Microsoft Surface Duo: Phone of tomorrow, that’s not quite ready today

After many years, Microsoft stepped up its smartphone game by joining the foldable smartphone segment. They have just introduced the audience with their latest first ever android dual-screen foldable smartphone, Surface Duo. Would they be able to compete with the current foldable king Samsung with their new device? Let’s dive right in to find out. Let us review Microsoft Surface Duo.

Specifications

Display

• Unfolded: 8.1 inches 1800 x 2700 pixels AMOLED
• Folded: 5.6 inches, 1350 x 1800 pixels AMOLED

Dimensions

• Unfolded: 186.9 x 145.2 x 4.8 mm
• Folded: 145.2 x 93.3 x 9.9 mm
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855
• RAM: 6GB
• Storage: 128/265 GB, No SD card slot
• Battery: Li-Po 3577mAh
• Camera: 11 MP, f/2.0, 23mm (wide)
• Weight: 250 g
• Price: 1400$

Design and Looks

The design plays an important role in any device as it lays the first impression. Noticeably, the design of the surface duo is inspired by the laptops. It is a mini laptop with two displays on both sides that can fit into the pocket. Arguably, this device is the thinnest smartphone in the foldable segment. In fact, it is barely thicker than a regular USB type C port which feels premium on hands.

The hinge, holding the two parts together, is really an impressive part of this phone. It is a 360° hinge. In other words, the users can turn the screens 360° and use it as a single screen device. The hinge mechanism is so smooth and firm that it can be locked at any angle.

Comes to portability, the device is wider than regular phones whilst using one screen mode/folded position. Therefore, some of the people may find it a tad difficult to carry around in their pockets.

One setback point could be its thick bezels. The reason behind the large side bezels can be understood for protecting the phone considering the folding aspect. However, the bezels of the top and bottom are a bit thick and could have been narrower.

Performance

On paper, the device has a Snapdragon 855 chipset, which is a year older flagship processor and can be reasoned to lower the manufacturing cost of the device and a 6GB of RAM. The processor is undoubtedly powerful enough to handle whatever is thrown at it however, instead of just 6GB, more RAM could have been provided to elevate the smooth multitasking experience, especially while spending 1400$.

The device can be used in multiple ways, such as a laptop, book, and single-screen mode. While using it as a book mode, the users get two separate screens in which they can fire up multiple applications on each side and perform desirable tasks simultaneously. In laptop mode, it performs as a laptop i.e. one side acts as a screen and the other as a keyboard. Thanks to the 360° hinge, users can flip the screens around and use it as a regular smartphone.

The user experience is not as good as expected from a flagship device due to the bugs and new folding technology. The current applications are not optimized for this new device’s folding technology. The applications can be stretched to fill both of the screens. However, they do not perform better as most of the applications are not adapted to this new aspect ratio yet. Additionally, it has a mono speaker setup which is not that much louder compared to the other phones.

Using the phone in landscape mode, the stretched keyboard on both screens doesn’t feel optimized and could be a bit difficult to utilize properly. However, Microsoft has partnered with the SwiftKey keyboard and tweaked the keyboard that can adjust itself to provide a better user experience. For now, the 3rd party keyboards are sort of difficult to use on a daily basis.

Camera

The camera has become an integral component of a smartphone in today’s world. If we look around, we can find phenomenal high-end cameras in flagship smartphones. Conversely, Microsoft has chosen to keep only one 11 MP, f/2.0, 23mm (wide) camera in this device where other brands pack a minimum of 2 to 3 cameras on their smartphone. The other phones are rocking with optical stabilizations, depth sensors, and whatnot, but this one does not have any features like them, just a simple camera similar to the laptop ones.

Since there is no rear camera, the users have to struggle a bit to take pictures. For instance, first, you need to open/unfold the phone then fire up the camera application and flip it 360° then change the selfie camera into a rear camera, too much job to be done before clicking a normal picture! #RIP ergonomics.

Moreover, the camera quality is not so great. It feels like using a laptop’s webcam to click pictures, and we all know the quality of it. They said that it is an adaptive camera means it can find out whether the user is taking a selfie or a normal picture and optimize it for better results. However, the quality is no match for a flagship device. For a 1400 $ flagship device it can be a disappointment.

Battery

In the world where most of the smartphones consist of a minimum of 4000mAh battery, the Surface Duo has a 3577mAh battery. Using the two screens with multitasking can bleed the battery juice pretty quickly. However, while using it as single-screen mode it can last up to a full day. The standby time is noticeably good enough. Other than that, the device does not support wireless charging and it comes with only 18W fast charging capability.

Before jumping into conclusion let’s talk about pros and cons:

Pros:

• Dual display
• Great design
• Easy multitasking
• Slim as USB C Port
• Flawless hinge
• Awesome productivity

Cons:

• Terrible camera
• Software bugs
• Expensive AF
• Poor battery performance
• Old Gen CPU
• Lacks NFC, wireless charging

Conclusion

To conclude, it is evident that the device is not worth 1400 bucks. Moreover, many better devices are available in the market at a somewhat same or lower price that can provide a smoother fluid-like experience. Had they set the price under or at least around 1000 bucks, it would have been a good device to consider purchasing.

This is the phone of tomorrow, that’s not quite ready today.

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