- Nothing's CEO has called the iPhone Duo "a waste of money" for having a premium price while lacking core features
- These include a telephoto camera, a good selfie camera, and Face ID
- Despite that, there's enough demand that we're seeing pre-order bots emerge — which you absolutely shouldn't use
While it’s unclear exactly how much demand there is for the iPhone Duo, it's sure to be a popular phone — in fact, there’s a good chance it will be the best-selling foldable phone ever. But the CEO of a rival brand thinks it’s not particularly good value.
Carl Pei — the CEO of Nothing and co-founder of OnePlus — has posted a short YouTube video calling the iPhone Duo “a waste of money” due to its lack of key iPhone features. The Duo doesn't feature a telephoto camera or Face ID, and ships with a worse front-facing camera than you get with the iPhone 18 Pro.
Pei sums up the situation by saying “it’s $2,000 and costs more than an iPhone Pro with fewer features… so you’re paying more and you’re getting less.” And he’s not wrong — although the extra screen gives the Duo at least one feature not found on the Pro models.
Pei additionally highlights the Duo's folding animation as being what most people seem to be excited about, rather than its hinge or cameras (he notes that, while it’s a nice animation, “it’s just an animation at the end of the day” — i.e., not really a reason to buy the phone).
Still, he credits Apple’s attention to even the smallest details — such as that folding animation — for being the reason the Duo is likely to do so well.
Personally, I think it’s more simply because it has an Apple logo on the front — and because the vast number of iPhone users will be more likely to use a foldable that runs iOS than one that runs Android. But either way, criticisms could certainly be leveled at the phone's specs and value.
Don't get scammed
In any case, it’s likely the iPhone Duo will be in high demand when pre-orders open on Friday, and it might also be in short supply, with analyst Jeff Pu suggesting (via 9to5Mac) that “hinge constraints” are causing production slowdowns.
As such, some buyers might be tempted to take drastic steps to ensure they get an iPhone Duo on day one, which explains why pre-order bots are being advertised to help purchase the phone — with some even claiming to secure multiple units, which might appeal to resellers.
But as Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said to The Standard, “even if you succeed in securing the phone, the follow-up cost, including stolen personal or credit card data, is extremely high.”
After all, not only are these bots typically not free to use, but they’re likely to require your payment information to place the order — putting them in a position to then steal from you if the developers are unscrupulous. Additionally, they could include malware, giving them access to other sensitive information on your device.
So, they’re simply not worth the risk, and as Malwarebytes points out, you should also watch out for fake pre-order pages.
Instead, you should ensure you’re ordering the iPhone Duo directly from Apple or other reputable retailers, and if you want to get ahead of the game, you can both input your details ahead of time using Apple’s ‘Get Ready’ feature, and make sure you place your order as soon as pre-orders open at 5am PT / 8am ET / 1pm BST on Friday, 16th October.
And of course you can also for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on too.
James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.