Forget the Steam Deck — this modded Android phone is a gamer’s dream

Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 is one of the most divisive devices out there. On one hand, its dual-screen design has won laurels, and there’s a very small bunch of loyal enthusiasts that swear by its productivity tricks. But there are a whole bunch of practical flaws with the camera, battery life, and UI departments that kept this phone-tablet hybrid from realizing its true potential.

Of course, a sky-high asking price didn’t do it any favors. However, one enthusiast has turned it into a handheld gaming machine with a few cool add-ons — and it honestly looks pretty incredible. On Reddit, one Surface Duo 2 owner (going by the username u/Sarspazzard) showcased their Frankenstein version of Microsoft’s doomed phone after giving it a glorious handheld gaming makeover.

One-half of the modified Surface Duo 2 has controller grips attached to it, hovering over the left and right triggers on the screen. Nestled between the handles at the back is a small power supply unit that is hooked up to an actual cooling fan sold by Black Shark, a Xiaomi-backed company from China that makes over-the-top gaming phones.

The fans are there to keep the device cool while gaming, but they didn’t offer much of a performance boost, according to our DIY champ. “I ran some Geekbench tests, and I only saw a bump of like 10 to15 points on single-core and multi-core with the cooler,” says the Surface Duo 2 owner.

The other half also has a dock, which enables passthrough charging. But more importantly, it allows the addition of an external storage solution like a thumb drive, which is key considering that the 128GB of onboard storage inside the device isn’t enough to store a lot of game files. Plus, the Surface Duo 2 doesn’t allow storage expansion via microSD card, so an external dock was the only recourse.

“These features are USEFUL to us. I’m talking about microSD support and 3.5mm headphones. There was no good reason to remove them in the first place,” the modder writes in one of the comments. Valid point there! But given the odd placement of the USB-C port on the Surface Duo 2, a 180-degree male-to-female USB-C was required to connect all that gear to the actual device.

Apparently, the whole modification was done to play PC and console games with a layer of emulation on top. One half of the Surface Duo 2’s screen serves the actual game visuals, while the other half has the on-screen buttons and a pair of physical trigger pads hovering alongside the two top corners.

The mobile gaming segment is no stranger to such add-ons, as they really give an edge in games like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG: Mobile. The best part of this gamified Surface Duo 2 is that it doesn’t require any specialized custom gear, as most of it is easily available from outlets like Amazon.

The only apprehension is that the Surface Duo 2 was launched at $1,500, and even after the occasional price drops, the price only fell to around $1,000. That’s a steep price, and only worth it if you want to really push its computing prowess, gaming potential, or just need a keeper piece of tech memorabilia.

There are, of course, pitfalls with running emulated game files. The Surface Duo 2 modder warns that unplugging often crashes the game. If you really need to enjoy mobile games on a handheld, the new Razer Edge or Logitech G Cloud handheld are the best options out there. Otherwise, you will only find true handheld gaming nirvana in devices like the Steam Deck or the Nintendo Switch.

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