Surface Duo (Christmas 2020)

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CHANG3D

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Microsoft just announced a dual screen android phone (“partnership with Google”) that’s coming in Christmas 2020, more than a year away.

It’s currently not a foldable screen, but rather a dual screen thing. So it’s not competing with the Galaxy Fold 2.

Are you looking forward to it?

me, I don’t get why it’s not running Windows ARM like the Surface X but with the inclusion of compatibility with android apps and the Google App Store. But that’s more likely a Google demand thing...
 
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I'm keeping an eye on this, for sure. I begrudgingly switched to Android upon the death of Windows 10 Mobile, and even getting a phone with stock Android, de-Googleing it (as much as is practically possible), and loading up all the Microsoft apps, it's still not a particularly polished experience. I'm really hoping this will function and feel, beginning-to-end, like a Microsoft device.

I would say this is definitely a competitor to the Galaxy Fold; functionally, it ticks most of the same boxes. And while the fold sports a contiguous screen, I suspect prospective buyers may be weary of it's long-term durability. How many people are confident in rocking their $2k phone without a hard screen protector?

Regardless, I hope this signals the beginning of a stronger Microsoft presence in the Phone market. Software and services are where they're at their best; we don't need another walled garden OS in mobile.
 
so it's like two regular metal-and-glass phones stuck together with a hinge, and it's (windows ink?) pen compatible? Nice. How many times have I wished my phone folded out into a fragile tablet? basically zero. (sorry Sammy) How many times have I wished my phone had a second display, Nintendo DS-style? like multiple times a day. not that it'll be in my price range, but I want. :woot:
 
meh. A device for business, not for consumers. No interest from me.
 
I welcome any entrants into the mobile phone market. Having Apple and Android dominate unchallenged is not good. That being said, the Surface Duo is pretty cool, but too big for my preferences.
 
Competition is always good. But with MS the competition is with the business market. And no one is asking for a dual screen business phone.

This is MS throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. Windows 10 10, Nuo/Duo, maybe something sells.
 
Some rumor suggests that the reason why the Duo isn’t coming out this year is that Microsoft has ordered the Surface team to skin the shit out of android to look more in line with Windows without reminding people of Windows Phone OS. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
 
This definitely looks like a better design than the Galaxy Fold for sure, but I'm still not too interested in a folding phone at the moment
 
So, no one kind of excited about this? This definitely caught my eye and will be keeping up with how this one goes.

Microsoft Duo
 
dragon69 said:
So, no one kind of excited about this? This definitely caught my eye and will be keeping up with how this one goes.

Microsoft Duo
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I'm curious to learn how well it works in practice, but I'd say the odds are against it.

For one, Microsoft made the mistake of locking in the specs in late 2019 and doing nothing to change them several months later. You're spending $1,400 on a device with an early 2019 chip, 6GB of RAM and a single 11-megapixel camera. You have to really, really value that second screen and Microsoft's custom UI, because you're not getting much else that justifies the price.

The other bit, and this is more important, is that Microsoft appears to have built the Surface Duo for a fantasy customer: someone who not only uses their phone for heavy-duty work, but is so deeply immersed in the Microsoft ecosystem as part of that work that they want the best possible interface for those apps and are willing to pay any amount to make that happen. In reality I suspect it's more of an experiment, but it does remind me of Ballmer-era Microsoft... you know, a company so overconfident in its worth that it believed its mere presence in a space would shake up the industry.
 
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Yup, basically what Aurelius says. The hardware being so early last generation (not even late last gen) at $1400 without 5G is basically no go for me. It’s already a hard sale at $1000 and yet they want to charge $1400 for a first gen product with last gen hw. Current gen hw at $1400 would be okay.
 
I would definitely be interested even with the last gen hardware if it had NFC. I pretty much exclusively use Google Pay on my phone for everything now and there's no going back from that for me. The price definitely doesn't help either, but kudos to MS for committing to 3 years of OS updates and software support for the phone. All of this bodes well for the next Surface phone at least and I'll be keeping my eye on it then.
 
Aurelius said:
I'm curious to learn how well it works in practice, but I'd say the odds are against it.

For one, Microsoft made the mistake of locking in the specs in late 2019 and doing nothing to change them several months later. You're spending $1,400 on a device with an early 2019 chip, 6GB of RAM and a single 11-megapixel camera. You have to really, really value that second screen and Microsoft's custom UI, because you're not getting much else that justifies the price.

The other bit, and this is more important, is that Microsoft appears to have built the Surface Duo for a fantasy customer: someone who not only uses their phone for heavy-duty work, but is so deeply immersed in the Microsoft ecosystem as part of that work that they want the best possible interface for those apps and are willing to pay any amount to make that happen. In reality I suspect it's more of an experiment, but it does remind me of Ballmer-era Microsoft... you know, a company so overconfident in its worth that it believed its mere presence in a space would shake up the industry.
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Ahhh yeah, that makes sense as I didn't look that close as I am nowhere close to buying a new phone. I just do a lot of window shopping. :D
 
T4rd said:
I would definitely be interested even with the last gen hardware if it had NFC. I pretty much exclusively use Google Pay on my phone for everything now and there's no going back from that for me. The price definitely doesn't help either, but kudos to MS for committing to 3 years of OS updates and software support for the phone. All of this bodes well for the next Surface phone at least and I'll be keeping my eye on it then.
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Yep, that was the last straw for me. I was really excited for this when I saw it and almost pre-ordered until I realized. I had even convinced myself that I was willing to overlook the missing headphone jack and sdcard. I'm not even that price sensitive in general, but I just can't see paying 4 figures and then end up losing 3 major features that I use nearly daily on my $150 phone.
 
Wrecked Em said:
Yep, that was the last straw for me. I was really excited for this when I saw it and almost pre-ordered until I realized. I had even convinced myself that I was willing to overlook the missing headphone jack and sdcard. I'm not even that price sensitive in general, but I just can't see paying 4 figures and then end up losing 3 major features that I use nearly daily on my $150 phone.
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For this kind of money I would expect a phone to have everything I need. I don't want to compromise. Can only agree with you. I wouldn't wanted to loose important features which nearly everyone uses all the time
 
motherboard300 said:
For this kind of money I would expect a phone to have everything I need. I don't want to compromise. Can only agree with you. I wouldn't wanted to loose important features which nearly everyone uses all the time
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You can't help but wonder if Microsoft thought the phone was more valuable than it really is. I'm having flashbacks to Ballmer-era Microsoft, when the company thought the mere whiff of its software would make you smash your rival device against the wall and come running to buy a Windows phone or Surface, no matter what the specs might be. Sorry, Microsoft, but you have to actually compete at every level, not just hope that a clever hinge and a few software tricks are enough.
 
this is a strong no go for me, and I'm a hardcore office user. This offers me literally nothing over my iPhone and Surface Pro.
 
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