The iPhone Duo reviews are in: here’s what photographers need to know

The iPhone Duo, Apple’s first folding phone, is set to come out in just a few days, but the reviews are out now. In aggregate, they paint a picture of a complicated phone that feels highly refined in some ways, and first-gen janky in others, especially when it comes to third-party apps.

While it may be a bit too late to get a pre-order in (at least, if you want the phone in a timely manner; at time of writing delivery dates are already pushed to next year), the reviews we’ve listed below tell the story of the Duo both for those curious about it as a tech object, and for anyone actually considering buying it.

The photographer’s perspective

Tyler Stalman does a great job of reviewing phones from the perspective of a working photographer and content creator, so his take on the Duo is one of the ones we were most anticipating.

Overall, his takeaway about the phone is that it’s better at productivity and media consumption than creation, though he does a good job of comparing it to the iPhone 18 Pro across a variety of scenarios, and at breaking down the roles of each of the phone’s four cameras. One of the most interesting takeaways from this review, at least for me, is that the Duo doesn’t make as good a teleprompter/camera combo as I thought it might, thanks to where the cameras are in relation to the front screen.

Hear from the tech enthusiasts

Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, has long been one of YouTube’s premier tech reviewers, and for good reason. His review of the Duo is both a visual treat and an in-depth look at Apple’s philosophy behind its foldable, how well it executes those ideas, and whether they’re good ideas in the first place.

Tech review veteran iJustine has also taken a look at the Duo, which does a good job of illustrating what it’s actually like to live with the phone.

What about a foldable fanatic?

There are few as dedicated to the foldable cause as Michael Fisher aka Mr. Mobile. His experience with testing basically every phone in this form factor means he’s well-equipped to discuss how it stacks up to the competition, and he does so in his trademark poetic style.

For what it’s worth, he calls the iPhone Duo’s cameras the best you can get in a foldable in the US. That’s despite the Z Fold 8 Ultra having unambiguously superior hardware, though, given his comparison between the Z Fold 8 and the Duo, he hasn’t had a great experience with Samsung’s processing.

The in-depth look

While The Verge has produced one of its trademark cinematic reviews for YouTube, anyone actually considering buying a Duo should read its written review, which goes in depth in a way that is really difficult in a video. We know our audience appreciates a thorough examination of a new device, and Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson deliver.

Full disclosure: I was predisposed to like this one: Allison is a DPReview alum, and I also worked with her during my two-year stint at The Verge, an outlet I still deeply respect for its commitment to examining the big picture beyond the specifics of any particular gadget.

The wrap-up

The impression I got from the countless reviews I’ve watched about the Duo is that it’s both exactly what we expected and a bit of a surprising release from Apple. The company is known for releasing products polished to a mirror finish, and while it seems the hardware and Apple app experience has received that treatment, there are still a lot of rough edges.

A lot of that comes down to software. Apple was very late in getting developers the tools they need to make their apps work for the Duo, so anyone buying one needs to be ready for what feels like a very beta user experience. There will probably be a lot of people who end up disappointed that their $2000-and-up displays their favorite apps as a small, floating rectangle in a sea of black on the inner display.

I suspect many major apps will be updated relatively quickly (though there will be stragglers), and the bugs with the OS will be ironed out. Once that’s happened, users will be left with the phone that the iPhone Duo appeared to be when it was announced: a first-generation foldable that, yes, has a lot of polish, but that’s still a fair bit heavier than the competition, and which asks you to give up quite a bit to be among the first iPhone users to adopt a new form factor.

That includes compromises to the cameras: the reviews mostly settled on them being fine, for a foldable, and many reviewers missed a telephoto option, though the experience of being able to easily use the phone’s main camera for selfies was near-universally lauded.

We’re hoping to get our hands on an iPhone Duo so we can bring you our own thoughts, but until then you can read some of our existing coverage below.