Microsoft Floor Duo vs. Floor Duo 2: Which Is Higher?

The Floor Duo 2 is a transparent evolution of the Floor Duo design-wise. There are just a few modifications to it that scream 2021 — hi there digicam bump — however you gained’t confuse it for another foldable. Now, whereas it does look comparable, there are lots of small modifications that make it a greater general system.

The display is greater, going from 8.1 inches to eight.3 inches whereas unfolded and 5.6 inches to five.8 inches whereas folded. The show is now coated in Gorilla Glass Victus, making it extra sturdy than the earlier Gorilla Glass 5. The display remains to be a PixelSense AMOLED show that’s 2688 x 1892 whereas open and 1344 x 1892 whereas closed. Microsoft makes excellent shows, and the Duo 2 won’t disappoint with its 100% sRGB protection. The show has additionally been bumped to a 90Hz clean show, and there’s a small hole once you shut the Duo that offers you a strip for notifications.

You may get the Duo 2 in silver — Glacier, as Microsoft calls it. Then again, a brand new Obsidian black end is right here, and nominative redundancy apart, it does look fairly good. New colours are a technique that cellphone makers put aside newer merchandise from older ones, and Microsoft isn’t one to buck custom.

In relation to regressions and stagnation, there’s no IP ranking on the Duo with this technology, such as you’ll discover on the Fold 3. The Duo obtained a bit bit heavier at 284 grams, and that digicam bump may get in the best way when utilizing it on the go.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2

Microsoft has determined a premium-priced system is worthy of premium specs, and the Floor Duo 2 is supplied with the present Snapdragon 888 processor that powers one of the best Android telephones out this 12 months. The Duo got here with an outdated 855, an odd selection for its time. The RAM goes up from 6GB to 8GB, and also you’ll be capable of stack your system with as much as 512GB of storage. Sufficient to carry all of your paperwork without end.

The unique Duo supplied a good battery life, and we had been in a position to maintain it going for a day in our assessment. Our assessment of the Floor Duo 2 assessment has proven a equally sturdy battery life, with efficiency being just under the iPhone 13 Professional, and ending an ordinary day with about 20% left within the tank. Contemplating it’s powering two screens, that’s a fairly strong efficiency.

The Floor Duo 2 wins this based mostly on its extra highly effective {hardware}.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2

Going from no digicam to a few cameras makes this a slam dunk. Microsoft shipped the unique Floor Duo with a single front-facing digicam that didn’t carry out very effectively in any respect. With the Duo 2, all of that’s fastened.

There’s a small digicam bump on the entrance, housing a triple set of cameras, as is the norm in 2021. There’s a 16-megapixel ultrawide, a 12MP wide-angle, and a 12MP telephoto lens. You’ll be able to seize portrait pictures, and Microsoft is including a devoted evening mode.

Video can be getting an enormous increase right here with help for each 4K and sluggish movement. As we stated on the outset, you needn’t evaluate the Duo to the Duo 2 in hand to know who wins as a result of the Duo merely can’t do what the Duo 2 can do camera-wise.

That being stated, we nonetheless discovered some faults with the Duo 2’s digicam. It wasn’t the quickest at snapping pictures, nor was the orientation notably handy. As with most smartphone cameras, it was fairly good in the course of the day with some excellent portrait mode, but it surely fell far behind rivals in the course of the evening — particularly inside its worth vary.

Video-wise, it’s a miss for us. Whether or not at daytime or nighttime, Microsoft’s Floor Duo 2 is just not the cellphone you purchase for cellular videography, particularly in the event you plan to maneuver whereas capturing.

It nonetheless wins out over the Duo merely by advantage of really having a digicam system, but it surely’s not so good as it could possibly be.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2

It’s a tricky one to grade. The Duo and Duo 2 each ship with Microsoft’s model of Android, whereas the Duo 2 comes with the extra trendy Android 11. The Duo 2 comes with improved multitasking and a mature Android exosystem that takes multi-screen experiences into consideration, whereas the unique Duo didn’t have that luxurious.

The place it’s exhausting is on the replace scale. Whereas Microsoft guarantees quick and speedy updates, in observe, the Duo has acquired fewer updates than your common $1,000 Android cellphone. That is to say … none. A 12 months after Android 11’s launch and some weeks earlier than Android 12, there’s no Android 11 to be discovered for the Floor Duo.

Will Microsoft be higher at this now that it’s spent a while constructing for Android? That is still to be seen.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2

Two issues: NFC and 5G. The shortage of 5G could possibly be missed, as the usual was but to completely proliferate when the unique Duo was launched. The shortage of NFC? Not a lot. You merely gained’t be utilizing Google Pay on the unique Duo, an ordinary that has solely grown extra widespread as contactless funds have been inspired.

Positive, you can all the time purchase a secondary cellphone — however you’re not spending $1,000 on a cellphone to discard it after a 12 months or complement it with one other; you’re investing. The Floor Duo 2 fixes these two actually foolish omissions, and it’s a no brainer which to choose.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2

The Floor Duo is all however offered out worldwide. That stated, it’s not value paying for presently. Although you’ll undoubtedly get deep reductions on it — Woot sells it for $400 at instances — the compromises are simply not value it. Whether or not it’s the shortage of a correct digicam or the previous software program, it’s not value its asking worth. If you wish to give Microsoft’s software program a good shake, the newer Duo 2, whereas far costlier, would be the higher purchase.

Microsoft is making this accessible unlocked for all carriers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.Okay., and the U.S.

Winner: Microsoft Floor Duo 2