![]() ![]() ![]() The other way that I used the device was flipped around, stacking the screens, as show above and was a great way of making use of the one aspect that I was most interested in exploring, Xbox Cloud Gaming, at least the games that allowed for touch controls. Given that after years of being able to multitask on the computer, being able to do it on the go, was game changing and yes, tablet devices like the Microsoft Surface or iPad do allow for that, but being able to do it on a device that can quite literally fold up and fit into a pocket, it is impressive. It was also fantastic for checking attachments from the email, that would then open up on the second screen, it seems like such a small thing, but still being able to read the email, while seeing the attachment on the go, was great. The book version was great when I used the Kindle app, but it was also great when I was checking emails, as I could see the emails on one screen, while the inbox on the other. The single screen method of using it, is basically the same as using a regular phone, so it was handy for those times when I didn’t need anything special from it. In terms of use, there were a few ways that I made use of it, the common way was like a book, it was a natural way to hold it for me, but the other way I found it useful was to flip one screen around, this turns it into a more single screen device. Powering the device are two batteries, which with my constant daily use, gave me around two days or just shy of, before I was given the warning to charge it up. Due to the camera module being quite exposed, it does add another 5mm to the thickest point of the device and while not an issue per say, it does look out of place, like someone stuck a magnet to the phone case. The overall thickness of the device needs to be admired as well, as excluding the camera it is only 5.5mm thick, meaning that once open, it is a very narrow device. When you open the device, you will find two 5.8inch displays, each delivering a resolution of 1344x1892, which when you expand content to the fullest means you get a display of 8.3inches and its 2688x1892 resolution, making it one of the largest phone displays around. If I had to complain about it though, I would have preferred to see it lay horizontally across the device, as opposed to its vertical position now, in order to keep the device level when placed on any surface. As far as the camera module goes, it is on the bottom of the device, when it is closed and while it is quite large for a phone, its narrow form factor does suit the Surface Duo 2. The placement of the buttons is a little off though, the button to wake up the device is just slightly higher than the middle of the device, but the volume is above that, given that I tended to hold the device in a book style, I would have preferred to have the volume functions below the wake button. ![]() In terms of the design, on the outside there are three buttons, wake/sleep and the volume controls, along with the camera module and the USB-C port for charging, it is very simple in its design. Don’t let that be an issue, as the phone folds in half, so if you are worried about the size of your pockets, then you need not be, as when folded, it is only slight wider than the average iPhone. The addition of a second screen though, also means that the phone is much larger than most other phones that are available to buy. One of the big things with the Surface Duo 2 is that it, like its name implies, has two screens meaning that you can be twice as productive on it, compared to a regular phone. However, the Duo did and Surface Duo 2 was released late last year and at once, I wanted one, because it seemed to fix most of the issues that people had with the original model, now having spent time with this unique mobile phone, did Microsoft get things right, or is a third attempt needed? When Microsoft first unveiled the original Surface Duo back in late 2020, part of me was excited, here was a cool looking piece of hardware, but as it was Microsoft, I had to taper my expectations as their first attempts at new hardware are always underpowered and fail to deliver on the hype, which is why they sometimes never make it to generation two. ![]()
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