Technically, the Microsoft Surface Duo was announced last October, but the company only shared the detailed specs this week, as pre-orders for the foldable phone began. So now that we have the full picture, we can better judge if the company just got it on their return to smartphones.
There is no denying that the Surface Duo is an exciting piece of technology – the two super-slim halves and the 360-degree hinge allow you to fit an 8.1 “screen in your pocket, while the company has adapted the UI for unrivaled multitasking .
Due to the hinge, the Surface duo can work backwards, allowing you to use only one of the screens, or sit on their own on a table in a laptop-like layout. And while Samsung already offers some nice features for that latest mode on the Galaxy Z Flip, those are adapted for use on social media, while the Surface Duo focuses on productivity.
On the other hand, the starting price of $ 1,399 puts a lot of pressure on the Microsoft foldable. That quickly swells to $ 1,599 if you opt for the 256GB storage version and the Surface Pen. At that point, the Surface Duo will cost more than any other phone in the US, saving for the Galaxy Fold, while only offering a Snapdragon 855 chipset and a low 6GB of RAM.
Sure, the 855 is no slouch, but it’s a generation old (like three if you count the pluses) and not quite up to the standards of its rivals. The LG V60 with its Dual Screen attachment is $ 810 and although not as sleek it has a much larger battery and the Snapdragon 865.
Speaking of the 3,577mAh battery, Microsoft promises that it will last all day, but we can not imagine that will be the case if you use the two screens heavily. The 18W charge is not particularly reassuring in the days when we see the first commercially available 100W + solutions. We’ll have to wait for the reviews to see if things get as bad as they sound like Microsoft did some optimization magic and the Surface Duo does it better than expected.
Then the single camera is mounted above one of the screens. Nowadays, a few people have a dedicated camera and this certainly does not sound like it will do a great job for everyday shooting. The sensor is smaller than most cameras for the cameras of the examples, let alone the most important.
Another potential pain points is the lack of 5G and the too thick edges. While 5G coverage is still limited, futureproofing is expected from a device in this price range. And speaking of the future, those edges seem to come straight from 2016 and stand in stark contrast to the overall elegant design.
But at the end of the day, this is a first gen product and some imperfections are to be expected. The question is – is the innovation enough that you will be ready to live with it? Or did Microsoft just not get what people want and deliver an unsealeable product?
