14 DAY TRIAL // Many believe the Surface Duo is the kind of device that’s late to the party, and the hardware that Microsoft decided to offer makes it more or less dead on arrival.
In addition to the previous-generation processor (the Duo is powered by a Snapdragon 855 chip), Microsoft’s new dual-screen device also comes without NFC, which makes contactless payments impossible.
Needless to say, not only that this feature is gaining more traction all over the world, but it’s also something that so many people rely on these days to avoid cash because of the health crisis.
NFC almost certainly coming to the second-generation Duo
Speaking about the reasons for not offering NFC on the Surface Duo, Microsoft told AC that this type of feature isn’t exactly what users of this device are interested in. And it’s because the Duo itself was built with mobile productivity in mind, and while users could occasionally expect Duo to do something else, it’s pretty clear that Microsoft had a different goal for this product.
“Surface Duo does not currently offer NFC. The role of any first-generation design is to focus on fundamental scenarios that solve customer challenges. Surface Duo is purpose-built for mobile productivity and giving people new ways to complete complex tasks while away from their computer. With this core priority complete, we will listen to customer feedback and apply that lens to future iterations of the product,” Microsoft says.
So technically, the Surface Duo doesn’t have NFC right now, but it could get such an upgrade on a future-generation model. And undoubtedly, this is expected to happen on the next model, as by the time the Surface Duo 2 gets the go-ahead, the use of NFC should become even more common than it is right now.