The past 10 days have been a Duo whirlwind; I've experimented with different launchers, I've ordered skins, I've tried cases and pouches- basically, I've had fun with tech in a way that I just haven't in a long while...and I owe it all to my Surface Duo! The more I've hung out with it, the more I understand how impossible it is to truly understand it without spending quality time getting it set up and figuring out what role it will play in your day.
I got the Surface Duo intending to use it as a replacement tablet for my Galaxy Tab S2- I've wanted a smallish tablet with pen input for ages, and as soon as I saw the Duo I was mesmerized. A tablet can be a tricky thing to carry around sometimes- and by the time you add a case it gets even bigger and more unwieldly. I've always used a 7-8 inch tablet, but even that has at times felt too tall in my handbag. The Tab S2 has a lovely slim case that folds around as a stand and I have enjoyed that over the past few years.
For the first few days, I used Nova as my Launcher and substituted the gestures with the Android 3-button navigation that I'm familiar with. However, after a few days I went back to the stock launcher and the gestures. Nova isn't optimized for the Duo yet, and I found that each time I tried to open the app drawer while in-app, I could only see the half on whichever screen I wasn't using. (Also, be sure to restart your Duo after installing Nova for it to 'take'). I am actually quite pleased with the default MS Launcher having taken some time to digest it:
I went back to gestures because as I watched more videos on the Duo, I actually really liked how they work. It takes a little trial and error to figure out, but once you do, the navigation is fluid and dance-like.
The dual-screens continue to come in handy several times a day. It actually helps me stay on task to be able to quickly look something up on the other screen, then quickly return to my original point, rather than wandering down a rabbit hole Here's a good example, on a single screen device, I would be 3 or 4 clicks in on Batman day and totally forget the reason why I was looking it up in the first place. Now, I can quickly look up how it started, then return to Twitter and the tweets that got me curious:
While the spanned Kindle app has been talked about extensively, I've found that comics in Google Books are just as enjoyable. Reading Archie spanned across 2 screens is almost as fun as reading the paper copies years ago. (Did anyone ever send away for those Sea Monkeys they advertised? I wanted them soooooo badly!!)
Battery Life on the Surface Duo has been phenomenal. I've been using a live wallpaper and even with that, my battery is barely affected. Now, part of that may be that I do not use it as my phone, but I do have a data-only AT&T Sim card (although, don't be fooled into thinking you're getting 5G; this is AT&T giving you 5G....E. With the E so far away they hope you don't notice it. (Nice try, AT&T!)
Even with heavy media consumption, I am easily getting through the day running both
screens. I’ve never not charged my devices overnight, but I suppose if I needed to, the battery saver mode would buy me a few critical hours.
I have had very few oddities- in fact, returning to the stock apps has resolved just about every thing I would encounter in the initial days. I have the swiping part down pat now, and I haven’t had a forced reset in the entire time (I had a non-responsive screen at one point, but it was caused by an app- closing and reopening the device fixed it).
All in all, I’m loving the Duo. Sopiguard has some awesome skins, and I highly recommend them (not an ad!), and they are shipping now. I went with the red to match the rest of my gadgets:
The reality is, this is not a main-stream device and likely isn’t for everyone. But for those of us who it is designed for, it certainly is well worth it and worthwhile. I also think the Duo is going to be a challenging choice for those new to Android- training yourself on a new form factor and a new OS in one shot is not easy!
Stashing my Duo and Pen in a Pouch
I got the Surface Duo intending to use it as a replacement tablet for my Galaxy Tab S2- I've wanted a smallish tablet with pen input for ages, and as soon as I saw the Duo I was mesmerized. A tablet can be a tricky thing to carry around sometimes- and by the time you add a case it gets even bigger and more unwieldly. I've always used a 7-8 inch tablet, but even that has at times felt too tall in my handbag. The Tab S2 has a lovely slim case that folds around as a stand and I have enjoyed that over the past few years.
For the first few days, I used Nova as my Launcher and substituted the gestures with the Android 3-button navigation that I'm familiar with. However, after a few days I went back to the stock launcher and the gestures. Nova isn't optimized for the Duo yet, and I found that each time I tried to open the app drawer while in-app, I could only see the half on whichever screen I wasn't using. (Also, be sure to restart your Duo after installing Nova for it to 'take'). I am actually quite pleased with the default MS Launcher having taken some time to digest it:
Homescreen Setup with Widgets
I went back to gestures because as I watched more videos on the Duo, I actually really liked how they work. It takes a little trial and error to figure out, but once you do, the navigation is fluid and dance-like.
The dual-screens continue to come in handy several times a day. It actually helps me stay on task to be able to quickly look something up on the other screen, then quickly return to my original point, rather than wandering down a rabbit hole Here's a good example, on a single screen device, I would be 3 or 4 clicks in on Batman day and totally forget the reason why I was looking it up in the first place. Now, I can quickly look up how it started, then return to Twitter and the tweets that got me curious:
Happy Batman Day!
While the spanned Kindle app has been talked about extensively, I've found that comics in Google Books are just as enjoyable. Reading Archie spanned across 2 screens is almost as fun as reading the paper copies years ago. (Did anyone ever send away for those Sea Monkeys they advertised? I wanted them soooooo badly!!)
Battery Life on the Surface Duo has been phenomenal. I've been using a live wallpaper and even with that, my battery is barely affected. Now, part of that may be that I do not use it as my phone, but I do have a data-only AT&T Sim card (although, don't be fooled into thinking you're getting 5G; this is AT&T giving you 5G....E. With the E so far away they hope you don't notice it. (Nice try, AT&T!)
Even with heavy media consumption, I am easily getting through the day running both
screens. I’ve never not charged my devices overnight, but I suppose if I needed to, the battery saver mode would buy me a few critical hours.
I have had very few oddities- in fact, returning to the stock apps has resolved just about every thing I would encounter in the initial days. I have the swiping part down pat now, and I haven’t had a forced reset in the entire time (I had a non-responsive screen at one point, but it was caused by an app- closing and reopening the device fixed it).
All in all, I’m loving the Duo. Sopiguard has some awesome skins, and I highly recommend them (not an ad!), and they are shipping now. I went with the red to match the rest of my gadgets:
The reality is, this is not a main-stream device and likely isn’t for everyone. But for those of us who it is designed for, it certainly is well worth it and worthwhile. I also think the Duo is going to be a challenging choice for those new to Android- training yourself on a new form factor and a new OS in one shot is not easy!
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