Foldables seem to be the next trend in the smartphone industry as players like Motorola, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and more have shown off their concepts and actually applied it to real life scenarios and releases. But another challenger approached late last year as Microsoft showed off the Microsoft Surface Duo. The video above features a Surface Duo, out in the wild, you know, just there. They had showed off the Duo and Neo at their Surface event last year, and even then there wasn’t much details about the devices.
We do sorta know that the device might feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, and that it’s stated for a Holidays 2020 release. We also know that the Duo will have two 5.6-inch displays, which can rotate 360 degrees, which makes it able to unfold into a 8.3-inch tablet. But again, that’s pretty much it. But this video now does give us a better look at how the device will actually function, and what looks to be potential problems with Microsoft and the Android ecosystem.
The one big detail we saw is the fact that it’ll feature some sort of LED flash which can be front or rear facing depending on how you’re holding the device. But considering Microsoft will have to make sure software works properly on the unconventional form factor, we can expect some problems along the way. They did recently release an emulator and SDK for Android app developers to support the Surface Duo, but it’s not faring well so far.
In the video, we can see some parts where the user is struggling to register gestures and pull down the navigation panel, or even go back to the home page. It worked well enough in apps, and while he was gaming, but there still issues, I’m assuming anyway. Even when the user rotated from landscape to portrait in game, the game rotated along with it, which never happens on any other device. Not so apparently, anyway.
All this suggests that the device definitely is not ready, and that Microsoft will have to work overtime on having apps support the unconventional form factor. Not surprising, but a little discouraging to see. But chin up Microsoft, you’ve got the time to make it right!
Another takeaway from the video is this: “Are foldables even worth it?”
I mean, it’s only natural to think that. Thus far, we haven’t seen anything that’s truly made us say “Oh, I need that” because you’re spending considerably more money for the form factor, and you’re losing out on durability, some main features (cameras, latest processors) and more. Some missing features, I can handle. But too much, and you’re sitting there questioning yourself “Did I really spend this much money on the phone?”. Which is something you should never have to feel about your devices.
But hey, this doesn’t mean companies are going to stop making these devices because they make money. So hey, good luck Microsoft.
