Apple's first foldable phone starts at $2,000, and a roundup of early reviews published Tuesday by TechSpot suggests that price buys the best-engineered foldable on the market, if not the most complete one.
The iPhone Duo arrives years after Samsung and others established the folding phone category, and reviewers collected in the roundup largely agree that the wait let Apple avoid the early stumbles that plagued rival devices. One reviewer called it "the best designed foldable phone I've ever tested," pointing to a sturdy, premium build and a nano-texture display that hides the fold crease better than competing screens. Another described it as a "fully realized folding smartphone from a company that, perhaps smartly, sat back and watched a category stumble, grow, develop, and solidify."
The phone supports multiple usage modes and split-screen multitasking across its folding display, features reviewers singled out as strengths. But the software story is mixed. Apps built specifically for the Duo's unusual screen look sharp, according to the roundup, while apps that haven't been updated for the new form factor do not. One reviewer framed that as the device's biggest issue, noting it will take time for developers to catch up.
Hardware gaps also drew criticism. The Duo skips a telephoto zoom lens, a notable omission on a phone priced at $2,000, and reviewers in the roundup said they'd like to see Face ID and a stronger FaceTime camera on the inner screen in future versions. Weight came up repeatedly too, with one reviewer writing bluntly that they wished the phone "wasn't as heavy as it is."
How it stacks up against Samsung
The comparison reviewers kept returning to was Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, described in the roundup as lighter, thinner and slightly cheaper than the Duo. One reviewer called the matchup not "a slam dunk" for Apple on those terms, even while arguing the Duo still delivers superior build quality and what the roundup described as the best battery life and performance of any foldable currently sold.
On pricing, the consensus in the roundup is less alarming than the sticker price alone might suggest. Reviewers noted that $2,000 is roughly in line with what Samsung and other foldable makers already charge, even if that simply confirms premium foldables remain expensive across the board rather than making the Duo a bargain.
None of the reviews collected in the roundup frame the Duo as solving problems an iPad doesn't already handle, and one reviewer went further, suggesting it revives old iPhone usability issues the company had since fixed on its non-folding phones. Still, for Apple customers who have waited for a foldable with the company's name on it, the roundup's reviewers largely agree there isn't a stronger alternative in Apple's own lineup.
What happens next depends largely on developers. Until more apps are rebuilt for the Duo's folding screen, the software gap reviewers flagged is likely to persist, even as the hardware itself draws comparatively little criticism.
RRFiled by The Reviews Roundup Desk
What the reviews are saying: verdicts on new devices from the outlets that tested them, summarised and credited to each. This desk does not test products itself.
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