#New microsoft surface duo 2 full#

My Surface Duo review unit featured a pre-assembled pair of Microsoft OneNote and the Edge browser, but I was able to easily set up one of my own with Gmail and Chrome, just by pressing and holding one of the app icons and then selecting Group to pick its pair.Īpp pairs should make it easy to jump into whatever work you need to perform on the Surface Duo 2, though the feature remains a bit glitchy. That way, you can keep a note-taking app open while researching topics in a mobile browser, or you can have a chat app while referencing a document from Microsoft's Office suite of apps.Īs before, the Surface Duo 2 supports app pairs, in which you can tie together two apps to launch at the same time when tapped.

The best use case for the Surface Duo is to run two apps side by side on each of the phone's panels. If the Surface Duo 2 isn't ideal for watching videos or gaming - and it's not unless those apps have been optimized for a dual-screen device - then what is Microsoft's smartphone good for? The answer is the same as it was for the original Surface Duo - multitasking.

Microsoft Surface Duo 2 review: Dual-screen experience A soccer match I streamed on Paramount Plus, for example, had its edges trimmed off when viewed in full-screen mode.

Even then, the unconventional aspect ratio of the Surface Duo displays can lead to some odd stretching and cropping. Your best best for watch videos is to swivel the two screens into a tent mode and watch your program on one of the screens. Some apps, like YouTube, are optimized for the Surface Duo's 2 screens, though this means that the video appears on one panel while thumbnails of other videos appear on the other. But both these devices are offering the same value proposition - get a tablet-sized screen in a device that's compact enough to carry around. The two phones take different approaches - the Galaxy Z Fold 3 opens up to reveal a continuous 7.6-inch display while the Surface Duo 2 brings together to separate panels for an 8.3-inch work area. It's impossible to talk about the Surface Duo 2 without comparing it to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3, currently the best foldable phone available. Microsoft Surface Duo 2 review: How it compares to Galaxy Z Fold 3 I found the fingerprint reader to be fairly accurate and far enough removed from the volume rocker to avoid accidental touches. Unlocking the phone is as easy as using the fingerprint reader embedded in the power button on the right side of the phone (the same panel that contains the camera array). The glance bar also lights up as you charge the phone to show you what percentage of charge the Surface Duo has. My complaint here - the glance bar doesn't remain lit so if you weren't looking at your phone, you'll miss the notification. That's where Microsoft has put a glance bar that lights up when you've got incoming calls and text messages. Microsoft came up with a neat little trick for the hinge area when the Surface Duo 2 is closed. The back is smooth, too, save for a rather prominent camera bump. Because that's a simple square, I'll occasionally forget which side is up and try to open the Surface Duo from the wrong side. The front of the phone features a Microsoft logo. You can also get the Surface Duo 2 in Glacier. I tested the Obsidian version of the Surface Duo 2 and that black surface really picks up fingerprints, so keep a cloth handy.

#New microsoft surface duo 2 full#

They're also flexible enough to keep the Surface Duo 2 open in different positions, including a tented view for watching videos and with the panels open a full 360 degrees so that they're lined up flat against each other. Because the edges of the Surface Duo 2 are so smooth, opening the phone takes a little practice - I had my best success placing my thumbs on both side of the Duo and pulling apart - but once it's open, those hinges keep the screen in place. Like its predecessor, the Surface Duo features two glass panels that come together on a pair of very sturdy hinges located at the top and bottom of the phone.