Questions for Duo Owners

[Scienceguy Labs]

I'd like to apologize to everybody about my comment. I don't have a Duo in hand, so I'm just going off of tech reviews. I'm sure the people who want the device will use it as it's intended and be very happy with it. I hope you enjoy it, and I'm envious of you for having one.

 

[TechFreak1]

I'm curious to hear how duo owners are finding the inking experience on the duo.

I suppose almost all use cases can be distilled down to these 3 questions:

1) Digital signing - has anyone tried any apps like docusign or signable yet?
2) Sketching - has anyone tried to any sort of sketching / drawing / doodling on the duo?
3) Note taking / minute taking - how responsive + accurate is the converstion from hand written notes to typed text in one note?

Expanding on 3 - Mind mapping / flow chart design / creation - any issues in adding a shape, hand writing into the shape (not sure if shape conversion has been added to one note yet), written info turned into typed text?

 

[Bkr11]

Or you could do it like me and carry an ipod touch if you're gonna carry multiple devices anyway. Add some bluetooth tethering and you have a perpetually connected ipod.

(That's my typical way of keeping a foot in the apple side of things at least.)

Genius!

 

[jnjroach]

I'm curious to hear how duo owners are finding the inking experience on the duo.

I suppose almost all use cases can be distilled down to these 3 questions:

1) Digital signing - has anyone tried any apps like docusign or signable yet?
2) Sketching - has anyone tried to any sort of sketching / drawing / doodling on the duo?
3) Note taking / minute taking - how responsive + accurate is the converstion from hand written notes to typed text in one note?

Expanding on 3 - Mind mapping / flow chart design / creation - any issues in adding a shape, hand writing into the shape (not sure if shape conversion has been added to one note yet), written info turned into typed text?

I'm using the Duo as a digital moleskin using a two page per day planner template in OneNote

 

[Eric Hardman]

I am using the Duo and am looking to retire in 6 months. I wanted a device in which I only need one device. When I looked around I have the S20 plus 56, which cost $1,000 and then I was looking at the tabs7 which would be around$800. A total for 1,800. Going the apple route would end up in the same area. This does not the covers, keyboards,etc..

The duo has hit the spot for me. In the morning I use the duo in phone mode and read my emails and messages. I then open it up in tablet mode to check the news, sports, and etc. During breakfast I will chck out some facebook videos in the tent mode.

I use a app called Olive Tree bible study. This app is great as the right side has the bible and the left has the commentary or other biblical reference I would like to display.

The Kindle app is also fantastic. With the 2-page reading format, it gives it a much better feel and read than the traditional Kindle(which reminds me to sell my Kindle Oasis).

After breakfast, I will jump on the to Xbox game pass beta and play some Gears 5.

I have set up a "group" in which the blood pressure and blood glucose apps both open so I can record the data at one time.
I have set up a "group" for the Peloton website and S Health, so I can see the details of the rides reports from my watch in the S Health.

The Duo is a fantastic device from a hardware and design perspective. In regards to bugs and such, these will be fixed through time

One thing I am enjoying is not jumping like a Pavlov dog every time I see a notification pop up on my screen. I feel like I am in more control of my time.

I think we all have become dependent upon these phones. Hate going to dinner and seeing families at tables where there is no conversation as they all have there phones out.

And one last point, I normally get the high-end phones. In all the years I have never really taken any photos of significance. The only time I have used a camera on a phone was when my wife and I went to Israel and Jordan for our 30th Anniversary. While the pictures were decent, I would have much rather had a dedicate camera for such an event.

 

[fonzman78]

One thing I am enjoying is not jumping like a Pavlov dog every time I see a notification pop up on my screen. I feel like I am in more control of my time.

This! As I use my Duo more, I find this comment to be one of the best advantages of the Duo. I thought for sure that I would hate not having a screen for notifications but I'm finding that I really like the feeling of not having to constantly look at my phone. I actually love unfolding it when I want to vs having the phone tell me when to open it.

 

[brau0303]

This! As I use my Duo more, I find this comment to be one of the best advantages of the Duo. I thought for sure that I would hate not having a screen for notifications but I'm finding that I really like the feeling of not having to constantly look at my phone. I actually love unfolding it when I want to vs having the phone tell me when to open it.

Yes, I believe this was actually intentional (if I recall it was stated that when you close the Duo "You Are Done with it") I agree with the idea of not letting the device control me (I see so many people that are ruled by their device and will actually interrupt what they are doing to respond to some notification even if it means being rude doing so). Perhaps the new social norm does not consider it rude but to me I feel like it is.

Cheers,
BR

 

[TechFreak1]

I'm using the Duo as a digital moleskin using a two page per day planner template in OneNote

Care to elaborate further :winktongue::grincry:?

 

[jnjroach]

Care to elaborate further :winktongue::grincry:?

Sure....

I purchased the Key2Success Planner Template from: https://brandenbodendorfer.com/key2success-planner/

And I use it across my Pro X and Duo to run my Technical Consulting Practice

 

[techiedude007]

The longer I use this device, the more I realize that its less buggy than previously though...with most of the issues coming from, me not understanding how to use the device...meaning changing apps, closing apps, swipe left and right...things like that.

^^This^^ for me. As mentioned in Daniel Rubino's Duo article, I had forgotten that I turned off gestures and dialed back animations on my previous Android phones (I do it once per phone; what's to remember one-three years later?) and MS Launcher makes use of those interactions - much to my usability/IQ detriment <facepalm>. I'm now considering disabling them on the Duo as well - just as I get used to them lol Using the Duo and getting used to the Duo will take time - as others have pointed out on here, they've found their sweetspot on the phone and love it. It's probably going to take me a little longer to get to the "love" part, but that's *my* fault, not the Duo's. I do like that I can set it down and not see notifications pop-up all the time. For those that are missing some functionality, let me offer my two pesos/rubles/quid:
NFC: would you really want to dig out your Duo every time you want to make a mobile payment? I think a smartwatch is a much easier solution (if you need NFC for other uses, the Duo isn't for you and probably won't be until v3).
Qi: I've used Qi and have enjoyed its ease of use for numerous phones (Lumia 950XL, Lumia 1020, Nokia 9, S8+, S20+) but...this phone has *TWO* batteries..and it's *HUGE* - what does this all mean? It would take an ***-chunk of time to charge it via Qi. I *much* prefer fast-charging via a plug. Think I'm wrong? We're all entitled to our opinions - but let's do a science experiment to compare facts instead of make opinions: take a phone (any phone with Qi and fast charging), drain it's battery down to 0, set it on a Qi charger - how long til it's charged? 90 mins? Two hours? Now plug it in via a USB fast charger - now how long til it's charged? 45 mins? 30 mins?
Camera: yeah, I'm not thrilled either. It definitely needs some tweaks/updates to the UI/processing and the next Duo needs improved hardware as well. But when i look at my previous phone pix (even with two kids that I still take pix of), it'll suffice.
Am i making excuses? Some will think so. But I don't care I have a Duo, I'm using my Duo and sooner or later, I hope to get the most out of my Duo - someday lol

 

[alodar101]

^^This^^ for me. As mentioned in Daniel Rubino's Duo article, I had forgotten that I turned off gestures and dialed back animations on my previous Android phones (I do it once per phone; what's to remember one-three years later?) and MS Launcher makes use of those interactions - much to my usability/IQ detriment <facepalm>. I'm now considering disabling them on the Duo as well - just as I get used to them lol Using the Duo and getting used to the Duo will take time - as others have pointed out on here, they've found their sweetspot on the phone and love it. It's probably going to take me a little longer to get to the "love" part, but that's *my* fault, not the Duo's. I do like that I can set it down and not see notifications pop-up all the time. For those that are missing some functionality, let me offer my two pesos/rubles/quid:
NFC: would you really want to dig out your Duo every time you want to make a mobile payment? I think a smartwatch is a much easier solution (if you need NFC for other uses, the Duo isn't for you and probably won't be until v3).
Qi: I've used Qi and have enjoyed its ease of use for numerous phones (Lumia 950XL, Lumia 1020, Nokia 9, S8+, S20+) but...this phone has *TWO* batteries..and it's *HUGE* - what does this all mean? It would take an ***-chunk of time to charge it via Qi. I *much* prefer fast-charging via a plug. Think I'm wrong? We're all entitled to our opinions - but let's do a science experiment to compare facts instead of make opinions: take a phone (any phone with Qi and fast charging), drain it's battery down to 0, set it on a Qi charger - how long til it's charged? 90 mins? Two hours? Now plug it in via a USB fast charger - now how long til it's charged? 45 mins? 30 mins?
Camera: yeah, I'm not thrilled either. It definitely needs some tweaks/updates to the UI/processing and the next Duo needs improved hardware as well. But when i look at my previous phone pix (even with two kids that I still take pix of), it'll suffice.
Am i making excuses? Some will think so. But I don't care I have a Duo, I'm using my Duo and sooner or later, I hope to get the most out of my Duo - someday lol

I seriously agree with your thoughts here, and there are many. But I think the primary one is..find your sweetspot and go with it.

Its not anyones fault I spend a lot of money every year on gadgets. I get the new top end iPhone, every year. I get the new top end NOTE every year. I get the new top end Pixel, every year. I get a new surface, every year. I get a new sansung tab every other year. I got the pixelbook and slate too. Thats no ones fault but mine. So when I try something new, I'm always trying it against the new top end competitors. I've watched reviews about top end performance....remember the one...the Pixel 4 vs the iphone max...open 80 apps real quick and switch between them as fast as possible. The pixel was deemed lacking. But I wonder, of all the apple users and pixel users for that matter, regularly open 80 apps and switch between then as fast as you can...on a daily basis. Thought so...the guy in the back raised his hand...but not too many others. I thought the same about that facebook trend of pouring a bucket of ice over my head...

Android...Google...made a point of trying to say, let memory management do its job. Don't close apps...let android management do it. But do we listen? When we look only at specs, there is always a clear winner and loser. The only problem is, devices are built on usability...and if we only look at specs, we always lose.

It took me 2 days to figure out the nuances of the Duo. Since then, this is the best device I have owned. I 'knew' there was no NFC. So I bought a watch that does google pay, or samsung pay or fitbit pay. And, like you said, do I really want to be tapping with the duo? I'd rather just tap my watch.

After every discusses the specs...How about we discuss real world usage...and how it fits into my life. I can assure you ...I never open 80 apps and switch between them as fast as possible. ever. I never climb a ladder and drop my phone from 20 feet either. But I do tap and open mltiple things on my device and switch between docs and sites...and dam if the duo doesn't make that easily.

Oh well...Good article !!!

 

[SnakePlisskin]

Anyone else having issues with the Bing app? Its the only app of the hundreds I have in the phone I cannot swipe up to close. I have to swipe from the edge to "go back" and close the app. Then I can swipe up and see it running and close it.

I turned on the 3 button old school "back, home and app list" buttons in the gestures setting but it takes up too much space and I want to get used to the gestures as thats what the phone is built for. I assume this will get fixed in the future but I am curious if it is Bing app specific.

 

[Indistinguishable]

I use a app called Olive Tree bible study. This app is great as the right side has the bible and the left has the commentary or other biblical reference I would like to display.

Checking out Olive Tree now. How are you managing the settings to have the text on one side, and commentaries on the other?

 

[techiedude007]

Anyone else having issues with the Bing app? Its the only app of the hundreds I have in the phone I cannot swipe up to close. I have to swipe from the edge to "go back" and close the app. Then I can swipe up and see it running and close it.

I turned on the 3 button old school "back, home and app list" buttons in the gestures setting but it takes up too much space and I want to get used to the gestures as thats what the phone is built for. I assume this will get fixed in the future but I am curious if it is Bing app specific.

Hey Snake, if you're turning gestures back on and getting rid of the three button navigation, give this a look; it might address some inconsistencies.
https://www.reddit.com/r/surfaceduo...mode/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
I just tested the Bing app as you mention in your OP, and I definitely see it acting differently to gestures/control than all other apps - weird :/ (good catch).
Also, IIRC, if you're using gestures, you don't swipe-up to close apps, you swipe to the outer side of the device - but the Bing app *still* doesn't behave correctly in regards to that either.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

I am still in the setup and learning phase of using my new Duo. First impressions: works well (but not flawlessly), generally does what it's supposed to do. As others have said, it has some quirks on the auto-rotation. I've noticed that in one game (don't know how widespread), the game plays, then the in-game ads run upside down. If you flip the phone or try the other screen, the ads still invert relative to the game (i.e., no position works). Weird and unique to the Duo. I suspect it's related to the auto-rotate problems. Gestures are not intuitive (e.g., swipe up and hold to swap apps, swipe up w/o hold to go back to home screen, swipe toward middle (so opposite on different screens) to go back), but I'm sure I'll get used to them eventually. Getting to the full app list by swiping up from the menu bar seems to not work reliably (could just be me getting used to touch in the right spot). That peek feature that should appear when cracking the Duo open only works occasionally for me. Usually, nothing appears. I don't care about this feature, so doesn't bother me, but if I had been counting on that, I'd be disappointed.

Negatives that I hadn't expected:

1. Phone reception significantly worse than my Samsung Galaxy S10 (could be because it's missing CDMA connectivity)
2. On one site I work, there is a guest Wi-Fi I join. On my Galaxy, if I went out of range and then came back, it would auto-reconnect. The Duo does not. I have to manually reconnect. (It does auto-reconnect to secured Wi-Fi networks, just not to unsecured guest networks)
3. Camera quality is worse than I had expected, and my expectations were already pretty low to begin with. It's very slow -- press the photo button, and it's more than a full second before the shutter snaps. Pictures are blurry if there's any movement, even in decent lighting.
4. Keyboard glitches and closes sometimes, especially when using it in the Compose posture. There seems to be some logic to this, because in some situations, it never happens, in others, it happens on first keypress. I assume this will be fixed in an update soon.

What I love:

1. The two screens, in ways I hadn't expected. I find I leave different apps running in the second screen in a way that's really useful to me. For example, for some apps or sites, the password manager doesn't offer to auto-fill (not sure whose fault that is, but don't think it's the Duo's), so leaving it running in the other window is fantastic. I've had Teams running for a chat, while playing a game in the other window.
2. The two screens, in the ways we all expected: dual-screen apps like Outlook and Teams are fantastic. They're obviously usable on a single screen, but being able to keep the source view on the left and the reading pane on the right just makes them feel much faster and more usable.
3. It's so fast and easy to open or move an app from one screen to the other, or to try it spanning both, that I do this regularly without thinking. You can also, in under a second, minimize a window to open another, then re-open the one you minimized on the other screen. It's so fast and easy that I find myself doing this a lot.
4. Portrait/Compose mode. Yeah, there's a line on the screen, but when it's horizontal, I don't mind it all. I almost never used my Galaxy in landscape mode, because the view always felt too short. On the Duo, for web pages, this really feels like using a tablet, like an iPad Mini. Surprisingly great to use it this way.
5. 3x2 aspect ratio on the individual screens. Much better than the absurdly tall and narrow displays we've been getting on other phone.

And one odd thing about the gap between the screens: unlike two monitors on your desk, where as soon as a window moves off one screen by 1 pixel, it starts to appear on the other, the Duo's gap is actually deleted pixels. This is a little hard to explain. This keeps shapes correct across the gap (a circle across the gap is still a circle, not an oval where the two halves are widened by the gap, and diagonal lines don't shift before continuing on their diagonal), but this means you can hide/lose information in the gap. My guess why it's like this is because Microsoft intends to shrink the gap via smaller bezels in future product releases (Duo v. 2 and v. 3) and they didn't want third party developers to try to compensate for this. I suspect there's a setting for the rendering API that specifies the gap width in pixels and removes half of that from each screen when an app spans it. That way, they can just change that number as they improve the hardware to shrink the gap with no other changes and all existing software will still run properly on those future Duos.

 

[Bkr11]

Sure....

I purchased the Key2Success Planner Template from: https://brandenbodendorfer.com/key2success-planner/

And I use it across my Pro X and Duo to run my Technical Consulting Practice

I bought it too (two nights ago) and hope to be able to incorporate it into my daily workflow!

 

[p51]

If you want to use it mostly like a smart phone than no unless you have wireless headphones or pods and maybe a smart watch.

Now is you are looking for using it differently than yes, here is my first 12 hours....

I've set up groups that bundle some of my apps that I tend to bounce between. Last night instead of my Pro X I used the DUO on the couch to keep up with reviewing and approving Estimations in Excel and SOWs in Word, made a couple of comments in PowerPoint and took notes in OneNote while on a Teams Call.

I never really was able to get into using OneNote on my Note 10+ it was too narrow to take effective notes but spanning OneNote across both screens on the Duo for my Day Planner template worked well.

Later in the evening I read from the Kindle App in book mode and it was enjoyable.

I have loaded the Samsung Wear and Health Apps to use my Smart Watches for NFC (Samsung Pay) and notifications, I've also paired my Surface Buds (listening to Spotify as I type this).

I have a Tablet that acts as a 2 and 1, but it is 13", I want something that is smallish like a phone but is more.

Today I plan for this to be my digital moleskin and the device I take downstairs when I break for lunch and the device I use in the evenings.

Wanted to follow up with you and see how the "digital moleskin' approach is going. I ask because I FiNALLY found a Best Buy that actually had the device (of course the battery was drained - wonder if that's on purpose to hide the software bugs from potential buyers) and I plan to use the Duo as a companion device (digitial moleskin) to my phone.
How has your experience been thus far? I plan on using Evernote, Google Calendar, Slack, Mail, Zoom primarily.

 

[jnjroach]

Wanted to follow up with you and see how the "digital moleskin' approach is going. I ask because I FiNALLY found a Best Buy that actually had the device (of course the battery was drained - wonder if that's on purpose to hide the software bugs from potential buyers) and I plan to use the Duo as a companion device (digitial moleskin) to my phone.
How has your experience been thus far? I plan on using Evernote, Google Calendar, Slack, Mail, Zoom primarily.

Using OneNote it has worked as I hoped, but I live exclusively in the Microsoft ecosystem, Outlook, Teams and M365 as Microsoft is my biggest client, Google and Amazon are also customers of mine so with Android its easy to use their apps as well...

 

[dirtyvu]

Just wanted to show you guys a Nintendo 3DS emulator called Citra running Super Monkeyball 3D on the Microsoft Surface Duo!!!

 

[p51]

Using OneNote it has worked as I hoped, but I live exclusively in the Microsoft ecosystem, Outlook, Teams and M365 as Microsoft is my biggest client, Google and Amazon are also customers of mine so with Android its easy to use their apps as well...

Thanks for the follow-up.