Microsoft Surface Duo 128GB AT&T Locked, Glacier

When I say I love this device, it is an understatement. The Surface Duo is a beautiful device. It feels so. sooo. SO good in the hands, the aspect ratio is perfect. After using an iPhone SE (2016) and a iPhone 12 Pro Max, I'd have to say I much prefer the wider and shorter screen. It is an immersive experience to say the least. Once you figure out how the gyroscope and accelerometer works, you won't have an issue figuring out which screen becomes active when you fold it. All it requires it special attention to find out how the little quirks work.Honestly, I thought I'd return this device but the more I use it the more I love it. It's like a mini tablet and phone mixed together. After using this I've sold my iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB) and my iPad Mini 5 (256Gb with Cellular) because this is so good. It serves two purposes. Albeit, I still have my iPhone SE as my main cell phone with the Surface Duo as my play device.And Android/Windows is not as fluid as IOS, it's decent.The main aspect is being able to watch a Youtube video and research about a topic at the same time. This is golden. Two Screen Productivity.Features I'd like to see in the future:1) Selective screenshot with pen, drag and drop screen shot to note/other screen.- It is a little clunky. I wish it was more like the S-Pen screenshot selection feature. The pen is somewhat useless unless it's a note app. More software integration with the pen is required.2) Surround Sound. There is only one speaker on the left screen. The screen with the camera doesn't play audio so if you're watching a Youtube video with the device folded you can't hear anything.3) Battery Life. I find myself using this quite a bit so the battery drains a quickly. Make it thicker to accommodate the supposed camera bump in the future.4) Keep this amazing design. Just make it thicker, that's all you have to do.5) Kaizen. Software.The Surface Duo is a breath of fresh air. The rush right now is to make a foldable display but here I see the benefits of having distinct, separate displays. You don't buy the Surface Duo to use both displays as one. You buy the Surface Duo to use two screens at the same time.Oh yea, and a DS Emulator is boss on this. Childhood nostalgia.Thank you Microsoft for creating an amazing product. Love you.

Pros:-stunning form factor-high quality displays-unbeatable for multitasking-rotating the device like a tablet makes web browsing or social media way better-you can use half of the phone as a stand so you never need to lean your phone on something to watch a video-unbeatable price for an awesome phoneCons:-it is buggy, but I've never encountered a bug I can't close and reopen the phone to fix-having to open the phone to answer calls ends up being more annoying than you would think-camera quality is really really bad. If you take a lot of pictures, look elsewhere-definitely needed more memory. When multitasking the phone occasionally has lagOverall I would recommend this in a heartbeat to anyone who doesn't take many pictures, but power users especially will love it.

The Surface Duo is an unfortunate device with wrong product positioning - with its inborn shortcomings of a sub-par camera, dual and flip 4:3 screens and outdated spec, Microsoft shouldn't position it as a flagship smartphone at the first place. With that said, the Duo serves as a very capable multitasking foldable tablet that supplements your primary smartphone, if not replacing it. And now the Duo's price falls down to the USD415-450 range, it is hard for anyone who would like to try on this new form factor to resist to get one, especially knowing that fact that the Duo 2 will be 3 times more expensive and Duo 2's camera bump has worsen the device's aesthetics and flip experience.Since it's introduction one year ago, Microsoft has been releasing monthly bug fix releases and so the OS experience has improved a lot. Battery life still suffers from the mediocre battery size, dual screen usage and extra power required for the Microsoft launcher to handle app sizes dynamically. The device can get pretty warm from time to time due to its thin body, too. And 6GB RAM makes it just enough for multitasking. But hey, there's nothing much I should complain given its current price!As an overseas user from Hong Kong, I managed to unlock this AT&T version without a lot of hassles. Upon receiving my device, I simply went to the AT&T official device unlock page and submit the device's IMEI and some personal info. 5 days later I received the unlock code directly from AT&T and from there I just slotted in my carrier's nano SIM card and entered the unlock code once I turned on the device. However, one caveat is that you may not get VoLTE support from your carrier if this device is not officially sold in your country.For anyone who would want to look for good protective covers for this device, you should be warned that no matter how thin the covers are, chances are they may end up obstructing the full flip experience. I would rather suggest you apply the bumper that's included in the package, stick extra screen protectors on the covers, and use a protective case like the Otterbox.In summary, I enjoy using the Duo a lot as I can enjoy a great multitasking, book reading and occasional emulator gaming experience (e.gRetroArch supports having one of the screens serving as a gamepad). Once you adjust your expectations to use it as a secondary ultra portable tablet, I believe you will also enjoy it as much as I do!