Surface Duo's May 2023 firmware up is here, but it's freezing phones

[Windows Central]

Microsoft recently shipped the May 2023 firmware up for the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2, but it appears to cause serious issues.

Surface Duo's May 2023 firmware up is here, but it's freezing phones : Read more

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Yeah, sad. I'll wait for more info before updating. But for me, there is still no phone close to being as useful as the Duo. The other foldable phones (including Pixel) fundamentally don't work for me, because they don't fold open or support Tent mode. I know, they slap on an external screen as a bastardization of the Duo's elegant ability to fold all the way open, but it's no substitute and still misses tent mode or the ability to fold it around your hand to use in landscape mode (most stable way to game on a single screen phone).

I recognize I'm in a vanishing minority in my passion for the Duo, but my reasons remain valid for me personally. I really hope that someone (even if it's not MS) comes out with a phone that provides the key features that have come to matter most to me still unique to the Duo: automatic multitasking, wide form-factor displays (Pixel Fold may hit this one where Galaxy Fold does not) and ability to fold open. If that could be done with a single foldable screen (folding full 360 degrees), that would be even better than the Duo's 2 screen approach, but until then, I prefer 2 screens to 1 screen that only folds up to 180 degrees.

 

[Jez Corden]

Yeah, sad. I'll wait for more info before updating. But for me, there is still no phone close to being as useful as the Duo. The other foldable phones (including Pixel) fundamentally don't work for me, because they don't fold open or support Tent mode. I know, they slap on an external screen as a bastardization of the Duo's elegant ability to fold all the way open, but it's no substitute and still misses tent mode or the ability to fold it around your hand to use in landscape mode (most stable way to game on a single screen phone).

I recognize I'm in a vanishing minority in my passion for the Duo, but my reasons remain valid for me personally. I really hope that someone (even if it's not MS) comes out with a phone that provides the key features that have come to matter most to me still unique to the Duo: automatic multitasking, wide form-factor displays (Pixel Fold may hit this one where Galaxy Fold does not) and ability to fold open. If that could be done with a single foldable screen (folding full 360 degrees), that would be even better than the Duo's 2 screen approach, but until then, I prefer 2 screens to 1 screen that only folds up to 180 degrees.

i really liked the duo. i have a duo 2 but a lot of features i take for granted in Samsung's One UI were just missing. also i hate microsoft's half-arsed support of the Duo 2. xbox game pass was completely broken on the Duo when I first got it, which is absurd. if microsoft doesn't care, why should i? kinda thing. i just really want them to care.

 

[Ed Du]

i wanted to really enjoy the duo. I still felt that even with android 12L it was way better then it was on android 10, but still flawed. Hopefully 14 comes to the duo 1 as a last update

 

[Simon Gregory]

Definitely holding back on this update then on my SD2. Tbh I get reboots happening about once every two days on the previous 12L firmwares anyway, does anybody else?

Also anybody else find the camera app still to be very unresponsive? (I use the double click side button to launch).

It sometimes doesn't engage the rear facing camera, locks up and / or in many cases doesn't even save (or somehow loses) the photo you've taken!

 

[GraniteStateColin]

i really liked the duo. i have a duo 2 but a lot of features i take for granted in Samsung's One UI were just missing. also i hate microsoft's half-arsed support of the Duo 2. xbox game pass was completely broken on the Duo when I first got it, which is absurd. if microsoft doesn't care, why should i? kinda thing. i just really want them to care.

I do agree with all of those criticisms. Those matter less to me than the things the Duo and Duo 2 do that no other phone can do, but yeah, the MS support model seems like the biggest weak point for the Duo 2. For the Duo 1 (at least for me), it was that terrible camera.

Purely on form factor, I think the original Duo, without the camera bump, is the greatest pocketable electronic device I've ever held. But overall I much prefer the Duo 2 over the Duo 1 for the better performance and VASTLY BETTER camera.