Available for preorder today, Surface Duo

I actually think this device was made for me. I carry an iPhone for my personal phone, but I keep a separate device for work where most of the things you just mentioned don't matter. I need it to last a work day and waterproofing, NFC, and the camera won't matter to me in that context, etc.

There is a good chance this will replace my laptop for ~75% of my work, which is dominated by meetings, not focused work time.

If it was running Windows 10 like Surface Neo would it have changed your mind, assuming you would see some productivity benefits being a Windows ecosystem user?

But its doubtful Neo would see its light and even if Microsoft released a tablet with Windows 10 IMO it's again getting into the same mess of Windows Phone era. If Neo gets successful, it would likely need to release a smartphone with Windows 10 and if Duo gets successful it would need to scale it up to tablet(which is what likely to happen).

>My Nokia phones from the windows phone 8 era

I concur, I bought a Lumia 640 for development of our app for Windows Phone ecosystem. One day I used a different charger (Of same spec) and the phone charging port went kaput; Searching the web, it seems to be a very common problem but MS never bothered to call back the devices. But, there are similar stores for Google Nexus line of devices and I think for early Pixel devices too.

Sounds like the perfect phone for 2020, when we're all at home and just need to surf the internet from our couches

Samsung already has a folding phone, and it seems pretty clear they are going to push hard on the flexible OLED screens since it's something no-one else currently does well.

To me, battery life isn't that big a deal for phones. You can pick up a 10,000-mAh portable battery pack on sale for under $20. If I'm going out, I put one in my bag.

The idea of it sounds interesting to me. Not necessarily as a "phone" though, but more of an iPad replacement.

The problems for me: 1. It runs android. While I hope that MSFT will support it into the future, I fear if it flops that the dual screen setup and support is going to dwindle over time.

2. No pen slot. This is a huge fail IMO - one of the main ways I would want to use this is as a small digital notebook. Having to carry a surface pen separately kind of sucks.

3. No external display. I know they are already pushing it price wise, but even just a small OLED strip would suffice, to let you see a notification without having to unfold the device to see what it is. Missing this makes me think this will be a terrible phone - to know who is calling you now have to take it out of your pocket, open it, then choose what to do.

The problem is I think the $400 iPad Mini likely outclasses this device in terms of software and performance.

I currently own a Galaxy S6 Tab. I use it for note-taking and reading books (primarily non-fiction and technical PDFs). Portability is always an issue with tablets. I don't always have my tablet with me, and even when I do, it can be inconvenient to pull it out of my bag. This seems to be 5,6" closed, which sounds like something that might fit into my pants pocket, then I could always have it with me. I've tried using a recent Samsung Note, but found the lack of screen space too much of a constraint that I ended up selling it again fairly quickly.

I'm definitely interested, though of course I'm not 100% sure it'll fit my needs until I actually try it for a week. The pricing is also iffy. I'm not sure I'm willing to give such an expensive device a try, especially with Microsoft's poor record when it comes to QA on their Surface line in general.

I'm on the fence just based on the camera. Thats' my 1, 2 & 3 decision maker at this point with young kids.

The universal feedback I've seen from peers who are considering the pre-order is: I can stop carrying around an iPad.

$1399 replaces an ipad and a phone for them. Time will tell if the usability matches their expectations.

The advantage is that it's a tablet in (roughly) a phone form factor. My Nexus tablet (7 inches) BARELY fits in my pants, and is a bit uncomfortable to carry around.

I'm less interested in the productivity side of things, but this looks great for entertainment. I don't like reading ebooks on a phone-sized screen, which wouldn't be an issue. This could also be pretty neat for light gaming with Steam Link/Xbox Gamepass/Moonlight. I'm currently in a situation where I'm able to work remotely for a while, but I'm not going to bring my desktop with me if I spend a week at a cabin in the wilderness.

At this price it's not quite worth it for me, but hopefully the Surface Duo does well and dual screen devices get a bit cheaper and add in features I care about like wireless charging

The idea of it appeals to me. Phone size and weight, and thus portability, yet I can quickly and easily switch to viewing and working with the same details on a larger screen when that'd be useful. That can't be as effectively achieved with two separate devices.

I guess MS is still feeling the sting of their previous foray into the phone market, so they're trying to market it as a Surface?

As a phone, it stands out. The giant screen that fits in your pocket is a neat gimmick. It stakes out some potentially influential space on the ground between "phone" and "computer", where market expectations haven't been fully established yet. It costs around as much as other elite phones. "Surface Phone" could have been a great shot into the cutting edge phone market.

As a Surface, it's on a different OS and won't run the same software. It gives up peripherals, ports, and screen real estate. Adding a keyboard would make the Duo less practical as a mobile computer than a Surface with the tidy keyboard option. It costs as much as far more powerful Surfaces, but at least it fits in your pocket?

It's an 8" screen (better than 4" or 6") that folds to a compact size where a tablet is too awkward to carry.

They seem to think people use the phone has a handset without headphones/speaker, which is a bit strange.

The "crack" doesn't bother me -- but then again, I'd never want to watch a movie on anything less than a 15" screen anyway -- but I'm old I guess.

"Two apps at once" is good, but the winner to me is master-detail support in all apps when it makes sense, without fussing around with child/popup windows, tabs or dividers -- this is a huge productivity gain, IMHO. (E.g., email list in bottom, selected email on top, etc.)

I'd be excited for an updated iPad Mini.

> Did the first iPhone or Pixel launch in US only?

iPhone - Yes, and was only available on At&t for the initial 5 yrs

I agree, looks pretty cool, I was hoping for somewhere around $500 price point.

The screenshot looks a good deal like any other Android device, but with Edge instead of Chrome.

Is this Microsoft's first Android device?

The store page says "full Play Store"

I've played with the emulator, it's pretty neat, but I didn't get the point.

>No need for a fragile and hard to hold hinge.

Perhaps you're naive to the Surface design team's experience with hinges but judging from that pedigree it's extremely unlikely they haven't engineered the heck out of it.

I'm holding out for the Surface Jacob's Ladder :-) [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_ladder_(toy)

Surface Uno?

Here I was using a _stereo_ to do that

The best I can come up with is the stereotype that women are better at multitasking? Something sexist like that probably wouldn't work out well for Microsoft so I doubt there's much behind it.

I'm not sure though, the commercial is a sort of story about a group of women planning to go on a trip. That's entirely reasonable, I don't see what gender has to do with the product. It's not like they sell a pink and a blue one for girls and boys or anything.

Maybe their market research showed that women were wanting a tablet-size device that could fit into a small purse?

Well, it looks a little chunky to go in my pants pocket, so maybe they're figuring it'll be carried in a purse?

The hardware looks nice but I'm rather let down to see it's just running Android.

We have all women movies now so why not all women consumer electronics adverts?

What phone OS would you suggest they use? I mean they're using the worlds most popular one.