The iPhone Duo lands: Apple’s first foldable reviewed

The verdict

Embargo lifted on 21 October, two days before the 23 October on-sale date. The consensus across the major outlets is favourable, and in several cases warmer than Apple’s late entry into the category had any right to expect.

Engadget scored it 8.8/10, calling it a first-class foldable and praising a hinge it rated among the best it has used on any folding device. PC Mag judged it to offer the best hardware, performance and battery life of any foldable on the market. Tom’s Guide called it the foldable phone to beat on design, software and durability. TechRadar described it as “Apple at its best,” while noting it does not reinvent the category. Wired said Apple had found “the right shape” and that the Duo is “surprisingly on par with its competitors.”

The dissent is the most useful review of the set. The Verge: “It is expensive, it’s full of compromises, and it can be incredibly frustrating to use” — while calling it fun in the way early-adopter hardware is, and “complete enough as an idea” to show where foldables are heading. CNET agreed it mostly sticks the landing while stressing it is not for everyone. Wired suggested some buyers may simply want to wait for the Duo 2.

What it is

The Duo is a book-style foldable with a 5.4-inch outer OLED (1,878 × 2,670, 120Hz ProMotion, up to 3,000 nits) and a 7.6-inch inner display in a 1:1.4 aspect ratio with a matte nanotexture finish — the detail reviewers returned to most often, because it both cuts reflections and helps disguise the crease.