Like I said before, the UI doesn’t know what to do with the swipe-based navigation and in landscape mode, the typical swipe up to go home gesture doesn’t work. But quirks still remain and they’re still too numerous for me to list individually, so I’m just going to give you a few examples.
#Microsoft surface duo 2 specs android
Part of that has to do with better support for multi-screen devices in Android 11. Compared to the hot mess of last year’s model, the system feels a little more cohesive. I want to commend Microsoft for all the work it’s done to improve the Duo 2’s software. In general, the Duo 2 feels a little clumsy when held horizontally.
Flip to landscape orientation and the entire UI just struggles to keep up, especially if you’re using swipe-based navigation instead of choosing the older Android home screen, with back and recent buttons. The Duo 2 is satisfying in this mode if you’re holding it vertically. When you have both screens on they basically demand you be actively engaged - whether it’s reading a book, or building a shopping list on one side while looking at recipes on the other.
#Microsoft surface duo 2 specs tv
It’s not ideal for idle doomscrolling while you watch TV or firing off a quick reply to your group chats, though. This can be very immersive on any device, and I had a similar feeling with the Z Fold 3. Then, when you’re ready to turn your attention to something more intensive, switch over to Book mode and hold the Duo 2 up with both displays facing you. It’s also handy for keeping an eye on Twitter or a YouTube live chat while working on my laptop. Perhaps the best way to use the Duo 2 is in Book and Tent modes, the latter of which is wonderful for playing games while seated at a desk. It’s easy to open without too much force, yet strong enough to prop up one screen without it budging. You can also use the Duo 2 in a few other modes (or “postures” as Microsoft calls them), thanks to the hinge, which is sturdy and smooth. The best uses for the Duo 2’s dual-screens Oh, and Teams calls, in case you’re that wired into Microsoft’s ecosystem. Plus, the Glance Bar works with just first-party apps for now, which means you’ll only get alerted to text messages and phone calls. While the Glance Bar is somewhat helpful, it’s also super tiny, which means you need to have Superman’s eyesight to see the clock from more than, say, a few inches away, which basically defeats the purpose. It actually drew my attention to the fact that the Duo 2 didn’t charge overnight by glowing red to indicate the battery was low. When the Glance Bar is enabled, you can see the clock and other system info on this tiny sliver, and it’ll light up in different colors when you have incoming calls or messages. The inside edges of the screens are curved slightly so you can see a little bit of the display through the hinge. If you want to read your notifications while the device is laying on a table, you’ll need to leave it open or with one display facing out.īut Microsoft tries to offer you at least barebones notifications while the Duo 2 is closed via the new Glance Bar. When closed, the Duo 2 is basically useless since, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 3, it doesn’t have an “external” screen. I do wish they got a bit brighter, though, since they’re about 200 nits dimmer than the iPhone 13 series. The AMOLED panels are lovely, delivering crisp and colorful image and video quality.
I did appreciate the 90Hz refresh rate when scrolling through my social feeds. It even worked with the notoriously finicky Instagram, except… photo captions would overflow into the edges and get eaten up, and Stories still had blank space flanking them.
You’ll notice odd aspect ratio issues here and there, thanks to the uncommon 1,892 x 1,344 resolution, but for the most part apps expand to cover the whole screen nicely if you enable the automatic span setting. It’s basically two phones sandwiching a camera and you can use one side at a time. When the panels are back-to-back, the system will keep the last screen you used active, while the other shows a message saying you can double tap it to switch over. Though the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is heavy and its screen is a little too narrow and cramped, it still offers a better experience in this mode. But the bump was surprisingly unobtrusive, and while I didn’t mind using the Duo 2 as a single-screen device, it’s still a bit too wide to replace my phone, especially for one-handed use. My main concern when I first saw the camera bump was that two sides would no longer lay flush against each other when opened all the way up.
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