"Surface Duo 2" review, a new sense of 2 screen devices that are different from smartphones and tablets

Microsoft's two -screen Android terminal "Surface Duo 2".The price is 184,580 yen to 220,880 yen

"Surface Duo 2", an Android terminal made by Microsoft familiar with Windows, was released on January 11. Although it is Microsoft, it is an unusual model with Android, two screens, and the price over 180,000 yen. I tried using the latest models that have been the long -awaited landing in Japan for the second generation. [Photo] Only the part that hits the throat of the book is a curved display. The body with the screen on the left and right screens is (almost) a book connected with a hinge that rotates 360 degrees. Basically, the screen is folded so that the screen is inside, and open each time. If you open 180 degrees, two screens will be opened until the turn is turned over. There is no sub -display that can be operated in a closed state, but you can see the curved surface at the end of the display slightly from the folds, and you can check the time and notification. The biggest difference in appearance from the original model that has not been released in Japan is that a large triple camera has been added to the back of the right screen. This makes it impossible to open 360 degrees, so if you want to use it on one screen, there is a disadvantage that there is a gap between the gaps, but the camera unit is cut diagonally so that the left screen is turned over, so it looks as unstable as it looks. There is no need to worry about being in shape or being damaged on the back. The idea of ​​closing and opening a single device and becoming a smartphone or tablet in accordance with the situation is not so new, and once every few years since the Android smartphone began to spread. The maker of Kashika has challenged. In the past, it was an attempt to not leave the experiment, but in recent years, the development of a foldable display has been developed as a new value of a luxury model, and it is a specialty of switching mode and simultaneous use of multiple apps. The fact that machine power has caught up has made it real as a practical device. I myself have purchased and used some of the unusual terminals with two screens and deformed gimmicks, so I bought some. On top of that, I felt that the impression of Surface Duo 2 was not just a "smartphone + tablet one" but a new genre device that was neither. Rather than imagining how to use a smartphone + α, such as "I can usually use it as a normal smartphone on one screen, and use it on two screens when sitting down", I think that two screens are mainly obedient and one screen is obedient. The gap after purchase will be less. In other words, it is not so long to behave like a normal smartphone on one screen. It seems to be addicted to users who are attractive to fold the large screen like a tablet in two and carry around without leaving the skin. The reason is an irregular screen ratio for a smartphone. Until around 2017, the aspect ratio of the smartphone was the same as the PC and digital TV, but the majority of the large screen began to appear, and it was 18: 9 to increase the display area with an unreasonable width. The vertical display of 21: 9 has changed to mainstream. On the other hand, Surface Duo 2 is a square -based ratio of 13: 9 per piece, although the area of ​​the screen is large enough. In the web content and SNS created on the premise of recent vertical smartphones, there were situations where the amount of information that could be displayed at once was small, and there were situations where it was cramped. On the other hand, this unique screen ratio can be used to see PC sites and read e -books. While it is inconvenient to use it like a smartphone, it is an important mode in the sense that it can be used not only on two screens but also on one screen on one side. For example, one -screen mode is active to take notes with "Surface Slim Pen 2" while listening to the story with one hand, or reading e -books when both hands are not used, such as in a train. After all, it is two -screen mode that demonstrates the true territory. Although ordinary Android smartphones also have multi -window functions that split the screen up and down, the comfort of "while operating" in Surface Duo 2, which has increased the screen itself, is exceptional. In addition to the size, the active window does not squeeze the other while operating the character input, so how to use it on SNS while watching video distribution, and check the strategy with a browser while playing games. Good compatibility. And the high workability that can use this multiple apps without stress at the same time is also the answer to the question, "Why Microsoft makes Android terminals and an out -of -screen two -screen terminal?" Contrary to the unusual appearance, this is the result of considering the device that combines the work efficiency and mobility that fills between the smartphone and the PC, and it is a normal smartphone so that you can read the pre -installed app. In order to clear up, you can work with Teams and Microsoft 365 products and come and go. In that sense, it can be said that it is a product that inherits the pioneering spirit of the Surface series, which used the 2in1 style that was once niche and a pen input on a PC. In addition to using the left and right screens separately, you can also enlarge one app in the spread. Due to the structure, there is a partition in the center of the screen, so I will give it one step to the model of the Fol Double Display, but the Surface Duo 2 is a curved display with only the seam part, and the interval is far from the last minute. It is hard to worry about. In particular, when I browsed two screens vertically, I noticed that there was much less discomfort than the past two -screen terminals. Each app is usually displayed only on one screen when it is started, and if you take it to the center by drag operation, you can connect the left and right screens to handle it as a large screen. However, from the app, Surface Duo 2 seems to be recognized as a smartphone, and most apps are displayed as a smartphone UI just extended to the side. For apps that are optimized, such as Spotify, they were switched to UI for smartphones on one screen and tablet UI on two screens, and the large screen could be used effectively. Other than parallel work using two apps, the use of the e -book reader that felt the best compatibility with Surface Duo 2. The size close to the paperback book and the shape to be opened and used were very natural as a reading experience. Amazon's "Kindle" app is partially optimized, and can be read comfortably in comics or horizontal books. Unfortunately, Japanese books, which are common in vertical, seemed to be completely united, and some books were missing in the center of the center. The problem that lacks the central display is unique to the two screens, so it may be low for app developers, but the Fol Double Smartphone of each company has attracted attention for switching to smartphone display / tablet display. With that in mind, the next version of Android (Android 12L) is made in consideration of UI switching for such a special terminal, it can be expected that it will eventually go in a good direction. In terms of specifications, Snapdragon 888 5G is 8GB of memory, storage 128GB / 256GB / 512GB, which can be said to be a high -end class even if it is not the highest peak. The benchmark score is about 740,000 points for Antutu Benchmark (V9.2.9), about 1,100 points in Geekbench 5, about 3,300 points, and a slightly lowering machine with Snapdragon 888, but it excludes some weight game apps. There will be almost no situations where you are suffering from lack of specifications. There seems to be pros and cons on the camera that is installed even at the expense of 360 -degree rotation, but from a single camera that combines the first in -camera / out camera to a triple camera that can be photographed by switching between wide -angle, standard, telephoto and angle of view. The evolution is large, and it is encouraging in the sense that it has become a device that can complete the flow of shooting, processing → transmitting, along with the folding structure that can be taken without a tripod. It is not the impression that other companies' high -end models that use camera functions as a weapon, not the impression that they are focusing on image processing. Although there was a detailed dissatisfaction that HDR has a slightly unnatural brightness in a scene with a light and dark difference, and there is no kind of cooking mode that will give you a warm color when you want to take a picture, but many situations. Then, I was able to take a good look without any special ingenuity. The in -camera mounted on the screen also has an advantage unique to folding, so if you open it 90 degrees and put it on a table like a notebook PC, you can easily participate in the web conference anywhere without having a smartphone stand. increase. The perfection of the hardware is high, making the style that is not familiar to many people, which is still unfamiliar to many screens, is a reality, and it is a terminal that feels the possibility that new usage will spread. That's why it is regrettable that unfinished parts are scattered in the software. The trial machine was the same software version as the one that was already on the market, but the behavior of the home application is disturbed when switching between 1 screen → 2 screens, or using a camera in a silent mode in a Japanese environment, the shutter button is used. Each time the app was forcibly terminated, there were some unstable parts. However, since its launch in October 2021 in the United States, Surface Duo 2 has been distributing four software updates by January 2022 and has been improving once a month. It has been shown in the future, and it is not pessimistic that the current situation of "hardware is excellent, software is another step" is not pessimistic, and we hope to evolve after the release.

Shosho Hosoda