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That’s the common theme I seem to be seeing with regards to Surface Duo reviews. It’s flawed, and they are all looking forward to the second gen.

This feels like a safe answer. No one is going to get fired or castigated for saying “I am looking forward to the next revision”, nor will they lose early access to future Microsoft products, because it’s clear how flawed the first gen is, and there is only so much you can try to hype up without losing all your credibility.

People are basically grading Microsoft on a curve, as they are wont to do with all Apple competitors.

Not really. That's also what happens with the first gens of iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air. In fact, they're giving Apple quite some slack, considering they release the same products 5 times in a row or more.
 
Enormous gap between panels. No outer screen. Bezels. Massively wide when closed. This thing is DOA.
 
Nobody should buy this generation
So many issues

If you're a beta tester, tell us more. My initial impressions, I like it! Now I am up in age, so maybe I just missed it, but I didn't see Google Assistant or any other voice assistant on the screens. I would love to move away from Apple, but voice assistant and fluid notetaking are the critical factors for me.
 
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I like that Microsoft built this in that they are trying new things and taking big risks. The hardware itself looks stellar, but as many have said the actual user experience doesn’t look that great.

I think with a device like this you absolutely will need a smartwatch and bluetooth earbuds. Just look at your “pickups“ on your iPhone. For me I have 45 as an average, and that is with an Apple Watch. If I didn’t have one, it’d probably bne even higher. Every time you take this device out you have to unfold it to use it. I think a more iPad sized device like this could actually be pretty awesome - assuming the center bezel could be “hidden” when completely flat. That would give you a huge screen to use when unfolded, and in other cases you can use it in a sort of “laptop” mode.

The biggest UX issue is the camera, judging from MKBHD’s video. To take a photo you have to take the thing out, flip it open, find/open the camera app and hope it is pointing the right direction.
 
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Why does this device have "Microsoft" and "Surface" on it? It doesn't really relate to either.
 
The bezels on this thing are massive. If this was an Apple product that’s all the tech press would be talking about. But this device is so being graded on a curve. Way more so than Samsung’s foldable phone ever was.

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As nobody has mentioned it yet, this product was derived from the Microsoft Courier project over a decade ago. It was supposed to be pen and gesture driven and running on top of Microsoft’s own operating system, but that went nowhere and most people prefer keyboard to pens for text entry.
It went nowhere because the Courier team didn’t want it to have email and Bill Gates thought that was crazy. Ballmer couldn’t decide so he let Gates put the kibosh on it.

This seems like an incredibly niche product. Joanna Stern at the WSJ said she would like it for note taking. But would it be her primary device or would she be carrying around a phone too? I’ve heard others say it would be the perfect PDA for corporate executives (and that’s the market Microsoft is going after). I’m sorry I don’t see IT departments spending $1400 when most big companies now let you use your own device at work. I can get my work email/calendar, Teams messages, Office 365 and documents stored on One Drive on my personal iPhone and iPad. No reason to spend money on this...and it doesn’t even run Windows.
 
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It is an interesting idea, but a long way from a wise choice for a daily driver. I watched the unboxing video and felt sorry for the guy dropping $1400 on a device with such terrible software. The hardware is definitely of interest but this is 2020, not 2017 - those bezels are huge by today's standards. JMHO, but MS should have done more with the idea before releasing to the general public, which could have knocked it out of the park.
 
I felt sorry for Microsoft watching all of the reviews, they never got really what mobile is about and probably never will.
 
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I felt sorry for Microsoft watching all of the reviews, they never got really what mobile is about and probably never will.

Microsoft knows what is needed to succeed at mobile. They just will never be able to achieve it in this lifetime. The gulf between them and Apple is simply insurmountable, and their main advantage, owning office, simply doesn’t amount to anything on mobile devices.
 
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Really interesting piece of tech and amazingly engineered hardware, if MKBHD is to be believed. I wouldn't be an early adopter for sure, but I'm curious how it will evolve.

I wish Apple could also take some bold new hardware/software direction instead of 3 year old notches, AR gimmicks, Memoji and sh!tty TV shows. Something more courageous than removing a headphone jack.

Apple: “Oh you want your iPhone 12 to look like the iPhone 4 you had ten years ago?! No problem!” ;)
 
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First time I’ve seen one and my first thought is.... how ugly it is! Yuck.
 
From watching a couple of YouTuber’s reviews, the hardware form and function looks great, but software, speakers, camera and battery life are all substandard. I like the fact that MS is at least trying something different form-wise, but dang, I can’t believe they’d launch it in the current state it is in.
 
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I see a lot of people talking crap about this phone and most probably haven't even seen it in person. The phone is "cool", I have been playing with it everyday since I work for a cellphone carrier and the design is nice.

I agree the price is way too high for the specs but this is a first gen product and Microsoft is on to something here. I actually like this more than the Fold but I want to compare it vs the Fold 2 which I'm waiting for the demo unit to be sent.

Honestly Apple needs to step it up with dual screen options, its good to hear that they ordered foldable screens to start the design process. I was skeptical at first when first reading about foldable phones but once I played with one I knew this is what I wanted, the pricing has to go down and Apple needs to make one.
 
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