A MAD MULTITASKER
I actually ended up multitasking on the Wing more than I did on the Surface
Duo or the Galaxy Z Fold 2. This is half about ergonomics and half about
software. The Surface Duo’s two displays are too wide to comfortably move your
hands around while holding them at the same time. The Z Fold 2 makes
running two apps a complicated, non-obvious, multi-tap process. But with the
Wing, the second screen is always there, right under your thumb, demanding to
be used, and easy to reach. When it isn’t busy being a keyboard for the app on
the big screen, it operates like a genuinely independent second application
window below your primary one.
This convenience isn’t always good. If, say, your brain is scrambled by the
current state of the world, and you can’t focus on anything, the Wing will make
it way too possible for you to scroll Twitter while at the same time watching
Homecoming, as I did this morning. But the design is also ideal for looking at
something on the top screen and making notes on the bottom screen, or having
a map open on the top screen and looking up the names of businesses in
Chrome on the bottom screen.
The two screens can be better connected in software. For instance, a link from
one screen doesn’t automatically launch a browser on the other screen, and only
a few apps use both screens. The game Asphalt 9 shows main gameplay on the
top screen and a mini map on the bottom screen. I’d love to see more games use
both screens like on a Nintendo DS; LG said it’s using standard dual-screen
Android APIs, so that could happen.