The first pancake is lumpy. This is how it is customary for people to justify the first failed attempt to do something. Usually this is necessary so that a person does not lose the motivation to do something further, but some consider the expression about pancakes as a kind of indulgence, which gives them the right to do real trash. Obviously, Microsoft thought so too, because when developing her first smartphone running Android, which is about to go on sale, she clearly cheated.
Surface Duo doesn't even support NFC
The foldable Surface Duo, which is slated to go on sale on September 10, does not have NFC and does not support contactless payments. This is especially hard to believe when you find out the price of a new item, because it costs neither more nor less than 1399 US dollars. Undoubtedly, the folding design makes the smartphone more expensive, but not equipping it with a near-field module, in my opinion, was a real redneck, if not blasphemy, because today this chip is in any, even the cheapest Chinese smartphone, but not in the Surface Duo. However, Microsoft has an explanation for this.
Disadvantages of Surface Duo
Contactless payments won't work on Surface Duo
Surface Duo does not currently support NFC. The intent of each first product in the series is to focus on fundamental use cases that would solve the problems of its customers. Surface Duo is specifically designed to work on the go, and opens up new ways for its users to solve complex problems while away from the computer. It was our duty to fulfill this tenet, and we will listen to our customers' feedback, embodying them in future generations of Surface Duo, explained in Microsoft.
If you condense all of the above into a few words, it turns out that Microsoft was just not before NFC. That is, the company decided that equipping a smartphone with a near-field module used for contactless payment would not make the weather for users. After all, those who buy the Surface Duo are clearly looking for a work tool that can replace a desktop or laptop for complex tasks. But, in my opinion, it is a little strange to justify the refusal to implement a simple component by the desire to focus on the implementation of fundamental functions.
Should you buy a Surface Duo
Surface Duo is too expensive and too fancy to buy
On the other hand, the company can also be understood. She doesn't know if her project will take off or not. After all, the question that is being asked now Microsoft is the question of trusting the form factor. Still, you need to keep in mind that Surface Duo is rather atypical and, despite the folding design, has two displays, and not one, like all other smartphones. Therefore, if users need such a device, they will buy it without NFC. And later, if the Surface Duo concept turns out to be popular enough, NFC and everything else can be easily screwed on.
I don't know what he is counting on Microsoft, but personally, I would definitely not buy such a smartphone for myself. And it's not even about the price, although it is quite high. The fact is that the company was never able to explain why I need such a device. Yes, I have been repeatedly told about working scenarios, about desktop tasks, but they have never demonstrated any examples of such tasks that I cannot solve on my regular smartphone at a price three times cheaper than Surface Duo. Therefore, I think that I will not be mistaken if I assume that the project will fail in the next couple of years.