The Surface Duo 2 is Microsoft’s second crack at a dual-screen mobile device that the company still just doesn’t want to call a phone. Oddly enough though, this second-generation foldable’s bigger screen, 5G connectivity, rear cameras, and a bigger focus on dual-screen gaming all work to make it a more appealing modern-day smartphone.
Everything about the new Surface Duo 2 is simply bigger and better. First up, the individual screens are a bit larger at 5.8-inches (2,688 x 1,892) than the original’s 5.6-inch screens, but then they still add up to an overall 8.3-inch (2,688 x 1,892) display.
Those Dual PixelSense Fusion displays aren’t just bigger but also brighter with a new maximum brightness of 800-nits. That’s not nearly as piercingly bright as the screens on the iPhone 13, but it’s a big improvement for usability in broad daylight. The displays are faster, too, at 90Hz, so writing and flipping through apps feels smoother.
Overall, the new screens on the Surface Duo 2 pop more with more brightness, more vibrant colors, and smoother motions.
Of course, that all adds up to a better gaming experience, and the Surface Duo 2 smartly displays the game on one side while putting touch controls on the other. Yes, this feature came through as an update to the original Surface Duo in May 2021, but it feels even more refined here. The Surface Duo 2 also comes prebaked with the Game Pass app for game streaming, plus a one-month paid subscription to the service.
During my hands-on time, I was able to play some Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4. The two games looked surprisingly sharp on one of the foldable’s 5.8-inch screens – sadly, you can’t stretch the video across the whole 8.3-inch display. The games also felt responsive with minimal lag despite streaming it over the least ideal event space Wi-Fi, so I expect the gaming on this phone will feel even more seamless on the go and at home.
Outside of gaming, multi-tasking on this device still feels amazingly intuitive. It’s so simple to bring up two separate apps across the screen, interchange them between either side or blow one up across both displays.
Flipping to the back of the Surface Duo 2, it shockingly has cameras this time which felt like a major omission on the original foldable. This time Microsoft opted to fit the Surface Duo 2 with the three wide-angle, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras we would expect on any premium smartphone these days.
- Wide: 12MP, f/1.7 aperture, 27mm, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF and OIS
- Telephoto: 12MP, f/2.4 aperture, 51mm, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, and 2X optical zoom in
- Ultra-Wide: 16MP, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm, 1.0µm, a 110-degree diagonal field of view with distortion correction
Microsoft promises its cameras can take high-dynamic range photos and 4K video, but I was only able to shoot in a mostly stark white event space that didn’t allow me to push the camera, so this will be something tested in the full review.
Another ingenious feature of the new Surface Duo 2 is the Glance Bar, cleverly built into the little strip of the display you can see between the device’s hinges. This Glance Bar lights up with colors to show your the current time, volume level, and icons for notifications.
While the original Surface Duo was compatible with the slim Surface Pen it felt like more of an afterthought since you couldn’t stow it anywhere on the device. This time, the Surface Duo 2 gets a new case that magnetically clips the Surface Slim Pen 2 right onto the front cover, making it look like a perfect digital moleskin notebook. Better yet, writing and drawing on the Surface Duo 2 feels even more natural thanks to the faster 90Hz display.
The Surface Duo 2 has been updated internally and it comes rocking the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor that also grants it 5G connectivity. Battery capacity also sees a major increase from 3577mAh to 4449mAh. According to Microsoft, this device should be able to stay on for 15.5 hours of local video playback, so we can mostly expect all-day battery life.
Microsoft’s second foldable phone feels like a significantly better device as it’s a more thoroughly modern smartphone. Its most unique feature feels more fleshed out thanks to dual-screen gaming. Meanwhile, the added cameras and better-integrated Surface Pen support are also great improvements too.
The Surface Duo 2 is still wildly expensive at $1,499, but it doesn’t feel inadequate in any of the ways the original device did. Time and our full review will tell if Microsoft’s latest foldable phone is truly worth its asking price.
Microsoft also announced plenty of other devices during its latest Surface hardware event and be sure to check them out here.
Kevin Lee is IGN's SEO Updates Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.