Microsoft, I'm fed up explaining to people why they can't get your greatest hardware invention...

This happens at least once a week to me. I'm with a customer (or friend) and we're talking tech. I whip out my Surface Duo, currently the main Android phone in my pockets that's signed into all my stuff (social, banking), to look something up or demonstrate something in the OS. And their jaw drops.

"What is that?!"

I then have to explain that it's actually quite an old device, brought out in 2020 by Microsoft and then quietly forgotten. True, there was the Duo 2, which I loved in its own way, despite a compromised form factor - and this was also forgotten about. No real updates to either after Android 12L, with the Duo about to hit end-of-support this year, and the Duo 2 Autumn next year after yet more mandatory Android security updates.

Oh, and you can't buy them new anymore. And if anything breaks then they can't be repaired. So almost impossible to recommend, then.

I proceed with a quick demo. Two apps at once, something spanned, laptop mode, with QWERTY keyboard prominent, tent mode, watching media, etc.

"But that's phenomenal! Why didn't I hear about this?"

Because Microsoft, not for the first time in its existence, didn't have the will and commitment to put money and effort into the Duo and Duo 2. Zero mainstream marketing. Zero. And a bare minimum of business channel marketing. Just a few YouTube videos, pounced on by friendly sites and bloggers, but not pushed in any way. In fact, in the UK, it took almost a year before units were even available to buy locally.

So when someone at Microsoft pipes up with 'Well, they didn't sell well', I'd point out that almost no one knew the Duos existed. The form factor remains intriguing and beguiling, if my chats with customers and friends are good examples.

We've heard rumours online that Microsoft might have been considering dropping the dual Gorilla Glass Victus display form factor for a traditional plastic folding screen - I do believe that this was considered, but I also think Microsoft hasn't even got the commitment to make this. If a Duo 3 does get released then it'll be a Microsoft-ified and rebranded Pixel Fold. Which at least means that Microsoft doesn't have to make any hardware.

Which is also a huge shame, since the original Surface Duo, coming up on its third birthday, is a superb, repeat SUPERB, piece of hinged hardware. It doesn't matter that the single camera is underwhelming (though saved by GCam), nor that there's only the one speaker, nor that it doesn't have NFC for Google Pay, nor that it doesn't have Qi charging. As a folding tablet that can double as a last resort phone or media device or laptop, it's unique and yet to be bettered, I contend.

If only Microsoft had believed in the form factor as much as the hard core Surface Duo fans around the world.

Is it possible for Microsoft to put money into making a real Duo 3 and actually telling people about it? Sure. Will they? History suggests no, sadly...

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