Wednesday, September 22nd 2021
Microsoft Takes Second Stab at Android with Surface Duo 2
There's no doubt that Microsoft's first attempt on an Android phablet was a disaster, not only as a device, but apparently also so in terms of the sales volume, since it was originally priced at an insane US$1,399.99. Even though it's retailing for a more sensible US$699.99 now, it doesn't seem to have made it much more popular. That didn't stop Microsoft from launching the Surface Duo 2 today and it looks like the company has learnt from some of its mistakes with the original device, but the question is if it'll be enough.
Feature wise, Microsoft has updated the displays and we're now looking at two slightly larger and higher resolution 5.8-inch displays with 1344x1892 resolution, that combine into an 8.3-inch surface with a 2688x1892 resolution, when combined. The displays are still using AMOLED technology, but now they're using a variable refresh rate of up to 90 Hz. The CPU has been given a bump to, from a Snapdragon 855 to a Snapdragon 888, while Microsoft also threw in an additional 2 GB of RAM for a total of 8 GB of the LPDDR5 flavour. The Surface Duo 2 still starts out with 128 GB of storage, but Microsoft added a 512 GB SKU in addition to the 256 GB SKU.
Microsoft has spent a lot of time on improving the camera, or rather cameras on the Surface Duo 2, as it now sports no less than three cameras. We're looking at a 12 Megapixel wide-angle camera, a 12 Megapixel 2x "telephoto" camera and a 16 Megapixel ultra-wide camera. The wide-angle and telephoto cameras have optical image stabilization and phase detection auto focus. HDR video and 4K60p recording is supported, as well as slow motion video at 120 or 240fps, although only at 1080p resolution. There's also a front-facing 12 Megapixel camera, but it's limited to 1080p30 video.
Other features include 5G connectivity and the US will get a mmWave version for Verizon, 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 (with aptX Classic, HD and TWS support) and a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port that supports fast charging from the supplied 23 W power adapter. DP Alt mode over the USB-C port is also part of the package and apparently 4K output is possible. Unsurprisingly the weight has increased slightly and you're now looking at 284 grams, which is still quite light, all things considered. The 4,449 mAh battery is said to be good for 28 hours of talk time or 15.5 hours of video playback. Microsoft is shipping the Surface Duo 2 with Android 11 with a custom skin, as well as a wealth of Microsoft applications ranging from Microsoft Teams to Outlook, Office and Xbox Game Pass.
Finally we have the issue that made the original Surface Duo so unattractive, the price. Unfortunately it looks like Microsoft hasn't learnt from the lesson of its first attempt, as the Surface Duo 2 starts at US$1,499.99 for the 128 GB variant, with the 256 GB and 512 GB variants coming in at US$1,599.99 and US$1,799.99 respectively. It's a lot of money for a device that isn't quite a phone, nor a tablet and that most people don't really need in the first place. It's also too costly for something that people would use to stream their Xbox games to, so even that audience isn't a likely customer. Maybe we'll see a big price drop in a few months again, as we did with the original Surface Duo.
Source:
Microsoft
Feature wise, Microsoft has updated the displays and we're now looking at two slightly larger and higher resolution 5.8-inch displays with 1344x1892 resolution, that combine into an 8.3-inch surface with a 2688x1892 resolution, when combined. The displays are still using AMOLED technology, but now they're using a variable refresh rate of up to 90 Hz. The CPU has been given a bump to, from a Snapdragon 855 to a Snapdragon 888, while Microsoft also threw in an additional 2 GB of RAM for a total of 8 GB of the LPDDR5 flavour. The Surface Duo 2 still starts out with 128 GB of storage, but Microsoft added a 512 GB SKU in addition to the 256 GB SKU.
Other features include 5G connectivity and the US will get a mmWave version for Verizon, 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 (with aptX Classic, HD and TWS support) and a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port that supports fast charging from the supplied 23 W power adapter. DP Alt mode over the USB-C port is also part of the package and apparently 4K output is possible. Unsurprisingly the weight has increased slightly and you're now looking at 284 grams, which is still quite light, all things considered. The 4,449 mAh battery is said to be good for 28 hours of talk time or 15.5 hours of video playback. Microsoft is shipping the Surface Duo 2 with Android 11 with a custom skin, as well as a wealth of Microsoft applications ranging from Microsoft Teams to Outlook, Office and Xbox Game Pass.
Finally we have the issue that made the original Surface Duo so unattractive, the price. Unfortunately it looks like Microsoft hasn't learnt from the lesson of its first attempt, as the Surface Duo 2 starts at US$1,499.99 for the 128 GB variant, with the 256 GB and 512 GB variants coming in at US$1,599.99 and US$1,799.99 respectively. It's a lot of money for a device that isn't quite a phone, nor a tablet and that most people don't really need in the first place. It's also too costly for something that people would use to stream their Xbox games to, so even that audience isn't a likely customer. Maybe we'll see a big price drop in a few months again, as we did with the original Surface Duo.
26 Comments on Microsoft Takes Second Stab at Android with Surface Duo 2
As for this thing, I get that its more expensive to make compared to a standard phone but the idea that anybody is paying $1500 for a phone is wild to me.
I still have doubts about the success of the above device. I think most users choose to go to their smartphones because of convenience. Think of the number of times a day you pull it out of your pocket to check something and then put it right back. Unfolding the device every time is going to become a turnoff, IMO. It also tosses one-hand operation out the window. Better specs don’t change the major use-paradigm shift.
We can dream
Edit: they really dare to charge $1500, don't they?
Fully agree with you on the price, though.
They could go deeper into android and do a more custom version of aosp but there's no way around the lack of a thriving app ecosystem that originally doomed windows phone.
It's sad how it failed, the original windows phone 8 ui still looks good today, it was super simple and fluid with dark mode before dark mode was even a thing. Oh well..
Yeah ms and cell phones last attempt went well.
Think my iphone se will be just fine.
Unfortunatly this is too technical for most people.True, however dont let perfect be the enemy of good. External accounts for things like email and social media (and many games tying progess to one of those accounts) means it's pretty easy to switch platforms. I've done so several times. WP at least had things the other two didnt, like the ability to uninstall carrier apps.The lumia 950 was at the very tail end of WP's existence, and was part of the dreaded snapdragon 808/810 generation that just sucked in general. That'd be like driving the current impala and being confused why people are sad to see the nameplate go away.
WP shined during the WP 7/8 era. The lumia phones, peaking with the 820/920/1020 were absolute tanks and WP was more comaprable to android in apps, outside of google most things had a WP version (how jealous I was of my friend's lumia 1520 at the time). But by 2015 most had dropped support.