Apple’s iPhone Duo has been my main phone for a month. I switched from the iPhone 17 Pro Max (I only tested the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max for a week), set up all my apps (including online banking and other finance apps, which typically require a more complicated setup) on the Duo, and put my other phones in a drawer.
This is a different type of test than a typical phone review. When you’re writing a review, you’re looking for the new and exciting. Once you’ve switched to a new phone entirely, you’re looking for apps that don’t work and annoyances that can’t be fixed. Had I found enough of these, I would’ve gone back to the Pro.
But I feel zero desire to do so. The iPhone Duo has plenty of quirks, but none that would make me go back. In fact, I dread the moment when I’ll have to go back to a regular-sized phone to do a review. The iPhone Duo is a game-changer for me. I am now a foldable phone guy.
For my detailed review of the iPhone Duo, go here. In this article, I’ll skip the details and highlight the interesting bits.
The hardware has held up
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
My iPhone Duo works just as well as it did on the first day. I know that some unlucky folks have had screen trouble, but I haven’t had anything of the sort so far. The dreaded crease is still barely visible. The hinge works smoothly. In fact, the only real trouble I’ve had with the Duo has been grease buildup on the inner display, which appears near-impossible to remove (but is, fortunately, invisible most of the time).
Not only did the hardware hold up, but I’ve gotten completely used to it. I perform the little tasks (check out a message, see the weather forecast) on the front display; I flip the phone open for anything taking longer than five seconds. It’s become second nature, and I don’t think about it anymore. I still awkwardly search for the volume buttons sometimes, but even that doesn’t bother me much; I know they’re there, somewhere.
The camera is the Duo’s weak point, and I do miss the telephoto option. If there’s one thing that would make me go back to a non-Duo phone, it would be the camera. The Duo’s camera isn’t bad, but it’s roughly in line with what you’d get on an iPhone 16 or 17, and that can be hard if you’ve used a recent Pro model. For now, I’m sticking with it, but I really hope the next Duo gets a lot of improvements in this area.
Battery life isn’t a problem. It’s not as good as battery life on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but it the Duo lasts a full day for me. It really depends on how you use it, and the Duo beckons you to use it more for gaming and videos, which drains the battery faster. Still, I’ve never had to charge it more than once per day, which is good enough for me.
The bugs are there, but I’ve gotten used to them
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
By far the most annoying bugs have to do with the fact that the iPhone Duo has four cameras and many apps still don’t know when to invoke which one. Making a video call on Messenger, WhatsApp, or Apple’s own FaceTime will yield different results depending on how the phone is turned; sometimes you’ll be upside down for no good reason. Sometimes, the person you’re on a call with will be in a narrow, vertical window awkwardly positioned in the middle of that large, horizontal inner display. I have no doubt this will all get fixed over time, but it is taking a bit too long.
The other annoyance is that some apps still haven’t been properly updated for the Duo, and that could take months or perhaps years to fix. This includes some apps I use daily, such as Google Authenticator and TradingView. Others have been tweaked to fit the big display better, but those tweaks were just quick fixes. This isn’t hard to get used to, but it just feels like the overall app experience on the Duo could and should be so much better.
That gorgeous inner display is so worth it
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The other day, I watched two entire episodes of Slow Horses on the iPhone Duo. I’ve never done something like that on any phone; the displays were always too small. Given the Duo’s screen size, brightness, and quality, watching on the Duo would actually be an improvement over a crappy hotel TV (and TVs in hotels are still very often very crappy).
On my desk, I now have the iPhone Duo all the time as an additional display. I use it to control music, check my calendar and reminders, and manage my smart home devices. In fact, wherever I go, I prop the Duo up beside me; it’s like a more portable HomeView.
Showing a bunch of photos to someone, playing a video for a group, and browsing through a shopping site together with my wife are all tasks that are borderline annoying on a regular phone, and almost invariably end with someone giving up very quickly. On the Duo, the experience is great, and is invariably greeted with the same comment: “That screen is nice.”
Oh, and the fact that the stereo speakers are pretty great also helps a lot when you’re playing music on the Duo. Theoretically, you can prop up any phone on a table and play music, but you’ll rarely do it because the sound is thin and tinny. On the Duo, it’s good enough to be the background entertainer at a small gathering.
I’m a foldable phone guy now
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Keeping it simple: How many times do I hold the Duo in my hand and think, “damn, I wish I had a different phone now”? The answer is never. Or, perhaps, only when I need to take a photo, and even then the Duo is better for actually viewing the photos I’ve taken.
The advantages of having an iPhone with a massive, beautiful, iPad mini-like display in your pocket simply outweigh all of the compromises that you have to make with the Duo. And I don’t see myself going back anytime soon.
