Surface Duo is the smartest foldable yet.
Why it might be a better device than the more capable Samsung Folds.
There’s nothing cooler than flipping your phone into half before putting into your pocket and nothing more satisfying than slamming it shut after a heated up conversion. That’s why foldables are back.
After the mere successes of Samsung folds, flips and Motorola Razr, Microsoft is saying Hi to the folding world. But in a different approach. And looks like this approach has some brains behind it. Let’s talk why.
The previous approaches
Samsung’s first-generation fold was an undercooked glass metal plastic sandwich that looked exceptionally like a prototype. It was never a finished polished product. Like it was released just for public beta testing. It was a tablet that would fold into a phone. Gigantic chin and forehead on the front screen, a fragile plastic display inside that would shatter the moment you try to peel the protector off, it was a mess.
Then there was the Z flip. It was more of a phone that’s only appeal was that it would be half the size when folded. Yes, it had an outer screen, but it was so frustratingly small, it would’ve been better not to have it altogether.
Did we miss the Razr? Ya, in my early days, I have used the original Moto Razr. And it was a Rolls Royce at that time. That metal body, clicky buttons and that industrial design! Boy, it was sexy! Motorola did a pretty good job at reviving that legacy. Its outer display was much bigger than the competition Z flip, its sliding screen was nice enough to fuel a hype. Most important of all, it had the emotion of the original Razr. But it’s single-camera was far far behind the pixels and apples of the world, it’s battery was smaller than an apple seed and the build was not so sturdy compared to the composition Z flip. So it was good but not awesome.
That’s the story of the ones who came before. Notice one thing, they all try to change something that’s already ok. I mean iPads and tablets are already great and portable, we don’t see a reason to fold them in half and use it as a phone, but Galaxy Fold did that. Ya phones are big, maybe huge these days but they’re still pocketable. Why fold them in half knowing that it’ll make them much more fragile, thick and expensive? They have been trying to fix something that ain’t broke.
There comes the Duo.
Android isn’t seamless
Let’s be practical, android is huge. Apps are counted in millions. Millions of apps mean millions of developers. Some of them update their apps with the latest changes of android nightly and some just never update theirs. Both the apps stay in the store. And that creates a huge problem. Even after a year of the first foldable release, most android apps aren’t updated to work with them properly. When you open an app in your $1500 foldable, you expect it to run like butter. Then when it stutters, jitters, your eyebrows move closer and your mouth says, wtf!
See, android was never made for changing screen sizes or windowed apps. These things are new in android and they need time to become seamless. That’s what Microsoft noticed.
The Duo approach
Microsoft’s approach to the foldable world with the duo is totally different. They aren’t folding a phone to make it half size, they aren’t folding a tablet to be a thiccc phone, they are inventing another category of devices. And that is refreshing and smart. At least for the moment.
I’m in love with the shape of Duo
When you pick up that thing for the first time, you say, man, that’s thinnn! ya, a thinnn with three n’s.
It’s a milky white slab of glass that just glorifies your hands. The design is so clean, so beautiful, you can look at it for an eternity.
Okay, maybe that’s a little too much.
But whatever, the surface duo goes with dual hard displays rather than a soft plastic one for a number of benefits.
First and obvious, the displays don’t sacrifice rigidity.
secondly, attaching two parts with a hinge is a tried and true method for decades in laptops. And Microsoft makes some really really good hinges like in their surface studio and surface pro stands. And this one is no exception.
Thirdly, there’s no need to be seamless in all apps as the displays are completely separate. You are encouraged to use two apps at the same time rather than one app on a huge screen. So it doesn’t matter if the apps are made to stretch or not. You will get some work done. Again you can use some apps like mail and kindle apps in two screens. They are developed to act just like they should. So the end experience is gonna be better.
But you heard the internals are last-gen!
Yes, they are. Microsoft announced this product more than a year ago. so it cannot have the latest and greatest Snapdragon 865. but the thing is I have been using a Samsung phone with a processor that’s barely midrange compared to the latest 865 plus. But honestly, I don’t notice the millisecond differences in launching apps or posting Instagram photos.
See, every year these new processors come with a promise that they will cut those five milliseconds out of your life and make your life drastically faster. But when you compare that with the time you need to open a folded phone, that’s nearly two or three seconds. That 5 milliseconds faster processor doesn’t matter anymore. So if you just need a fast phone, get a fast phone, not a foldable. And if you need a fast tablet, get a tablet-like iPad, again not a foldable.
The Snapdragon 855 in the surface duo is certainly last gen but it’s still plenty fast and it can handle anything you throw at it. It’s 6 gigs of ram is enough for practical works. Its display is plenty sharp for a real eye.
Who is this thing for?
As I mentioned before, this is an entirely new category of devices. And for a workaholic like myself, I see a great opportunity in this. The dual display screams at the face to open two apps.
Even if you fill one display with a video for fun, the other display says, please open the script you need to write.
Even if you open a game in one display, another says, please open slack and talk some work.
I can’t help but imagine how life-changing it would be to open a webpage in one display and Google docs in the other. I can already taste the sweet taste of books expanded to both displays that I can hold just like a real book and the best part is, I can fold the book in both ways. This is mouthwatering.
Could you not do all these with one flexible display?
Yes, in theory, you could. But in practice, the tech is not there yet. Folding a display both inwards and outwards and make the device durable enough is still a dream. And in doing so, the surface duo would be just another bulky and elephanty slab of metal.
But you and I both know the tech will be there someday. Microsoft knows too. So instead of being the early adopters like Samsung and moto and putting the mockings in their own pocket, Microsoft chooses to wait for the tech to go there. And when it happens, they’ll simply replace the dual display with a seamless folding one and call it a day. Until then, why not go with two sexy displays and a butterlike hinge? That’s what they did.
So let’s hope this new form factor of foldables gain traction and serve something new to the table.
