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1. #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 UPDATE#
2. #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 ANDROID#
3. #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 SOFTWARE#

Stretch content across both screens and you’re left with a distracting gap in the middle, but stick to one display and the 3:2 aspect ratio leaves you with black bars topping and tailing your videos. Multimedia and gaming aren’t exactly in the Duo 2’s wheelhouse, though. We’re not talking Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra levels of retina-scorching light, but plenty to use outdoors without having to squint. Photos and videos look superb, with largely accurate hues in the Natural colour mode and respectable brightness for a premium phone. These are OLED panels, with the sort of epic colour saturation and contrast we expect of the tech. There’s no option to dial it back to save battery, though. Refresh rate has been bumped to 90Hz this time around, which makes for a much smoother experience when scrolling through web pages or flinging apps between the two screens. At 1899×1344 each, or a combined 2688×1892, you’re still getting plenty of detail – whether using one screen at a time or both at once.

The top and bottom bezels are still on the chunky side, as they have to make room for the hinge, but that just means there’s always somewhere to grip the thing without accidentally tapping the touchscreen.Įven with a slight resolution bump, pixel density largely stays the same as it was before. That’s a welcome improvement over the 5.6in/8.1in combo you got on the first-gen model.

#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 SOFTWARE#

Pros: two screens, two apps side-by-side, multiple modes, top performance, hardened glass screens, decent camera, head-turning design.Ĭons: gap between screens, few optimised apps, average battery life, bulky camera lump, chunky in pocket, hard to use one-handed, no real water resistance, only three years of software updates from release.With some strategically slimmed-down bezels, the Surface Duo 2’s two screens have grown to 5.8in each, opening up to an 8.3in “single” display. But ultimately the Duo 2’s two screens are just not yet as good or useful as either a single phone screen or a bigger folding screen, making it an expensive halfway house. It is good to see Microsoft trying something different. Microsoft is only offering a disappointing three years of software and security updates from release for the Duo 2, too, losing it a star. There is more potential in apps like Outlook that provide a multi-pane view, but few apps or games are optimised for the dual-screen system. Using two apps side-by-side works well, but few combinations proved useful or faster than just quick switching between two apps on one screen on a normal phone. The gap at the hinge makes combining them into one big tablet screen awkward too. The individual screens are short and stout, forcing lots of scrolling in apps when using it like a phone and making one-handed use very difficult. The Surface Duo 2 is an improvement on its predecessor, but is still a very odd proposition that’s neither a good phone nor a good tablet. The width of the device makes it a challenge to fit into smaller pockets. The stereo speakers are decently loud but a bit tinny, fine for watching YouTube videos. The Duo 2 supports Microsoft’s Slim Pen stylus, which can be magnetically stored and charged on the back of the device when not in use.

The shiny power button is also a fingerprint scanner, which was fairly fast and reliable. The camera lump on the back stops the device folding fully flat, creating a wedge shape when using one screen only.

#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 UPDATE#

Microsoft’s last planned update for the Duo 2 will be 21 October 2024. The Duo 2 will receive three years of software updates from release, including monthly security patches, which is disappointingly at least a year short of what rivals, including Samsung and Apple, offer. But it is generally a fast and responsive experience given how unusual the device is. The software can be a bit unpredictable at times, such as opening the keyboard or text box of an app on another screen or hiding a second app from the screen when you try to type. One of the best is the ability to drag the gesture bar at the bottom of an app to move it between screens or to drop it on to the gap between the screens to span it across both displays.

#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 ANDROID#

The Duo 2 runs Android 11 – not the latest Android 12 – and generally behaves like a standard Android smartphone or tablet with a few small additions that make it easier to use each screen separately. The single screen mode is hard to use one-handed and most Android apps and websites are designed for longer screens, not short and fat ones, so you end up having to do a lot more scrolling than you would on a regular phone.