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posted by Fnord666 on Monday August 17 2020, @12:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the DOA? dept.

ProBeat: Microsoft's Surface Duo is dead on arrival, regardless of price

Microsoft this week pulled back the curtain on the Surface Duo's price and availability: 128GB for $1,400 and 256GB for $1,500, both shipping on September 10. Too bad the dual-screen Android device is dead on arrival.

The price tag is tough to swallow, especially during a pandemic. After all, 2020 is seeing a resurgence in good, cheap phones. Most notably, Apple launched a $399 iPhone SE, to which Google responded with a $349 Pixel 4a. But if you are interested in a folding phone, a grand and a half is not going to be the deal breaker, especially given the starting prices of this year's Galaxy Z Flip ($1,380), Galazy Z Flip 5G ($1,450), Motorola Razr ($1,500), and Huawei Mate Xs (€2,499). The real problem is what you get, or rather don't get, for the price.

See also: Duo-take: Here's what the media is saying about Surface Duo

Previously: Microsoft Demonstrates Dual-Screen Device Running Android Apps, Announces Windows 10X


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by petecox on Monday August 17 2020, @02:15AM (1 child)

    by petecox (3228) on Monday August 17 2020, @02:15AM (#1037703)

    It's a concept device - with Microsoft apps that are aware they're running in dual split-screen, or an app on each pane.

    But it appears to be limited as a wide-screen tablet due to the bezels across the hinge, something that foldable glass avoids. In the 2 minute video they show only a few seconds of using one viewport across both screens.

    I wouldn't say the concept is necessarily DOA but the price will need to drop by 60% once the novelty wears off.

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  • (Score: 1) by petecox on Monday August 17 2020, @02:47AM

    by petecox (3228) on Monday August 17 2020, @02:47AM (#1037718)

    I should add that Microsoft thought of this more than a decade ago - do a Bing for MS Courier.

    The hell-freezing-over moment (haha Ballmer) is that it's a Android/Linux device. I wonder if their apps are written in Xamarin so that they can target Android, Windows 10 and even iPadOS from a single codebase.