Overpriced, underpowered, and over here: Microsoft to bring the Surface Duo to British shores in early 2021
- Reference: 1608119107
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/12/16/surface_dual_international_release/
- Source link:
The long-awaited Surface Duo hit (exclusively) US shelves in autumn this year, carving out [2]an entirely new category within the relatively stagnant phone market.
It isn't quite a foldable phone – rather it uses two distinct displays separated by a hinge. While some vendors have experimented with dual-screen functionality, it has never been part of a cornerstone flagship product, and was previously almost always tied to some optional accessory, as with the [3]LG V50 ThinQ 5G .
Predictably, Microsoft is selling the Duo as a productivity device that serves as a companion to Office 365, updating its core apps – like OneNote and OutLook – to take make use of the dual-screen form factor. It also allows users to use two unrelated apps (Microsoft gives the example of Spotify and Google Maps) running side-by-side. Although Androids have had split-screen functionality for some time, using two distinct displays may make the whole experience feel clearer.
[4]
In addition, some apps have been updated to use the Duo's design – with Amazon Kindle, Spotify, and TikTok being notable examples.
The Surface Duo represents Microsoft's first full-throated return to smartphone hardware since February 2016, when it released the final Lumia handset. While its aims are clear, it does suffer from one major Achilles' heel – namely [5]some woefully outdated internals .
On the chipset front, the [6]Duo runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 platform , which will have been on the market for almost two years by the time Microsoft's latest phone lands in Europe. There's no 5G either. Considering you can now get the latest in mobile connectivity on devices under the £300 mark, this will be a majir sticking point for some.
Other reviewers have taken aim at the phone's single 11MP camera, limited RAM, and lack of NFC and wireless charging. These were likely casualties of Microsoft's attempt to reduce girth on a device that's already strained by the inclusion of two display panels.
There's no word on how much the Duo will cost the people of Britain. Upon release, it carried a price tag of $1,400, putting it high in the nether reaches of the flagship tier. Microsoft has since cut the price to $1,199.99, which is still expensive, but less outlandish.
Assuming Microsoft doesn't make any price cuts in the coming months, we'd expect it to hit UK shelves with a price tag of roughly £1,200 – an 1:1 conversion of the US price, taking into account VAT, as well as a buffer for currency fluctuations. ®
Get our [7]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2020/12/15/the-year-ahead-for-surface-duo/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/14/surface_duo_not_outlandish_not_that_expensive/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/09/lg_new_phones/
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2019/10/02/handout_surface_duo.jpg
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/12/us_only_surface_duo/
[6] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-duo?activetab=techSpecs
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Overpriced, underpowered, and over here
How on earth can you call Teslas underpowered?
Flop but not fail
Look, it will flop, at that price it has to be perfect and it's not. *But* the basic principle is right there.
People want a larger screen, and a smaller phone. The bezels got smaller and smaller, even wrapping around the body, but there is only so far you can go with that. 100% screen to phone size.
So now we're moving to foldables. But the screens are no longer rigid and tough, they're plasticy and flexible. Dirt gets under the screen. It's no longer sealed. So to get the foldable you make a few sacrifices.
But if you can get two screens to abut so they open to a single large screen, then you've done the same as a foldable but without the sacrifice of the flexing screen.
Microsoft have failed with this product: 1) the screen does not abut. 2) They cut the pixels out of the display where the hinge is, hiding the content as if obscured by the hinge, which just makes it worse. 3) The bezels top and bottom are huge! You're supposed to deliver the maximum screen for the minimum body size, and for this format it should be as close to 200% as possible! 4) The hinges are contrasting color and stand out a mile. 5) super roundy corners, yuck. 6) tent mode, trying to make a feature out of a shortcoming.
So they need to try again. The hinge needs to be behind the screens and the full surface needs to be screen, the hinges need to snap the two screens against each other.
Perfect that? Now move to 3x screens with one screen on the outside as the normal use display.
Product cycles are 1 year in the phone business and they do that by overlapping their teams. Next years phone is already in process when this year phone is launched. It's a tough market, you're either fully in it or your not in it. Microsoft should decide now that they will be another Oppo or Huawei and keep bashing out new phones until they get it right. One per year, all markets simultaneous launch. Till they get a winner.
Re: Flop but not fail
it's good enough for me.
Bring it below a 4-digit price, give it a decent CPU and a headphone jack, and I'm buyin' a Microsoft product! Shock!
Uncle Microsoft,
late to the party again. And, oh look – he's brought a bottle of Mateus Rosé! Am I completely mistaken, or is he also sporting double denim? Let's just hope he didn't bring any CDs.
Re: Uncle Microsoft,
Nothing wrong with double denim... Kevin Bacon pulls it off spectacularly!
Re: Uncle Microsoft,
Cruel.... but so very very on the mark.
Have an upvote.
I would find this pretty neat if you could use it as a single-screen when it's closed, then open it for more space. e,g, checking your phone Vs reading a book on the train.
I don't THINK it works that way but others might.
That sort of functionality might actually be useful and more durable that one of these daft folded screens. The only way I can see it working in this format is for the hinge to allow the halves to completely fold through 360 degrees like many of the 2-in-1 laptops. You could go a bit further and allow the screen to be on one half and a soft keyboard on the other. That is reminiscent of the old Nokia communicator.
At least with Android there are some Apps available.
I once did a proof of concept with a small sliding screen hand held from OQO that ran full XP. In the end it was connectivity that killed the use-case. We just could not get a reliable mobile connection using Edge, GPRS or whatever the very mobile earliest data protocol was.
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/46452/OQO-Model-01/
At the time it was a pretty funky piece of hardware.
Niche
The Duo is not a new Microsoft concept. Microsoft Research developed a concept called the Courier (a Windows tablet with two 7" screens) in 2009 and even before that the Codex prototype (two OQO Windows tablets with 5" screens). The idea in Microsoft's mind has always centered on productivity in Office applications.
Even as an early adopter of Windows tablets (pre iOS or Android), I can only think of them as niche products.
They are definitely overpriced and underpowered but if you need the features they are offering you will accept that.
OTOH, I don't see normal people (or even the El Reg community) buying many.
Overpriced, underpowered, and over here
Sorry, thought we were back on Tesla for a moment there.