Surface Duo 2 — It's really quite GOOD now!

Surface Duo 2 has been on the market for 6 months! How is it holding up? Let's review.

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#Review #SurfaceDuo

[bryanwindowsfan]

Good six-month review! The Duo two is excellent, and it does require mental adaptation similar to any new form factor. I hope MS doesn't lose interest as it does so often (Windows Phone, Band, Cortana, live tiles, etc.). Their history of product dereliction is my greatest hurdle to recommending Microsoft.

[OmarSerajKazi]

Just got my Duo 2 a week ago and it's brilliant! Ideal for my work, ebooks and YouTube ! Battery life seems unpredictable but then I use video heavy apps like Teams a lot. Definitely more intuitive than the Fold 3 when you just want your 2 apps side by side. Miss the wireless charging but have a fast wired charger that rocks.

[robcrichlow]

Great 6 month review! I appreciated your comments regarding it as two screen device by saying it was a phone with a second screen. On the camera, it does have a unique way of giving you feedback on the pictures you take and I like holding it in vertical mode, holding the lower part and viewing in the upper part. Very useful in taking wide angle and gives a solid feel for holding it. However, many of us will use Gcam for lower light pictures, which has better low light handling. It gives the best of both worlds by being able to choose the camera software for what you are trying to take a picture of. It also proves the camera is good hardware, MS just needs to work harder on the low light handling. Again, thanks for really good review. 👍

[TezsArt]

What a great 6 month review! Wonderful job explaining the purpose of the device! You covered pretty much most of the aspects and concerns I have with it and some I hadn't thought of. I appreciate the form factor and purpose of the Duo lineup, which makes it far more unlikely I will use any other device, be it slate or folding, as a daily driver.

[lwa.dev]

Nice honest review Zach, I have the duo 1st gen and luv it with all its quirks cos the idea is just brilliant and this is why Microsoft stands apart from other oem’s in my humble opinion…

[LAa]

Great review, Zack! I had the OG SD1 and loved the second screen but hated the bugs, lack of case options and the screen span gap. I still can't get over that one and the lack of cases out there but I'm getting closer.

[DareBlink]

I was pleasantly surprised with the camera, I use the normal camera food dailight photos but use gcam for low light photos with great results.

[RicTone]

I saw it at best buy and I like it. I like the 2 screens. I just wanted thinner bezels

[DareBlink]

I use the second screen of my sd2 80 or 90% of the time. Love this device and even I often span to both screens, especially when on a website, or YouTube or reading anything.

[cgarrett]

I picked up the Duo 2 on sale and it's been great. I can do so much more than on a single screen- truly transformative. Some bugs remain, though minor, however. What I think is most important is Android 12L release coming out this year and will bring enhancements to apps and workflow for tablet and split screen devices.

[efficaciousuave]

❤️❤️❤️❤️ seeing zac probably in all his glory for the first time!!! Love the new format windows central team well done!!!

[waynejkl]

About 6 months later for me... my hinges aren't "grindy" as you say, but they're totally fine. I totally agree that the Duo is a phone with a second screen, as opposed to a foldable tablet. BUT my cautionary tale: I did manage to scratch the screen at the beach by closing it when some grains of sand that I didn't notice were floating on the suface. Since then I have some key scrapes from being in my pocket. It's nothing major, but this Gorilla Glass 5 (or whatever) isn't completely foolproof.

[abcnumberamerica]

The surface duo 2 is $500 off right now, just placed my order for one and im super hyped. This video really helped me get in the mood and it seems like a perfect phone for me. One thing though, when you said that the pen charging case like halved the screen on time what did you mean, does that mean that if i have the pen magnetically attached to my phone it will only last half as long or am i missing something?

[alexanderknipel]

Thank you very much! I have my surface duo 2 since the release and I'm really happy with it, but as you say, I use it as a mini computer/Telephone with a second screen. and I haven't just adopted, I'm more creative and have an awesome workflow since than. I'm taking a lot of photos and guess what, I'm impressed. But not when you are using the standard photo app from Microsoft. But I've installed one of the latest gcam versions and wow, this is an improvement. even in low light. So please Microsoft, update your app. we know you are capable to do that, you've shown us with windows phone. And one more thing. I'm using the pen cover and I'm using my Duo 2 a lot and I've no issues with battery life. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel any difference with, or without the cover.
I must confess, I really fell in love with that phone and I hope Microsoft shows this device even more love, cause it's really great and still there are many things that can even get better. Anyone who is thinking of getting one. I recommend it.

[hassam]

Would love to hear your experience with heating? I bought the device at the time of release and noticed overheating especially when using maps or the camera( even for a short time!)

[usnoozeyuloosey]

Thank you for doing this. I just read your article today so it's nice to see this as well.

[TMXP]

I wish I had the Microsoft Duo 6-7 years ago 😏

My iPhone and iPad combo satisfies all my needs in 2023⏩

[SalvatoreANapoli]

Honesty I was sold on the concept from day one. Not having to worry about a soft screen and the ability to properly multitask without compromising or it being an overly finicky process is a win. The only hope now is MSFT continues developing the concept with further iterations, it feels like they're a solid camera (and maybe a usabale mini notification screen) away!

[GregoriusMagnus]

This was epic. I always thought up to the part "welcome back to another video" was a prerecorded and recycled opening. I was surprised to see it live now with the always same intonation. :) I guess it comes now with muscle memory.

[julianvanderkraats]

I just got a SD2, having returned one one day after launch because it was simply unusable. Very happy with it now. But also because I got a smartwatch to go with it, to see notifications without having the whip out "the beast" every time! Only thing about the smart watch is that it is expensive and bulky and has poor battery life, also because it has all kinds of fitness stuff and measuring equipment that comes with that. So - instead of an outside screen to check notifications on a SD3, Microsoft should offer a cheap, pretty, long lasting smartwatch without all the fitness crap with WearOS as a companion device!