Thoughts on Surface Duo...…

 

 

I've been waiting for all the Surface Duo news to be released, the reviews, the podcasts, the articles and so much more. Now it's time to hear what I think about this device, right now. 

 

I first want to talk about the reviews, obviously there were 2 themes that came up during the reviews: the hardware and ideas presented by the hardware were amazing and that the software felt half-baked. I'll talk about the positive before the negative. 

 

 

The hardware is by far the best part of this device, the build quality and design just feel so premium. The back is completely glass with plastic edges, I also like the decision of no camera bump. Now Microsoft had to sacrifice a lot because of that decision as we'll learn later but Microsoft made a lot of guts moves with the Duo so it's nice to see Microsoft not be afraid of the heat. Many also talked about the quality of the hinge, it stayed firm enough to stay in one place but soft enough to smoothly rotate 360 degrees. The Hinge is the pivotal part of the form-factor, the Dual screen Form-factor that defines the Duo and everything you do with it.  

 

 

MKBHD has a pretty good first impressions video dedicated to the hardware.

The form factor of the Duo is what defines this device, the idea of Dual screens makes the Duo different from anything in its category. I know many have placed the Duo in the foldable category but in reality the Duo places a greater importance on productivity, that means that unlike the jack of all trades that is the Galaxy Fold series the Duo only has one thing on its mind; making you more productive on your most used device.   

 

 

Our phones are our most important devices whether we like it or not, even during quarantine where I'm relying more on my laptop than ever before many still spend considerable time on their phones, even more with the quarantine. Microsoft has gone with Dual screens because when you use your phone, they want you to be productive. I would welcome the Duo more than any other form-factor because I get how it works; instead of a software division Duo physically splits he screen somewhat forcing you to be more productive (i.e. multitasking). The two screens have different postures that adapt to different situations, multitasking, composing, and consumption.  

 

 

 I love the idea of the compose posture where I have a huge keyboard at the bottom and my main content on the top, like the idea of a blackberry; some reviews did say that the haptics were lacking but hopefully Duo 2 can fix that with a grain of salt. Overall Microsoft has a dream with how Duo works, that dream is like the modern-day blackberry, nobody brought a BlackBerry key2 to play Minecraft, or watch Netflix, and edit photos and video. They bought one because they knew that answering messages and E-mails is what made them productive and took a priority in their use case. Surface Duo has an inherent disadvantage from every other phone, the gap in the display. Without proper optimizations apps will have black bar in the middle when spanned across the entire display, this means that Duo will never be great for video consumption; it's a sacrifice that again defines the Duo. 

 

  

 

  Microsoft is targeting that same niche of people, along with a few nerds who get the idea. The idea of productivity on your phone makes the Surface Duo repulsive for some and for good reason, the spec nerds complain that there's not enough RAM and a 1 year old processor, value pinchers complain that there's not enough value for 1,400$, and all those points are valid. The Duo isn't supposed to be mainstream and for some people, like me, the Duo makes sense. Again, I do have to urge you to not buy this phone because of the valid concerns that I mentioned previously; consider them validated by this statement. The Surface Duo 1 Generation is a concept made to help us grasp the idea of what the form-factor is and what it can do. When you realize that you begin to forgive its many faults and grasp its brilliance.