Surface Duo Proves To At Least Be Somewhat Durable

The dual-screen foldable Surface Duo may hold promise but its current execution has left many giving it an uneasy thumbs down. While there has been a lot of criticism over the state of its software, most reviewers have actually been rather impressed by the quality of the phone's design. But will that design stand up to the test of time and back pockets, an important question to be asked of a $1,400 phone? Fortunately, we have JerryRigEverything to test that for us without finding out the hard way ourselves.

The $1,400 price tag is definitely difficult to swallow but YouTuber Zack Nelson does put it a bit into perspective. You are, after all, paying for two phones, or practically one and a half since the two halves share the same processor, memory, and controllers anyway. It's still a hard figure to stomach especially when the overall software experience is sub-par.

Nelson, however, is more interested in the device's durability, at least for his triple-threat tests. In most aspects, the Surface Duo does perform satisfactorily, thanks to the glass on both sides of the device. The one negative aspect of the otherwise classy Surface Duo is the plastic edges around it.

That plastic perhaps helps buffer the blow when the device falls on its side but it does nothing to strengthen the Surface Duo's structural integrity. Fortunately, there are strips of metal on the "inside" edges which, along with the metal hinges, actually prevent the phone from breaking in half. Unfortunately, enough force does give the Surface Duo a permanent bend but not enough to actually stop the device from functioning.

The video does highlight some other flaws of the Surface Duo beyond software bugs, like the lack of stereo speakers in a $1,400 device in 2020. There also seems to be some problems recognizing some swipe gestures that are hopefully just a software bug rather than an irreparable hardware issue in a $1,400 in 2020.