Microsoft aims to replace your iPad and iPhone with new Surface Duo
Microsoft won't call the Surface Duo a phone, but that doesn't stop it wanting customers to ditch both their iPhone and iPad for this one foldable tablet that makes calls.
The Surface Duo is available for pre-order
The Surface Duo is a foldable 8.1-inch tablet with dual 5.6-inch displays, runs Android, and will fit in your pocket. Microsoft hopes to replace all your portable devices with a single LTE connected hybrid.
The custom software is limited to what has been adapted to the device. Any other app not optimized for the duo will run normally in the 5.6-inch vertical displays, and can run two apps simultaneously on its separate displays.
Microsoft has avoided phones since its failed Windows Phone line, and the fact that this device runs Android shows their hesitancy for entering the market. Microsoft's ARM platform for Windows won't be ready until 2021 or later, so this device seems a bit too early or a bit too late on either end.
The foldable comes at a time when Samsung has released its latest iteration of folding design to the market. While the Surface Duo might do well in a vacuum, the existence of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 trumps the device before it even makes it to market.
Both devices run Android, have folding-clamshell designs, but are worlds apart in terms of software support and design. The Surface Duo is a premium $1,399 while the Galaxy Z Fold2 is expected to cost around $1900.
The small device aims for phones and tablets both
If a "budget" friendly foldable is what you want, then the Surface Duo may satisfy your curiosity, but for only about $500 more you would have a much better tablet experience. That is not to say the software is highly supported on either device, but the fact that the Galaxy Fold acts as a single tablet display and not spilt down the middle means software will be able to run normally without adaptation.
Apple has yet to announce anything for the foldable market with very few rumors at that. An iPad Pro of similar size can be configured with LTE and 512GB of internal storage for just $1,249, and the iPad App Store is vast in its tablet specific offerings.
Whatever you are in the market for, the Surface Duo has arrived to give yet another option in the tablet/hybrid market. Microsoft hopes it will become your "at-home indefinitely device" for productivity and leisure. With Samsung and Microsoft throwing their best tech in the foldable ring, expect Apple to answer with something in the future.
The Surface Duo is available for pre-order today, Wednesday, and will ship on September 10th.
The Surface Duo is available for pre-order
The Surface Duo is a foldable 8.1-inch tablet with dual 5.6-inch displays, runs Android, and will fit in your pocket. Microsoft hopes to replace all your portable devices with a single LTE connected hybrid.
The custom software is limited to what has been adapted to the device. Any other app not optimized for the duo will run normally in the 5.6-inch vertical displays, and can run two apps simultaneously on its separate displays.
Microsoft has avoided phones since its failed Windows Phone line, and the fact that this device runs Android shows their hesitancy for entering the market. Microsoft's ARM platform for Windows won't be ready until 2021 or later, so this device seems a bit too early or a bit too late on either end.
The foldable comes at a time when Samsung has released its latest iteration of folding design to the market. While the Surface Duo might do well in a vacuum, the existence of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 trumps the device before it even makes it to market.
Both devices run Android, have folding-clamshell designs, but are worlds apart in terms of software support and design. The Surface Duo is a premium $1,399 while the Galaxy Z Fold2 is expected to cost around $1900.
The small device aims for phones and tablets both
If a "budget" friendly foldable is what you want, then the Surface Duo may satisfy your curiosity, but for only about $500 more you would have a much better tablet experience. That is not to say the software is highly supported on either device, but the fact that the Galaxy Fold acts as a single tablet display and not spilt down the middle means software will be able to run normally without adaptation.
Apple has yet to announce anything for the foldable market with very few rumors at that. An iPad Pro of similar size can be configured with LTE and 512GB of internal storage for just $1,249, and the iPad App Store is vast in its tablet specific offerings.
Whatever you are in the market for, the Surface Duo has arrived to give yet another option in the tablet/hybrid market. Microsoft hopes it will become your "at-home indefinitely device" for productivity and leisure. With Samsung and Microsoft throwing their best tech in the foldable ring, expect Apple to answer with something in the future.
The Surface Duo is available for pre-order today, Wednesday, and will ship on September 10th.
Comments
Except.
I do art so I need a seamless single screen. I don't even want a bendy screen as there would be a ripple across the fold. Painters don't use folding canvases, I don't want a folding tablet for my painting.
It runs Android. I've used Android and I don't like it. That's not to say anything about security and other concerns that come with Android. But overall I just don't like it.
So this is a good concept and I don't doubt the execution is flawless, MS hardware generally is.
But no. Thanks but no.
But I don't want a Office 365/Android device outside of the Apple ecosystem, so I'll pass. I'm sure they will sell quite a few of them and our nerd friends will be showing them off if we ever see them again in person.
The form factor and stylus compatibility is interesting though.
I'm sure most people will just compare it to a smartphone though and miss the fact that this is a mobile device designed for productivity in most aspects.
I don’t want my phone to be as big as a tablet when I take it with me to the pub.
I don’t want a smaller under-powered tablet while I sit on the sofa playing games or in a meeting taking notes.
I’m sure some people will like it, like the people that bought the god awful pda devices that this reminds me of in the 90s
Maybe one way in which two screens might make sense is if one screen is optimized more for "control" while the other is optimized more for "display." For example, the "control" screen could have a lower resolution and haptic feedback for the feel of buttons etc, while the "display" screen could be higher resolution and just multi-touch (no haptic feedback). In other words, the "control" screen could be conceptually more like a highly customizable keyboard/trackpad while the display screen could be more like what we are typically used to with an iPhone or iPad.
1. No love lost for Microsoft, as they - along with Apple and Oracle - were among the cabal that tried to push Linux, open source databases and Android out of the marketplace during the last decade using a variety of legal and marketplace pressure tactics. But Microsoft makes it clear that this device is not a phone, is not a tablet and is not meant to compete with the iPhone, iPad or even any Android device. Instead, it is a companion device for their somewhat successful line of Surface 2-in-1s. Basically, if you already like and use their Surface devices at work or in your home/office, you will want this device because it will have the same sort of "ecosystem" benefits that iPads have with MacBooks. But if you are not a Surface user, you will have no need or want for this device. Yes, this device is expensive - but similar to Apple fans - Surface device owners are used to paying a premium instead of just getting Lenovo or Dell devices that offer the same form factor and superior performance/specs for hundreds less.
2. Instead of comparing this device with the Samsung Galaxy Fold - which is an entirely different one - someone who actually knows something about Android would compare them to LG phones. LG has been releasing dual screen devices for over a year ... the LG Thinq G7, the LG Thinq G8 and the LG Velvet. All of them have detachable 6.8' screens, much bigger than the Duo's 5.6' screens. All of them have the latest - meaning much faster - CPUs. They also have more RAM, and lack of RAM is a killer in Android devices with big screens (Google tried lower RAM devices with "software optimizations" for no reasons other than sheer arrogance for years before finally giving up and putting 6 GB of RAM in their Pixel 4A and the Pixel 5 will have 8 GB). Oh yes, and they all have 5G and NFC. A couple of mobile bloggers who are actually knowledgeable about Android - yes such creatures are rare outside Android enthusiast blogs themselves - flat out recommended buying the Thinq or Velvet (especially the Velvet) instead of this device.
3. Claiming the Z Fold has "bad software" is ignorant. Compared to what? Because here's the deal: Apple doesn't have a product in this category yet. As usual. It would have been dumb to call the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro back in 2012 "a device with bad software" because Apple didn't come out with their own "Pro" tablet device with true multitasking support, stylus support and keyboard/trackpad support until later. (Actually MUCH LATER as the iPad Pros were in name only initially with the multitasking and trackpad features not added to OS, turning iOS into iPadOS, for several years.) Similarly, Apple currently has no software to drive a true folding device. The only true folding devices in existence are the 2019 and 2020 Galaxy Fold devices as well as a competing Huawei device that Huawei was only able to manufacture a few thousand units of (but the few who have actually seen and used them say that they are outstanding). Here's the thing: people who have actually used the Galaxy Fold and Flip devices say that they are great, especially the second generation versions of each that were just released and didn't have the "first generation iPhone/first ever MacBook Air" roughness. Which means that - by default - the software on these devices are GREAT until something comes along that's BETTER. We will see a Pixel folding phone (that will probably be similar to the Surface Duo) and allegedly a folding iPhone (which will be more like the Galaxy Z Fold) next year. At that point you will be able to SUBJECTIVELY claim that the Z Fold has bad software. Till then there is no way to even SUBJECTIVELY make that claim because A) the Z Fold's software works great in that it does what it is supposed to do in operating the device and delivers a good experience in the process - a consensus opinion held by nearly everyone who has bought or reviewed the device and