I watched this event. I came away ... perplexed, as I often do with Microsoft's work. For one, just as a presentation, it's astonishing how much they are copying Apple's keynotes verbatim now. I guess that's better than the programmer-clinical feel they used to have, but it's pretty blatant, down to the cinematography cuts between shorts.
As for the devices, hmmm. I'm glad the Duo 2 has specs on par with the current gen devices. 5G, Bluetooth 5.1 and Snapdragon 888 are excellent upgrades, along with the improved cameras. Two things keep me from giving it a spin as my main device.
1. It's so damn expensive! $1800 for a non-Apple device is just ... rough.
2. It's still chunkier than I expect from (again) an $1800 device. Why am I looking at Bezels in 2021? Why are the screens wider than a deck of cards pre-fold? I'm already considering downsizing from my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and I just don't want to carry a giant brick in my pocket.
Surface Laptop Studio is ... exciting, fresh, new design. But I don't know about it as a flagship device. I feel like I have to choose between weak specs as a power business user on the Surface Pro 8 with no graphics upgrade and limited to quad-core processing, or I have to go all-in on this new device. This is something I would try in a store for sure, but I can't see myself paying $3000 for a 2TB version and using it as my sole/primary business device, especially with a MacBook Pro redesign finally coming soon.
My other issue with the device is the Surface Book was actually amazing, and just needed smaller bezels and updated internals, at most maybe keyboard upgrades and a faster graphics-switching response time to make it seamless. 120 hz is excellent for refresh though.
Surface Pro 8. Seems fine for whoever needs it. It has never made sense to me to get a laptop that I can't use in my literal *lap*, but everyone I know who has one loves it. *shrug*
Overall, I give Microsoft a 7/10 for keeping up with the competition, updating all their devices, and releasing Windows 11 on time, which seems strong. If they had updated the Surface Studio and dropped the price, maybe I'd buy a new machine for work. At least they finally have a "full" ecosystem that's supported: tablets, phone, laptops, desktops, bud and studio style headphones. It's a start, but for a trillion dollar monopoly, I'd like to see them catch up faster.