Microsoft Surface Duo 2 review: Maybe third time's a charm

Despite a raft of improvements, the Duo 2 is missing the point

Microsoft has tried almost everything to get a foothold in mobile, and its current strategy focuses on the Surface Duo 2. This dual-screen smartphone doesn't change the fundamentals of the original—it opens like a laptop, revealing two identical 5.8-inch screens. Microsoft says two screens equal "limitless possibilities," the limits are clear: this device is for people who live their lives inside Microsoft's ecosystem.

If your day is spent in Microsoft Teams and Outlook, while your nights are filled with Xbox Live, the Surface Duo 2 can be a delight. Step outside that bubble, and the frustrations pile up. And for $1,500? Tough sell.

Design, hardware, what's in the box

Look at the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 from the front, and you might mistake it for the original Surface Duo. It still has a smooth glass exterior with no screen, Surface logo emblazoned in the middle. I would have preferred a matte glass body, but the new black color does look slick, and it's not as prone to smudging as I expected. Both displays are inside, like the pages of a book when you open the phone. The hinge allows you to set the Duo 2 up in several positions, which Microsoft calls "postures." You can set it on a table like a laptop, fold one side back for single-screen mode, prop it up like a tent, and so on. There are still sizeable bezels above and below the displays, but that's not surprising considering how thin the phone is—each half is only 5.5mm thick. That also means no headphone jack, a common shortcoming of modern smartphones. At least Microsoft has narrowed the gap between the screens themselves, which makes for a better spanning experience across both displays.

I'm sorry to say, Microsoft's redesigns for the Duo 2 have ruined one of the few things I really liked about the last phone. The two halves are longer symmetrical thanks to the enormous camera module on the back. Microsoft was rightly criticized for the poor camera performance on the first Duo, which didn't have a rear-facing shooter. Instead, you had to fold back one of the screens to use the selfie camera. Instead of just making that camera better, Microsoft has added a traditional triple camera to the back. We'll get to the functionality of these cameras later, but the physical design is awkward.

The Duo 2's camera module is wedge-shaped, allowing the folded-back screen to rest at an angle. So, unlike last year's Duo, the Duo 2 doesn't close all the way when you want to use one screen. The Duo 2 is already so wide that it stretches average-sized hands, and making the phone triangular worsens things. Each half of the Duo 2 is 92mm wide, which is substantially more than even the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is only 75mm across. There's really no comfortable way to hold this phone, with the possible exception of "like a book with both hands." In my opinion, the phone also looks much worse with the camera module, both folded and unfolded. A traditional camera setup doesn't make sense on a device with such a distinctive form factor.

I moved from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 to the Duo 2, and that was a rude awakening when I had to leave the house and put the phone in my pocket. The Duo 2 fits, but it's not as unobtrusive as the Flip3. The Duo 2 is so wide and flat that it's like walking with a small glass splint on your thigh. It's just too big, and I say this as someone who likes the Z Fold3. Width is the most important dimension when it comes to making a phone comfortable to use. The only reason we've been able to cope with 6.7, 6.8, and 6.9-inch phones is that it's a diagonal measurement. The taller aspect ratio of modern phones (eg. 22:9 in the case of the Flip3) ensures they still fit in your hand and pocket. The Duo 2 is 4:3, which is always going to be less efficient.

Ignoring the ratio and layout, the OLED panels are very good; crisp and bright, even in low light. I also like the Glance Bar... at least in theory. The screens have curved edges on the hinge side, making it a bit smoother to drag from one to the other. When closed, the curved edges peek through in between the hinges where they can relay information. This would be a great feature if it was implemented better. However, the Glance Bar only lights up under specific circumstances. If you press the power button, you get a tiny clock (admittedly, I like this), and you get indicators when new notifications arrive. Plugging in or unplugging the battery also shows a power gauge on the spine. Other than that, it just doesn't do much. It's like someone had half of a good idea and then got sidetracked.

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The Duo (top) and the Duo 2 (bottom) have similar shapes, but only the Duo 2 has the enormous camera module

The power button and volume rocker are on the right edge, which means they're attached to the right screen (the "bottom" of the two when closed). The buttons are sturdy, and I applaud Microsoft for moving to a unified button and fingerprint sensor combo. The hinge action is smooth, requiring just the right amount of force to open and close, and it stays in whatever posture you choose. Closing the phone doesn't have quite the same satisfying magnetic "thwack" as Samsung's foldables, but you can tell a lot of engineering when into this hinge.

The Duo 2 doesn't come with much of anything in the box. You get the phone, some manuals, and a USB C-to-C cable. Once again, this is a $1,500 phone. It's ridiculous it doesn't come with a charger at least.

Software, performance, and battery

The software is where the first Duo fell down, and I'm sorry to say things aren't much better this year. Some of the problems aren't Microsoft's fault; specifically, almost no third-party developers have added optimizations for the Duo, and that means few apps are worth spanning across both displays. Well, unless you like ugly gaps right in the middle of your content.

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The Duo 2 does best when running two standard apps side-by-side on the screens. If this is your main use case, great, the Duo 2 will be very good at this. The same goes for running Microsoft apps like Outlook and OneNote. You can expand these apps to cover both screens, and the UI will adapt perfectly. Even though it's good at these things, I'm forced to ask again if it's $1,500 good. No, it's not.

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Typing on the Duo 2 can be a treat

Glace Bar clock

I've found things to like about the dual screens, like flinging apps between the two while still having access to the home screen. I had hoped that another year would help Microsoft iron out the wrinkles with its customized version of Android, but alas, using the Duo 2 can be a hugely frustrating experience. The system UI crashes and loads apps with broken interfaces on a daily basis. The way apps behave on the dual displays is not consistent, and I've seen something as simple as opening the keyboard completely break the UI. If I had paid $1,500 for this phone, that would make me want to return it. I do like the typing experience on the Duo 2, when it works. The stock SwiftKey keyboard has a split layout that's very comfortable, and it can expand to fill one of the two screens.

The Surface Pen works with the Duo 2, but you won't find much reason to use it

I could drone on about bugs for several more paragraphs, but let's just say the phone needs some updates. Luckily, it will get some. Microsoft has promised monthly updates for three years this time. We can only hope it comes through after the abysmal job it did keeping the original Duo updated. I hope that some of those updates deliver more functionality for the Surface Pen, which technically works with the Duo 2. Unlike Samsung, Microsoft has not gone out of its way to include apps and services that work with the pen—the button doesn't even do anything. I wouldn't recommend buying Microsoft's $130 stylus unless you're also going to use it on a Surface laptop.

Maybe at this point, you think I don't have anything good to say about the Duo's software, but you'd be wrong. If you're a big Xbox gamer, this phone might be right up your alley. It comes with Xbox Game Pass pre-installed, and it's probably the best way to stream your Xbox games to a phone. No controller? No problem. There are a few dozen Game Pass titles with full touch controls. One screen displays the game, and the other gets a custom touch controller layout. I've played games like Gears 5, Hades, and Killer Instinct with touch controls, and I was shocked at how well they worked. The same goes for Game Pass itself. I had very few issues playing these games over 5G or Wi-Fi. Stadia, on the other hand, struggles pretty consistently no matter what kind of connection I have lately.

Many Game Pass titles have custom touch controls for the Duo 2.

This phone runs on the latest Snapdragon 888, a notable upgrade from the original Duo's behind-the-curve hardware. The Duo 2 is snappy even when running multiple apps. I know I've been complaining about how the software works, but the issues do not include sluggishness. Here's the other shoe: we've never known the SD888 to be kind to battery life, and the Duo 2's undersized 4,449mAh cell suffers for it. The Duo 2 lasts me a day with four to five hours of screen time, but it is possible to totally drain it much faster than that. Two displays use a lot of power, and I mostly use the phone with both screens on. If you stick to single-display mode more often, the Duo 2 could comfortably last a day.

Cameras

I'm going to use a term here, and I don't mean to cause offense, but I feel like a boomer taking photos with the Duo 2. Because the camera module is now on the back, you can't fold it in half to take photos. That means you have the second screen extended the whole time, making the Duo 2 even more ungainly than the first-gen phone. Microsoft uses the other display to show your gallery, which is a nice touch—Samsung does something similar on the Fold3. But the Duo 2 is so awkward to hold and only slightly less ridiculous than taking photos with an iPad.

Even when you do go to the trouble, the Duo 2 doesn't impress with its photo quality. On one hand, I'm happy to see three camera modules that have real uses: wide, telephoto, and ultrawide. On the other hand, the telephoto is only 2x, and the main shooter is inconsistent. I might take a few shots in quick succession only to find they all look very different after processing. These problems are exacerbated in low light to the point I wouldn't bother trying to take a photo with the Duo 2.

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I've taken a few photos I like with the Duo 2, but I probably would have gotten more if it wasn't so physically difficult to take photos with this awkward phone. I did shoot some videos that I thought looked nice at first, but they have strange artifacts and pixelation that make them hardly good enough to keep. If that wasn't bad enough, the camera app itself is extremely buggy and prone to crashing. Don't get the Duo 2 if you want to take photos. The hardware is lacking, the ergonomics are terrible, and the results are mediocre at best.

Should you buy it?

No, unless you're a major Microsoft fan. The Surface Duo 2 is great at some things you can't do well (or at all) on other phones. For example, you can run two apps side-by-side without feeling cramped, and some apps even have custom interfaces for the Duo that make them much more powerful. However, all of those apps come from Microsoft. If you don't live deep in Microsoft's ecosystem, the Duo 2 will be a consistently frustrating experience. Even just checking notifications and taking photos is tedious on this device.

A lot of my frustration is down to bugs, which are rife in the Duo 2's custom version of Android 11. Apps crash far too often, and some of the worst offenders are pre-loaded on the phone. Even the camera app crashes. If you just span Outlook or run a few MS apps side-by-side, you won't run into the worst of it. As soon as you start rotating, typing, and multitasking with both those screens, you'll start to wonder why you spent so much on this phone.

Microsoft's ecosystem is valuable if that's where you need to be, and the Duo 2 could be a good phone for someone who is equal parts interested in dual-pane Outlook and streaming Gears 5 over 5G. If that's all you need from a phone, the Duo 2 is where it's at. But I am forced to remind you of the price tag. Is this experience worth $1,500? If you ask me, no. I have a hard time even imagining a consumer who would get their money's worth with the Duo 2.

Buy it if...

• You live and breathe Microsoft services.
• You find yourself constantly running split-screen apps.

Don't buy it if...

• You take a lot of photos.
• You prefer using services from Google instead of Microsoft.
• You want a phone that you can feasibly use one-handed.

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About The Author

Ryan Whitwam (7117 Articles Published)

Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would.

He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play.

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