Think about when you need to copy a sentence from a text to another chat app, like Messenger. You see, the problem with most phones and tablets is, you’re limited to one thing at a time. That sounds minor, but it’s incredibly powerful and useful. When you tap on an app group, both of the apps open, one on each screen. They look a bit like folders, but instead of a grouping of several apps, it’s just two. On the Surface Duo, you can create app groups and place them on your desktop. I use it like a Windows desktop with two monitors. I don’t use my Surface Duo like a phone anymore. The hinge is just perfect, the Duo moves to any position with ease but sticks where I want without budging. And, I’m starting to think that’s not an accident. That’s what the Surface Duo feels like when you hold it. Picture a thin UltraBook, like the Dell XPS 13. One side is incredibly straight and ends in sharp corners, but the other has curved corners. When it’s closed, it feels wide in my hand yet super thin. Pick up the Surface Duo, and it feels unlike any phone you’ve ever held. But that’s not the point of them.Īnd the same goes for the Surface Duo the moment I stopped thinking about it as a phone, I fell in love with what it actually is. But think about this for a moment: Do you judge an LTE tablet or smartwatch for their smartphone capabilities? No, they just happen to have the chops to make phone calls. Are you in a well-lit room? You’ll get some decent shots that could use more details, good enough for Facebook and Twitter.ĭo I love that I need all that extra stuff to make my smartphone work like a decent smartphone? No, no, I don’t. At best, it’s competent under optimal conditions. It has a camera that serves as both the front-facing and rear shooter, but it’s not a great camera. But the Surface Duo doesn’t do any of that. These days we expect our smartphones to do more than make phone calls and send text messages, like take amazing pictures or replace our credit cards with digital payments.
Everything you need for a full flagship experience. After all, it makes phone calls, handles text messages, and even video calls.
The Surface Duo is, by all means, an Android smartphone. Ok, let’s start with the elephant in the room. It’s a Bad Smartphone, but You Can Fix That So long as you think of this device as a phone, it’s going to be disappointing. But the RAM is on the light side for multitasking device, there’s no IP rating at all, no NFC, no wireless charging, and the camera is a far cry from what you usually see on $1,400 phones. The processor is from last year, though that might be a good thing.
If you follow smartphones at all, there’s a few standout specs of the back. Dimensions when closed: 145.2 mm (H) x 93.3 mm (W) x 9.9 mm (T at hinge).
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/b/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz MIMO Bluetooth 5.1 NFC AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile support.Fingerprint Sensor: Side, beneath power button.Ports: Type-C USB port (no headphone jack).Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform.Unfortunately, the innards aren’t as appealing. It feels great in the hand and looks gorgeous on the outside. That’s because despite slapping two displays to a hinge, the Surface Duo is super thin, even when closed.
Besides the software making a bad first impression, the hardware itself makes a great first impression, at least, on the outside. Not perfectly stable, mind you, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Thankfully, everything settled down and the phone became more stable. For the few hours or so, apps wouldn’t load correctly, and some of the biggest Surface Duo features just didn’t work right. If you saw my first look at the device, you already know that things didn’t start well with the Surface Duo.