What reviewers are saying about Surface Duo

Surface Duo
Surface Duo (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

Microsoft's Surface Duo is out today, and that means that there's a tidal wave of reviews to go through. In addition to our review, the review from our friends at Android Central, and MrMobile's review, there are detailed reviews from a wide range of tech experts and enthusiasts.

Here are some snippets of reviews from the biggest names in the mobile industry.

Cherlynn Low writing for Engadget:

The Surface Duo is decent as a phone, quite bad as a tablet, and somewhat functional as everything in between. That is, when the software works as promised. But bugs and app incompatibility plague this $1,399 device, which will need monthly updates from Microsoft to fix its numerous issues.

Dieter Bohn writing for The Verge:

This Surface Duo? It's not really ready. It has a bunch of good ideas, but the execution is bad in places, and a lot of people aren't going to get what Microsoft is going for. There are more than enough problems here to keep me from recommending it.

Marques Brownlee shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel:

Practicality is clearly suffering to achieve this form factor. But in future generations, when this actually improves, and they're able to add back those things, that's when foldables will actually have a convincing future. When it's not like you're sacrificing and sacrificing, but you happen to get it to fold now, when the fold is just another feature, that'll be a sweet feature ... That's what I'm looking forward to.

Brad Sams writing for Petri:

What it boils down to is that the Duo is an excellent PDA, an average phone, an ok camera, and a big display that can fit in your (larger) pockets. The Duo is something that I love to use and at the same time, shy away from too; it really is dependent on the task I am trying to accomplish.When it comes to working and knocking out my tasks for the day, I reach for the Duo first. But when it comes to sitting on the couch and doom-scrolling social media, a traditional smartphone is much better for that experience.

Bill Thomas writing for TechRadar:

Microsoft has put in a ton of work to make the actual experience of using the phone way better than we could have imagined. The LG V60 may have provided a hint of what a dual-screen phone could be like, but the Surface Duo makes it feel necessary.

Adam Ismail writing for Tom's Guide

What surprised me most about the Surface Duo during my time with it is that it proves Microsoft right in a sense. I can recognize now that there's enormous potential in dual-screen devices when done properly, and Microsoft has gotten closer to realizing it than anyone before them. As it stands, though, the Surface Duo's potential is in dire need of refinement, and it's saddled by a few too many headaches to recommend.

The general consensus seems to be that the Surface Duo has good hardware and nice ideas, but is held back by buggy software and other flaws. The majority of reviews either don't recommend buying it or recommend it with caveats.

If you want to grab a Surface Duo, make sure to check out the best Surface Duo cases. The Surface Duo has gorgeous hardware, so it's worth grabbing some added protection.

Microsoft Surface Duo

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Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.