There’s finally a good reason to buy Microsoft’s Surface Duo

A few weeks ago, Microsoft dropped the price of its first dual-screen Android smartphone to half of what it cost when it arrived last summer. The Surface Duo can be yours for just $699, which is a price you might expect to pay for a mid-range Android smartphone. It’s actually a little more expensive than a decent mid-range handset, although it does have a feature most Androids lack, which is its dual-screen design.

Some might say the new price is a bargain compared to the original $1,399 asking price, which was a tough pill to swallow last year. Not only did the Surface Duo launch in the middle of the pandemic, but it also came with a 2019 flagship processor on board. Most reviewers lauded the design, but the overall sentiment was that the Surface Duo wasn’t the best Microsoft could offer. It doesn’t help that Microsoft doesn’t control the underlying operating system.

But more than a year since the phone was unveiled, there’s finally a good reason to buy a Surface Duo: Microsoft suddenly turned it into a portable Xbox.