Microsoft Surface Duo

Specs

Screens: 2

Hinges: Yes

Foldability: A full 360 degrees $1,400+

Up until now, Microsoft’s stabs at smartphone relevance have been best forgotten. Windows 10? Colorful, but ultimately inconsequential. Microsoft Kin? Honestly, don’t even bother to Google it. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the Surface Duo to succumb to the same fate. Except that everything is different this time.

Microsoft’s flagship two-screen phone is the product of two long-term projects. On the software side, it’s the pinnacle of Microsoft’s long undertaking to abandon making its own mobile operating system and instead integrate its suite of various services — Word, Outlook, Onenote — seamlessly into Google’s Android. On the hardware side, it’s the culmination of the hard-fought journey to produce a line of Microsoft-made computers that rival Apple in fit and finish and pack Windows 10 into a slick and distinct physical form.

The result? Well, it’s certainly a little janky. The

Duo is on the bleeding edge of dual-screen Android technology. At launch, the experience was jagged. But fixes are obviously en route. The subpar camera and lack of 5G, however, can’t quite be patched, resulting in a $1,400 package that is certainly not ready for mass-market appeal at that sky-high price point.

As for the foundation? Superb. The Surface line’s engineering excellence lets the Duo’s no-nonsense hinges run circles around the most futuristic (and fragile) folding displays. Its utter lack of an external screen, in addition to vindicating wristwatch wearers everywhere, creates a bold barrier between using your phone and not — perhaps the best feature it could borrow from its laptop brethren.

The Surface Duo may be far from perfect, but it is certainly outstanding and hands-down the most exciting development in telephone technology all year.