The Surface Duo is gunning for a late 2020 launch, but the lack of a rear-firing camera bump certainly doesn't paint a picture of a high-quality contemporary smartphone camera. Does the folding functionality make up for it?

Microsoft seems to be reluctant to describe the Surface Duo as a phone, despite the fact it can make calls, and, well, is a phone. In my opinion, this is an attempt to wave away the Duo's potential shortcomings, like its potentially shoddy camera. The lack of a rear-firing camera bump certainly makes it seem as though the only camera we're going to get on this thing is the face camera, embedded in the top bezel. There's a question about whether or not this thing will even have a flash, which will impact its versatility in some user scenarios. We have no idea how good the camera on the Duo will be when it eventually launches. However, the potential that it will be poor cannot be ignored. We have to ask: Is the functionality we're gaining from having dual screens worth losing a decent, modern smartphone camera experience? Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more Does Surface Duo need a "great" camera for you to buy? Why I want a decent camera

Source: Windows Central

A decent camera isn't just a "nice to have," for me; I consider it to be a necessity. Before I left Windows Phone for good, I was using a HP Elite x3, which by far and away had the worst smartphone camera I've ever used. Not only was it slow, and crashtastic, but the images were grainy and awful even in decent daylight scenarios. Living in Europe, or the Northern Hemisphere in general, comes with the inevitable reality of overcast climate, meaning that you're rarely in a situation with ideal lighting conditions. Most modern smartphones tend to account for this not only at a hardware level, but also at a software level, using post-processing techniques to improve image quality in lieu of a high-powered camera sensor. I'm a visual person, and I prefer to catalog things in photographs rather than in notes. If the Surface Duo doesn't even have a flash, even doing something as basic as capturing documents in OneNote might end up being a chore. That's a problem considering the Duo is being billed primarily as a productivity device. The whole point of Microsoft switching to Android was so that it could take advantage of the wealth of apps on the platform. Many of those, from Instagram and Facebook to Snapchat and Tiktok, all depend on the camera array for large parts of their functionality. Even popular games like Pokemon Go are increasingly making use of AR, and smartphone cameras obviously play a huge part in that scenario. If Microsoft isn't truly bothered about giving the Surface Duo a full and modernized smartphone experience, why bother using Android in the first place? Most of those major productivity apps were on UWP and Windows 10 Mobile already. Why a high-end camera might not matter (for some)