The Surface Duo, Microsoft’s first-ever Android phone, is $1,400

A foldable can be a big-screen device for watching video, playing games, using a tablet-style app, or browsing a desktop webpage. The Surface Duo will never be a good device for these use cases. To be clear, the device does have a mode that merges the two screens into a big 8.1-inch display, but it’s going to have a big gap down the middle.

There are aspects of the duo that seem really interesting to me:

  • looks good for reading
  • using the second screen as a keyboard looks like a nice option
  • the app pairing looks well done
  • Support for the Surface pen is really nice (imagine that with concepts app!) Basically, it makes me wonder if it could replace my tablet and phone which is exactly what it should do! It is also clearly the type of device that is full of compromises and has a high “early adopter cost” (not to mention high price).

But I have to wonder what an Apple version, with pencil support, would be like.