So I got me a Microsoft Surface Duo. It's a phone, but I use it more like a tablet. There's a slot for a sim card, but I didn't install one.
The question is, how well does it play Minecraft?
Actually, it's pretty awesome. I've played Minecraft on an iPod, iPhone, Nintendo 3DS, as well as desktop.
And I have to say, I'm impressed with the Android 10 version of Minecraft as presented by Microsoft Surface Duo.
Normally, I hate touch controls. But I gave it a shot. And while it's still cumbersome, it's somehow playable, if you're not doing combat.
And even if you are doing combat, as long as you're lucky, there's actually an advantage: on the touch controls, you can actually attack as fast as you can tap the screen, which can actually save you from a creeper attack.
Again, that's if you're lucky. I just avoid combat unless absolutely necessary. That doesn't mean I play on Peaceful mode. I leave it in Normal and just deal with the occasional mob attacks.
This probably means I won't be winning against the dragon unless I really cheese it.
Actual Usefulness
How does the Microsoft Surface Duo compare to other devices? I really like it for reading, although the Kindle (app) doesn't support it very well. It barely works. Don't use it for reading comics. Just books. And for other reading apps like just plain old PDF viewers, it's usually a good fit.
I also just like being able to have two apps open, each in full screen. I can have Discord on one screen and a browser on another.
It's weird to see Microsoft and Google working together on the same device. But the, it's not that strange either. Microsoft already rocks Chromium on their Edge browser. So it's actually a minor leap to go Android.
It's just nice to see Microsoft actually make a useful handheld, for once.