#PEN AND TOUCH MISSING WINDOWS 8 SOFTWARE#

Sadly, the Duo 2 still doesnвЂ™t support wireless charging, which is an unfortunate omission at this price. The fingerprint scanner is now integrated into the power button and the USB-C charging port is centered on the right half of the phone, which might be easier to use with certain charging docks. Microsoft made some other small but obvious tweaks to the external hardware. ItвЂ™s not exactly fluid, but hey, last yearвЂ™s model didnвЂ™t even have an NFC chip, so baby steps it is. Using the NFC chip to buy a snack with Google Pay requires opening the phone, unlocking it, folding the left screen back, and then tapping the phone on the reader. ItвЂ™s not the kind of phone you can whip out of your pocket to pay for something or snap a pic everything is much more belabored. The Duo 2 is just really hard to use quickly or with one hand - thatвЂ™s the main takeaway here. Using the Duo 2 in one hand is far from an easy experience Their slightly larger size doesnвЂ™t actually make the footprint of the Duo 2 any larger than the first Duo - the unsightly bezels above and below the screens are now slightly smaller. They are still OLED panels, which provide punchy colors and deep blacks, and I didnвЂ™t have any issues viewing the screens outdoors in bright light. The screens are slightly larger now - 5.8-inches each, effectively an 8.3-inch screen when combined - and they have a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother interactions and scrolling. IвЂ™ve also pinched my fingers in the hinge when opening the phone numerous times due to the curve - IвЂ™m not hurt, just embarrassed. Microsoft is taking advantage of that space to display limited notifications (missed calls, messages, battery level, and volume level, but no third-party apps), but itвЂ™s still not as convenient as a screen on the outside of the phone would be. The sides of the screens that meet the hinge have a curve, making it possible to see them through the hinge when the Duo 2 is closed. The hinge is very nice - itвЂ™s smooth yet firm, so it can hold its position however you want it, and it makes it easy to switch from using two screens to just a single screen. The Duo 2вЂ™s hinge is strong enough to hold the screens in any position you may need. This is still very much a work in progress, one that I canвЂ™t recommend anyone buying until Microsoft figures it out. It has an up-to-date processor, refined design, bigger battery, 5G support, NFC support, newer software, and an actual, honest-to-goodness proper camera.Д«ut once you get past all of those spec-sheet corrections, the Duo 2 still suffers from many of the same issues that plagued the first model.

#PEN AND TOUCH MISSING WINDOWS 8 SOFTWARE#

Even worse, the software was buggy and frustrating to use, with frequent crashes, poor touch response, and limited compatibility in third-party apps for its unique dual-screen features.ДЇor this yearвЂ™s attempt, the $1,499.99-and-up Surface Duo 2, Microsoft appears to have righted many of the originalвЂ™s wrongs. It lacked modern smartphone things like a proper camera, 5G, wireless charging, NFC, and an up-to-date processor. It had a head-turning design and plenty of cool factor, but the original Duo was, to put it bluntly, a hot mess. MicrosoftвЂ™s first attempt at this, 2020вЂ™s Surface Duo, was not very good. And in this weird time period where companies are still trying to figure out the best way for a folding phone to work, there are two camps: Samsung and others that fold a big screen down to a smaller, pocketable size, and Microsoft, which joins two screens with a hinge to create a digital book-like device. Folding phones may be the future, but right now, they are still in their infancy.

Pen and touch missing windows 8