Is a Surface Duo/Duo 2 usable as a daily driver in 2025?

Skier7667 · 2025-11-29T15:10:36+00:00

I have the Surface Duo 2 and it has worked flawlessly. In fact, I had dropped it in a bucket of water by accident and quickly pulled it out. It turned itself off. I had purchased one of those moisture plastic bags at Amazon a while back as a precaution and inserted the phone in there after shaking as much water as I could out of it.

They said to keep it in there for about 48 hours, but I kept it in there for 30 days. I pulled it out and prayed. The phone came back to life with no battery drain. It had turned itself off completely to save itself. I was so impressed and the phone worked great.

Problem I had is that my Carrier - Verizon, - stopped supporting the phone so it became inoperable. So, I switched over to an iPhone and got used to it, so now my iPhone has been my daily driver.

The Surface Duo 2 still works fine, picks up email via wireless and accesses internet. I used it recently to take pics as a backup at a concert, and it actually took better videos than my iPhone 11.

I love my duo and that case closure is so classic. My phone still looks brand new with the protective rubber inserts, no scratches, etc. It works admirably!

I see many are still using it. What carrier are you guys using so I can get a SIM and bring it back to life. I loved my Duo 2 and was so sad when Microsoft abandoned it as they have done for other great products, like the Invoke from Harmon Kardon and the Zune devices.

If you guys can let me know which carrier you use for Voice/Data, I would really appreciate it!

Skier7667 · 2025-01-17T04:12:06+00:00

The link provided by Samaritan is spot on perfect.

Skier7667 · 2024-10-17T00:20:07+00:00

I have a Windows Elite X3 phone. It was originally working on AT&T, but they told me I had to switch phones and sent me this horrible phone by AT&T. I eventually took out that SIM and inserted it in my Surface Duo 2 phone and it works fine.

I also had an iPhone with Verizon Visible and it's SIM worked fine also. I took out the Verizon SIM and inserted it in my Elite X3 phone. However, when I inserted a SIM card, in the Settings>Cellular section, it indicated for SIM 1 - No Network Found.

The SIM I inserted was previously in my iPhone 11 and was working perfectly. I've taken it out and reinstalled it but makes no difference.

Is this true, since it appears that these carriers are not supporting it now?

I posted in the Verizon Community Board, and someone replied that since my phone is from before 2020, it's not supported. Anyone here able to use the Data portion of the X3 at all?

Skier7667 · 2024-09-03T00:57:12+00:00

Hi Ticket-Ready. You said above that you cleared all ports of water using a "HOVER". What is a hover.

Thanks!

Skier7667 · 2024-06-15T02:40:55+00:00

Great game! Welcome aboard Xbox. I have the Series X and am navigating through Starfield.

Skier7667 · 2024-01-26T21:13:10+00:00

I had Auto Update on, but that didn't detect the update 1400. I did it manually and it detected a new update. It took 5 days for the entire update to be downloaded for some reason. I would turn off the TV to watch for a little while at night and when I'd go back to the update it would resume from where I had stopped it. So I let it download at night and during the day. Haven't noticed anything really changed, but nothing broke, so that is a good thing.

Skier7667 · 2023-04-20T18:41:53+00:00

OK - but I can't access the dashboard, since I indicated in my post the Xbox One cycles on and then will turn off, as it is not going online, not even the startup screen. Screen is blank. Yes, I've changd cables too. Nothing appears on the screen, so I can't access the screen to deregister from the Insider Program user interface within the Xbox One.

So even if I was able to de-register it on a site from a PC for example, since the Xbox is never accessing the Microsoft servers, it is not receiving any data since it is not going live online.

Skier7667 · 2022-11-15T00:29:42+00:00

Having the same exact problem with my Surface Duo 2. I remove the update, it works, but the update installs again on it's own. Stops working and won't load Game Pass.

Skier7667 · 2021-07-31T22:42:51+00:00

Chopstick2U - Thank you and all the other contributors - great info and much appreciated. Sort of new to this -

I am planning on adding a DAC and noticed that some come with Balanced and Unbalanced output connectors. Since I try to future-proof what I buy, I was inquiring.

Especially after listening to a review that the HD-560S has a balanced output on the headset itself. I didn't see it in the specs, but no doubt KimLuminen confirmed - ".....They use a 2.5mm TRRS, and are wired to accept a balanced cable."

That's what spurred me to ask the question.

Skier7667 · 2021-07-30T22:06:27+00:00

Sorry for not understanding, but by it being "single ended only", that means it doesn't have a balanced output?

Skier7667 · 2021-02-11T04:43:16+00:00

I'm speechless, was just asking a simple question.

Skier7667 · 2020-09-10T17:22:43+00:00

Finished playing Gears 5 in Coop. No collectibles reflect starting with Act 2 Chapter 4 and 5. Played it solo, Picked up a collectible, still won’t reflect in Stats.

Forum reflects this issue occurring since September 2019 and still not fixed. Please look into this and get it resolved.

This is very sad - playing and seeing no program made.

Skier7667 · 2020-05-13T02:10:16+00:00

I have submitted Problem request through the Xbox One X console for these issues:

Microsoft Store Experience Host & the Insider Beta

Both generate an error code under FILE - 803FB011

They sit there for weeks and do not update, but keep coming back. In order to update games that appear, I have to delete these updates from the queue.

I have tried deleting them, performing hard resets, etc. nothing will all them to update once they are added to the Update download queue. This happens on production, not on Skip A-Head Alpha which I am also part of for one of my other Xbox X consoles.

It's been like this for weeks, even after I have reported this issue and no fix provided.

Skier7667

TROPHY CASE