Updated 21 aug. Article originally posted Aug 20
Announced earlier this month, the latest details about the new Surface Duo highlight the power that Microsoft has found in its dual-screen Android device. But this is not a mobile device that can rely on specs to sell, it needs to find its own story.
Panos Panay, chief product officer of Microsoft Corp., shows the Surface Duo smartphone during a … [+]
Update 21 Aug: How apps run on the Surface Duo is of course an important part of the experience. Anyone with an Android device knows what their apps look like on other Android devices, so how smooth will the dual screen experience be? Zac Bowden has an early look at the Duo’s camera app, which should help set expectations:
“Furthermore, we also have screenshots of the UI of the first run that appear when you open the camera app for the first time. This short walkthrough quickly describes how to take a photo, turning the Duo around for a selfie, and how you can span the app so your photo subjects can see you take a photo of them in real time. ”
It is worth noting that although the camera app is quite a standard app, I am interested in the scenario of the scanned app. There are moments like this that Microsoft needs to mark in order to sell the Duo.
It Microsoft Corp. Surface Duo smartphone unveiled at a product event in New York, US, on … [+]
The latest performance details come from the ever popular online benchmarks, and were picked up by Windows Latest:
The Surface Duo’s first benchmarks appeared on Geekbench’s benchmarking tool database and early benchmarks measure up to top Android phones.
In the early benchmarks, the Surface Duo produced a single-core score of 762 and a multi-core result of 2,867. This is the first benchmark we have of the dual-screen-optimized Snapdragon 855 chipset, and the results are promising. “
To put that in context, the benchmarks of the Surface Duo from Samsung’s transforming Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip both sport SnapDragon 855 series Processors, just as the Duo does.
That does not change the fact that the SnapDragon 855 is last year’s iteration of the flagship system on chip. With premium handsets now sporting the SnapDragon 865, the Surface Duo specs look a bit dusty. Let’s not forget that the Duo is priced at $ 1399 for the 128 GB model. While the nature of having two screens and the extra technology will naturally push the price up, the sticker price compared to the specifications is not what your average consumer will expect.
Of course, the Surface Duo’s pitch is not about ultimate performance, it’s about creating a new type of device and different ways of working. Two screens can easily mean two apps at once – say viewing your calendar and email, a Zoom call and notepad, like the web browser and a Word document. It can mean a single app with multiple views, like an app that spans the two screens. There are many more possibilities, and they will not all be clear to those considering a purchase.
And that can be a problem.
I think if you get your hands on a Surface Duo the concept will be easier to understand. The problem in this Covid-19 burning time is that the chances of getting time on hand before the purchase decision should be limited. The comfort of specifications and expected behavior will be stronger considerations than luring a cutting edge device with a new form factor.
The hardware heart may be strong, but the software story needs to match it.
Read now how the Surface Duo marks Microsoft’s silent takeover of Android …
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