo. For case, Microsoft News lets yous browse articles on the left side while reading the selected story on the correct. That is clever, merely what is ingenious is the ability to go into "reading fashion," which formats the news commodity to bridge Surface Duo like a volume.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is a really great experience. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Amazon'southward Kindle is also stunning. It, too, lets you read a book with each page on each of Surface Duo's displays. The folio-turning animation is lovely, allowing you to meet the flipped page with reverse print. It's very Apple-similar.
Microsoft Outlook is more familiar, browsing your email inbox on the left side, while reading specific emails on the right. It may seem obvious, but this method of triaging your inbox is game-changing for e-mail fanatics. Photograph-organizer Mylio as well lets y'all browse photos on the left while editing a specific picture on the correct. While I notice Mylio's toolset a chip inexplainable, it shows the power of this concept. Adobe's Acrobat Reader lets you read a PDF on the left side while inking, highlighting, or signing the document on the right.
Mylio is a gratuitous photo editing app that makes utilise of both displays. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Fundamental
Another ingenious feature is app pairing, where yous can link ii apps together to launch at the aforementioned time. Pair up Microsoft Teams and Outlook to launch as your out-of-bed app experience. I use FedEx and UPS apps to rails packages, or Ring and Eufy, for security. You tin can pair any Android app with another – Instagram + Twitter, Facebook + OneNote, New York Times + Washington Mail service. Information technology takes multitasking to a new level. The same applies to "elevate and drop," where y'all can drag a news article into OneNote, or something into To Practise. It is also paradoxically like using Windows.
And that is the sum of where Surface Duo excels: immersion. While some just desire a pocket phone to bank check a message, view Instagram, and take a call, Surface Duo is better for sitting down and going in deep to your email, reading, taking notes, document creation, or collaboration on Microsoft Teams.
Surface Duo is exciting ... just also something many people practice not demand.
Surface Duo is a powerful concept. It'south likewise one that many people probable do not need. Some practice, yet, and they will appreciate what Microsoft has enabled with Surface Duo.
What nigh answering calls or hearing notifications come up in, and did I always tire of opening Surface Duo for the basics? No. I beloved how closing Surface Duo kind of shuts that earth off to allow me focus on another task. While my Samsung Galaxy Active ii watch worked groovy with Surface Duo, I never felt I needed to have it (I unpaired later on a day to go dorsum to a regular watch). I also never dropped Surface Duo, had problems carrying it, or using it daily. While one-handedness is non-existent, the ability to swoop deep into my piece of work is a notable tradeoff.
But for the bold
Should you lot buy Surface Duo?
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key
Who it'south for
- Those who want to be more than productive while mobile
- Fans of Microsoft 365, Surface, and Android
- Early on adopters
- Those who aren't worried about the price or who have a modernistic telephone to trade-in
Who it isn't for
- Those on a budget
- Those who prioritize familiarity and are OK with current phones
- Those who want the best camera experience
The conclusions of this review are simple. Premature software, the lack of optimized dual-screen apps, missing hardware, and the high price are skilful reasons to stick with your electric current phone. This advice is also authentic for iPhone users, who will find switching to Android and a new form gene peculiarly unsettling.
Surface Duo holds a ton of promise, but the software needs work.
Those who know Android, love Microsoft 365 and Part, and continuously consume information would do good about from Surface Duo, so long as you lot know what yous are getting into this early on, you shouldn't be disappointed with it.
Pricing starts at $ane,400 for the 128GB model, and for $1,500, y'all can knab 256GB — both with 6GB of RAM. Microsoft is making it easier on your wallet if you lot're upgrading from an iPhone eleven Pro or Samsung Milky way Annotation 10+, as yous can go up to $700 back, halving the price. The Microsoft Shop likewise offers a generous 60-twenty-four hour period return policy, along with matching prices, should information technology drop in 60 days.
If you lot are interested in buying Surface Duo, my advice is straightforward: Maybe wait a few months to run into how the software improves. Apply Microsoft's 60-day return policy to try Surface Duo yourself. Reading a review of Surface Duo is hugely different than living with it. The same is truthful or trying it in a store for 5 minutes. Do not buy Surface Duo equally a secondary gadget — you need to become all-in; otherwise, information technology is too baroque. Drop-in that SIM and embrace dual screens.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
I can't wait to see what Microsoft does with Surface Duo in the adjacent year. Do software updates improve early jankiness and bugs? Do apps similar Twitter, Edge, websites, and media apps follow Microsoft and Google with dual-screen optimized apps, or does it stay isolated to simply a few? These questions will seal the fate of Microsoft's dual-screen mobile dreams.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key
Microsoft gets points for a radically new mobile idea that has 18-carat merit. Microsoft loses points but because the software is halfbaked, and information technology needs more dual-screen apps; but nothing is fundamentally incorrect with the underlying concept. With a few updates, Surface Duo could absolutely be life-changing, opening new doors for working on the get or the couch. But if yous're going to purchase Surface Duo, but it for what information technology is, not what it may exist.
I am going to continue using Surface Duo every bit my primary mobile telephone. I legitimately want to. Surface Duo represents a shift in mobile applied science, and I'm hither for it today.
Now available (in the U.S.)
Microsoft Surface Duo
Two screens are better than one.
Microsoft delves into the time to come of foldables with an ambitious dual-screen device, featuring two ultra-sparse five.half-dozen-inch AMOLED displays leap past a 360-degree swivel. This pocketable inking-enabled Android smartphone marks the latest in the Surface lineup, geared for mobile productivity.
Microsoft Surface Duo
Primary
- Surface Duo review
- Best Surface Duo accessories 2022
- Best Surface Duo cases 2022
- Best Surface Duo pens 2022
- Listing of Surface Duo specs
- Save up to $700 on Surface Duo
Surface Duo, 3 months later update
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Primal
Since my initial review, I have been using Surface Duo every bit my principal phone. While I have an iPhone 12 Mini for a side review (and to follow Microsoft'south iOS app ecosystem), it remains on a secondary SIM.
I alive with Surface Duo more than nigh reviewers who have moved on to the side by side big thing, or whatever their personal preference may be. I could exercise the same and go correct back to the Samsung Galaxy Note twenty Ultra, one of the all-time overall smartphones of 2022. Information technology is hard to resist that 120Hz display and impressive camera array.
Why do I like Surface Duo? Information technology's a modern PDA for a data-centric globe.
Simply there is something nigh Surface Duo that clicks with me. I discover myself using it a lot on the couch for reading books and comics via Amazon Kindle and Google Play Books. Indeed, I am simply reading a lot more now, thanks to the dual-screen volume-like feel. I also triage e-mail like a boss, read more in-depth news articles via Microsoft News, and enjoy the overall experience, including the surprisingly good battery life. I find myself reaching less for a laptop because of Surface Duo.
Why do I like it and so much? Information technology recently dawned on me: Surface Duo brings back the classic concept of the PDA (personal digital assistant). I'm sometime enough to have used a Dell Axim, my first real exposure to Windows Mobile and what I saw as the future of mobile computing. I've written just how transformative the PDA was for my career, and Surface Duo feels a lot like it.
The Dell Axim was far from perfect, too (as were all PDAs at the time). If the battery died, the device'due south memory was wiped. Wi-Fi was barely a matter in 2003, and it would exist years before cellular was integrated. You also had to sync the PDA to your desktop to refresh the information on it, making everything static when in employ. None of this was ideal, only information technology was yet wild. The same can be said of Surface Duo.
File management using Solid Explorer is efficient and effective with two screens. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
My Surface Duo is now my life secretary. When I open up it upward, I run into not just my latest notifications, but a list of all my emails and important alerts (via BlackBerry Hub and Email), my calendar week's agenda appointments, and current info. Any Android phone can simulate that experience, but it's the dual display and design that makes it feel better. Information technology's an excellent organizer for those who deal heavily with information, schedules, information, and management.
Speaking of the BlackBerry Hub+, Microsoft should create a unified inbox experience for all your significant apps (Teams, Skype, Slack, Telegram, SMS, etc.) like that one. BlackBerry ever had a knack for mobile productivity like its privacy shade. I wrote in 2022 how BlackBerry and Microsoft should team up, and I still think that's the case. At the very to the lowest degree, emulate them, Microsoft.
I besides bask the ability to close Surface Duo like a book, allowing me to focus more on my writing and work instead of always looking at my phone.
So far, it'due south mostly been bug fixes with Surface Duo, with barely any new features. That's boring but necessary.
Even so, my review's conclusion hasn't changed in the last 3 months. Surface Duo is still a "dual-screen phone of tomorrow that's not quite ready today." Information technology'southward just now slightly improve.
Only the only real affair I was concerned with was the concept of Surface Duo and if it was a breakthrough or a gimmick. I can report that it is the onetime. Information technology's yet not a device I would tell regular consumers to buy, simply it is one to watch going frontwards.
What Microsoft does with Surface Duo two, which we expect could launch in late 2022, will be fascinating. For now, I'one thousand hooked on the idea of dual screens regardless of the (dwindling) flaws. I'll check dorsum in on Surface Duo 3 months from at present, and hopefully, we'll have Android 11 and some more than improvements and features.
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Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Primal. He has been covering Microsoft hither since 2007 back when this site was chosen WMExperts (and later Windows Telephone Central). His interests include Windows, Surface, laptops, and modern computing. Follow him on Twitter: @daniel_rubino.
Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/surface-duo-3-months-re-review
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