16 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2020NEWS MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO REVIEW ROUNDUP
positioning, and abruptly rearranges parts of
its own interface.” That’s pretty scathing, but
unfortunately, Stern’s conclusions aren’t out of
the ordinary.
In addition to saying the “lovely, well-
designed” Surface Duo “is absolutely not
worth” its $1,400 price tag, Dieter Bohn at
The Verge (go.pcworld.com/dtbh) criticizes
the device’s complicated multitasking,
confusing navigation, and buggy interface,
but praises the “comprehensive, unified, and
coherent ecosystem of apps and services.”
He says the ecosystem is “all miles better
than whatever Samsung or LG equivalent
you’ll find on their phones,” and even found
“moments of feeling like I could get more
done on the Duo than I could on other
phones.”
However, if you want to use the Surface
Duo for anything other than working in
Microsoft’s apps, the experience won’t be
so great. Nearly every reviewer found the
Android experience lacking, with apps that
didn’t support the Duo’s multitasking, wonky
navigation, and a poorer experience than
you get on any other phone. Bohn also
succinctly says the camera is “trash,” while
Daniel Howley at Yahoo (go.pcworld.com/
dnhw) was somewhat less scathing but still
not pleased with the results: “The Duo was
simply unable to capture as much detail,
and, as a result, images looked blurred and
out of focus.”
When it comes to Android apps, theexperience is just as bad, with Scott Stein of
CNet (go.pcworld.com/scst) saying the
“persistent lagginess and problem with
screen orientation (threw) off the whole
experience.” And while Daniel Rubino of
Windows Central (go.pcworld.com/dnrb)
had one of the better experiences, he still
admits that the Surface Duo “is buggier
than I would like,” though he’s optimistic
that “software tweaks and optimizations”
will help.
Where the Duo shines is with its hardware.
Reviewers universally praised its build and
hinge, with Axios reporter Ina Fried (go.
pcworld.com/infr) calling the Duo “elegant,
useful and seemingly hearty” and Corbin
Davenport of Android Police (go.pcworld.
com/crdv) calling out its impressive thinness
and “mostly-flat design.” Reviewers also were
universally content with its battery life but not
blown away, but were bummed by the lack of
Wi-Fi 6 and NFC, especially in a post-COVID,
contactless world.
Ultimately, the Surface Duo doesn’t seem
to be worth the monetary investment, but it’s
an intriguing, exciting, and interesting device
for people who live on the cutting edge. As
Adam Ismail at Tom’s Guide (go.pcworld.
com/adis) concludes: “While too rough
around the edges to finish as one of 2020’s
best phones, our Microsoft Surface Duo
review reveals what makes one of the year’s
most curious handsets so exciting and
maddening all at once.”