Crazy new Microsoft Surface Duo deal makes the cheap foldable concept a reality
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Regardless of their manufacturer, apparent durability, software experience, and hardware execution, all foldable devices released in the last few years have had one important thing in common. The best foldables money can buy in 2022 (as well as the not-so-good) are priced... pretty excessively compared to their non-foldable counterparts, often exceeding $1,000 and sometimes well exceeding $1,000 in brand-new condition with no carrier strings attached.
Of course, some of the devices arguably included in the "not-so-good" sub-category of the fledgling market segment must have had big trouble selling at their original retail prices. That explains, for instance, why Motorola's first reimagined Razr edition dropped to as little as $300 at Verizon almost a year ago, as well as a recent flood of absolutely mind-blowing Surface Duo deals.
The latest one is among the best we've ever seen, knocking Microsoft's rookie dual-screen handset effort down to $279.99 in a 128GB storage configuration and $329.99 with 256 gigs of local digital hoarding room.
These are completely new, unused, unopened, and undamaged units sold by Woot together with a 1-year manufacturer warranty for a few days only, which means bargain hunters have (almost) nothing to stop them from pulling the trigger right away.
The biggest inconvenience is by far the obligation to use this ultra-affordable device on AT&T... as well as its obvious software shortcomings and decidedly mediocre hardware specs. Once upon a time priced at an insane $1,400 and up, the first-gen Surface Duo is however arguably powerful enough for just 280 bucks, with a Snapdragon 855 processor and 6 gigs of RAM under the hood.
On the software side of things, the Android 12L update rollout has finally kicked off less than two weeks ago, and although that doesn't solve all of the glaring flaws reported at launch, it undeniably improves the overall user experience and productivity chops of the Surface Duo enough to make this hot new Woot deal a must-buy ahead of the holidays.
Of course, the key selling point remains the tablet-sized 8.1-inch AMOLED display capable of flexing into a 5.6-inch position better suited for one-hand operation. That's a pretty amazing degree of versatility from such an incredibly cheap product, don't you think?
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