Review: Microsoft Surface Duo 2 foldable phone

Microsoft’s tiny dual screen foldable Android phone is among the most unusual devices in 2021.

Microsoft Duo 2 hinged phone.

Microsoft’s tiny dual screen foldable Android phone is among the most unusual devices in 2021.

Microsoft gave up making phones in 2017 after a disastrous run that started when Bill Gates launched Windows CE in 1996. Subsequently we saw the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone 7, 8 and 10 on various devices including Microsoft Lumia phones before Windows Phone was axed.

Never one to give up, Microsoft have sneaked back into the phone market with the Surface Duo range which, in a phrase, is a 2020s take on the Pocket PC of old – a tiny device that handles calls but gives you media and productivity capabilities on the go.

When closed, this latest Surface Duo 2 is the size of a slightly wide phone. It’s 145.2x92.1x11 mm with a 5.8-inch screen and can fit in your pocket. Opened up, it’s 184.5x145.2x5.5mm with an 8.3-inch display. It’s lightweight at 284 grams.

Microsoft Duo 2.

The phone comes from a collaboration between Microsoft and Google, with an adaptation of the Android 11 operating system layered over with a cut down Windows interface. The Duo 2 runs Android apps, but also Microsoft apps such as Microsoft Office. You sign into both your Google account and Microsoft accounts during installation.

You can set up fingerprint authentication during installation and can optionally install apps such as Amazon Kindle, LinkedIn, Spotify and TikTok.

By default you get Google Chrome, Maps, YouTube and Drive, as well Microsoft Edge, Bing, Teams, Outlook and Office. I felt I was joining the United Nations of Big Tech.

The Duo 2 isn’t a folding screen phone in the style of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3; it’s two screens hinged together. That doesn’t make it cheap with the Duo 2 starting at $2319. However the two screens do combine into a single screen for some functions.

The configurations of Duo 2

To navigate the Duo 2 effectively, you need to learn some gestures, such as swiping up on the home screen to view your apps tray. You can create a two app menu selection; both apps open on adjacent screens with a single selection.

You can get an app to span across two screens by dragging it when opened near the centre, or swipe from the edge to go back a screen. Swiping from the bottom returns to the home screen.

Typing on the glass screen is at least bearable but painstaking. It’s a bit better when you operate the Duo 2 in landscape mode and have a wider keyboard. One screen goes to the top while the other screen is the keyboard beneath it.

The better option is to use Google Voice for voice dictation rather than type emails and notes.

You can watch movies while on the go on a screen that is a bigger than a regular smartphone one. YouTube videos play full screen. However, the hinge fold gets in the way of enjoying video on the dual screen which devalues the experience.

Notifications along the edge.

You can play some games on the Duo 2. Asphalt 9 car racing was hair raising but it offered good resolution graphics on a single screen.

The Duo 2 has a triple lens camera system with wide (12MP), telephoto (12MP) and ultrawide (16MP) front facing lens and a hybrid zoom range of 0.5x to 10x. It has a neat trick where you can snap an image on one screen and review it and start editing it on the other. You can shoot 1080p high definition video and there is also a 12MP selfie camera.

Operation is snappy thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor aboard which uses modern 5 nanometre architecture. That’s cutting edge.

The highlight of this device is the screen quality. Images look bright and detailed thanks to 800 nits of brightness and great resolution: 1892 x 2688 pixels with 401 pixels per inch. Even small text becomes easier to read.

The Duo 2 supports both a nanoSIM and eSIM, 5G and fast charging through a USB-C port.

It’s a quality product but being so small means it’s not much more efficient for content creation than a regular phone, and the fold undermines movie watching enjoyment. You’re better off with a tablet at half the price if your aim is to watch movies and video.

However, the dual screen set-up does work when the screens offer separate content, but work together, such as when viewing emails, with your inbox on one screen, and content next to it on the other.

You really have to like this form factor for it to work for you. From $2319.

Duo 2 as an e-reader.